Sailing the North Channel, day 5. August 24, 2012.

We had a slow morning, sitting on the boat eating boiled eggs and muffins brought from home and drinking coffee. We read our books and planned our trip out of here, and then Toby and I decided to go for a hike.
We first had to inflate the dinghy and paddle across the pool to the beginning of the path....

Once we got through the mud and onto the path it was great! We had heard that there was a pristine lake up over the mountain ridge and that was our destination. It was certainly worth the trip! Lake Topaz was crystal clear and quite cold, but we went for a swim, and then ate our snack and headed back down the mountainside. It was a rocky terrain, but that's how it is around here.

When we got back to the dinghy, we slid into the black slime trying to get down the slippery slope, but then Toby rowed us back to Troika the long way--all around the edges of the pool, all the while giving me a running commentary on the flora and fauna. Some of it was quite fantastic!

Erika had supper ready when we arrived, but first we jumped in the water to clean off the black slime. What a difference--it was much warmer than Lake Topaz, but we could not see our hands 6 inches under the water!

Dinner, a glass of wine, time reading our books, and lights out.... there were only 2 other boats here tonight, and we did not even put on our mast lights. The darkness and quiet are wonderful.