We walked around Butedale a bit in the morning then headed
off, destination unknown. We debated between Windy Bay and Rescue Bay…
Ultimately we chose Windy Bay, but as we approached, I
realized it wasn’t that much further to the head of Kynoch Inlet. There’s not
enough room for a flotilla of boats to anchor up there (that’s why I didn’t go
up there on the way north), but there’s plenty of space for a boat or three.
Kynoch Inlet is a classic fjord, and part of Fiordland
Recreation Area. The scenery is stunning: rock walls, glacial bowls, snowcapped
peaks, waterfalls everywhere. The weather wasn’t ideal, but it wasn’t
terrible—overcast and no visibility over a thousand feet or so. No rain,
though.
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| Scenery in Kynoch Inlet |
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| Every turn brings new (beautiful) views |
We anchored at the head of the inlet, all alone. Like many
anchorages in this type of setting, the bottom is steep, going from too deep to
too shallow very quickly. I dropped 250 feet of anchor chain in about 110 feet
of water and backed towards shore. The boat stopped in 80 feet of water, just a
few boat lengths from shore.
From the head of Kynoch Inlet we explored Culpepper Lagoon
by dinghy. The entrance was surprisingly deep and free of hazards—at low tide I
didn’t see anything less than 14 feet on the sounder. I later flew the drone
over the entrance looking for rocks and didn’t find any mid-channel. In the
future, I’d happily take the boat through near slack water.
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| Looking into Culpepper Lagoon |
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| Looking down on the entrance to Culpepper Lagoon |
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| Landslide evidence in Culpepper Lagoon |
Later in the evening the weather cleared a bit and we got a
peak at the mountains around the anchorage…gorgeous!
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| Big mountains! |
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| Last light |
50.61 nm today
2738.24 nm total
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