The public docks and marina in Kagawong
Southern Style anchored in the bay off from Kagawong
St. John the Evangelist Anglican church in Kagawong is known as the "Mariner's Church". For years it has given the blessing of the boats each year and has a nautical theme with ship's wheels and other boat oriented things within the church. It is always left open for anyone to enter at any time. Back in the 1970s, a family boating accident in the area resulted in the loss of several lives including two children. The church recovered the front of the sunken boat and has made it into their pulpit as a way of honoring and keeping alive the memories of those lost in the North Channel.
Inside of St. John the Evangelist
Pulpit
After our visit to the church, Captain Keith and I hiked the short trail in the Provincial Park in Kagawong to Bridal Veil Falls. You can swim in the pool below the falls, but with it being a nice weekend, there were quite a few people so we just took pictures.
Bridal Veil Falls
Our stop in Kagawong was over by noon, and we pulled up our anchor and headed out of the bay and across another roughly 10-15 miles to Croker Island. Now for the anchoring story..... Those of you who are not boaters may find this boring or hard to follow so feel free to skip the next paragraph if you so choose. For those interested persons, here goes.......
Everyone told us the North Channel was so remote, however when we got to Croker Island there was already some 15 boats up in the cove all around the edges. The cove is nice and big however it is 30-40 feet deep in the cove except for around the edges. This is deeper than we prefer to anchor. Once you get to about 10 yards from shore you can get to about 10 feet, but then there is not much swing room. A lot of the smaller boats and sailboats around here do a Mediterranean tie or (Med. tie), meaning they put out an anchor off the front of their boat then run a line from the back of the boat to shore and tie to a tree. We were just a bit unsure about the geometry of this with our boat, and so we decided to go the 2 miles across the way to the Benjamin Islands and see if there was room there. After arriving in the Benjamins we found there were even "more" boats there with "less space". So back we went to Croker Island. Just around the northwest from the cove, the chart showed a spot about 20 feet deep and we thought that might work as the winds were light. Well the spot that was 20 feet was about the size of a parking space and all around it the depth was 50 feet and over. So back into the cove we went. Although we do not like to anchor in more than about 20 feet, we went ahead and put the anchor out in the middle back portion of the cove in 45 feet of water. We let out every bit of our 300 feet of anchor chain. We could not even use our anchor ball to mark the anchor, as our line was not long enough to keep the ball above the surface of the water. It sure does not seem all that remote here just yet. At least we have lots of anchor chain and it seemed to set well.
Everyone told us the North Channel was so remote, however when we got to Croker Island there was already some 15 boats up in the cove all around the edges. The cove is nice and big however it is 30-40 feet deep in the cove except for around the edges. This is deeper than we prefer to anchor. Once you get to about 10 yards from shore you can get to about 10 feet, but then there is not much swing room. A lot of the smaller boats and sailboats around here do a Mediterranean tie or (Med. tie), meaning they put out an anchor off the front of their boat then run a line from the back of the boat to shore and tie to a tree. We were just a bit unsure about the geometry of this with our boat, and so we decided to go the 2 miles across the way to the Benjamin Islands and see if there was room there. After arriving in the Benjamins we found there were even "more" boats there with "less space". So back we went to Croker Island. Just around the northwest from the cove, the chart showed a spot about 20 feet deep and we thought that might work as the winds were light. Well the spot that was 20 feet was about the size of a parking space and all around it the depth was 50 feet and over. So back into the cove we went. Although we do not like to anchor in more than about 20 feet, we went ahead and put the anchor out in the middle back portion of the cove in 45 feet of water. We let out every bit of our 300 feet of anchor chain. We could not even use our anchor ball to mark the anchor, as our line was not long enough to keep the ball above the surface of the water. It sure does not seem all that remote here just yet. At least we have lots of anchor chain and it seemed to set well.
After all that back and forth (probably about and hour to hour and a half) we put the dinghy down and put the kayak in the water. Keith caught several bass and pike, but did not keep any although the pike were big enough. We really just relaxed and chilled Sunday after finally getting settled.
Sunset Sunday from cove at Croker Island
Monday morning we took the dinghy back over to the Benjamin Islands and explored a bit. This is a very pretty spot even with slightly overcast skies. There are many places to get tucked up in here and explore. We even got off and climbed on the rocks a bit.
Abandoning the dinghy and climbing around the Benjamins
More views around the Benjamin Islands
Once back at Southern Style on Croker Island, I took the kayak out and climbed some of the rocks at Croker.
Southern Style in the cove at Croker Island
Looking out into the North Channel from Croker
The Cove at Croker Island from Southern Style's cockpit
The day kept getting more cloudy so eventually I headed back to the boat. Monday night was quiet and Tuesday morning we pulled up anchor to find a spot around Anchor Island. This island is about a 10 mile cruise north and west of Croker and had a better cove that was more protected and shallower. The weather was to get rainy and winds were to increase out of the northwest, so we decided to move to this new location for a day or two. It proved a good spot as we were the only boat there and the day did turn rainy. It was a lazy, rainy day.
Captain Keith multi-tasking (napping and fishing at the same time while it rained)
Even the Fish were not biting
Wednesday morning was bright and sunny but cool at about 55 degrees. It had a totally different feel, like fall had arrived. We left Anchor Island and cruised the short distance to Hotham Island.
Cruising to Hotham Island
There are several good coves at Hotham in which to anchor. One in particular is known because of a couple (Norm and Elaine) that have a cottage there. They are former boaters who have "swallowed the anchor" as they say and are now spending more time on land. They are wonderful people and very social;. They invite boaters that are anchored in their cove to have 5 PM cocktails at their cottage. We spent Wednesday and Thursday night at their anchorage and had social hour with Norm and Elaine and several others boaters both evenings. Elaine kayaks quite a bit and she was kind enough to kayak with me the two days we were there. It was nice to have company for a change on my kayak trips (no offence to Pengi, but he is not as talkative as Elaine). We saw eagles, turtles, a beaver swimming in the channel, and an old sunken wreck on our kayak trip.
Norm and Elaine's Cottage at Hotham Island
Looking out from our anchorage at Hotham Island (we are anchored just to the side of Norm and Elaine's cottage)
Sunset at Hotham Island
Friday morning August 24th we pulled up anchor at Hotham and headed just around and south from Hotham to Eagle Island. It was to be breezy and rain was predicted again for Saturday, so we thought this a good spot to hole up for a day or two. Friday was pretty and since it was a short trip from Hotham we had our anchor up from Hotham at 8:30 and set in the cove at Eagle Island by 9:30 AM and off with the dinghy and kayak to explore.
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