President Channel 3
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President Channel runs about 5 miles between Waldron and Orcas Islands, linking the Boundary Pass approaches to Spieden Channel and San Juan Channel. It's deep and clear of charted dangers in the fairway itself.

Timing

President Channel runs about 5 miles between Waldron and Orcas Islands, linking the Boundary Pass approaches to Spieden Channel and San Juan Channel. It's deep and clear of charted dangers in the fairway itself.

Coast Pilot, In Plain Words

Here is what the U.S. Coast Pilot says about President Channel and the water around it. The official text is below.

Read the official text

White Rock to Point Doughty

President Channel, between Waldron and Orcas Islands, is about 5 miles long. Depths are generally great, and the passage is free of dangers. The tidal currents have a velocity of 2 to 5 knots, and heavy swirls and tide rips, especially with an adverse wind, are off the north point of Waldron Island and between Waldron and Patos Islands. The rips are generally heaviest with the ebb current. Rips and swirls are also heavy off Limestone Point and the east end of Spieden Island.

Point Doughty, the northwest tip of Orcas Island, is bare and terminates in a small knob on its outer end. A resort in the bight, 1.5 miles south-southwest of Point Doughty, has seasonal floats with about 40 berths, gasoline, water, ice, a concrete launching ramp and some marine supplies. In 2006, a reported depth of 3 feet at mean lower low water was at the gas dock floats.

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

Local Knowledge

  • Watch out

    Current runs 2 to 5 knots through the channel. The roughest water is off the north point of Waldron Island and between Waldron and Patos Islands — heavy swirls and rips, worse on the ebb and worse still with wind against tide.

  • Watch out

    More rips and swirls build off Limestone Point and the east end of Spieden Island, near the channel's south end where it meets Spieden Channel.

  • Tip

    Point Doughty, at the channel's north end on Orcas Island, has a small resort with about 40 seasonal berths, fuel, water, and a launching ramp — a reasonable stop before or after running the channel.

Plan a Trip Through President Channel

1. Start from

Nearest harbor on each side of the narrows. Pick a side to start there.

2. Cross to the other side of President Channel

Deer Harbor Marina → President Channel · 2.6 nm · ~0h 20m at · from the south

Stations & Data

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

Questions

What is President Channel?
President Channel runs about 5 miles between Waldron and Orcas Islands, linking the Boundary Pass approaches to Spieden Channel and San Juan Channel. It's deep and clear of charted dangers in the fairway itself.
What should I watch out for at President Channel?
Current runs 2 to 5 knots through the channel. The roughest water is off the north point of Waldron Island and between Waldron and Patos Islands — heavy swirls and rips, worse on the ebb and worse still with wind against tide.
What does Class 3 mean?
Class 3 is BoatRoutes' own 1-to-5 rating of how costly a timing or judgment mistake is here — it is not a NOAA scale. Class 3 means real current or confined water — cross near slack or a fair stage; a mistimed run demands attention.

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.