Swinomish Channel Railroad Bridge Closure

Good Morning,

Not sure if those of you who use the Swinomish Channel have heard yet or not, but the railroad swing bridge will have construction going on this summer. We were notified by the marina and here is the link to the closure;

https://swinomishchannelclosures.net/

Hopefully no one gets stuck milling around waiting for an opening. Please let your fellow boaters know also.

Mike

Thank you for this link!

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

The schedule of closures through November 2017 are located here: https://www.navcen.uscg.gov/pdf/lnms/lnm13272017.pdf. Scroll to page 23.

Thanks Mike... that will be helpful for me. 🙂

Those closure times are IMO very inconvenient for me as they cause issues with aligning time to be in that channel near or at high tide..... bummer. 🙁

Hi Baz,

??? The closures are only during low tide, between +3 ebb and +3 flood. High tide transits should not be affected.

Curt

Curt: Got it.... thanks. 🙂

For example for Sep 5th the closure is from 8:15 am to 2:15 pm. Low tide is at approximately 11 am and some +3 at approximately 2:15 pm. So if I were to be starting along the channel at say 2:30 pm I would get to the bridge at around 3:30 pm with at least 3+ under the boat.

baz":2lg9u3ab said:

Curt: Got it.... thanks. 🙂

For example for Sep 5th the closure is from 8:15 am to 2:15 pm. Low tide is at approximately 11 am and some +3 at approximately 2:15 pm. So if I were to be starting along the channel at say 2:30 pm I would get to the bridge at around 3:30 pm with at least 3+ under the boat.

Click to expand...

Barry, the water at the bridge is approximately 12' MLW. If you add 3' to that for the opening of the channel by the bridge, less your 2.5 foot draft, you should have no less than 12.5' UNDER you boat at the bridge. The problem is not at the bridge, the problem is where you follow the range markers at the South end of the channel. We came through a week or so ago at a rising tide of about plus 3' and we saw no less than 7' under Willie's Tug which means 10' of water in the channel. The section by the range markers is the shallowest area. And it changes by the silting action of the cross currents. We only traverse the Swinomish Channel on a rising tide if possible.

Yes, that will work fine.

Note that the Swinomish Channel has better than 3 feet under the boat (assuming an R27) the whole distance even at 0 foot tide (more than 10 ft most of the way). Worst case around here is a -3 foot tide and so you can technically enter upon any tide with your boat but you need to use extreme caution to do so. Make sure you stay in the center of the channel. The most shallow center channel location is at the southwest entrance which corresponds to the measurement described above (Worst case under 1 ft under your boat at a -3 foot tide assuming shoaling I have seen at the entrance and described by Walldog above).

During these bridge closures described above you will be more limited, but not due to the tide, just the bridge maintenance. At +3 foot tide it is fine.

FYI, There is also a very shallow area at the south end of of the channel outside Shelter Bay on the west side of the channel. We came across a sailboat there last year stuck in the mud and pulled her off. It is shown on the chart with a 1.0' depth but not very prominent on the chart. Stay to the east at that point and stay centered the entrance and you are fine.

Curt

Herb & Willie:

Got it.... Yes, I do the same as you and time it to get to Goat's Island when tide is rising.

I recall, Anne Cox exiting the Channel and as she approached Goat she was off the center line and hit rock on the north edge and bent up her prob badly. 🙁 😱

Something similar to me happened in my R-25 and I was off the center line somewhat like Anne must have been.... but I was lucky and briefly grounded the keel and quickly steered back into the channel without any damage. I'm now very careful going in and out at that part of the channel. I alway estimate 1 hr to get from Goat to the bridge.

tugs and cutwaters have no problem with the channel at any state of tide. just follow the plotter and you are fine.

I've posted PDFs for July and August closure schedules with Technical Bulletins. Thank Mike Lynch for providing them.

You'll find them here.

Cheers,

Bruce

Thanks Bruce & Mike Lynch for those. 🙂

Actually, I had already captured Aug and Sep schedules for myself so that I'm armed in advance for traversing the channel during Aug and Sep. I have them on my iPad and iPhone as backups, as well as hard copies. 😱 😀