South Puget Sound

Most PNW cruisers, including us, typically head north to the San Juans and beyond. Last week we headed south under the Tacoma Narrows Bridge to explore the South Sound. This area is more protected from winds and, despite small craft advisories in Puget Sound, the waters were relatively calm. We stopped at the Longbranch Marina first and were the only transient boat. In fact there was only one other person and two dogs in this small marina. We self registered and enjoyed the quiet evening. Then we went to Olympia for two nights, took the tour of the state capitol building, and walked around town. Then on to Jarrell Cove State Marine Park for two nights. We got a spot on the dock as it was wide open this time of year. Not one boat was on a buoy and there are about a dozen of them. Then to Tacoma to wait out a passing storm before going back to Seattle. We both really enjoyed the serenity and rural feeling of the South Sound and will be returning for more exploring in the future.

drb1025 said:

Most PNW cruisers, including us, typically head north to the San Juans and beyond. Last week we headed south under the Tacoma Narrows Bridge to explore the South Sound.

Click to expand...

I've often wondered what the South Sound has to offer. It looks like it was well worth the trip. It seems that almost everyone goes north!

drb that's exactly were we plan to go when we finish fitting out Willy.

The Willard rendezvous is May 8-10 and after that we should be out and about. I plan to anchor in Quartermaster Hbr, go up Hammersley Channel to Shelton, Little Skookum Inlet and several other places. Looking fwd to it.

Nice trip report, thanks for that

Funny you mention Shelton Eric as it has made it to our shortlist of places to look for a retirement shack.

When we eventually make the trip around the coast we definitely want to do the south sound. We'll make that the last 2-3 weeks of the all-summer-long cruise. Beautiful country exists all over the sound and we're anxious to go.

drb1025 said:

Most PNW cruisers, including us, typically head north to the San Juans and beyond.

Click to expand...

For us the choice is based on development and topography. We've explored the south sound a fair amount in the floatplane over the years and while the south sound definitely has a nice, gentle, benign atmosphere about it, we find it too developed for our taste and the topography a bit too non-existant.

Anyway, both engines in our boat automatically shut down if we try to take it south of Anacortes so that pretty much eliminates that area from our cruising wish list.

But it's worth checking out if one has never been there at all.

WE head south at least a couple of times each year. We stop in Gig Harbor, nice little town, some good food. We get to Tacoma for the Glass Museum and the Zoo/Aquarium. As was noted, a lot of the area is pretty rural, with some great anchorages. It is a nice change from the Sound from Seattle north. Another area we go when we only have a day or so, not really south but west of Seattle is over to Liberty Bay and Poulsbo. Nice Norwegian themed town, nice city marina with a waterfront park and usually things happening every weekend during the summer. Makes for a nice, close getaway.

Despite the urban and industrial development, one can often/easily find niches of pastoral life in the SF Bay Area, such as this dog protecting its sheep flock along the Petaluma River (a slough):





Undoubtedly, similar pleasant scenes can be found in southern Puget Sound.

Mark that picture looks almost like it could have been taken in Ireland. Looks like a great place for hang gliding but prolly too many fences and T poles.

Marin your picture of rocks certainly is not South Sound. Very nice pic though. Can't say I don't wanna go back there either. As to development the South Sound could well be less developed than your San Juan Is. More like the pic above and less like Friday Hbr.

A friend of ours stayed a winter at Swan Town in Olympia. They spent the winter checking things out and stated they never knew how nice it was. South sound is on our list of things to see.

Marin, you can go with us and we will blindfold you boat so she won't know she is south!

DRB
The South Sound can become very busy in the "cruising season." Early Spring is a great non busy time to get out and explore these areas especially if you have diesel heat and a rainproof seaworthy craft.

Similar to Marin's engine difficulties, our diesel filter vacuum gauges start climbing when we go South of say Turn Point.

If we keep posting about the South Sound it will get too crowded mums the word. Is not Shelton a long way up a very narrow channel? That of course may be its appeal.

And shallow...

Chart 18457

manyboats said:

T poles.

Marin your picture of rocks certainly is not South Sound. Very nice pic though. Can't say I don't wanna go back there either. As to development the South Sound could well be less developed than your San Juan Is. More like the pic above and less like Friday Hbr.

Click to expand...

Eric-- You're correct. My photo is not from south Sound. It's a illustration of the terrain we prefer and why we find the south Sound very boring in terms of scenery.

The San Juans are way overdeveloped, too, in our opinions. Which is why the places we go there are mostly private access and not open to the general public. By our standards things don't start getting really nice until one is up into BC.

dhmeissner,
I concur .. must stay aware but Hammersley Channel is a walk in the park compared to Rocky Pass in SE AK. With GPS and two sounders should be able to come and go at low water. Willy's draft is 3.5'.


Marin'
On Prince of Wales Is due to the ever present cabin fever people would say "gotta get off the rock". And if one is observant one will notice that most everywhere in SE there isn't much on top of the rock .. bedrock that is. So calling POW a rock may be somewhat of a joke but in reality it's 999% pure fact. It's almost still a little strange living down here where you can actually dig down into the ground. The "rock" gets old after quite awhile so now South Sound seems very friendly and I won't expect to find any bedrock. And really easy anchoring except for making sure there's water everywhere in our swinging area and not mentioning other boats. At least we won't be 10' up in the air on top of a very big pointed rock that may or may not have penetrated the hull. And your boat may or may not ... fall over.

Avoid south sound at all costs. Reports of pirates off Devil's Head are circulating. Ok, just trying to keep it all to myself. It is quiet, uncrowded and rural with great scenery. Just don't tell anyone else.

Craig wrote;
"Funny you mention Shelton Eric as it has made it to our shortlist of places to look for a retirement shack."

When we moved to Alaska that's where we started looking for a place to live. We coulda just stopped there as Sheldon isn't that much different that Thorne Bay.

I think the slugs get bigger the closer you get to Olympia

They are real small up here .. only 1 1/8" long.

So you're claim may be true.

When our Camano was new, 2005, we were cruising the south Sound and decided to travel up Hammersley to Shelton. On an ebb tide. A very low ebb tide. We decided we needed to spend the night in Shelton after seeing less than 2 feet of water under the keel in places. Found a nice Mexican restaurant and had a peaceful night at the marina.

What's the predominant bottom composition in the south sound? Mud, rock? Skinny muddy bottoms I'm completely comfortable with, rocky may be a bit different.

BlueYonder said:

I think the slugs get bigger the closer you get to Olympia

Click to expand...

If you want to see the REALLY large slugs, wander around the halls of the Capitol buildings.

CPseudonym said:

What's the predominant bottom composition in the south sound? Mud, rock? Skinny muddy bottoms I'm completely comfortable with, rocky may be a bit different.

Click to expand...

The bottom is mostly mud. There are a few sandy and rocky areas, but predominantly you will anchor in a mud bottom.

Yup stay away from the south Sound. The last time I was in Budd Inlet I ended up waiting out the tide in the mud. South of Priest Point in Budd Inlet there is very little water at low tide. In my defense, that trip was a bit before GPS and the fog was the arm's length variety.

In addition to being narrow and shallow, Hammersley Inlet has some pretty good currents.

Definitely stay in the marked channels in Budd Inlet. It's tempting to travel right down the middle, but there are shallow places. I've seen local sailors out in the middle but they probably know where the shallow spots are. The South Sound has some beautiful scenery and Olympia has one of the best farmer's markets we've been to. I think it's an area worth seeing, if only one time.

We spent the better part of a summer cruising the south sound and Hood Canal shooting video for our WA State Marine Parks Cruising Guides (Volume 2). It is quite a departure from the more familiar and desirable cruising grounds in the islands and beyond, but we thoroughly enjoyed our time down there. For one thing it was like being on a lake most of the time. And all the larger boats we encountered were heading north.

We always recommend visiting Hope Island State Park (the southern one, not the one up by Deception Pass). Only an hour out of Olympia, it has some historical features (and old farmhouse) and a very nice, long walk around the island. Very peaceful, yet so close to the state capitol.

The other thing we recommend for south sound cruising is belonging to a yacht club. The reciprocal opportunities are very good from Seattle south. Because we were "working", it was nice to be able to grab a slip every third day or so and have computers running all day to get caught up.