Fletcher Bay Pocket Cruise
July 23 - 24, 2022
Join us on PMYC’s Fletcher Bay cruise, July 23rd and 24th! A short sail and a great dinner party on Saturday followed by exploring protected and dare I say warm waters Sunday.
After navigating the channel into the bay and dropping anchor, Saturday’s social activities start with cocktails on the Verharen/Reynvann dock, followed by dinner across the bay at the Dorfman/Wetherell’s, wrapping up with dessert fireside at the Sydor’s.
On Sunday, explore the bay’s oyster and clam mound, hike to Gazzam Lake, kick back, or tackle minor boat projects, since there will be no temptation to leave until the tide returns.
If you are not familiar with Fletcher Bay, it is located between Battle Point and Point White on the west side of Bainbridge Island. The bottom is mud and there will be little or no wind to contend with, although there will be some tidal current.
An aerial photo of Fletcher Bay taken at a fairly low tide can be seen on Google Earth, which is useful because it shows the channel that must be used when entering the bay. The trick to entering the bay is to make a hard turn to starboard immediately upon entering (with the spit to starboard, being mindful of a small sand bar that angles inward from the tip of the spit), passing mid-way between the spit and the white buoy located just inside the entrance (it marks the shallowest spot!), staying parallel to the spit until a boat length before the first dock on the south side of the bay, taking a hard turn to port (I may drop a temporary mark here, which should be left to port), and keeping within a boat length of the docks along the south side until you can take a gentle turn to port into the pool starting at the last dock before the small ravine that opens to starboard. This should all be pretty clear from Google Earth.
A high tide at Brownsville of 10.26 feet at 4:26 p.m. translates to just under 8 feet over the bar at the entrance to Fletcher Bay. Whistler draws 6 feet and we had no trouble entering the bay at any tide over 9.5 feet. The next high tide on Sunday is 11.08 at 5:19. (We figure the bar covers at around two feet.) This should provide a pretty good window for most PMYC pocket cruisers. As always check your tide tables being prudent mariners and all.
If you have questions shoot me an email.
Regards,
Cruise Captain: Michael Sydor
