What should I watch out for at Port Townsend Canal?

The channel runs wide and straight, so the current itself isn't the main danger. Eddies do build at the south end on the ebb, so expect some swirl there.

What does Class 2 mean?

Class 2 is BoatRoutes' own 1-to-5 rating of how costly a timing or judgment mistake is here — it is not a NOAA scale. Class 2 means one thing to plan around (depth, a schedule, or mild current); getting it wrong costs time, not safety.

Port Townsend Canal — Currents, Slack & Local Knowledge

Port Townsend Canal 2

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Port Townsend Canal is a dredged cut that links Port Townsend Bay to Oak Bay, to the southeast. Lights and daybeacons mark both ends of the channel.

Depth

Port Townsend Canal is a dredged cut that links Port Townsend Bay to Oak Bay, to the southeast. Lights and daybeacons mark both ends of the channel.

Port Townsend CanalPhoto: Peaceray / Wikimedia Commons (CC-BY-SA-3.0)

Coast Pilot, In Plain Words

Here is what the U.S. Coast Pilot says about Port Townsend Canal and the water around it. The official text is below.

Read the official text

Communications

A marina is 0.4 mile southwest of the north entrance to Port Townsend Canal and can provide gasoline, diesel fuel, transient berths, electricity, water and pump-out facility.

Port Townsend Canal, a dredged passage giving access to Oak Bay to the southeast, is marked by lights and daybeacons at both ends. The canal is crossed by a fixed highway bridge with a clearance of 58 feet. Power cables nearby have clearances of 90 feet. (See 33 CFR 162.235, chapter 2, for rules, regulations, and use of the canal.)

Currents through the canal are strong at times, although there is no particular danger from them as the channel is wide and straight; there are, however, strong eddies at the south end on the ebb current.

Source: U.S. Coast Pilot 10, Chapter 8, 7 ed. (NOAA, Office of Coast Survey). Updated weekly. Official Coast Pilot ↗

Local Knowledge

Watch out
The channel runs wide and straight, so the current itself isn't the main danger. Eddies do build at the south end on the ebb, so expect some swirl there.
Tip
A fixed highway bridge crosses the canal with 58 feet of clearance. Power cables nearby clear about 90 feet.
Tip
A small marina — Port Hadlock Marina — sits about 0.4 mile southwest of the canal's north entrance, with fuel and transient moorage before or after a transit.

Plan a Trip Through Port Townsend Canal

1. Start from

2. Cross to the other side of Port Townsend Canal

Port Townsend Boat Haven → Port Townsend Canal · 6.0 nm · ~0h 45m at · from the north

Full departure plan →

Stations & Data

Port Townsend CanalCurrent · primary · bin 1 · PUG1614

Times are NOAA predictions, not live readings. Open a station for its full tide and current charts.

Questions

What is Port Townsend Canal?: Port Townsend Canal is a dredged cut that links Port Townsend Bay to Oak Bay, to the southeast. Lights and daybeacons mark both ends of the channel.
What should I watch out for at Port Townsend Canal?: The channel runs wide and straight, so the current itself isn't the main danger. Eddies do build at the south end on the ebb, so expect some swirl there.
What does Class 2 mean?: Class 2 is BoatRoutes' own 1-to-5 rating of how costly a timing or judgment mistake is here — it is not a NOAA scale. Class 2 means one thing to plan around (depth, a schedule, or mild current); getting it wrong costs time, not safety.

Predictions, not observations · U.S. Coast Pilot 10 (7 ed.)

U.S. Coast Pilot text is a work of the U.S. Government and is in the public domain. Per 17 U.S.C. §403, no copyright is claimed in that text. BoatRoutes is not endorsed by NOAA.