Rating: SKII+

Distance: 11NM

Date: April 19, 1998

Leader: Henry Romer Participants: 9

Launch: 09:00 Return: 3:45

Weather: Excellent early spring. Clear, windless, calm, ~60F.

Description: Launched against the tide (0.6 kts) and circumnavigated in a clockwise direction. Lots of bays to explore on the NE side of the island. Had a lunch stop at Troy Point on the south end of the island. You can hike to the top of the bluff for lunch out on the pier. SW side of the island is pretty straight forward but fewer homes.

Tides/Currents: Nothing significant.

Charts:

Waterproof Chart #30 – Puget Sound – International Sailing Suppply.

Puget Sound Current Guide – Island Canoe, Inc.

Chart #18445 – Puget Sound – Possession Sound to Olympia, Page C.

Chart #18448 – Puget Sound – Southern Part.

Notes:

1. Saw loons, eagles, and shore birds. Looked for S. alterniflora but found none.
2. For an afternoon break there’s a tiny strip of public land beach just off the end of a street that dead-ends at the berm. The street is about ¼ to ½ mile south of the "Bouy Testing Area". There’s a street sign but you can only see it’s backside. Property on both sides of the street is private.
3. Rounding the north end of the island you’ll see huge beds of sand dollars.

Directions to Launch Site: About 20 minutes from I5 @ Hwy 16. Take Hwy 16 out across the narrows and turn off at "Olympic Drive to Fox Island" exit and follow a whole bunch of signs to "Fox Island". Cross the bridge and the parking/launch area is on your right along the causeway, at the end of the bridge.

Facilities:

1. No facilities at the launch site – however, if you continue 1.6 miles past the launch site to Fox Drive and turn left, you’ll see the gas station/restaurant/bathrooms/convenience store.
2. At the Troy Point lunch stop, if you hike up to the top of the bluff, above the pier, you’ll find bathrooms.

Sample Magazine Submittal: Fox Island Circumnavigation (SKII+). 11 NM. Enjoy a tour of Fox Island with its’ relatively underdeveloped beaches and a host of marine life. We will also be paddling through a section of a Navy Sonar Testing Range.

Bailey, Jo, and Carl Nyberg. Gunkholing in South Puget Sound. Seattle: San Juan Enterprises, Inc. 1997. Pp. 198, 201-205, 207.

Campbell, Ken. A Sea Kayaker’s Guide to South Puget Sound. Tacoma: Self-Published. 1997. P. 33-36.

Scott, James W., and Melly A. Reuling. Washington Public Shore Guide. Seattle: University of Washington Press. 1986. pp. 212-215.