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Old 08-01-2019, 05:03 PM   #1
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South Puget Sound marinas (closest to Portland)

My wife and I are thinking of getting back into boating. We live in the Portland OR area but I’m thinking I’d rather keep a boat someplace in the south Puget Sound area to have better access to cruising grounds that aren’t the Columbia River. We last owned a boat when we lived in Juneau AK where I had a 27’ SeaSport Seamaster moored in the downtown harbor that we used for fishing, diving, and weekend adventures.

I’m thinking of buying a larger trawler or tug like a Nordic Tug or American Tug to keep in Puget Sound for cruising the sound and SE Alaska. I’m guessing there must be other Portlanders who have thought about this and know which are the most convenient marinas in the South Sound for easiest access from Portland. I’m thinking Olympia or on up towards Shelton along 101 that would avoid the I-5 Puget Sound commuter traffic between Olympia and Seattle and points north.

This is a long term project so don’t need anything right away. But if there is a perfect marina for Portlanders up there that is worth getting on a wait list I’d like to know about it. I’d rather not have to drive through the Seattle area every time I want to get to the boat.

Or do Portlanders just keep their boats in Portland and run around the outer coast? That seems a LONG way around through some pretty open water.
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Old 08-01-2019, 05:29 PM   #2
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Unless you are intent on cruising south Puget Sound as your main boating activity (not that that's a bad thing), even with rush hour traffic, driving a car will be faster and always less expensive than getting north by boat.
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Old 08-01-2019, 05:45 PM   #3
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There are several nice marinas in Olympia. Swantown is one I’ve visited and enjoyed. The south sound has lots of cruising destinations, however, if you are looking at cruising farther north, it becomes incremental. If the central sound is the focus, then Elliot Bay is a great choice followed by Shilshole. The downside is unless you can choose your time, traffic is going to be ugly. Edmonds and Everett are also nice if you want to get a bit farther and can be mean an hour or more of getting to the boat. For a long distance owner, Dagmars in Everett is an excellent choice but you will be limited to 25,000 pounds of boat and 38’ of length. This may limit your choices of trawlers and if if they are appealing to you, it best to call them. They will tell you a 38xx Bayliner is about the largest the forklifts will handle. The advantage is the boat is stored on the hard. Launching is included in the rate as is power and the only time launching is an issue is when the tide is lower than +2.5’.
One thing about Olympia, stay in the marked channels. There are lots of mudflats for careening, but that’s not usually the reason boaters end up there.
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Old 08-01-2019, 06:23 PM   #4
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I agree with George. I used to live in Portland and kept my boat on the Columbia River. We were on the waiting lists in Port Townsend and Port Hadlock. I figured I'd rather spend two extra hours in the car as opposed to two days bringing the boat just up to Port Townsend from Olympia, THEN crossing the Strait to get to the islands...

But then, the South Sound is a pleasant area to cruise. Olympia would be fine if you're not trying to get into the islands or Canada on limited time.
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Old 08-01-2019, 06:53 PM   #5
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Thanks guys. Lots to think about. The other option, of course, would be to put it in the Columbia. There are several marinas on the WA side near where we live in Camas. We’d use it more on weekends exploring the Columbia but then getting up to Puget Sound and SE Alaska would be the real battle.

At the moment I’m a teacher so have summers off but my wife is a physician so limited vacation time. But she does have the possibility of doing remote tele-medicine via her employer so we could do some cruising and she could work provided we had robust telecommunications.

The best plan may be to start in Portland then eventually move it up further north as we evolve towards more free time. We have one child starting her senior year of college and the other two are starting 8th and 11th grade but will hopefully going to college in Western WA so we could put a boat up there and have a weekend home situation for visiting the girls in college if they are in Tacoma, Seattle, or Bellingham for school.
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Old 08-01-2019, 07:43 PM   #6
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The best plan may be to start in Portland then eventually move it up further north as we evolve towards more free time.
That makes a lot of sense, IMO.
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Old 08-01-2019, 08:07 PM   #7
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If the boat is 35 foot or smaller it is easy to move the boat from the Columbia to Olympia by truck for extended vacations north. A couple of hours and you are there vs 3 days down the river, up the coast, down the Strait. Also much cheaper than the fuel you’ll burn on the outside. We did this with our 32 footer, went outside with our 45 and 60 footers and now keep our boat in BC.
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Old 08-01-2019, 08:31 PM   #8
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So what would be the largest trailerable tug style trawler on the market? If one were to keep a boat in Portland but want to be able to reasonably haul it up to Puget Sound once or twice a year? Ranger Tug R31?
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Old 08-01-2019, 09:08 PM   #9
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Camasonian, if you're getting back into boating after a time away and want to get used to your boat, consider a cruise UP the river instead of down the river.


You're about 215 miles downriver from where we are and it's a beautiful trip coming up the river. Then, from here, you have about 150 miles up the Snake River to the Lewiston, ID/Clarkston, WA area.


We've made the trip to PDX from here 3 times and enjoyed it every time.
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Old 08-01-2019, 09:41 PM   #10
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There is a yacht club on the Columbia River that used to bring their 30 to 40 foot boats up to Olympia on trailers towed by big rigs. We saw them launching the boats on the boat ramp at Swan Town..

I don't remember the club's name but there can't be that many yacht clubs in Portland.

If you decide to keep the boat in Puget Sound, the west side of the sound has less people and traffic. Plus moorage tends to be a lot less expensive.

Port Orchard, Bremerton, Poulsbo and Port Townsend are large marinas with waiting lists but each of those towns have independent marinas too. Those towns also have yacht clubs with moorage and boathouses for lease or purchase. Some of those yacht clubs have very inexpensive moorage, haul out facilities and other amenities.
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Old 08-01-2019, 10:25 PM   #11
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Camasonian, if you're getting back into boating after a time away and want to get used to your boat, consider a cruise UP the river instead of down the river.


You're about 215 miles downriver from where we are and it's a beautiful trip coming up the river. Then, from here, you have about 150 miles up the Snake River to the Lewiston, ID/Clarkston, WA area.


We've made the trip to PDX from here 3 times and enjoyed it every time.
There’s a thought. I spent the first 15 years of my adult life working mostly at sea in Alaska. So for me boating has always been salt water. Then my wife’s career brought us to central Texas and we fell out of it and started raising kids. Now that we are back in the Northwest the boating urge is coming back. But I’m guessing there is enough to do with a boat in Portland.
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Old 08-02-2019, 09:26 AM   #12
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Are you Oregon or Washington residents? Big tax advantage if your Oregon.
We moored our boat on Hayden Island for the last 5 years when we weren’t cruising. Several trips up North and a nice trip last year up the river to Lewiston and back.
We found the moorage more available, less restrictive and a lot less expensive than Puget Sound.
But were retired and tend to cruise extensively, 7-8 months at a time. We spent the first year outfitting ours and cruising the Columbia. I would recommend getting the boat and spend some time making it yours and the closer to home, the better.
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Old 08-02-2019, 09:59 AM   #13
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Not trying to plug my own marina, but Des Moines Marina has lots of covered moorage and mostly reasonable waiting lists for boats less than 40'. It is also about a 10 minute uber ride from SeaTac airport. It is also south of Seattle, so you'd only have the Tacoma traffic to contend with if driving.
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Old 08-02-2019, 10:58 AM   #14
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Not trying to plug my own marina, but Des Moines Marina has lots of covered moorage and mostly reasonable waiting lists for boats less than 40'. It is also about a 10 minute uber ride from SeaTac airport. It is also south of Seattle, so you'd only have the Tacoma traffic to contend with if driving.
Des Moines Marina is in a great location. We had a slip there in the 80's and we still belong to the Des Moines Yacht Club.

There is a waiting list and the moorage is expensive.

I would not moor in Des Moines.

The Des Moines City Council diverts the money from the marina income to fund non marina expenses. They have neglected maintenance on the docks for years. The covered moorage framing is steel and rusting. The rust drops on the boats, leaving rust stains. Complaints have been lodged but no response from the city.

Many boat owners have large tarps fabricated and hung from the rafters to catch the rust. The city requires the tarp material to meet fire department code so expensive non flammable vinyl tarp material is utilized. Cost for a 50 foot slip tarp was $6,000, installed.

The city council looks at the marina as a cash cow. They recently started charging for parking in the marina parking lot. They give out passes to moored people but guest have to pay, even though their taxes built the marina.

However, despite the poor city government, the marina management and staff are great.
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Old 08-02-2019, 11:52 AM   #15
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Are you Oregon or Washington residents? Big tax advantage if your Oregon.
We moored our boat on Hayden Island for the last 5 years when we weren’t cruising. Several trips up North and a nice trip last year up the river to Lewiston and back.
We found the moorage more available, less restrictive and a lot less expensive than Puget Sound.
But were retired and tend to cruise extensively, 7-8 months at a time. We spent the first year outfitting ours and cruising the Columbia. I would recommend getting the boat and spend some time making it yours and the closer to home, the better.
We are Washington residents. We live just east of Vancouver WA in Camas WA about 5-10 minutes from this marina:
https://portcw.com/marina/ which has a wait list and both covered and uncovered slips. Most of the larger ones are covered.

Which is preferred for the Pacific Northwest? Covered or uncovered? The price is $296/mo for a 40 ft covered and $203/mo for a 40 ft uncovered. Looks like you have to pay to get on each wait list for each size slip.

I’m sure there is a tax bite to keeping the boat in the WA side of the river and that is probably why all the big marinas are on the OR side. But I think the convenience of having the boat super close would outweigh having to cross the I-5 or I-205 bridge every time to get to the boat.
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Old 08-02-2019, 12:05 PM   #16
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Thanks guys. Lots to think about.

the other two are starting 8th and 11th grade but will hopefully going to college in Western WA so we could put a boat up there and have a weekend home situation for visiting the girls in college if they are in Tacoma, Seattle, or Bellingham for school.
Good plan. We have a daughter at U. of Puget Sound; boat in Tacoma. We manage to do a long weekend every 4-6 weeks.Boat is excellent accommodation and we can combine boat maintenance with daughter maintenance.

If course, when she starts law school, we'll need to move to Lake Union.
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Old 08-02-2019, 12:32 PM   #17
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South Puget Sound marinas (closest to Portland)

I live in Tacoma and have boated in Puget Sound from the Tacoma/Gig Harbor area most of my life. In general, I think the idea of mooring the boat in Puget Sound is a good one. A few thoughts...

Olympia is great, but being at the southern most end of the Sound, it means at least 2 days to get to the Straits. That isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it adds at least 4-5 days of travel if you are heading to the Islands or points north.

I would never keep a boat on the east side north of Tacoma if I had to travel from the south to get to it. The traffic is truly bad, and getting worse. It is bad enough between Olympia and Portland, but is exponentially worse north of Olympia. Tacoma would be a stretch, although there is a lot of moorage available in the Tacoma area.

I would look at the west side of the Sound. Gig Harbor, Port Orchard, Bremerton, Poulsbo, Kingston, Port Ludlow, and Port Townsend are all possibilities and there are plenty more.

I drive to Oregon a lot and it is 2:30 to 3:00 hours from south Tacoma to Portland depending on traffic. However, if there is any kind of problem, it can take longer. If you are on the west side of the Sound, you can cut towards Shelton and go up the east side and avoid much of the heavy traffic, particularly weekends. From Kingston and Poulsbo south to Tacoma you have all the Sound at your doorstep and get get to the Straits, or across them in a long day depending on current.

Again, lots of good marinas on the east side north of Tacoma all the way to Anacortes. The problem is you just can’t get there from here.
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Old 08-02-2019, 12:49 PM   #18
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Good plan. We have a daughter at U. of Puget Sound; boat in Tacoma. We manage to do a long weekend every 4-6 weeks.Boat is excellent accommodation and we can combine boat maintenance with daughter maintenance.

If course, when she starts law school, we'll need to move to Lake Union.
Totally OT but how have you liked UPS? It’s on our list to visit this summer along with Reed, Lewis & Clark, Whitman, UW, WWU, etc. Reed and UW are my alma maters so I don’t know much about any of the other schools. She’s very bright but pretty interdisciplinary with interests in both environmental issues and graphic/computer arts. So having a hard time finding a place to suit her. Other two are much easier as they know exactly what they want to do in life. This one not so much.
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Old 08-02-2019, 08:11 PM   #19
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She started at Oregon State and it was a terrible fit. UPS has been a stellar experience. Beautiful campus, stimulating faculty. There are some subtleties about the management of the place that one doesn't discover until you get there, for just one example: the college owns all the Greek houses.


She has just come home from a grant-funded undergraduate research project in Ulster.
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Old 08-03-2019, 08:43 AM   #20
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I live in Lacey (just east of Olympia) and keep my Nordic Tug 37 at Zittels Marina at the north end of Johnson Point. I prefer this location over Swantown (downtown Oly) for many reasons. There have been several folks from Vancouver/Portland who have been at this marina.

Swantown advantages
Downtown for hotels, restaurants and groceries
Access to marine services
Better access to West Marine (on west side of Oly)

Swantown disadvantages
No covered moorage
Long slow transit of Budd Bay to go anywhere

Zittel's advantages
Location - EZ access to south sound marine destinations
covered moorage available
Generally good views from slips and docks
Good service from family owned business

Zittel's disadvantages
Location - a few miles from restaurants and grocery stores
Winter power outages
Pump out a la cart

Hope this helps.
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