Quartermaster Harbor is a small

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

located in southern

Puget Sound Puget Sound ( ; ) is a complex estuary, estuarine system of interconnected Marine habitat, marine waterways and basins located on the northwest coast of the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. As a part of the Salish Sea, the sound ...

, 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. Before the constru ...

Washington state Washington, officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is often referred to as Washington State to distinguish it from the national capital, both named after George 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 during ...

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 typically long and narrow indentation of a shoreline such as a small arm, cove, 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 ...

, 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 ( CA: ; ) 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 ...

. The bottom is sand and mud with abundant

shellfish Shellfish, in colloquial and fisheries usage, are exoskeleton-bearing Aquatic animal, aquatic invertebrates used as Human food, food, including various species of Mollusca, molluscs, crustaceans, and echinoderms. Although most kinds of shellfish ...

. 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 distribu ...

in south

, and is also a major spawning area for surf smelt. The narrow strip of land between the two islands contains a small

saltwater marsh A salt marsh, saltmarsh or salting, also known as a coastal salt marsh or a tidal marsh, is a coastal ecosystem in the upper coastal intertidal zone between land and open saltwater or brackish water that is regularly flooded by the tides. It i ...

. 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 that feed on planktons (i.e. planktivores) and other small aquatic organisms (e.g. krill). They are in turn preyed upon by various predators including larger fish, seabirds ...

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 (biology), order Podicipediformes (). Grebes are widely distributed freshwater birds, with some species also found in sea, marine habitats during Bird migration, migration and winter. Most grebes f ...

, which totals eight percent of

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

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

during the winter. The

grebes 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. Most grebes fly, although some flightless species ...

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 Gav ...

, mergansers, diving sea ducks,

gull Gulls, or colloquially seagulls, are seabirds of the subfamily Larinae. They are most closely related to terns and skimmers, distantly related to auks, and even more distantly related to waders. Until the 21st century, most gulls were placed ...

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 youn ...

, 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 sail- or marine propulsion, motor-propelled watercraft made 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 ...

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 or capacity, its shape, or its ability to carry boats. Small boats are typically used on inland waterways s ...

. 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 List of explorers, explorer. He led the United States Exploring Expedition (1838–1842). During the American Civil War between 1861 and 1865 ...

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)