Culpepper Lagoon to Windy Bay

Using Tom Bay for tide guidance, we figured we needed to be at the narrows by 7am.  I worried a bit about our calculations, because just as I was getting up (at 6am), the sailboat Imagine was hauling anchor and heading out. But we continued with our plan, hauled anchor at 6:38, and headed for the narrows.

Waterfall in Kynoch Inlet

When we arrived, the sailboat had already departed the lagoon, so we knew the currents were going to be fine for us. In fact, the narrows were virtually calm, and out we went. I was at the helm, as Bob tried to get the watermaker to work one last time. Very inconvenient up here in the back of beyond without a watermaker! This time, the unit would not even turn on. Clearly, some issues with the filters that we cannot address. Oh well, we enjoyed the sunshine as we headed out Kynoch Inlet. It was a short trip to Windy Bay, so we took a detour up Mussel Inlet to Oatswish Bay. This bay is marked as too deep for safe anchorage, but I wanted to check it out. Our route took us past the beautiful Lizette waterfall, and some seals on a rock by Thomas Island. The head of Oatswish was lovely, but as advertised, it would be a challenge and a half to find a tenable anchor spot.

Put on a show. Might make #1 waterfall so far on this trip. Not tall, but very interesting flows.

We turned back for Windy Bay. On the way, we ducked into Bolin Bay as a possible alternate, and didn’t like what we saw, so back to the original plan for Windy Bay. It is large and open, and we tucked in behind the islet where the water was calm and the sun was warm. Seals were hauled out on a drying rock next to the inlet, growling, and there was an unseen waterfall we could hear just off our anchor spot.

Bolin Bay would take a little time to find a place to anchor, but it might be worth it for the view.

It was a nice place to chill, and we spent a very lazy day reading and with Bob working on pictures. It wasn’t an anchorage that was calling for dinghy or kayak exploration, so we just relaxed.

Dinner was salmon gorgonzola and a nice Gerwurtztraminer, capped off with a few coconut cookies and the magic of satellite TV bringing us Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert and South Park. Who could ask for more? We had a 6:30am departure to hit slack in Hiekish Narrows, so we didn’t stay up too late. Before bed, we noticed the air mass had changed and clouds were coming in. We went to bed all alone in Windy Bay.

That salmon shows up in another dinner