We only have 17 miles to go this morning to Fish Egg Inlet, but we leave fairly early, just in case the wind kicks up in Fitz Hugh Sound.  Leaving from Big Frypan, we headed for the northwest side of Penrose Island, where we entered Fitz Hugh Sound, heading for Convoy Passage.  It’s raining again, but there’s not much wind, so we have an easy trip.  Once inside Fish Egg Inlet, we decide to anchor at Bitter End Cove, deep inside Fish Egg.   The anchorage is lovely, with a large creek that comes down from Doris Lake. 

 

The tide was ebbing against the wind in Fish Egg, making the water choppy, so I waited until late afternoon before launching my kayak.  The water was still choppy, but the wind was down to 10-15 knots, so I set out for the very end of Fish Egg, thinking the wind would continue to drop.  It wasn’t long before I realized I should have waited for morning.  The wind started picking up again, gusting to about 25 knots.  The good news was that I didn’t have to paddle — the wind was doing all the work.  Way in the distance, at the very end of the inlet, I spotted a lonely merganser swimming.   I started paddling, hoping to get to him before he spotted me.  I paddled for all I was worth and then tried to zoom in and find the merganser.  He was gone!  I couldn’t believe it.  The wind was taking me toward the rocks at a pretty fast clip.  I took one last look through the viewfinder and there he was; but here I was closing in on those rocks.  I zoomed to the max and took a shot, not a very good shot, but after what I’d been through I had to have something to remember him by.

 

 

Now, I had to turn around and head back into the wind.  Ugly!  I tried to keep my profile low, getting as much weight forward as possible, for fear the wind would pick the bow up and capsize me.  I paddled like crazy in between gusts, and eventually made it back to the boat.  That lousy merganser shot was definitely not worth it.