Most of the cottages we see on route are picturesque, discrete wood structures, but some are of a more modern architecture. Mostly though our passage is just natural scenery
After Passing Hangdog Point, we re-entered the Hangdog Channel for the leg up to Bayfield Inlet. Since Bayfield Inlet is a populated area with plenty of stores, etc., it is a popular stop for boats making their way along the Small Craft Route. Begonia is well-provisioned through the rest of the season, so we didn't stop there. Our main reason for going that way was because it's the scenic route and that's the whole reason we are here on the first place.
This part of the Hangdog Channel did a pretty good job living up to its reputation. While most of it was reasonably deep and comfortably wide, the shallow parts that squeeze between boulders really were a tight fit for us. For the smallest two, we inched our way through at idle with Maryanne on the bow spotting hazards. In clear, tropical waters, she can usually estimate depth within ten percent, but here all she could see was the light-colored tops of rocks within half a meter of the surface. We both had to take a deep breath and hope that staying dead-center would do the trick. I can see why it is unnerving to narrower, but slightly deeper trawlers. Having an eye height that's three times as far above the water as ours must make the gaps look that much narrower.
The leg back to open water from Bayfield Inlet was much more straightforward, allowing us to relax a bit and enjoy the beautiful scenery along the way. From there it was another shallow run to Raft Island, at the entrance to Norgate Inlet.
Norgate Inlet is shallow and has no officially marked navigation routes. There are a few cottages within, so the locals all know the way, but any navigation aids are informal ones like sticks, painted rocks or floating drink bottles. It was with much trepidation that we slowed down and left the safety of the Small Craft Route, hoping that the widely-spaced soundings on the chart would correlate with reality.
For the most part, they did, with all the errors we found on the deep side during our short trip to the first place affording protection at anchor. Even though we were anchored in the middle of a wide spot in “the channel,” we didn't see too much traffic. Most of the land around Norgate Inlet is federal land, with only a handful of private cottages, so we only saw maybe five or six boats per day going by. Almost all of them passed well clear and a few even slowed down to keep from throwing a wake at us.
Snippets of our exploring
Snakes and frogs abound
The overwhelming presence of federal land meant that for the first time in a while, we could feel free to break up our usual kayak tour with lots of shore breaks for variety. We found pine stands, rock balds and frog ponds. Maryanne even located a dinner-table-sized bog that was filled with soft moss and wild cranberries. Unprocessed and slightly under-ripe, they taste like tiny apples.
We slept in the next morning, with a plan to spend another day exploring the area's labyrinth of narrow channels and rocky outcrops. After checking the weather, I told Maryanne we would have to be leaving first thing in the morning in order to avoid the worst of a northerly (the general direction we were going) wind shift. She suggested we go today instead, while we still have light tailwinds to help with our speed. That's fine, the next place is supposed to be better protected anyway.
More amazing scenery - and how I wish I'd retained my geology studies knowledge a bit better!
We are starting to notice cranberry bushes/bogs among the many plants
Anchorage location On google maps
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