Looking at home in Shelter Bay -

jssailem · Nov 14, 2016

Sounds like an interesting place to live.
I had no issues regarding navigation of the ditch. S/V Hadley draws 5 ft. I've been in and out the south end a couple of times. Stuck to the center of the channel. A few fishing boats cruised by but no drama. Not so sure what it would be like to meet a tug with a log raft.
I came in the channel from the north with an incoming tide. Current pushed us along a a rather fast pace. I kept the power up to maintain steerage. SOG was 8-9knts. I had heard from Terry Cox that a minimum of 1ft over mean low and there should be no issues. I stuck to the center of the channel. you want to pass through the east side of the train bridge that guards the north end of the ditch. When I came through from Anacortes, the shallows on both sides of the ditch were about 8-12 inches out of water. You could see several large stumps that would not be good to hit. Gives meaning to the ships that were used to clear the floaters and dead heads back when logging was a way to make a good living. There is a boat on the hard in Anacortes, just above the Cap Sante Marina that is a museum to those bygone days.
Terry Cox gave me some insight to the South end of the channel here.
http://forums.sailboatowners.com/index.php?threads/swinomish-redux.180430/page-2
Just use your head. Keep to the channel center and give any minus tide a bit of time to refill the channel and you should be ok. I love the channel range marker on the South Channel You can see it once you turn into the channel. Keep the two markers one on top of the other and you are centered on the channel. As good as if you were following a gps track.
John

Terry Cox · Nov 14, 2016

Hi Les, John did a nice job filling you in on some of the particulars. Here is a bit more info about the ditch; http://forums.sailboatowners.com/index.php?threads/transiting-the-ditch-er-swinomish-channel.176907/

We have considered moving there, too. Keep in mind most all land (except for about 20 lots that are fee simple as you first enter the complex) in Shelter Bay is tribe owned, with a right-to-lease arrangement. So, while you might drop a couple of hundred thousand for just the right to lease a lot, the only part you own is the structure(s).

The public marina is very nice, well equipped, with some new docks, pump out station and other amenities. We've been there for several years and intend to stay with no plans to leave our Mukilteo home for one in Shelter bay. The marina does give you a break in moorage fees if you are a resident. Docks connected to a property, as far as I know, belong to the resident. Live-aboards are not allowed in the marina.

jssailem · Nov 14, 2016

Les
Here are a couple of pictures from our trip down the north entrance.

A dead head sitting on the edge of the channel. Exposed at low tide.

The train bridge sitting 5 feet above the water guarding the northern entrance to the Swinomish Channel. You want the east side of the bridge. The right side looks inviting but it is a fools option.

The second bridge in the image is the main highway to Anacortes. It is 75ft above the water and was no threat to my 50ft mast.

Terry Cox · Nov 14, 2016

LeslieTroyer said:
I guess I was concerned about the depth of the marina, current, and how much I need to pay attention to tides entering and leaving (6' draft) . As long as the tide is +1 ignore the ebb & flood (but SOG is faster or slower). The thought of meeting a tug and tow in that small passage scares the stuffings out of me.

Is north leaving or is that returning ??

As I wrote in my article about the "ditch", some things to consider:

1. "B" dock, where we moor our boat, has ample water. A minus 2.8 foot tide might leave our keel (five foot draft) just touching the mud bottom. Otherwise, not a problem. However, I cannot speak for other parts of the marina in relation to water at the dock/slip. There is one spot when heading out/returning from our slip and that is the waterway intersection mid way to the marina entrance where I have experienced a shallower part of the marina. To avoid getting stuck in the mud at lower than normal water (another story), I always leave/return when there is at least a plus one tide state.

2. Ditto when transiting the ditch; I always make sure that the tide state is at least a plus one to avoid getting stuck in the mud along the way. Tide currents can run two plus knots, so will try most always to leave on an out going and returning on an incoming. Neap, or short cycle tides, currents run very weak and will make little difference when you do your transit.

3. In all the years of transiting the ditch rarely have I encountered a tug pulling a raft. When so they always leave ample room to get by. In season the crabbers like to drop their pots (50-100) in the middle of the north channel causing one to dodge and weave around them. And the "no wake" zone in the channel means they can go as fast as they want. Grrr.

4. Shelter Bay places you in the Islands as opposed to spending five to six hours just to get to them from Everett. We used to be in the Everett Marina many years ago and it was the over-hang regulation that caused us to relocate; another story.

Terry Cox · Nov 14, 2016

LeslieTroyer said:
Is north leaving or is that returning ??

Unsure what you mean by your question. The channel has a south and north entrance. Shelter Bay is eight miles south of the north entrance channel marker and about two miles from the south entrance channel marker.

Terry Cox · Nov 14, 2016

LeslieTroyer said:
Red right returning. Is returning from north or south. Looking at the chart it looks like it switches half way thru.

Hi Les, it does. Entering from the north, it is RRR to about a mile from town where you have the last installed two sets of channel buoys. It used to change at that point where the first set was RRR, then the second set was RLR. Two or three years ago they changed them so both now are RRR.

http://www.passagemaker.com/article...and-red-markers-in-part-of-swinomish-channel/

Ditto entering from the south. RRR all the way to the gorge where the last installed set is placed. In addition to the channel buoys the south entrance has day board channel markers (north entrance does not) to help keep boaters visually aligned in the narrow channel. These boards are installed on Whidbey Island, visible once you enter the channel.

As John most eloquently stated, when entering from the north you want to keep the swinging bridge to your starboard and pass between the concrete fixed bridges pylons.

jssailem · Nov 14, 2016

As Terry called them day boards. They are in the bay near Whidbey, across from the channel's south entrance bouys. Green to north, and red to south. Enter between them. Do not cheat. To the east of the green bouy is shallow (1 ft deep) water, and to the east of the red bouy is a rock submerged wall that stretches from the island (Goat island) to the red bouy. At low tide it all looks scary. At high tide it is just below the surface lurking to catch they who think they can cheat.
Had dinner with one of the Dunlap Tug Captains who shared stories of boat owners who tried to take the short cut. He just laughed and shook his head. "For the life of me I cannot imagine what those boat owners were thinking".

I thought the range markers reminded me a lot like landing lights on a runway. You keep them positioned one above the other in a straight line and you remain on the glide path (center channel). Easy peasy.

Terry Cox · Nov 15, 2016

Swinomish Channel Range Markers, south entrance.

jssailem · Nov 15, 2016

They are a cool tool for the channel. Simple and effective.

Terry Cox · Nov 16, 2016

jssailem said:
They are a cool tool for the channel. Simple and effective.

Yup. The chart system on our Garmin 178C has a red line along this south entrance that matches the range marker path. That path is good from the entrance to the gorge (Hole in the Wall), just before making the turn.

jssailem · Nov 16, 2016

Glad to support your decision.

Terry Cox · Nov 17, 2016

jssailem said:
Not so sure what it would be like to meet a tug with a log raft.

Happened a couple of times to me over the years. Usually the raft is being guided by two tugs. The one towing slowly against the current the other at the back end of the raft guiding the tail in the channel so as to avoid crowding out other boaters. The ones to worry about are the large ocean going ones that have no tow and the skipper is in a hurry to get some place with no consideration for others. These push a lot of water and create heavy wakes with no room in the channel for other boaters to get out of the way. One almost swamped our previous boat, an H28, and scared the dickens out of the admiral and I.

jssailem · Nov 17, 2016

I may have missed something, but it appeared after the bridge the whole channel looked like a no wake zone.

Maybe the section north of the swinging bridge was not specified. I can see how that area would give one the hebie jebies when facing any size wake.

Terry Cox · Nov 18, 2016

jssailem said:
I may have missed something, but it appeared after the bridge the whole channel looked like a no wake zone.

Maybe the section north of the swinging bridge was not specified. I can see how that area would give one the hebie jebies when facing any size wake.

Several "No Wake" signs along the way past the fixed bridges and through town. A few do respect them, but many others do not, especially the native Indians rushing to get to their crabbing zones with throttles wide open. Their boats are smaller with wakes not so much.

Heading out the south channel last season, I had the forward hatch open to cool things off. A large power boat came by fast and dumped a lot of water into the forward sleeping berth making a soaked mess. Grrr!

jssailem · Nov 18, 2016

Thought less rabble.

We were passed by several local fisherman in their long skiffs heading out the south channel. They must have been feeling social cause they all sped up too us, slowed down to pass, then sped away to find crabs.