Quartermaster Harbor is a small

harbor A harbor (American English), harbour (British English; see spelling differences), or haven is a sheltered body of water where ships, boats, and barges can be docked. The term ''harbor'' is often used interchangeably with ''port'', which is a ...

located in southern

Puget Sound Puget Sound ( ) is a sound of the Pacific Northwest, an inlet of the Pacific Ocean, and part of the Salish Sea. It is located along the northwestern coast of the U.S. state of Washington. It is a complex estuarine system of interconnected ma ...

, in

Vashon Island Vashon is a census-designated place (CDP) in King County, Washington, United States. It covers an island alternately called Vashon Island or Vashon–Maury Island, the largest island in Puget Sound south of Admiralty Inlet. The population was 10,6 ...

Washington state Washington (), officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. Named for George Washington—the first U.S. president—the state was formed from the western part of the Washington ...

Geographic description

Quartermaster Harbor is formed by

on the west and

Maury Island Maury Island is a tied island in Puget Sound in the U.S. state of Washington. It is connected to Vashon Island by an isthmus built by local homeowners in 1913. Before construction of the isthmus, the island was connected to Vashon only durin ...

on the east. It opens about east of the Tahlequah, Washington ferry landing at the south end of Vashon Island, with the entrance between Neill Point on Vashon Island and Piner Point on Maury Island. It is a nearly five-mile-long

inlet An inlet is a (usually long and narrow) indentation of a shoreline, such as a small arm, bay, sound, fjord, lagoon or marsh, that leads to an enclosed larger body of water such as a lake, estuary, gulf or marginal sea. Overview In marine geogra ...

, about a half-mile wide, that extends about north between the islands. It then turns east into the bay at Dockton, swings north around Burton Peninsula, past

Portage Portage or portaging (Canada: ; ) is the practice of carrying water craft or cargo over land, either around an obstacle in a river, or between two bodies of water. A path where items are regularly carried between bodies of water is also called a ...

and turns west, ending in the "inner harbor" at Burton. The harbor is sheltered and has no commercial marine traffic. The harbor itself is shallow, with a maximum depth of about ten meters at

high tide Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravitational forces exerted by the Moon (and to a much lesser extent, the Sun) and are also caused by the Earth and Moon orbiting one another. Tide tables can ...

. The bottom is sand and mud with abundant

shellfish Shellfish is a colloquial and fisheries term for exoskeleton-bearing aquatic invertebrates used as food, including various species of molluscs, crustaceans, and echinoderms. Although most kinds of shellfish are harvested from saltwater envir ...

. Evergreen trees line the shores and climb the hills above Quartermaster Harbor, with heights rising to over on both islands. There are good anchorages as well as several places to moor in the north end of the harbor.

Marine Life

Quartermaster Harbor hosts the largest spawning population of

Pacific herring The Pacific herring (''Clupea pallasii'') is a species of the herring family associated with the Pacific Ocean environment of North America and northeast Asia. It is a silvery fish with unspined fins and a deeply forked caudal fin. The distribut ...

in south

, and is also a major spawning area for surf

smelt Smelt may refer to: * Smelting, chemical process * The common name of various fish: ** Smelt (fish), a family of small fish, Osmeridae ** Australian smelt in the family Retropinnidae and species ''Retropinna semoni'' ** Big-scale sand smelt ''At ...

. The narrow strip of land between the two islands contains a small saltwater marsh. It is part of the ''Washington State Department of Natural Resources Maury Island Environmental Aquatic Reserve''. Due to the high concentration of

forage fish Forage fish, also called prey fish or bait fish, are small pelagic fish which are preyed on by larger predators for food. Predators include other larger fish, seabirds and marine mammals. Typical ocean forage fish feed near the base of the food ...

and

, the harbor is a major wintering area for 35 bird species. The most abundant bird is the Western

Grebe Grebes () are aquatic diving birds in the order Podicipediformes . Grebes are widely distributed freshwater birds, with some species also found in marine habitats during migration and winter. Some flightless species exist as well, most notably ...

, which totals eight percent of

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

's wintering population. There are hundreds of scoters and other diving sea ducks that feed on the

during the winter. The grebes,

loons Loons ( North American English) or divers (British / Irish English) are a group of aquatic birds found in much of North America and northern Eurasia. All living species of loons are members of the genus ''Gavia'', family Gaviidae and order ...

, mergansers, diving sea ducks,

gull Gulls, or colloquially seagulls, are seabirds of the family Laridae in the suborder Lari. They are most closely related to the terns and skimmers and only distantly related to auks, and even more distantly to waders. Until the 21st century, m ...

s, and

dabbling ducks The Anatinae are a subfamily of the family Anatidae ( swans, geese and ducks). Its surviving members are the dabbling ducks, which feed mainly at the surface rather than by diving. The other members of the Anatinae are the extinct moa-nalo, a y ...

, in addition to other species, make a total of about 3,000 individual birds wintering there annually.

Boating activity

The harbor is home to ''Quartermaster Yacht Club'' and ''Quartermaster Marina'', both of which house many different private motor and sailing

yachts A yacht is a sailing or power vessel used for pleasure, cruising, or racing. There is no standard definition, though the term generally applies to vessels with a cabin intended for overnight use. To be termed a , as opposed to a , such a pleasu ...

and smaller

boats A boat is a watercraft of a large range of types and sizes, but generally smaller than a ship, which is distinguished by its larger size, shape, cargo or passenger capacity, or its ability to carry boats. Small boats are typically found on inl ...

. This harbor is also the location of the main practice areas of Vashon Island Junior Crew.

History

Source of name

Quartermaster Harbor was named by

Charles Wilkes Charles Wilkes (April 3, 1798 – February 8, 1877) was an American naval officer, ship's captain, and explorer. He led the United States Exploring Expedition (1838–1842). During the American Civil War (1861–1865), he commanded ' during the ...

during the

Wilkes Expedition The United States Exploring Expedition of 1838–1842 was an exploring and surveying expedition of the Pacific Ocean and surrounding lands conducted by the United States. The original appointed commanding officer was Commodore Thomas ap Catesby ...

of 1838-1842. Wilkes chose the name because he had named a great number of other features in the vicinity for quartermasters and other petty officers of the expedition. Places in the area named for quartermasters include Piner, Neill, Dalco, Sanford, Southworth, Williams, Henry, Pully, Robinson, and Henderson.

Drydock and marine construction

Quartermaster Harbor once held one of the largest

drydock A dry dock (sometimes drydock or dry-dock) is a narrow basin or vessel that can be flooded to allow a load to be floated in, then drained to allow that load to come to rest on a dry platform. Dry docks are used for the construction, maintenance, ...

s in Puget Sound. In 1892, the structure, originally built to be installed at Port Townsend, was installed at Quartermaster Harbor instead. Measuring long and wide, the drydock could lift several large ships at a time. The dock remained in place until 1909. Over the years a number of vessels were also built at the nearby shipyard of John Martinolich, at Dockton on Maury Island. These included the propeller steamers ''Vashon'' (1905), ''Verona'' (1910), ''Nisqually'' (later renamed ''Astorian'') and ''Calista'', both built in 1911, '' Florence J.'' (1914), '' F.G. Reeves'', (1916), ''Vashona'' (later renamed ''Sightseer'') (1921), and the ferry ''Whidby'' (1923).Newell, Gordon R., ''Ships of the Inland Sea -- The Story of the Puget Sound Steamboats'', at 203-216, Binford & Mort, Portland, OR (2nd Ed. 1960) Launchings did not always go well. ''Florence J''. rolled over and sank on the first launching attempt. Shipyard operations eventually ceased in the 1912.

References

External links

Historic Photographs

Drydock

drydock at Quartermaster Harbor, Vashon Islandcloser view of Quartermaster drydock, with different vesselsQuartermaster Harbor drydock, showing large four-masted ship in drydockview from inside Dockton drydock at Quartermaster harbor, 1892. (ship in drydock is the SS Charles W. Wetmore, an unusual mostly-Great Lakes type of vessel called a "whaleback.")wharf at Dockton, showing drydock and several ships

Shipyard at Dockton

steam propeller ''Florence J.''. on marine railway at Dockton, Washington, probably 1914 just before failed launch
One source describes the ''Florence J''. as a gasoline powered vessel. Newell, Gordon, ed. H.W. McCurdy Marine History of the Pacific Northwest, at page 244, Superior Publishing, Seattle, WA 1966. Clearly the vessel in the image is steam-powered, possibly there was a later conversion to gasoline
''Florence J''. capsized in water, shortly after launchanother view of capsized ''Florence J.'', apparently with initial salvage efforts underway

Other

once speedy steamer ''Fleetwood'', abandoned and rotting on beach at Dockton, 1908

Websites

Quartermaster MarinaVashon Island Rowing Club
{{Authority control Inlets of Washington (state) Landforms of Puget Sound Bodies of water of King County, Washington Ports and harbors of Washington (state)