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Deception Pass

SunsetsNo permitMooring buoys

Also good for anchoring

The Pacific Northwest & Alaska, USDeception Pass
View type
Best time
Evening, from the bridge, with the ebb boiling underneath it
Anchorage
Coordinates48°24′15″ N, 122°38′30″ W

A whole tide changing through a gap you could throw a stone across, standing waves, whirlpools and a visible slope of water under a 1935 steel bridge, with madrona and fir on the cliffs either side and the current going slack for twenty minutes before it all runs the other way. Named by Vancouver in 1792, who took the water beyond it for a bay until Joseph Whidbey found the passage and proved Whidbey an island, hence the deception. The bridge that now spans it was built in 1935 and made the island a drive rather than a ferry. Anchorage: Anchor in Bowman Bay or Cornet Bay and wait for slack. Nobody lies in the pass. Hazards: The tide runs to 8 knots through a gap 150m wide, with whirlpools, overfalls and standing waves against the wind. Transit at or near slack water, calculated, not guessed. Divers here work slack only.

Weather

°C°F

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