Tacoma Narrows

[Hayden Watson]

I will be heading down to Olympia later this week and the current through the Tacoma Narrows will be ebbing most of the day. What is the max current adverse current that you would go through? Any suggestions as to which route to take relative to E/W side of Vashon, Anderson, McNeil and Fox Islands?
I was figuring on west of Vashon and Anderson but that is based on only looking at the charts and I have never actually been down there before.

 

[Terry Cox]

What is the max current adverse current that you would go through?

Good morning Hayden. Never been that far south so will defer to others for the best route. Regarding adverse current, I try to avoid, preferring to head south on a flood as much as possible in this case.

We deal with the Swinomish channel current whenever we leave/return to our marina. Currents can run 2.5 to 3.5 MPH, which can add hours to an adverse transit. I always try to transit in favorable current conditions to reduce travel time and fuel consumption.

 

[jssailem]

Hayden, I have not sailed down that far south but, having studied the charts for a planned exploration, and read the waggoners guide a bit, the prevailing knowledge says the west channel along Vashon Island always flows north.

I would use Deep Zoom to help plan my trip. DeepZoom Trip

The info is reliable, and the graphics provide a clear indication of current flow over a time lapsed model.

Just set the date for your planned transit and watch as the tide currents are demonstrated through the hours of planned sail.

 

[Hayden Watson]

Us northerners don't often go down south!
Thanks for the replies. I have already been doing numerous "trips" on DeepZoom and that prompts the question. The first day in no problem. Anacortes to Kingston. Depart Anacortes 5/4/22 08:00 with an ebb tide down to Partridge Point. should arrive 1-2 hours early for change to flood so will need to hug the Whidbey shore for current relief in the eddies. Then pick up a nice flood to push us down to Kingson. Might end up going farther because that is 50kn of a 11km trip.
Day 2 (5/5/22) is the bigger problem. The Narrows are adverse from 08:30 to 15:00 and that is about halfway. If we are to do the trip in two days, it would take a very early start to get through before ebb or a very late arrival to go through with the flood. I do not know the Narrows so do not know if it is possible to go through against the current. Add to that the forecast 15+kt southerly it doesn't sound to good to me. In my old friend (Deception Pass) that is a fool's errand.

 

[Hayden Watson]

If we push day 1 to Eagle Harbor and leave at 05:30, we might get through before it goes over 2 knots. We would still have several other smaller passages with more than 2 knots but lots of day to push through them.

 

[AaronD]

I will be heading down to Olympia later this week and the current through the Tacoma Narrows will be ebbing most of the day. What is the max current adverse current that you would go through? Any suggestions as to which route to take relative to E/W side of Vashon, Anderson, McNeil and Fox Islands?
I was figuring on west of Vashon and Anderson but that is based on only looking at the charts and I have never actually been down there before.

We’ve been through the Narrows a couple times. Sounds like you have it pretty well figured out. We’ve always tried to schedule the Narrows as close as possible to slack, but you have a couple knots of boat speed on our little 22 footer - we move awfully slowly against a 2-knot current, but you’d still make progress. Even at close to slack, we found the Narrows to swirls a little; it might do so a little more with more water flowing, or maybe that will die down as the current picks up? That could go either way

We’ve stayed in Colvos Passage, W of Vashon. Mostly to avoid some of the shipping traffic. No complaints there, but no knowledge about the E side.

We’ve gone N of Fox island, but watch your clearance on the bridge - our mast is shorter than yours, and even after repeated calculations, it makes this skipper’s heart beat pretty fast to look up going under that!

Pitt Passage (W of McNeil) is known to be tricky, but here are good instructions in the Migael Sherer guide (A Cruising Guide to Puget Sound and the San Juan Islands). We’ve followed them many times.

Where are you headed? Be careful you don’t go advertising too widely for all the great S Sound destinations

 

[MikeHoncho]

The narrows can get going pretty good, I have yet to experience a "no go" scenario heading south due to current but you can sure spend a lot of time motoring against a 4+ knot current. Planning goes a long way and if you can't do that, usually diesel overcomes the issue but slowly. I have had no go scenarios due to fog. I would time it during the most slack time you can. Heading to Olympia, I would cut between McNeil and Anderson through Balch Passage. Current can get going through there but it is a pretty short distance. Filucy Bay is a good anchorage or overnight if you looking for something in that area. Penrose is another but a little off course.

There is a consistent northerly current through Colvos Passage. Going north from Tacoma I always take Colvos. Going south I always take it if motoring because it is significantly shorter than the west side and you don't have the commercial traffic lanes. If sailing I tend to take the west side due to wind direction and width of the waterway.

If you are looking for site seeing opportunities I would consider Carr Inlet and utilize Pitt Passage (check current/tides) and either utilize Penrose on a mooring buoy or anchor in Filucy. Don't go to the inside of Fox unless you can make it under the bridge. Case Inlet is really cool also but it's a long way and you cant get around the northern side of Harstine due to bridges.

 

[MikeHoncho]

Us northerners don't often go down south!
Thanks for the replies. I have already been doing numerous "trips" on DeepZoom and that prompts the question. The first day in no problem. Anacortes to Kingston. Depart Anacortes 5/4/22 08:00 with an ebb tide down to Partridge Point. should arrive 1-2 hours early for change to flood so will need to hug the Whidbey shore for current relief in the eddies. Then pick up a nice flood to push us down to Kingson. Might end up going farther because that is 50kn of a 11km trip.
Day 2 (5/5/22) is the bigger problem. The Narrows are adverse from 08:30 to 15:00 and that is about halfway. If we are to do the trip in two days, it would take a very early start to get through before ebb or a very late arrival to go through with the flood. I do not know the Narrows so do not know if it is possible to go through against the current. Add to that the forecast 15+kt southerly it doesn't sound to good to me. In my old friend (Deception Pass) that is a fool's errand.

I wouldn't compare the Narrows to Deception. Its apples to oranges. A ditchout option prior to turning Point Defiance is either the public docks at Defiance, private slips at Breakwater (where I am at), anchor in Gig Harbor or anchor in Quartermaster Harbor. I prefer Quarter Master but it's a hour to get in and a hour to get out.

 

[MikeHoncho]

Whats the current data on the narrows during the time you are thinking you will be there?

 

[Hayden Watson]

We’ve been through the Narrows a couple times. Sounds like you have it pretty well figured out. We’ve always tried to schedule the Narrows as close as possible to slack, but you have a couple knots of boat speed on our little 22 footer - we move awfully slowly against a 2-knot current, but you’d still make progress. Even at close to slack, we found the Narrows to swirls a little; it might do so a little more with more water flowing, or maybe that will die down as the current picks up? That could go either way

We’ve stayed in Colvos Passage, W of Vashon. Mostly to avoid some of the shipping traffic. No complaints there, but no knowledge about the E side.

We’ve gone N of Fox island, but watch your clearance on the bridge - our mast is shorter than yours, and even after repeated calculations, it makes this skipper’s heart beat pretty fast to look up going under that!

Pitt Passage (W of McNeil) is known to be tricky, but here are good instructions in the Migael Sherer guide (A Cruising Guide to Puget Sound and the San Juan Islands). We’ve followed them many times.

Where are you headed? Be careful you don’t go advertising too widely for all the great S Sound destinations

Helping a new sailor with a boat delivery to Olympia.

Thanks for the heads up on the Fox Is bridge. With a 42' stick will will most surtainly not be going under a bridge with 31' of vertical clearance! It looks like we might get some current relief by going north of McNeil but not sure it would help much.
We go through Deception Pass in up to 7 knots of current going our way without concern so are used to the swirlies. I just don't like going against it and going nowhere. One day I watched the Lady Washington back under Deception Pass bridge because she tried and failed to get through against the current.

 

[Hayden Watson]

Whats the current data on the narrows during the time you are thinking you will be there?

Thanks for the heads up. I figured that the Narrows would not be anything like running Deception at 7 knots. I have only gone through Deception against the flow once in the hundred or so times through and that was a day when slack was about 30 minutes early due to wind. It took me 30 minutes to move the 1/4 and I was beginning to wonder if I would need to throttle down and back out.
I posted the current predictions for the approximate time in a previous post. We are looking at Thursday morning.

 

[Hello Below]

Local knowledge would come in real handy here. So South Sounders please pass along your experiences.
Hayden, from what I remember during a trip in the summer of 2018, there was a significant back eddy that overcame any adverse effects from the ebb and in fact assisted the trip south. We did cross over after rounding Pt Defiance but I cannot remember exactly where we did that. I know that we had been following the west side of the Narrows well before we crossed under the Narrows bridge and remained there until we turned to Starboard South of Fox Island.
All my cruising guides are on the boat and I am not. I believe one of them gave detailed info as to how to transit the Narrows.I will caveat all the above with: slack or flood is better. But . . .

 

[Hayden Watson]

We plan to anchor and will shoot for Gig but plan to make it at least to Eagle Harbor.
Any local anchoring wisdom for anchorages from Eagle Harbor to Gig Harbor. We will have a 33lb Rocna and 250' of rode on our 15,000lb displacement so well set up.

 

[Hayden Watson]

Local knowledge would come in real handy here. So South Sounders please pass along your experiences.
Hayden, from what I remember during a trip in the summer of 2018, there was a significant back eddy that overcame any adverse effects from the ebb and in fact assisted the trip south. We did cross over after rounding Pt Defiance but I cannot remember exactly where we did that. I know that we had been following the west side of the Narrows well before we crossed under the Narrows bridge and remained there until we turned to Starboard South of Fox Island.
All my cruising guides are on the boat and I am not. I believe one of them gave detailed info as to how to transit the Narrows.I will caveat all the above with: slack or flood is better. But . . .

Thanks Len. I will be going to my boat later today and will grab my copy of Tidal Currants of Puget Sound.
Hopefully it will show the eddies you mention. I use it to find my way south along Whidbey in an ebb.

 

[Hello Below]

We plan to anchor and will shoot for Gig but plan to make it at least to Eagle Harbor.
Any local anchoring wisdom for anchorages from Eagle Harbor to Gig Harbor. We will have a 33lb Rocna and 250' of rode on our 15,000lb displacement so well set up.

At South end of Vachon Island there is Quartermaster Harbor. Excellent is all I can say. Quiet, protected, 20’ over mud. About 5 nm off the beaten track but well worth the time and effort. There is no better protected anchorage in that area, IMHO. The entrance to Gig Hbr can be a bit narly if there is any current or wind at all.

 

[MikeHoncho]

Eagle Harbor, Bainbridge? If so I would go to Blakely Harbor just south of Eagle and anchor there. Eagle has a ferry terminal and is a ferry maintenance facility. It's not bad but Blakely is better and will give you a Seattle skyline view if you anchor on the south shore. South of that it is about a 3-hour motor to Gig harbor. Anchor in the middle. It's a busy harbor surrounded by populous. There is nothing between the northern tip of Vashon to Gig on the Colvos. Another option a little farther south of Blakely Harbor is Blake Island. There are morning balls on the north (I would use them), west (used them), and south (never used them. Blake Island has a bunch of walking paths to stretch your legs. I don't think the tribal interpretive center is open yet, at least it wasn't a couple of weeks ago.

When I did anchor in Eagle Harbor, Banbridge I did hook an abandoned cable. There is a zone for cable and we were well west of it. A little nerve-racking it was scorched and obviously shorted out long ago. All of my anchor points are well protected and I wouldn't worry about holding ability much.

 

[pipedream]

You can also use city docks at Eagle harbor and Gig harbor to get groceries or visit restaurants. Overnight on these docks is still reasonable. Kingston will loan the golf cart for groceries. The channel entering gig is deeper on the east side near the spit. our normal run from kingston is to Gig through colvos.

 

[jssailem]

Near time weather for your planning.

2022 PacificNW Weather Update

After all the doom and gloom, it is nice to share a bright dry future. Maybe. Take advantage when you can. Winter sailing can be fun. JS Friday January 14 Refill your Mug and read on for the latest weather outlook. Hint: not much of a change from our last sip. Overall, a dry pattern will...

forums.sailboatowners.com

 

[Hayden Watson]

But my delivery will be 5/4 & 5/5. From what I have seen, 5/5 is going to be buckets.

 

[Mark Maulden]

Us northerners don't often go down south!
Thanks for the replies. I have already been doing numerous "trips" on DeepZoom and that prompts the question. The first day in no problem. Anacortes to Kingston. Depart Anacortes 5/4/22 08:00 with an ebb tide down to Partridge Point. should arrive 1-2 hours early for change to flood so will need to hug the Whidbey shore for current relief in the eddies. Then pick up a nice flood to push us down to Kingson. Might end up going farther because that is 50kn of a 11km trip.
Day 2 (5/5/22) is the bigger problem. The Narrows are adverse from 08:30 to 15:00 and that is about halfway. If we are to do the trip in two days, it would take a very early start to get through before ebb or a very late arrival to go through with the flood. I do not know the Narrows so do not know if it is possible to go through against the current. Add to that the forecast 15+kt southerly it doesn't sound to good to me. In my old friend (Deception Pass) that is a fool's errand.

If southerlies are blowing, I would stay off shores of partridge bank as seas can get very choppy. Stay close to Smith Is and time so slack is when you arrive at Smith. If the southerlies are blowing with a good flood, keep east of pt. Wilson. Waters around pt. Wilson can get real gnarly.