South Puget Sound: Westbay Marina

Westbay Marina is located on 2100 West Bay Drive in Olympia and advertised as a most friendly marina in the area.  As a resident here going on my third year I have to agree, it is very friendly.  They also have a new website which you can find here. (Westbay Marina Website) Buying and maintaining my first big boat was pretty intimidating for an old fart with new ideas.  But this marina, its staff and community here were very helpful.  I feel the staff has gone the extra mile to make Westbay a friendly fair priced marina.  Therefore, I recommend Westbay Marina to everyone.

Most visitors who come to Westbay come for the great restaurant we enjoy here called Tugboat Annie’s.  The next thing popular here is the the rentals of kayaks.  For only $20 you can rent a kayak and go exploring.  My favorite place to explore nearby is Priest Point Park.  This park gives access to beach and mud flats, preserves the Olympia waterline and wildlife of a mud flat environment.   Unfortunately this part of the sound, Budds Bay, is polluted and closed to shell-fishing.

A Sea Lion baths lazily in the sun at Westbay Marina
A Sea Lion Baths Lazily in the Sun at Westbay Marina

The great blue heron is a big bird found though-out the sound.  Its my favorite sight for wildlife in the sound.  There are a few of them perched on select trees near the marina and within Priest Point Park.  The bird has a huge wing span and a funny throaty squawk.  The great blue heron gives the capitol of our great state a wildlife friendly feeling.  With the capitol dome in the background and the heron soaring and squawking about I find incredible to find them in one view.

Indeed our capitol politics are quite progressive. Pacific Northwest Bulkworks is cleaning a contaminated waterline and raising areas that will suffer rising ocean-levels that global warming is causing. I am not crazy about all the noise made by the barges and massive earth moving machines. Dropping huge boulders onto metal and concrete barges makes a lot of noise disturbing the tranquil peace one can seek at the marina. However I believe the project is a much needed development for all residents of Olympia. At least we have a city that is being proactive and taking initiative on a clean environment.  Besides there are more peaceful places in the South Sound to enjoy peace and tranquility.

I hope you will check my home page and subscribe. That way you will get an email when I write my next posts. I will begin to cover all the Island State Parks available only to those willing to sail, power, or paddle to them. Thank you so much for reading my blog and feel free to comment below.