Boating, Fishing, and Travel Information for Port Townsend, WA

Point Hudson Harbor, just W of Point Hudson, is leased by the Port of Port Townsend to a private company. The entrance, protected by jetties, is marked by a private light on the end of the S jetty. About 100 small-craft berths, electricity, water, pump-out station, launching ramp, and a 25-ton lift are available. Hull and engine repairs for small craft can be made. Reported depths of 9 feet were available in the approach to the harbor, with 12 feet alongside the berths. The town business district is adjacent to the harbor.
Port Townsend Boat Haven, 1.1 miles SW from Point Hudson, is operated by the Port of Port Townsend. The entrance is marked by lights; in 2000, the controlling depths were 11.3 feet in the entrance channel and 10 to 12 feet in the basins. There are floats for about 600 small craft. A seafood packing company and several boat building and boat repair firms are at the basin. Electricity, gasoline, diesel fuel, water, ice, marine supplies, winter dry boat storage, and a pumpout station are available. Travel lifts up to 300-ton capacity are at the basin for launching and hauling out vessels. A launching ramp is at the NW end of the basin.
A passenger and automobile ferry operates between Port Townsend and Keystone Harbor, just E of Admiralty Head, Whidbey Island. Another ferryboat operates between Port Townsend, Victoria, BC, Friday Harbor, and Seattle from late April through mid-October.
Navigation:
Click the “Map View” button above to see a chart of this harbor.
Port Townsend, immediately S of Point Wilson, is entered between Point Hudson and Marrowstone Point. It extends in a general SSW direction for 2.5 miles, and then turns SSE for 3 miles, with a reduced width to its head. Inside Point Hudson, depths generally range from 5 to 20 fathoms. It is an excellent harbor and is easily entered, however, mariners are warned to be aware of strong side currents that exist in Admiralty Inlet. The prevailing winds in summer are from W to SW, and in winter are generally in the SE quadrant.
Point Hudson, on the W shore 1.7 miles SSE of Point Wilson, is low, sandy, and marked by a light. The outer limits of the shoal making out from the point are marked by a lighted bell buoy NE of the light.
Marrowstone Point, the E point at the entrance to Port Townsend, is low at its extremity, but rises abruptly to a bluff about 120 feet high. The buildings of the former Fort Flagler, now a recreation area of the Washington Parks system, are about 0.5 mile to the S. The fort pier, with depths of about 20 feet at its face, is in poor condition. A fish haven is near the pier in about 48°05’28″N. 122°41’23″W. Marrowstone Point Light (48°06’06″N., 122°41’16″W.), 28 feet above the water, is shown from a 20-foot white square structure on the E edge of the point. Pilings from former piers and anchor pilings for wartime submarine nets extend up to 500 yards offshore 0.6 and 1.6 miles W of the light.
Port Townsend, the principal town, is on the W shore immediately W of Point Hudson.