Inlet of land vs inlet of water

[david11]

A bay is a large body of water connected to an ocean or sea formed by an inlet of land due to the surrounding land blocking some waves and often reducing winds.

This is the definition for "Bay" given in Wikipedia. I know what "Bay" is. However, I find this definition a little confusing. Shouldn't the phrase in red be "inlet of water"?

A bay is the large body of water which has channel to sea and surrounded by land in the remaining place!

The above is my definition of "Bay". Does it sound okay?

 

[emsr2d2]

For me, an inlet is the indentation in the coastline so I associate it with the land. I would say "I stayed in a cute cottage on a tiny inlet in the Scottish Highlands". Obviously, I wouldn't have stayed in a house built in the water, but on the land, so for me the "inlet" is the area of land/shoreline around the water.

 

[Tdol]

It's hard to say as it's not very well phrased IMO.

 

[5jj]

I think this definition:A body of water partially enclosed by land but with a wide mouth, affording access to the sea, the Bay of Biscay, (bay - Dictionary definition and pronunciation - Yahoo! Education) is much closer to my idea of 'bay' than either the Wikipedia one or David's. 'Channel' and 'inlet' seem inappropriate words for the basic definition of 'bay'.