in diameter, connecting eastward with Skagit Bay. The depths decrease uniformly from 100 fathoms (183 m.) at the entrance to 17 and 18 fathoms (31 to 33 m.) at the head. There are few outlying dangers, and a mid-channel course is clear to the head.

Sandy Point, the southern point at the entrance, is a low spit, rising rapidly to an elevation of 100 feet (30.5 m.), with bluffs on each side; the end of the point is marked by a post light.

Holmes Harbor, the entrance to which is on the southern shore 8 miles above Sandy Point, extends in a southerly direction for 5 miles, with an average width of 114 miles. The depths range from 30 and 40 fathoms (55 to 73 m.) at the entrance to 17 and 18 fathoms (31 to 33 m.) at the head, where anchorage may be had in muddy bottom. Rocky Point, the eastern point at the entrance, is low, but rises rapidly to a hill 500 feet (152 m.) high. Hackney Island, low and of small extent, lies 1/4 mile northwestward from the point, with which it is connected at low water. From the island a shoal, bare at extreme low water, extends 1/4 mile northwestward.

In entering, round Rocky Point at a distance of 34 mile and follow a mid-channel course to the head. The harbor is but little used. Camano post village, with a short landing wharf, is on the east side of Saratoga Passage, 1 mile westward from Point Lowell.

Penn Cove enters the western shore of the basin at the head of Saratoga Passage and extends southwestward for 31⁄2 miles, with an average width of 1 mile. The head of the cove is 112 miles eastward from Point Partridge, the western extremity of Whidbey Island. There are several small settlements-Coveland at the head, San de Fuca on the north shore, and Coupeville on the south shore; these are of little commercial importance. The cove affords good anchorage in 8 to 14 fathoms (14.6 to 25.6 m.) inside the entrance. Watsak Point, the southern point at the entrance, is shoal, a narrow sunken spit extending northward for 11⁄2 mile, with depth of about 6 feet (1.8 m.). The spit is marked by a black buoy placed in 24 feet (7.3 m.) about 100 yards northward of the end.

No directions for entering are considered necessary. After rounding the buoy a mid-channel course can be followed with safety.

Oak Harbor, on the northern shore, is a small, irregular cove 12 miles long and 34 mile wide. The cove is shallow, with a narrow, winding channel, the entrance of which is marked by a light. Maylor Spit extends northwestward from the eastern shore, and is marked by a light at its northern end. Forbes Point, the eastern point at the entrance, is foul, with a rock, bare at low water, 1⁄2 mile southwestward from the point. This is marked by a red buoy placed in 4 fathoms (7.3 m.), 150 feet south-southeastward from the rock.

Crescent Harbor, immediately eastward of Oak Harbor, is a semicircular bight 2 miles in diameter. The entrance is between Forbes Point and Point Polnell, the latter low, with a shoal extending westward for 34 mile. Shoals extend 11⁄2 mile eastward from Forbes Point. With these exceptions the harbor is clear and affords good anchorage in 10 to 11 fathoms (18.3 to 20.1 m.), muddy bottom, but is exposed southward.

No directions are necessary; in entering pass midway between Forbes Point and Point Polnell, which clears the shoals extending from these points.

Skagit Bay, the entrance to which is between Point Polnell and Point Demock, the northwestern point of Camano Island, is 12 miles long in a west-northwest and east-southeast direction. The greater portion of it is filled with flats, bare at low water, and intersected by numerous channels through which the Skagit River discharges. Along the shore of Whidbey Island, between it and the edge of the flats, is a narrow channel varying in width from 14 to 11⁄2 mile; the shore of the island is also shoal for a distance of 100 to 200 yards offshore. This channel is 611⁄2 miles long from its southern end to Hope Island, beyond which it expands into a small basin connecting westward through Deception Pass with Juan de Fuca Strait, and northeastward with Similk Bay. The tidal currents have considerable velocity. The depths vary from 7 to 23 fathoms (12.8 to 42 m.).

The channel leading into Skagit River follows the north shore of Camano Island for 3 miles beyond Utsalady, then crosses the flats, where it is buoyed and marked by two lights; this channel has been improved by the Government, and in 1922 there was a controlling depth at the entrance to the river of 12 feet (0.4 m.) at mean lower low water.

From the northernmost point of Camano Island another channel, also buoyed, leads eastward across the flats and connects through West Pass and South Pass, with the head of Port Susan. This channel is used only by small launches with local knowledge.

Swinomish Slough connects the waters of Skagit Bay with those of Padilla Bay, 5 miles northward. The slough and its southern approach have been improved by the Government by dredging and by the construction of dikes. From deep water in Skagit Bay the dredged channel leads northeastward along the north side of Goat Island and around the western end of McGlinn Island, and is marked by a number of lights, including one at the western end of each of the jetties. In 1922 the controlling depth from Saratoga Passage to Fort Whitman was 32 feet (1.1 m.), from Fort Whitman to the Great Northern Bridge 112 feet (0.4 m.), and in Padilla Bay the channel bares 3 feet (0.9 m.) at mean lower low water.

Padilla Bay is crossed by a railroad bridge and a highway bridge with openings of 94 and 104 feet. The signal for opening either bridge is 4 long blasts. Swinomish Slough is crossed by a bridge with an opening of 100 feet. The signal for opening the bridge is 4 long blasts.

Laconner, near the southern end of Swinomish Slough, is the center of a rich agricultural district. It has wharves with depths of 4 to 6 feet (1.2 to 1.8 m.). A limited amount of provisions can be obtained. A freight boat makes three trips a week to Seattle; passenger traffic is by stage to the railroad in the interior.

Northward of Laconner traffic in the slough is confined to small launches with local knowledge. Strangers should not attempt to pass through, as the channel through the flats at the head of Padilla Bay is intricate and unmarked.

Hope Island, in Skagit Bay, 2 miles northwestward of the entrance to Swinomish Slough, is marked by a white light on its southwestern end.

Ala Spit, abreast the western end of Hope Island, is low, with a sunken spit extending 350 yards offshore in the direction of the

point. A wharf and bunker for loading gravel is built about 1/4 mile southward of Ala Spit.

Good anchorage may be had northward of Hope Island, and vessels at times make use of the anchorage while waiting for slack water in Deception Pass.

Deception Pass connects the northern end of Skagit Bay with the southern end of Rosario Strait. It is 2 miles in length; near its western end the channel is obstructed by an island, nearly in the middle of the passage, contracting the navigable channel, which is south of the island, to about 200 yards. Deception Island lies % mile northwestward from the southern point at the western entrance; foul ground exists between the point and the island and vessels should not attempt to pass between them. The north point at the western entrance is marked by a fixed white light. A fixed red light is established on the small island near the center of the bight on the south side of the pass 1 mile southwestward from Hoypus Point.

Deception Pass is commonly used by local vessels from Seattle. bound for Anacortes, Bellingham, and points in the San Juan Islands. Some of these vessels plan to make the pass at the time of slack water; the higher powered passenger vessels run it at all stages of the tide. It is also frequently used by tows of logs from the northward, bound to Everett or Seattle, which take this route to avoid the rough weather they are liable to encounter in passing to the westward of Whidbey Island.

The currents in Deception Pass attain a velocity of from 5 to 8 knots at strength, at which times strong eddies will be encountered along the shores. A comparison of 65 observed slacks in Deception Pass with predicted slacks for Admiralty Inlet shows that on the average the slack before flood in Deception Pass occurs 2 hours, and the slack before ebb 2 hours and 10 minutes before the corresponding predicted slacks for Adiralty Inlet. Daily predictions of the times of slack water and the times and velocities of strength of current for Deception Pass will be included in the Pacific Coast Current Tables beginning with the issue for 1927.

DIRECTIONS, POSSESSION SOUND AND TRIBUTARIES

The chart is a sufficient guide for the navigation of these waters and may be followed with safety. A mid-channel course may be followed, and with the exceptions previously noted the shore can be approached with safety to within 4 mile. In entering Possession Sound from northward, the southern end of Whidbey Island from Indian Point to Possession Point should not be approached closer than 1 mile to avoid the shoals extending from the island. Vessels bound through Skagit Bay should keep the Whidbey Island shore aboard, distant 400 to 600 yards, from the north end of Saratoga Passage until approaching the flats off Dugala Bay. Then steer about 329° true (NW. by W. mag.), passing 700 yards westward of Laconner South Jetty Light, and hold the course until the southwestern ends of Hope and Skagit Islands are in range. Then steer a little to the westward of Hope Island, passing nearer to the island than to Ala Spit, and continue in mid-channel to the entrance to

Deception Pass. In following the above track through Skagit Bay, vessels will be assisted, during the fishing season, by the presence of fish traps on the flats eastward of the channel, as these traps usually extend to the edge of the fairway.

Strangers should not attempt to run deception Pass at any time except slack water. Pass northward of the small island 1 mile southwestward of Hoypus Point and southward of the island in the middle of the narrow part of the pass, taking care to keep in midchannel at all times to avoid the eddies which may be encountered along either shore. Favor the light on the north entrance point to avoid the shoal extending eastward from Deception Island, and pass in mid-channel between Deception Island and the northwest point of Reservation Bay.

ELLIOTT BAY (SEATTLE HARBOR)

(chart 6449) is on the eastern shore of the sound about 35 miles southward from Marrowstone Point; the entrance is between West Point and Alki Point, about 5 miles southward. The bay proper, included between Smith Cove and Duwamish Head, has a width of nearly 2 miles and extends east-southeastward for nearly the same distance to the flats at the head. The bay is deep and free from dangers throughout.

Duwamish Head, 300 feet (91 m.) high, 134 miles northward from Alki Point, is bluff and steep on its northern face. At its base is a large, light-colored pleasure resort. A shoal extends 600 yards northwestward from the head, the outer extremity being marked by a gas and bell buoy.

Seattle, the largest and most important city on the sound, covers practically the entire shore of the bay. It has spread northward to include Ballard, eastward to Lake Washington, southward around the head of Elliott Bay, and westward to embrace West Seattle and the east shore of the sound to and beyond Alki Point. Its commerce, both foreign and domestic, is extensive, and it is the terminus of or connects with several transcontinental railroads. It is the terminus of several lines of steamers operating across the Pacific or through the Panama Canal, and connects with points north and south by rail and water. Its railroad and shipping facilities give it a large proportion of the Alaska commerce. Coal, lumber, grain, fish, machinery, and general merchandise are largely exported. The wharves are extensive, with sufficient depth for any draft. Vessels usually go direct to the wharves, but mooring buoys have been placed for those waiting dock room or opportunity to coal at the bunkers.

West Seattle, on the south shore of the bay, now included in Seattle, has wharves, flour mill, and grain elevators. Deep-draft vessels can lie at the wharves. It connects with Seattle by rail.

Smith Cove, on the north shore about 3 miles eastward from West Point, is a small indentation, bare at low water, which has been extensively improved by the construction of docks and by dredging, and is now practically a continuation of the Seattle water front.

Smith Cove Terminal consists of two piers nearly 12 mile in length and affording 9,000 feet of berthing space. It is well equipped with cargo-handling gear, the largest crane being of 100

tons capacity. Most of the trans-Pacific freight and passenger vessels berth here. The slip is dredged to 35 feet (10.7 m.) at mean lower low water along the fender line, and the largest vessels can be accommodated.

The Duwamish River empties into the head of Elliott Bay, and the flats at the mouth of the river have been improved by dredging two waterways, the dredged material being deposited between the two waterways to form a reclaimed area, known as Harbor Island. This area is being occupied by industrial concerns.

The river has been improved by dredging, and now empties through a dredged channel into the western waterway. In 1924, the controlling depths in Duwamish River between the head of West Waterway and the Eighth-Avenue Bridge was 20 feet (6.1 m.); to Fourteenth Avenue south, 4 feet (1.2 m.), and at the head of the waterway there is no channel, except at high tide. There are several sawmills on the river, and vessels are often laid up here during the slack season.

East Waterway.-The entrance to East Waterway is marked by an occulting green light placed on the western side of the channel. The spit on the western side of the entrance, with a least depth of 15 feet (4.6 m.), is marked by a red buoy. The waterway serves a number of modern terminals, including grain elevators, cold storage plants, fuel oil storage, and general cargo docks. In 1924, the controlling depth in the waterway was 34 feet (10.4 m.) at mean lower low water. Large vessels in foreign and intercoastal trades berth and load in this waterway.

West Waterway.-The entrance is marked by an occulting light on the extreme northwest corner of the dock on east side of entrance. There are several terminals and docks in West Waterway, but it is not developed to the extent of East Waterway. In 1924, the controlling depth in the waterway was 34 feet (10.4 m.) at mean lower low water. At the northwestern corner of Harbor Island is a large shipyard with two floating dry docks.

Lake Washington and Lake Union are connected with the waters of Puget Sound by the Lake Washington Ship Canal (chart 6447). In 1925 there was a least depth of 34 feet (10.4 m.), at mean lower low water from Puget Sound waters to the lock; 31 feet (9.4 m.) to Lake Union, and 23 feet (7 m.) at upper pool level from Lake Union to Lake Washington.

Two locks are constructed side by side, the larger being 825 feet in length and 80 feet wide. Ocean-going vessels make the passage through the large lock in about 30 minutes, and smaller vessels through the side lock in 5 to 10 minutes. The channels are marked by lighted ranges and buoys, and crossed by several drawbridges, of which the details are given under a separate heading following.

Lake Union.-There are several sawmills and other industries located on Lake Union, but the volume of water-borne commerce on it is light. It is used extensively as an anchorage for laying up vessels.

Lake Washington. This is a large body of fresh water lying just east of Seattle. There are numerous resorts and small towns around the shores of the lake, but except for logs and some lumber, there is but little water-borne commerce on the lake. There is an avi