Mooring Buoy's in the San Juan Islands

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Harborseal

Harborseal

Member
Joined
Feb 29, 2024
Messages
19
Location
Anacortes WA
Where can a boater find where all the open {not private} mooring buoy's are in the San Juan Islands? We sometimes just like to snag a buoy for the night but not sure what is private or open to snag and stay the night
 
Maptech chartbook shows the locations as do various other chart sources and publications such as Waggoners Guide. Unless you are talking only a couple.of nights ever, I would invest in Waggoners for sure; and ideally Maptech too.

Be sure to check details about depth etc in such a publication. Some locations (e.g. Sucia Shallow Bay and Patos, just as two examples) have local conditions that are important to know (namely shallow water and strong currents, respectively, for those).
 
Although that page says, "All Puget Sound moorage sites are fist come, first served" ... it has never yet come to that (/just kidding).
 
I have heard that all the WA parks moorings are limited to 40 or 45' vessels, but reading the parks.wa.gov site I can't find that limit published anywhere. Where are the limits actually stated?
 
twistedtree said:
I have heard that all the WA parks moorings are limited to 40 or 45' vessels, but reading the parks.wa.gov site I can't find that limit published anywhere. Where are the limits actually stated?
Click to expand...
On the mooring ball itself.
 
Some bouys shown on the charts are not there. For instance there is nothing at James Island on the West side and all bouys at Doe Island were private last time I was there so a dock only. The ones at Cypress Head are not state park, rather are DNR so free. The state ones have status printed on them. No accurate master source I have found.
 
twistedtree said:
I have heard that all the WA parks moorings are limited to 40 or 45' vessels, but reading the parks.wa.gov site I can't find that limit published anywhere. Where are the limits actually stated?
Click to expand...
45' is the max length of boat on a mooring ball. I only remember that because I am 45'.

Boat moorage | Washington State Parks

parks.wa.gov parks.wa.gov
 
In Montague Harbour (BC Gulf Islands, so not in the San Juans) the Parks mooring buoys have a notice on each setting out the maximum size boat. I think that is 45 or 40 feet.
One early season visit to Montague I saw, on the beach, a complete mooring buoy, chain and anchor setup. I have no idea how it got there, but I was impressed by the light weight of the anchoring setup. They had used three half barrels of concrete, barrels cut on the long axis, with the chain embedded in the concrete. My guess is that is not enough to hold in any kind of wind, as the anchors would skate along the bottom.
My 44' boat weighs 44,000 lb, and when I tie to the mooring buoy in front of my home, I know it will stay put, with a single 5000 lb highway block holding it to the bottom. I have never tied to Parks buoys.
 
The 45 ft limit is about swing room as much as the equipment. I had a 42 ft boat on the waterline. Near 50 LOA and it was very tight swing room on some of the state park buoys.
 
tiltrider1 said:
Washington State Parks.
Click to expand...
Yes Washington State Parks just sent me a link ( parks.wa.gov ) and lists all the State Parks in San Juan Islands and where the mooring buoys are. Facts... need an annual pass $60 or pay as you go. When you hook up to a State Park buoy you need to call in, phone number and buoy number on the buoy. Only allow 3 nights on the same buoy.
 
Harborseal said:
Yes Washington State Parks just sent me a link ( parks.wa.gov ) and lists all the State Parks in San Juan Islands and where the mooring buoys are. Facts... need an annual pass $60 or pay as you go. When you hook up to a State Park buoy you need to call in, phone number and buoy number on the buoy. Only allow 3 nights on the same buoy.
Click to expand...
The call in is new to me. In the past you had to go ashore and register, even with a mooring ball pass. I used to use the mooring balls a lot with my Catalina 400 sailboat. I tend to anchor more now with the trawler.
 
I have not been to a SP buoy yet this year but in the past you just filled out a registration envelope. No phone. That is still what their website says: Moorage Permit | Washington State Parks Does anyone have experience with the phone system to report?

I would also note that phone reception is iffy or even non-existent at some locations (esp. San Juans). It can vary buoy to buoy! I recall on Sucia that we had zero bars on a buoy in Fossil Cove but full 5G with 100+ Mbps tested bandwidth on shore in the same cove ...because on shore we had line of sight to Eastbound while the buoy didn't. But I digress.

As for the annual fee is it $60 minimum. It is actually $5 per foot, so a 41 foot vessel would be $205. I assume they check vs. registration and/or visually. We have often observed a park ranger or other custodian visit every day.
 
There were a number of times when I had the annual pass and the requisite sticker on the boat, but due to nasty weather or a wonky dingy I didn't go ashore to fill out the registration. It was never an issue other than once when a Marine Parks Ranger reminded me of the requirement as he was checking the bouys.
 
Bouys in Fossil Bay and Ewing Cove have numbers and phone info and fair to marginal cell coverage, bouys in Prevost did not a few weeks ago.
The bouys state there is a $4.95 charge for using the phone-in registration
 
I don't know where someone saw $60 a year; annual permit for both moorings and dock is based on boat length.
There are also some county buoys in the SJ's.

Jack
 
JackConnick said:
I don't know where someone saw $60 a year; annual permit for both moorings and dock is based on boat length.
There are also some county buoys in the SJ's.

Jack
Click to expand...
Right. I think some folks misread the Parks page. It mentions $60 but that is the minimum amount. It's $5 per foot (but at least $60).

So unless someone is mooring a vessel under 12' that minimum is irrelevant!

Good call out on the County buoys. Also there are some marina/resort buoys at a few places such as Rosario (but not sure about this year, with their partial closure).
 
Rosario marina is open as is the Pub at the marina. The mooring balls were partially full 2 weeks ago and there were 2 slips available the night I stayed. Watmough bay is a nice spot with 2 country mooring balls but also is an easy anchorage in my experience.
 
mgreen said:
Watmough bay is a nice spot with 2 country mooring balls but also is an easy anchorage in my experience.
Click to expand...
I thought so too, but on our way up this year the west wind came up in the straits and howled in there. The SE corner is fouled with kelp and of course that's where we were...;-)
 
av8r said:
Bouys in Fossil Bay and Ewing Cove have numbers and phone info and fair to marginal cell coverage, bouys in Prevost did not a few weeks ago.
The bouys state there is a $4.95 charge for using the phone-in registration
Click to expand...
When we were in Prevost Harbor three weeks ago, two of the five Parks buoys were not available (taped off with signs saying no moorage). The anchorage was pretty full, and also the kelp beds have been expanding quite a bit in there. When we pulled up our anchor, we had a 300 lb ball of kelp on it. Be advised. I would go to Reid Harbor instead.
 
Ertyqway said:
When we were in Prevost Harbor three weeks ago, two of the five Parks buoys were not available (taped off with signs saying no moorage). The anchorage was pretty full, and also the kelp beds have been expanding quite a bit in there. When we pulled up our anchor, we had a 300 lb ball of kelp on it. Be advised. I would go to Reid Harbor instead.
Click to expand...
This is interesting to know. The buoys in Prevost have always worried me in general. Last time we used them, a couple of them (NW of the dock) seemed uncomfortably close to rocky shallows, while another was pretty close to the dock itself. Not dangerously, just a bit odd. So maybe they will be moving them?

Good to know about the kelp, too! Have only anchored in Reid.
 
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