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A Small-town Seaport
by John Lund
Anacortes, Washington is a boater's gateway to the San Juans
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Anacortes' three most important attributes have always been "location, location, location" -- situated as it is, just minutes from the incredible cruising grounds of the San Juans and Gulf Islands.
Its "Gateway to the San Juans" designation is well deserved, but it is much more than a place to pass through on the way to somewhere else.
Recent waterfront developments, particularly the Port of Anacortes' immensely popular Cap Sante Boat Haven and marina complex, have made this historic seaport village a frequent destination for visiting boaters. And an influx of new retail shops, restaurants, art galleries and even a micro brewery, into the revitalized downtown has added much to the small-town ambience.
With five excellent marinas that offer a total of 2,300 slips and 10 professional yacht charter firms with a combined fleet of 500 power and sailboats in their combined fleets, Anacortes is definitely boating-oriented. In fact, boat owners come from all over the Northwest to have their boats repaired, maintained, equipped, and even built here, because Anacortes has everything a boater could ever need to get ready for another season cruising among the islands.
An Island Getaway
Boaters cruising to Anacortes will need NOAA Chart #18427, which covers Padilla Bay, Guemes Channel, Flounder Bay and Deception Pass to Skagit Bay. Anacortes is spread across the northern shores of Fidalgo Island.
Anacortes is also easily reached by car: Trailerboaters or those chartering a boat here can turn off I-5 at Exit 230 and travel west on Highway 20, crossing the Duane Berentson Bridge, which spans Swinomish Channel. From the south, the Deception Pass Bridge joins Fidalgo and Whidbey Island, and it is an easy, scenic drive.
The city is the eastern terminus of the Washington State Ferry system, serving the San Juan Islands and Vancouver Island. About 2 million people a year ride the system through what is often called one of the world's most scenic ferry passages.
The original settlement upon which Anacortes was built had several early names, but the most appropriate was Ship Harbor, given by the pioneers who landed here in the 1850s.
It was 1876 when Amos Bowman, a civil engineer, surveyed the town and built the Anna Curtis Post Office, named after his wife. Over time, the settlement's name changed to Anacortes -- in keeping with Spanish-named Fidalgo Island -- and it became a bustling port city.
Today, ships large and small keep coming.
Boaters approaching Cap Sante Boat Haven will see freighters loading at the town docks and at the March Point Texaco refinery, or anchored several abreast near Hat Island. In addition to petroleum, coke, lumber and project cargo, the Port of Anacortes is vying for cruise ship business.
Just how active a boating port is Anacortes?
You can find out for yourself by taking an easy hike from the marina to the top of Cap Sante Hill, overlooking the harbor and downtown to the southwest. The view is spectacular in all directions: The island to the north is Guemes Island, and more of the San Juans are scattered to the west.
On any summer day, Cap Sante is the place to watch the parade of boats coming and going as they follow the channel markers at its foot. At midmorning on a weekend, Cap Sante Marine's Shell fuel dock usually has a line, and the port's guest area at "C" Dock is backed up with boaters receiving slip assignments.
Cap Sante Boat Haven has restrooms, showers, a coin laundry, free holding tank pumpout and water and electricity at each berth. The harbor has a reservation system: Overnight moorage is $1 per foot, reserved; 55 cents per foot, unreserved. Contact the harbor office on VHF Channel 66A, or call (206) 293-0694.
Just about anything visiting boaters will need can be found within walking distance of Cap Sante. At the head of the dock, several stores, restaurants (even a pizza place for the kids) and chandleries can meet immediate needs -- and within a block or two, there is a liquor store and two large grocery stores for provisioning. Downtown, just six blocks away, visitors will find a wealth of shopping and fine dining opportunities, along with several art galleries for browsing.
Downtown Anacortes' turn of the century buildings have been carefully refurbished, and many are adorned with murals that tell stories of the town's past. Above the harbor is another piece of living history: the Anacortes Railway. Lovingly built over 20 years by Anacortes' Tommy Thompson, it's a scaled-down 0-4-4 Forney-type coal/wood-burning steam locomotive that pulls three
passenger cars.
Also near the marina, three parks offer still more to do and see. But the major nearby attraction is the 163 foot W.T. Preston, the last and best known of the Puget Sound sternwheel-snagboats that -- beginning in the 1880s -- cleared the waterways of debris. In 1972, this one was entered on the National Register of Historic Places.
Cap Sante is the homeport of the U.S. Coast Guard cutter Point Richmond. Its private dock is next to "T" Dock, and Coast Guard offices are on shore a few feet away.
Curiously, Cap Sante yacht basin has no boat launching ramp. To put your boat in here, you must pay a launch fee to have Cap Sante Marine lift it off its trailer.
Perhaps a new marina and RV park that is being planned next to South Harbor Park will include a new launch ramp. Until then, the closest ramp is at the southwestern part of town, at Washington Park on Rosario Strait.
The 1,100 slip Cap Sante Boat Haven is Anacortes' only public marina. However, four privately operated marinas are nearby: Anacortes Marina; Fidalgo Marina, on Fidalgo Bay; Wyman's Marina, on Guemes Channel (under the painted smokestack by Boomer's Landing Restaurant); and Skyline Marina, on Flounder Bay.
Of the four, only Skyline Marina offers guest moorage and complete facilities for visiting boats -- along with a 35 ton Travelift for haulouts and repairs, and an 80,000 square foot covered dry storage area that was originally a plywood mill.
The 700-slip Skyline Marina has accommodations for about 30 boats a night. Contact the harbormaster on VHF Channel 16, or call (206) 293-5134.
Whether a stop at Anacortes is at the beginning or the end of your cruise, you'll find that any voyage to the "Gateway City" is worth a shoreside visit of several days -- even if you're just passing through.
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This article first appeared in the November 1, 1994 issue of Sea Magazine. All or parts of the information contained in this article might be outdated. |
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