Waters generally run deep right up to the shoreline so finding a suitable anchorage can take time. Yola draws five feet and likes to lie in no more than 12-15’ of water, which often brings us a lot closer to shore in Christie Bay than in most other parts of our lake. Bottom is clay, as elsewhere, and good holding. If your boat is small and you like camping ashore, this is a good place for loop-line anchoring.
Your idea of a good and safe anchorage might differ from mine. Safe for me is, first and second, protection from waves and swells and, third, from wind, no matter how strong or where it comes from. Good is a clay or mud bottom (i.e., most anywhere) and, importantly, easy and rambling shore access for hikes and picnics and fishing and exploring with the dinghy or getting away for the occasional solitary sulk. Still, while Janet and I don’t do bush or steep rock, some of our favourite anchorages have poor or no shore access. Also: don’t rate your anchorage as an atom bomb shelter before you know what 20-25 knots or more of sustained wind and wave can do to it. Until then, please use a tentative, temporary label. Mine range from “hurricane hole” to “the pits”, with descriptors like “good”, “maybe”, “iffy”, “all-weather”, “buggy”or “shitty” in between. Variety in labelling is more useful here than is pinpoint accuracy (huh?).
You’ll find only two or three good and safe anchorages on the north shore of Christie Bay, other than those in The Gap and Wildbread Bay (a pilgrimage to Magic Finger is a must, don’t miss it). And don’t expect too many places with great rambling shore access — again, other than in Wildbread Bay.
