There's a few other things I could talk about, but this time I want to talk about the trip from which I have just returned. I started at home, cruised the perimeter of Bay Point, because of the shallows that enclose the channel that runs around it, until I hit Bay Point Marina, where the water is reliably deep. At that point, I aim out into Lower Sugarloaf Sound, and throttle up. Careful attention to local conditions and charts yields a mostly scrape-free ride all the way to the mouth of Sugarloaf Creek.
The route, mostly
I cannot properly stress what a pain it is to avoid the shallows in Lower Sugarloaf Sound. It is really difficult, and the occasional thunk of propeller hitting hard surface is nearly impossible to avoid. Nevertheless, the route I describe here is pretty reliable, if you can keep to it without getting your sense of direction confused.
Speaking of that, once you get into Sugarloaf Creek, it is similarly very easy to go astray. I stopped the engine, pulled it up, and paddled around the maze here, purposefully getting lost for a half hour or so:
A maze of twisty passages, all alike
The serenity of paddling through the mangroves here is utterly surreal, and I was utterly lost. But when I'd had enough, it was easy to get bearings from the sun, the shadows, and Fat Albert. Soon enough, I was on my way and had found the common route through Sugarloaf Creek:
Looks easy enough, right? It really isn't, at least not the first time. I could probably repeat it now, though. Also the end of my black line there, pretty well represents where I turned around and headed home, as I was encountering real seas for the first time with the Porta-Bote, and the wind and ocean weren't exactly ideal for that today. Here's the bridge over Sugarloaf Creek, as seen from the Atlantic Ocean side:
By the time I made it home, the voyage had lasted over 3 hours and I was happy to be back. At least I'd sprayed myself down judiciously with Skin So Soft, and suffered no noticeable skin damage. Right now I'm too weary from the long trip, but I should probably feel accomplished for finally getting out of Lower Sugarloaf Sound and into the ocean, after spending nearly 10 months pondering doing so.
-Chris