Mooring buoys in Puget Sound

D

Dene

New member
An aside before I get to my question. The 27' Devlin Trawler we are likely buying tomorrow is set up beautifully for winter boondocking, thanks to a 1k inverter, Aspar diesel heater, propane stove, and Livingston dinghy with motor.

So....we plan on mooring up to buoys vs. the docks during out winter adventures.

Through MS live search, I did a birds eye view of various harbors around Bainbridge Isle. and noted that most harbors have mooring buoys. Are these for the public to use? Is there a site that indicates where all of them are?

TIA.

-Greg
 
Usually there is a mix of public and private mooring buoys at boating recreation sites. There are state owned buoys for public use at almost all the marine state parks with a small fee ($10) for overnight use. I don't know of any publication that has them all on a single list but cruising guides such as Waggoner's include buoys in their descriptions of various locations, you just have to check location by location.
 
This web site provides an interactive map that lets you locate boat ramps and moorage facilities in WA state water. Once you have the map centered and zoomed in on the area of interest, scroll to the bottom and the facilities are listed. Click on the facility and it tells you what they have.
 
Greg,
Simple answer to your question: All the marine state parks listed on their site have buoys open for a fee. Instructions are generally written on each buoy. Just about everything else is a private buoy. These are mostly a white ball with a blue stripe and should be left alone.
There are two parks on Bainbridge but I do not recommend either for overnight. Both are in very rough water. Blake and Illahee are more sheltered. For anchoring we prefer Port Madison, but there is no access to land.
We use the state parks annual pass. That way we don't have to carry around the correct change.
DNR has free buoys at Cypress Island.
Over the years we have been to most of these parks so if you have any questions just ask.
 
Auklet":1z2layc7 said:
Greg,
Simple answer to your question: All the marine state parks listed on their site have buoys open for a fee. Instructions are generally written on each buoy. Just about everything else is a private buoy. These are mostly a white ball with a blue stripe and should be left alone.
There are two parks on Bainbridge but I do not recommend either for overnight. Both are in very rough water. Blake and Illahee are more sheltered. For anchoring we prefer Port Madison, but there is no access to land.
We use the state parks annual pass. That way we don't have to carry around the correct change.
DNR has free buoys at Cypress Island.
Over the years we have been to most of these parks so if you have any questions just ask.
Click to expand...

Thanks a bunch. That answers it about the white, private buoys. I wish Washington would duplicate Oregon's laws about beach and waterways. Namely, all beaches, all floating docks and bouys, are public property.

-Greg
 
Dene":1140u6ci said:
Thanks a bunch. That answers it about the white, private buoys. I wish Washington would duplicate Oregon's laws about beach and waterways. Namely, all beaches, all floating docks and bouys, are public property.
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Ocean beaches are all public. Not so sure about "beaches" on rivers, unless you are below the high water mark.

Pretty sure floats can be private ... think of the float houses on the Columbia. Not positive mooring buoys can be private, although if a person has a lease from the State for the land on which the buoy is anchored, I bet they can claim the buoy is private.

Maybe someone more knowledgeable about the legal status of these things than me can help out.
 
You are correct about boathouses and docks. However, I think Oregon law prohibits private use and placement of floating docks. Else...you'd see them everywhere on the lakes.

A question was posed to me privately about people abusing access to beaches or buoys, namely "having a kegger in one's front yard". My answer is as follows...

"Good question. I'll address that in the forum too. Basically, the water belongs to all and all should have access to it.

If there is a kegger, then that falls under disorderly conduct. Boaters could anchor, raft up, and cause the same problem.

The vast majority would use the beach and buoy in a respectful way. They shouldn't be penalized by the behavior of a few, if any."

-Greg
 
Most beaches in oregon are public, unless on a navigable stream, then time of recording will dictate. Docks and buoys are usually private. DSL has started to enforce the creation of them, doing aerial studies to see who is out there and making them acquire leases. Marine facilities are usually public, but a lot are developed privately and maintained privately. I know of no public buoys in oregon, but I could be wrong. If they are in place in a lake or river then they should be under a lease, but not all have been gathered into the system. But I wouldn't want to challenge someone over whether their buoy is actually legal.
 
Dene":3jebo8ex said:
You are correct about boathouses and docks. However, I think Oregon law prohibits private use and placement of floating docks. Else...you'd see them everywhere on the lakes.
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Well, perhaps the regulation is different on the Columbia, because there are several down here, typically as part of a long-existing private water access structure. Pretty sure all the ones I know of are on leased state lands (underwater or tidally affected). Several on interior waterways of Puget Island, some on the Prairie Channel, some on the Clifton Channel. etc. Not all are associated with houseboats. I can not think of an isolated float, right offhand, but I think I have seen them.
 
AstoriaDave":ebvdfol2 said:
Dene":ebvdfol2 said:
You are correct about boathouses and docks. However, I think Oregon law prohibits private use and placement of floating docks. Else...you'd see them everywhere on the lakes.
Click to expand...
Well, perhaps the regulation is different on the Columbia, because there are several down here, typically as part of a long-existing private water access structure. Pretty sure all the ones I know of are on leased state lands (underwater or tidally affected). Several on interior waterways of Puget Island, some on the Prairie Channel, some on the Clifton Channel. etc. Not all are associated with houseboats. I can not think of an isolated float, right offhand, but I think I have seen them.
Click to expand...

Right....I've seen them too. We moored up to one near Cathlamet. However, though they are privately placed, anybody can use them.
At least that's what I've always believed.

-Greg
 
That's an interesting area down there in the columbia estuary. I was always curious how those floating houses got placed there, but am willing to bet the state is collecting something on them. I can't recall seeing any mooring buoys there, or pretty much anywhere else in the state.
 
For what follows, I am referring to islands below Puget, and above the two Sand Islands near Ilwaco.

The float houses were placed by locals, many of them gillnetting families, many years ago, when nobody was regulating piling placement, sewage disposal, etc. There used to be many more than what your see today, including some sizable structures on land. In those days, none of the islands were part of a refuge, either. A few were private (Tenasillahee, for example). All of the islands except for a couple small disconnected accretions (from dredge spoils) are USFWS Refuge lands and are off-limits to overnight occupation currently, although I think there is one parcel on Marsh that was grandfathered in; there is one structure there, maybe another. Tenasillahee was acquired by the Feds in the early 1970's, the dairy structures were removed, and the pasturage was leased to a cattle operation, mainly to keep the grasslands open for better habitat for Columbia white tailed deer. [One day 10 years ago I ran across a guy in his 80's or 90's at Aldrich Point, who lived on Tenasillahee in the 1920's, before they had any refrigeration, and they converted all of their dairy out put to cheese and butter, marketing it via the steamer which came calling. He had some interesting tales to tell.]

All of the underwater lands on the OR side below to the State of Oregon, and the State can issue leases (and collect fees for the lease, typically very long-term). Restrictions on placing new piling make it virtually impossible to add any float houses, so that the floathouses you see now represent the relict population from days gone past. They can be bought and sold; the lease goes with the property.

Each float house is required to display a state plate, indicating the float house is permitted. I believe most have straight shot waste disposal, but I could be wrong on that. Some of the floathouses inside the John Day River (just above Tongue Point) I know are required to have holding tanks and are not allowed to discharge.

I think the County had some involvement in these things years ago, but they are now out of the loop.
 
It would be kinda neat to have one of those places out in the middle of nowhere. Just sit on the porch, admire your c-dory, and strum that banjo.
 
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