Kittyhawk Group to Spitfire Cove West

A very peaceful night in Kittyhawk. It was a fairly gray day, and the route plan was to head to Brydon Anchorage on Hurricane Island, with Hurricane Anchorage as an alternate depending on winds. We were supposed to have SE winds again, and Brydon did not look like the place to be, but we wanted to check it all out. And given that everything was so close – about 2-3 nautical miles at best from Kittyhawk, why not turn it into a day of exploration?

A few dogleg turns took us out of Kittyhawk and almost right into Brydon. There are 3 anchorages in Brydon, with the Northwest being the favorite of the Hamiltons. For us, the SE corner was the one we found most cozy, but we were not in a mood to stop yet. We swung around the SW tip of Hurricane Island and took a look at Hurricane Anchorage. It is big with room for lots of boats. Good wind protection too, but just not something that spoke to us. So we went up Hurricane Channel, happy for the high tide. It was easy until the narrow part at the north end, where the electronic charts were off just a bit and we were happy to have the kelp marking the fairway. Once through, we turned right, had a peek down East Spitfire Channel to the very narrow area, and turned into our new home, Spitfire West Cove.

The sunny day brings out the textures of the tidal zones

This cove is quite pretty and large, with some rocky ledges along the sides that keep you from anchoring too far towards the head. The views are great in all directions, especially when the winds orient you to look at Spitfire Channel and across to Spitfire North Cove.

Having skipped breakfast, we decided to have an early lunch up on the fly bridge, enjoying the view and the brightening skies. Then we launched the kayaks, with an eye on Spitfire Lagoon (reached through Spitfire North Cove). The paddle, as always, was into the wind, and as we crossed Spitfire Channel there were some little waves on our beam. But once we turned into the Cove, it calmed down. The entry to the Lagoon was very “kelpy”, but we had plenty of tide (it was falling, but not a big swing from high tide). The lagoon was peaceful, and we went up to the head where trees choke the stream.

Karen leads our “expedition” into the lagoon

Exiting the lagoon, we headed to the east in Spitfire Channel to check out the narrow constriction area where all the guidebooks urge caution. The current was pretty strong so we didn’t go all the way through in our kayaks, but it was definitely a challenging area for a larger boat. Doable, but you’d want the right high tide and avoid having the current pushing you as you maneuvered through.

Karen headed up to the flybridge to enjoy the sunshine and read her Nook, while I worked on pictures for the blog. Karen saw a small dinghy race up the channel – other than that, we have not seen sign of another human being since we left Pruth Bay. Not even any fishing boats. This is definitely an area where you need to be self-sufficient.

Dinner was Penne with Hot sausage, fresh peppers, onions and a little cinnamon topped with parmesan, accompanied by some good wine. Somehow we ended up watching the Disney Movie, Tangled, which tells the story of Rapunzel. It was silly, but we enjoyed it well enough.

As the old salt says: "Red sky at night, sailor's delight".