Washington State Parks will begin mooring buoy repair work in the South Puget Sound beginning July 16, on the Kitsap Peninsula starting Aug. 10 and in North Puget Sound starting in mid-September this year.
The work is part of a long-term project to replace mooring buoy anchors with heftier, more stable anchors and chains. Replacement work is scheduled Monday through Friday and is subject to weather delays. To protect habitat for juvenile fish, permits require that work begin on or after July 16.
Mooring buoy repair schedule
North and South Puget Sound – July 16 through Aug. 7
- Fort Flagler
- Fort Townsend
- Mystery Bay
- Cutts Island
- Eagle Island
- Hope Island- Mason County
- Jarrell Cove
- Joemma Beach
- Kopachuck
- McMicken Island
- Penrose Point
- Stretch Island
- Tolmie
Kitsap Peninsula – Aug. 10 through Aug. 21
- Blake Island
- Illahee
North Puget Sound, Hope and Skagit Islands – Sept. 14 through Oct. 2
- Fort Worden
- Sequim Bay
- Hope Island- Skagit County
- Skagit Island
The mooring buoy systems scheduled for replacement this year were installed between 2006 and 2008.
In 2023, State Parks identified and closed mooring buoys across Puget Sound and the San Juan Islands that were at risk of breaking. Since 2024, the agency has been replacing them. So far, more than 70 anchors on the San Juan Islands have been replaced, and 112 of 114 buoys in the island chain are in service.
Damage to the mooring buoys is due, in large part, to the saltwater environment. Saltwater is harsh and corrodes the eyes of the anchors and the chains that run from the buoys to the anchors. Additionally, the concrete blocks on the bottom of the anchor chains can become unstable and pull out. Boats have also gotten bigger, putting more stress on the anchors.
Reliable, updated, well-anchored buoys provide safe moorage for vessels and help limit impacts on eelgrass and other fragile shallow marine environments.
State Parks maintains 259 public recreational mooring buoys at more than 40 parks throughout Puget Sound, Salish Sea, Hood Canal, Kitsap and Olympic Peninsula.
State Parks does a biennial diving inspection of all buoys and, in the opposite years, does a surface inspection. This is when and how it’s determined whether buoys are safe or unsafe.
State Parks staff appreciate boaters’ patience with intermittent closures of individual buoys that occur while work is completed.
How to moor at State Parks
Boaters can pay daily mooring fees for docks and linear moorage, buoys and marina sites.
However, one of the easiest ways for frequent boaters to use State Parks’ mooring buoys is by purchasing an Annual Moorage Permit, valid from Jan. 1 through Dec. 31 of each year. The permit waives the moorage fee at State Park marine facilities. The permit costs $7 per foot of your vessel’s total length, with an $80 minimum. It is valid from Jan 1 – Dec 31.
Learn more about State Parks moorage on the State Parks website.