Quartermaster Harbor
Encyclopedia
Quartermaster Harbor is a small harbor
located in southern Puget Sound
, in Vashon Island
, Washington State.
on the west and Maury Island
on the east. It opens about 0.8 miles (1.3 km) 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
, about a half-mile wide, that extends about 3.5 miles (5.6 km) north between the islands. It then turns east into the bay at Dockton
, swings north around Burton Peninsula, past Portage
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
. The bottom is sand and mud with abundant shellfish
. Evergreen trees line the shores and climb the hills above Quartermaster Harbor, with heights rising to over 400 feet (121.9 m) on both islands. There are good anchorages as well as several places to moor in the north end of the harbor.
in south Puget Sound
, and is also a major spawning area for surf smelt. 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
and shellfish
, the harbor is a major wintering area for 35 bird species. The most abundant bird is the Western Grebe
, which totals eight percent of Washington's wintering population. There are hundreds of scoters and other diving sea ducks that feed on the shellfish
during the winter. The grebes, loons, mergansers, diving sea ducks, gull
s, and dabbling ducks
, in addition to other species, make a total of about 3,000 individual birds wintering there annually.
. This harbor is also the location of the main practice areas of Vashon Island Junior Crew.
during the Wilkes Expedition
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.
Quartermaster Harbor once held one of the largest drydocks in Puget Sound. In 1892, the structure, originally built to be installed at Port Townsend, was installed at Quartermaster Harbor instead. Measuring 325 feet (99.1 m) long and 102 feet (31.1 m) 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).
Launchings did not always go well. Florence J. rolled over and sank on the first launching attempt. Shipyard operations eventually ceased in the 1912.
Harbor
A harbor or harbour , or haven, is a place where ships, boats, and barges can seek shelter from stormy weather, or else are stored for future use. Harbors can be natural or artificial...
located in southern Puget Sound
Puget Sound
Puget Sound is a sound in the U.S. state of Washington. It is a complex estuarine system of interconnected marine waterways and basins, with one major and one minor connection to the Strait of Juan de Fuca and the Pacific Ocean — Admiralty Inlet being the major connection and...
, in Vashon Island
Vashon Island
Vashon is a census-designated place 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 10,624 at the 2010 census. At , it is about 60 percent larger...
, Washington State.
Geographic description
Quartermaster Harbor is formed by Vashon IslandVashon Island
Vashon is a census-designated place 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 10,624 at the 2010 census. At , it is about 60 percent larger...
on the west and Maury Island
Maury Island
Maury Island is a small island in Puget Sound in the U.S. state of Washington. It is connected to Vashon Island by an isthmus built by the United States Army Corps of Engineers. Before construction of the isthmus, the island was connected to Vashon only during low tide. The island is rural with...
on the east. It opens about 0.8 miles (1.3 km) east of the Tahlequah, Washington
Tahlequah, Washington
Tahlequah is an unincorporated community on the southern end of Vashon Island in Puget Sound, Washington state. It is best known for being the north end of the short Point Defiance-Tahlequah ferry route.-References:...
ferry landing
Point Defiance-Tahlequah Ferry
The Point Defiance-Tahlequah ferry is a ferry route across Puget Sound between the Point Defiance ferry terminal in Tacoma and Tahlequah, Washington, on the southern tip of Vashon Island. Since 1951 the only ferries employed on the route have belonged to the Washington state ferry system,...
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
Inlet
An inlet is a narrow body of water between islands or leading inland from a larger body of water, often leading to an enclosed body of water, such as a sound, bay, lagoon or marsh. In sea coasts an inlet usually refers to the actual connection between a bay and the ocean and is often called an...
, about a half-mile wide, that extends about 3.5 miles (5.6 km) north between the islands. It then turns east into the bay at Dockton
Dockton, Washington
Dockton is an unincorporated community in King County, Washington. It is located on Maury Island, along Quartermaster Harbor. Although once an industrial center, Dockton today is a primarily residential area, with many commuters taking the ferry to nearby Tacoma.-History:Dockton, one of the first...
, swings north around Burton Peninsula, past Portage
Portage, Washington
Portage is an unincorporated community in King County, Washington, United States. It is located on a man-made isthmus between Maury Island and Vashon Island....
and turns west, ending in the "inner harbor" at Burton
Burton, King County, Washington
Burton is an unincorporated community in King County, Washington. It is a historic waterfront residential area on Vashon Island. The town of Burton sits at the isthmus between Inner and Outer Quartermaster Harbor. The town was named in 1892 by Mrs. Miles Hatch after her home town in Illinois, and...
.
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
High Tide
High Tide was a band formed in 1969 by Tony Hill , Simon House , Peter Pavli and Roger Hadden .-History:...
. The bottom is sand and mud with abundant shellfish
Shellfish
Shellfish is a culinary 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 environments, some kinds are found only in freshwater...
. Evergreen trees line the shores and climb the hills above Quartermaster Harbor, with heights rising to over 400 feet (121.9 m) 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 herringPacific 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. This species is a silvery fish with unspined fins and a deeply forked caudal fin...
in south Puget Sound
Puget Sound
Puget Sound is a sound in the U.S. state of Washington. It is a complex estuarine system of interconnected marine waterways and basins, with one major and one minor connection to the Strait of Juan de Fuca and the Pacific Ocean — Admiralty Inlet being the major connection and...
, and is also a major spawning area for surf smelt. The narrow strip of land between the two islands contains a small saltwater marsh
Marsh
In geography, a marsh, or morass, is a type of wetland that is subject to frequent or continuous flood. Typically the water is shallow and features grasses, rushes, reeds, typhas, sedges, other herbaceous plants, and moss....
. 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
Forage fish, also called prey fish or bait fish, are small 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 chain on plankton, often by filter feeding...
and shellfish
Shellfish
Shellfish is a culinary 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 environments, some kinds are found only in freshwater...
, the harbor is a major wintering area for 35 bird species. The most abundant bird is the Western Grebe
Grebe
A grebe is a member of the Podicipediformes order, a widely distributed order of freshwater diving birds, some of which visit the sea when migrating and in winter...
, which totals eight percent of Washington's wintering population. There are hundreds of scoters and other diving sea ducks that feed on the shellfish
Shellfish
Shellfish is a culinary 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 environments, some kinds are found only in freshwater...
during the winter. The grebes, loons, mergansers, diving sea ducks, gull
Gull
Gulls are birds in the family Laridae. They are most closely related to the terns and only distantly related to auks, skimmers, and more distantly to the waders...
s, and dabbling ducks
Anatinae
The Anatinae is a subfamily of the family Anatidae . Its surviving members are the dabbling ducks, which feed mainly at the surface rather than by diving...
, 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 and smaller boatsBoating
Boating is the leisurely activity of travelling by boat, or the recreational use of a boat whether powerboats, sailboats, or man-powered vessels , focused on the travel itself, as well as sports activities, such as fishing or water skiing...
. This harbor is also the location of the main practice areas of Vashon Island Junior Crew.
Source of name
Quartermaster Harbor was named by Charles WilkesCharles Wilkes
Charles Wilkes was an American naval officer and explorer. He led the United States Exploring Expedition, 1838-1842 and commanded the ship in the Trent Affair during the American Civil War...
during the Wilkes Expedition
United States Exploring Expedition
The United States Exploring Expedition was an exploring and surveying expedition of the Pacific Ocean and surrounding lands conducted by the United States from 1838 to 1842. The original appointed commanding officer was Commodore Thomas ap Catesby Jones. The voyage was authorized by Congress in...
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
Over the years a number of vessels were also built at the nearby shipyard of John Martinolich
Martinolich Shipbuilding Company
The Martinolich Shipbuilding Company was founded in the early 1900s by John Martinolich , an immigrant from Croatia.-Course of business:The company's original shipyard was at Dockton, Washington, but later expanded to other locations...
, at Dockton
Dockton, Washington
Dockton is an unincorporated community in King County, Washington. It is located on Maury Island, along Quartermaster Harbor. Although once an industrial center, Dockton today is a primarily residential area, with many commuters taking the ferry to nearby Tacoma.-History:Dockton, one of the first...
on Maury Island. These included the propeller steamers Vashon (1905)
Vashon (steamboat 1905)
Vashon was a wooden steamboat built in 1905 at Dockton, Washington on Vashon Island. The vessel was active on Puget Sound in the early decades of the 1900s...
, Verona
Verona (steamship)
The steamship Verona was a small steamboat of the Puget Sound Mosquito Fleet.-Career:Verona was built in 1910 at the Martinolich shipyard at Dockton, Washington. The vessel is best known for an event which occurred on November 5, 1916. The vessel was transporting members of the Industrial Workers...
(1910), Nisqually (later renamed Astorian) and Calista
Calista (steamboat)
The steamship Calista was a small steamboat of the Puget Sound Mosquito Fleet.-Career:Calista was built in 1911 at the Martinolich shipyard at Dockton, Washington.The vessel is best known for an event which occurred on November 5, 1916...
, both built in 1911, Florence J.
Florence J.
Florence J. was a small gasoline-powered vessel built in 1913 or 1914 at Dockton, Washington. The vessel is chiefly remembered for having capsized immediately upon being launched.- Career:...
(1914), F.G. Reeves, (1916), Vashona (later renamed Sightseer) (1921), and the ferry Whidby (1923).
Launchings did not always go well. Florence J. rolled over and sank on the first launching attempt. Shipyard operations eventually ceased in the 1912.
Drydock
- drydock at Quartermaster Harbor, Vashon Island
- closer view of Quartermaster drydock, with different vessels
- Quartermaster Harbor drydock, showing large four-masted ship in drydock
- view 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 launch
- another view of capsized Florence J., apparently with initial salvage efforts underway