Bill had pushed his camps north beyond Seaforth Channel as
far as Wallace Bight but I don’t think that he fancied the reaches and may have
found them claustrophobic and leading to nowhere that he wanted to be. There is the issue of bears, too, which the
majority of his camps avoided by location.
In general, his camps seemed strategically located to avoid population
and provide stepping stones to increasingly remote locales.
Aristazabal Island forms the western edge of the Outside
Passage at Swindel and Price Islands.
The southern tip of the island is separated from Price by 7.1 NM of
Laredo Sound which tapers down to Laredo Channel and just 2 NM south of
Shotbolt Point. It can blow up fast and
strong anywhere along the length of the island so most crossings occur in this
area with few choosing the longer exposure in Laredo Sound. In that context it makes sense that Bill
would choose the longer crossing supported by camps established on both sides.
