We had a quiet and restful night in Oak Harbor Marina.
It was very early in the cruising season so there were not many transient boats about.
This was something we noticed and appreciated during our entire voyage up to Ketchikan.
They had a huge green lawn just up from the marina office that was a great area to let Bina run free for awhile and stretch her legs.
Here are 3 chart segments that attempt to show the route from Oak Harbor Marina to Anacortes.
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| Southern section to the entrance of the channel |
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| Middle section, up to La Conner |
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| Upper section, from La Conner to Anacortes |
Last year when we brought the boat south we went through Deception Pass.
That was exciting even at slack water.
So this year I wanted to see Swinomish Channel for myself.
Swinomish Channel
From Wikipedia:
View north from La Conner of the Swinomish Channel
The Swinomish Channel is partly natural and partly dredged. Before being dredged, it was a collection of swallow tidal sloughs, salt marshes, and mudflats known as Swinomish Slough. The United States Army Corps of Engineers used dredging and diking to create a navigable channel, completed in 1937 during the Great Depression.
It is heavily used by fishing boats, tugs, recreational craft, and shallow-draft freight vessels. To maintain navigable depths, the Swinomish Channel must be dredged at least every three years. Dedicated federal funding for continued dredging was eliminated in the 1990s. A study in 2004–2008 determined that sedimentation would render the channel's north end impassable for virtually all vessels by 2015, and its south end by 2019. The channel was dredged in 2008. Funding for addition dredging remains uncertain. In 2012 the Army Corps of Engineers received funding from Congress for another dredging project, which was finished in January 2013.
We didn't leave Oak Harbor until late in the morning because we needed to time our arrival at the southern entrance to the channel to catch the northbound current in Swinomish Channel.
We caught the northbound tide pretty well and had a good push through the channel.
I really didn't have the time or the ability to shoot pictures as we went through.
It was very shallow, less than 10' in many places, and so I was paying very close attention to the depth finder, and to my location within the channel. If you get off to one side or the other you can get into trouble in a hurry.
La Conner is a neat place, and I had thought about pulling in there for our first night out.
But as it was we cruised right past it and admired it from a distance.
I met a guy later in another marina on this voyage who kept his boat in a covered boat house in La Conner. He himself lives in Montana. Such is the boating life.
About 3:30 PM we approached our stop for the night, Cap Sante Marina in Anacortes.
We had logged 69.5 nm to this point.
("nm" = Nautical Mile)
Historical definition – 1 nautical mile
I had to dodge some freighters that were working in the area just before our arrival into the marina.
One of the things I had added to the boat over the winter was AIS (Automatic Identification System). These freighters showed up on my GPS screen so I could see where they were, what direction they were moving, and how fast. The goal of course is to get out of their way!
Here are some pictures of the marina and the surrounding area.
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| Faraway in her slip at Cap Sante Marina |
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| Marina office |
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| There were some beautiful boats in the marina |
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| W T Preston "Snag Boat" |
W.T. PRESTON STEAMBOAT TOURS & HISTORY
Step aboard this steamboat, and step into the past. The W.T. Preston was the last sternwheeler to work in Puget Sound and is one of only two snagboats remaining in the contiguous United States. Her crews removed navigational hazards from the bays and harbors of the Sound and from its tributary rivers.
The first settlements in the heavily timbered areas of Washington were located along rivers, which served as the region’s highways. On some of these rivers, snags threatened navigation and if not removed grew into larger logjams blocking passage of the boats. Shifting sand bars, particularly in delta areas, also obstructed navigation. In response to these conditions, Congress in 1882 allocated $20,000 for the construction of a snagboat to free the rivers from navigational hazards.
The Skagit was the first of three steam-powered snagboats built to maintain the rivers, serving from 1885 to 1914, when she was replaced by the Swinomish. In turn, the Swinomish was succeeded in 1929 by the wooden-hulled W.T. Preston, named in honor of a distinguished civilian engineer who worked for the Seattle District Army Corps of Engineers.
The W.T. Preston operated as far north as Blaine and south to Olympia and Shelton. She worked 11 months out of the year, retrieving thousands of snags, piles, floats and other debris, including a damaged airplane, fish boats, derelict scows, and houseboats. In addition to her snagging chores, she was used as a pile driver and icebreaker, and dredged about 3500 cubic yards of material in an average year.
By the 1960s, the W.T. Preston's responsibilities were changing. As more and more freight was carried by truck and rail, the importance of keeping the Sound’s tributaries open to commercial navigation fell off. At the same time, recreational boating increased on Puget Sound, necessitating more maintenance of these wider waters. In these circumstances, the W.T. Preston as a shallow-draft river vessel found itself somewhat vulnerable. One noted storm with a prevailing 40-knot wind blew the boat sideways during a hair-raising passage to Port Townsend. But the W.T. Preston soldiered on, until the costs to operate and maintain the snagboat became prohibitive.
The W.T. Preston was placed on the National Register for Historic Places in 1979. In 1981, the Corps retired her from duty and solicited proposals to preserve the snagboat. Impressed with the plan offered by the city of Anacortes, the Corps transferred title to Anacortes in March 1983. The city allocated $40,000 to prepare a waterfront site for the W.T. Preston beside its old Great Northern Railroad Depot. After being towed to Anacortes, the W.T. Preston was taken out of the water and on June 22, 1983, hauled overland to her new resting site. She was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1989, serving as an important reminder of Puget Sound maritime and riverine history.
Step aboard this steamboat, and step into the past. The W.T. Preston was the last sternwheeler to work in Puget Sound and is one of only two snagboats remaining in the contiguous United States. Her crews removed navigational hazards from the bays and harbors of the Sound and from its tributary rivers.
The first settlements in the heavily timbered areas of Washington were located along rivers, which served as the region’s highways. On some of these rivers, snags threatened navigation and if not removed grew into larger logjams blocking passage of the boats. Shifting sand bars, particularly in delta areas, also obstructed navigation. In response to these conditions, Congress in 1882 allocated $20,000 for the construction of a snagboat to free the rivers from navigational hazards.
The Skagit was the first of three steam-powered snagboats built to maintain the rivers, serving from 1885 to 1914, when she was replaced by the Swinomish. In turn, the Swinomish was succeeded in 1929 by the wooden-hulled W.T. Preston, named in honor of a distinguished civilian engineer who worked for the Seattle District Army Corps of Engineers.
The W.T. Preston operated as far north as Blaine and south to Olympia and Shelton. She worked 11 months out of the year, retrieving thousands of snags, piles, floats and other debris, including a damaged airplane, fish boats, derelict scows, and houseboats. In addition to her snagging chores, she was used as a pile driver and icebreaker, and dredged about 3500 cubic yards of material in an average year.
By the 1960s, the W.T. Preston's responsibilities were changing. As more and more freight was carried by truck and rail, the importance of keeping the Sound’s tributaries open to commercial navigation fell off. At the same time, recreational boating increased on Puget Sound, necessitating more maintenance of these wider waters. In these circumstances, the W.T. Preston as a shallow-draft river vessel found itself somewhat vulnerable. One noted storm with a prevailing 40-knot wind blew the boat sideways during a hair-raising passage to Port Townsend. But the W.T. Preston soldiered on, until the costs to operate and maintain the snagboat became prohibitive.
The W.T. Preston was placed on the National Register for Historic Places in 1979. In 1981, the Corps retired her from duty and solicited proposals to preserve the snagboat. Impressed with the plan offered by the city of Anacortes, the Corps transferred title to Anacortes in March 1983. The city allocated $40,000 to prepare a waterfront site for the W.T. Preston beside its old Great Northern Railroad Depot. After being towed to Anacortes, the W.T. Preston was taken out of the water and on June 22, 1983, hauled overland to her new resting site. She was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1989, serving as an important reminder of Puget Sound maritime and riverine history.
Next stop - Friday Harbor, in the San Juan Islands.
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