The town has a boat basin for commercial and sport fishing vessels. Berths for about 250 craft, electricity, gasoline, diesel fuel, water, ice, a launching ramp, and marine supplies are available at the basin. A drydock in the basin can handle craft to 100 tons, 68 feet long, or up to 9 feet in. draft. Repair work must be arranged for independently of the drydock operator; complete marine repairs can be made.
Navigation:
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Tillamook Bay entrance is 42 miles S of the Columbia River, 25.5 miles S of Tillamook Rock, and 5.7 miles N of Cape Meares Light. The bay has a tidal area of about 13 square miles, most of which, at low tide, presents a succession of sand and mud flats.
Kincheloe Point is low and sandy and appears to be an island from a distance to the N. The N side of the entrance is the termination of a high wooded ridge extending between the bay and Nehalem River. Green Hill, opposite Kincheloe Point, is a 400-foot spur that terminates in a bluff rounded point. The prominent hill is covered by ferns, grass, and dense brush with trees on top.
Tillamook Bay Coast Guard Station is on the N shore W of Garibaldi. A lookout tower is near the intersection of the N entrance jetty and the shore.
The entrance to Tillamook Bay is protected by jetties. The N jetty extends about 600 yards offshore; the westernmost 150 yards of the jetty is submerged. The S jetty extends 1000 yards offshore with the westernmost 100 yards submerged. Extreme caution should be taken in the vicinity of the jetties. A Federal project provides for an 18-foot entrance channel that crosses the bar and leads eastward between the jetties through the N part of Tillamook Bay to an inactive turning basin just W of Miami Cove. An access channel leads to a 12-foot small boat basin at the town of Garibaldi.
A lighted whistle buoy is 1.35 miles about SSW of the seaward end of the N jetty. The N jetty is marked by a light and seasonal sound signal. The main approach to Tillamook Bay is from the S. There is a leading light marking the center of the jetties which signals when the mariner is clear of the S jetty and safe to make the approach into the bay. Mariners should use caution while making the approach to the jetties due to frequent shoaling and heavy breakers in the vicinity of the approach channel. The entrance and channel to Garibaldi is marked by buoys and lights. Caution is advised during periods of heavy seas.
Several visible and covered rocks are on the N side of the dredged channel. Sow and Pigs, across the channel from Kincheloe Point and nearly 500 yards off the N shore, is a rocky ledge that uncovers 1 to 6 feet. The ledge is dangerous when entering with a flood current, as the current sets toward it.
Garibaldi, a lumber and fishing town, is on the N shore 2 miles inside the entrance. A grey concrete stack and a silver elevated tank are conspicuous.
