The channel into Silver Lake will consume about a half hour. The only tricky part to navigating the channel comes right at the end. You must sail on by the harbor entrance, swing around a mark and double back on the other side of a bar to get in. The chart right there is a little complicated so take the time before getting there to understand it. The cut into the anchorage isn't large.
Silver Lake is really just that.
No surge, and small enough to keep the chop down. We like anchoring at the far end as there is less traffic and you are not too far from the dink dock at the grocery store. The bottom is gunk but seems to hold. Pulling the anchor is messy. The grocery store is worth a visit.