The South Sound is the most varied and most attainable saltwater in the region, and it rewards people who understand it. The area runs from Gig Harbor and the Narrows down through the protected inlets, Carr, Case, Henderson, and Budd, and out along Hood Canal toward Shelton, which is why a single quarter can hold a four million dollar Gig Harbor estate and a modest cabin on a quiet reach. Two things separate a strong buy from a regret here, and neither photographs: the condition of the bulkhead, because saltwater and tide work a shoreline far harder than a lake does, and the tidelands and shellfish rights, which on Hood Canal in particular can be a real part of the value. Gig Harbor anchors the high end, but the inlets and the Canal are where the privacy and the value live. For anyone weighing the South Sound, I can help you read what you are actually getting at the waterline.