Hatchet Bay

3.5.13 Much to our chagrin, we sat in Royal Island for three days waiting out a blow from the North. We were very concerned about dragging anchor in such a confined space, but were relieved when our new Rocna anchor held tight through the whole thing. We finally crawled out of Royal Island when the wind died and motored our way SouthEast towards Current Cut. Here the water rushes through a narrow 50 yard cut in the land, all the water from the bank draining and flowing from the ocean through this cut. The cut is usually only passable when the current is going with you and even then should be taken when the current is slack. We made it there earlier than the tide shift, with the current on our stern. Fortunately, the current that day was weak due to the tides and we were pushed through with a modest 2 knot addition to our stern. We were quickly sucked in and pushed through the other side with any drama. We made it a few hours later to Hatchet Bay, another narrow cut through high cliffs (this one only about 20 yards wide) and into a small bay on the inside. We had hoped to pick up on of the free city moorings, but that was not to be as they were all taken. We were bummed, but loped over to the shallows and dropped anchor for the night.