South Swinomish Channel, North Puget Sound

[billr]

If you boat in the San Jaun Islands, you are probably familiar with the Deception Pass area, and maybe the Swinomish Channel (the saltwater river that separates FidalgoIsland from the mainland.   During the last 3 summers  have been re-fitting my boat which is on the hard near the south entrance of the channel.  It amazes me how many boats run aground in that channel at low tide.   Most are sailboats over 30', but I have also seen a commercial 90' vessel aground there as well.   The area that attracts a lot of bottom paint, plus some keel damage, is a bar about a quarter mile north of the Hole-in-the-Wall area of the channel.  If you are proceeding north, and stay on the starboard side of the channel you will not have a problem.   But if you are heading south and decide to stay on your side of the channel, you are headed for the bar.   As you pass the bridge south of La Connor, you will have the upscale housing of the Shelter Bay community to starboard.  You will pass the entrance to the Shelter Bay harbor, and will see the channel is going to go past a hill coming up to starboard.   The bar extends out from where the last two houses are before the base of the hill.   Most of the time, there is no evidence on the surface of the water that the bar is there, and the water is murky.   And of course, all the locals with small boats just go zipping over it anyways.   However, you in your deep draft boat need to be heading south on the wrong side of the channel well before you get to the area of the bar, since it extends more than half way across the channel, and is serveral hundred feet wide.   If there is a lot of northbound traffic, then you may have to wait around a bit to get your turn.   

   If you are going to use the Swinomish Channel with a deep draft boat, it really pays to be particular about your navigation and to seek out local knowledge.   Its got a lot of nasty spots that can lead to both soft and hard groundings.    Its a major money maker for Vessel Assist and the local boatyards.  Its also a nice place.  My wife and I have seen so many damaged boats from groundings in that channel that we decided a high priority item for our retro-fit was a forward looking sonar.

[AdriftAtSea]

What forward looking sonar did you install???

[billr]

The forward looking sonar I am getting is from Interphase in California.   They have models that run in the $2500-2800, including the sensors.  There website is well worth looking at.  They appear to have a reasonably  established product line and history.   The real challenge for me is to construct the mounts I am building for their phased array sonar sensors.  One will be on either side of the keel.   I'm an old radar guy (an engineer that has spent a lot of time on really large radars),  so the forward looking sonar really appeals to me.   There are more expensive units out there.  Furuno has a model for about 11K, but it requires a sea chest.   There is another small start-up company in Rhode Island that appears to have great software, but I heard they want 60K.