![]() ![]() Re-powered with a 1,600-horsepower Fairbanks-Morse engine, the ferry was acquired by the State of Virginia in 1950. Originally steam-powered, it was built for the Reading Railroad. Oro Bay is also the resting place of the Ocean City, a 189-foot, 50-car ferry built in 1928. On the southeast shore are two yacht club outstations and the small Oro Bay Marina, which offers 60 feet of guest moorage on a first-come first-serve basis. Safe entry to the west branch is made by staying in the centre of the outer bay while approaching the green can and red nun making the entrance to the inner bay, with a second red nun farther inside. The west branch of the bay is well protected from all weather offering plenty of anchoring in 10 feet of water over a mud bottom. It was a remarkable feat considering that there were none of the navigational aids we have today: no charts, no channel markers, no buoys to warn of potential shoals and rocks, or tide and current tables to assist them nothing to go on except their own innate sense of the sea, wind and weather. In that short week they explored most of southern Puget Sound. In just seven days the explorers painstakingly surveyed and charted the shoreline for the first time in recorded history. While they were the first recorded non-Native Americans to explore the area, the Coastal Indians had been plying the waters in their cedar canoes for thousands of years. Puget, in a small launch and sailing master Joseph Whidbey in a small cutter, and their crew of 12 men, were about to enter the incredibly beautiful, pristine wilderness that would be called Puget Sound. Puget and his team departed Bainbridge Island’s eastern shore on May 20, 1792, to examine that branch of the sound leading to the south. Lieutenant Peter Puget was the first to put the area on the chart when he explored these waters in 1792 at the behest of Captain George Vancouver. It enhances our cruising adventures, and Puget Sound has no shortage of gunkholes and history. In addition to being avid gunkholers, Arlene and I have an interest in learning about the history of the areas we visit. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |