PNW boaters please note, for another 10 weeks WA State Parks will be conducting mooring buoy repairs (scroll down for full schedule). The work is part of a long-term project to replace mooring buoy anchors with heftier, and more stable anchors and chains. Replacement work is scheduled Monday-Friday and is subject to weather delays.
WA State Parks mooring buoy repair schedule:
North and South Puget Sound – July 20 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.
To monitor state park mooring bouy availability, download the free OnBuoy app and select "public" moorings.
