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Natural Selection
by John Lund
Anacortes, Washington is more than a waypoint -- it’s a destination
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Anacortes, Washington’s central location -- smack-dab in the middle of prime Pacific Northwest cruising grounds, only minutes away from the San Juan Islands -- has made it a regional pleasureboating center.
For years, Anacortes has borne the handle “Gateway to the San Juan Islands” -- but times have changed. To make the point that Anacortes has moved past being a passageway to “somewhere else,” the city’s leaders have chosen a new slogan: “Anacortes -- A Natural Destination.”
We agree wholeheartedly.
Sure, Anacortes is a natural destination for Northwest boaters wanting anything relating to provisioning, boat maintenance and repair services, or filling up the fuel tanks. However, beyond that, Anacortes is a delightful place to visit and explore in its own right.
It is hard to tell whether tourists have discovered Anacortes to be the charming, historically rich waterfront community it is, or if Anacortes has discovered tourism. Whichever came first, the combination is working.
The town has restored its Victorian-era buildings to their turn-of-the-century splendor, endowing them with colorful, newly painted murals. Everywhere, signs of building and prosperity show that Anacortes has been discovered.
With a population of 15,000, Anacortes is Skagit County’s second largest city. Long known for its fishing, lumber and shipping industries -- and as the southern terminus for the ferry running to the San Juan Islands and, eventually, Sidney, British Columbia -- Anacortes has a huge number of people moving through town every year.
Anacortes’ location on Fidalgo Island -- equidistant from Seattle to the south and Vancouver, British Columbia to the north -- means there has always been a large amount of boat traffic for the city’s two major marinas that offer visitor moorage: Cap Sante Boat Haven and Skyline Marina. Hence, Anacortes really is a natural destination for most Northwest boaters.
Getting to Anacortes
To navigate the region, use NOAA charts #18427 and #18421.
Guemes Channel, between Guemes Island and north Fidalgo Island, is the main route to Cap Sante Boat Haven, which is operated by the Port of Anacortes. Many boaters journey north along Swinomish Channel from La Conner to Padilla Bay, following the channel until they pass Beacon 2. Then, they head to Cap Sante Waterway -- at the foot of the rocky bluff called Cap Sante.
Cap Sante Boat Haven
Once you’re through the gap in the breakwaters, turn to starboard, to reach C dock -- the guest and check-in dock.
For berth assignment, report to the harbor office, located a few steps to the right from the head of the dock. You’ll find harbormaster Dale Fowler and his staff are very congenial and helpful -- and the coffeepot is always on.
Cap Sante Boat Haven keeps between 150 and 200 of its 1,100 total slips available for use by visiting boaters. The fully modern marina can handle just about any vessel up to 135 feet, but large vessel owners should call ahead to book space.
This year, the marina will replace docks C and D, and later docks E and F, with new 8-foot-wide docks.
The docks are equipped with water and shore power hookups (20, 30 and 50 amp service, depending on the dock). The fuel station between C and B docks sells gasoline, diesel fuel and propane.
Ashore, you’ll find well-maintained restrooms, showers and laundry facilities. The marina has several pumpout stations and a portable toilet dump facility -- all operated at no charge. The port staff is justifiably proud of its nationally recognized Clean Marina Award.
Within the marina, you’ll find companies offering just about all the marine services a visiting boater might need. If you can’t find what you’re looking for, talk to the port staff: They will help you line up the parts or service you require.
Anacortes is a major boat building, marine outfitting and vessel repair center -- and it’s also a popular place to charter yachts. U.S. Customs clearance is also available here.
When in Anacortes
A large Safeway supermarket is less than a block away from Cap Sante Boat Haven. Here, you can pick up all the provisions you will need for your journey.
Walk another block and you’ll find yourself on Commercial Avenue, Anacortes’ main shopping street. It offers all kinds of restaurants, pubs, coffee houses, delis and interesting shops of all descriptions. Anacortes is known for the number and quality of its antique and gift shops along this stretch, so make sure you allow plenty of time to browse this district.
Stop first at the Anacortes Visitor Information Center, at Ninth and Commercial Avenue, where volunteers will help you plan your trips and supply maps and information about the region.
While walking, note the turn-of-the-century Victorian buildings that have been carefully painted and restored. Along the way, you can enjoy viewing more than 70 life-size murals, created by artist Bill Mitchell, decorating many building walls. Based on historic photographs, the murals portray people and events that have shaped the town.
A visit to the Anacortes Museum, housed in a circa-1910 Carnegie library building at Eighth and M, will fill you in on Anacortes’ colorful history. However, boaters will not want to miss a visit to an actual operating marine store -- Marine Supply and Hardware -- that is equally historic.
Located at Second and Commercial, Marine Supply and Hardware is housed in a building unlike any you have seen before. The rambling structure is on the National Register of Historic Places, and the business is the oldest marine supply company on the West Coast.
Shopping here is like taking a giant step back in time, in a friendly place with oiled floors, a wood stove and bins holding thousands of fascinating and historic items available for sale. This is a highly recommended stop.
Back toward Cap Sante Boat Haven, at Seventh and R, you’ll see the museum’s drydocked sternwheel snagboat W.T. Preston. Built in 1939 by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, to remove navigational hazards from inland waterways, the snagboat served mariners well until 1981. Now a National Historic Landmark, the vessel is open for self-guided tours on weekends during April and May, and daily from Memorial Day to Labor Day -- from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Across from W.T. Preston, the 1911-vintage Great Northern Depot is also a registered historic place. It is now home to The Depot Art Center and Gallery. On Saturdays during summer and early fall, bakers, farmers, gardeners and craftspeople gather at the depot to sell their wares at a Farmer’s Market. This is an excellent place to pick up some local treats for onboard meals or a picnic.
You can discover some nice parks and views right around Cap Sante Boat Haven. Walk to the top of Cap Sante Hill, and you can take in the area’s best view -- overlooking the marina, the town of Anacortes, the San Juan Islands and the harbor. If you are a boat watcher, this is a good place to watch the continuous parade of vessels passing by on any summer weekend.
A nice addition to the waterfront is South Harbor Park, next to Cap Sante Boat Haven. Here, you will find “Seafarer’s Memorial”, dedicated to seafarers lost at sea and the families that wait for them.
Nearby is a graceful statue called “Lady of the Sea”, sculpted by Deborah Copenhaves in 1994. The point alongside the breakwater is another good vantage point for boat watching.
Skyline Marina
Located at the northwest corner of Fidalgo Island, off Burrows Bay, you’ll find Skyline Marina on Flounder Bay. The bay is located about a mile east of Fidalgo Head, past steep rocky bluffs across from Burrows Island. Use Chart #18427 for this area.
Flounder Bay is a moorage area dredged for the Skyline real estate development -- and it is home to a pair of yacht charter companies: ABC Yacht Charters and Penmar Marine Co.
Skyline Marina is 4 miles from Anacortes (by land). It is the closest full-service marina to the San Juan Islands -- and it is just around the corner from Deception Pass, a major transit point for north/south boat traffic.
The Britton family owns and operates Penmar Marine Co., which operates a charter company, as well as Skyline Marina and its facilities. Free bus service is available at the marina to take visiting boaters to town.
Guest slips offer 20 and 30 amp shore power and water hookups. Restrooms, showers, laundry facilities and a pumpout station are nearby.
U.S. Customs clearance can be arranged with a telephone call. Gasoline, diesel fuel, propane and CNG are available at the marina fuel dock. Across the way is an enormous drying shed, which now serves as a boat repair facility and boat storage building.
The marina has a new 50 ton Travelift for launchings, haulouts and repairs. A marine supply store sells bait, tackle, charts, books and marine equipment. In addition, a grocery store -- Old Salts Market and Deli -- and Flounder Bay Cafe are close by.
Washington Park
Anacortes and the greater Fidalgo Island area has just about everything on a boater’s want list -- and trailerboaters are not left out.
Washington Park, located southwest of Shannon Park on Fidalgo Head, is an ideal jump-off point to the San Juan Islands for small boats. This 220 acre waterfront park and campground has a two-lane launch ramp with float and trailer parking. Although it has no overnight moorage, it offers 48 campsites, picnic tables, restrooms, showers, miles of hiking trails and some of the most spectacular summer sunsets you can imagine.
All this goes to show that the Anacortes area really is a natural destination -- and a natural attraction -- for boaters.
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This article first appeared in the July 1, 2002 issue of Sea Magazine. All or parts of the information contained in this article might be outdated. |
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