Boats rafted up at McMicken Island State Park
McMicken Island is a Marine State Park that is popular with boaters in Southern Puget Sound. On three day weekends, the anchorage fills up with large rafts of boats that party hard into the night. The rest of the year, the 11.5 acre park is quiet and peaceful, a great place to take the family. There is a sand bar that appears at low tides which connects McMicken to Harstine Island.
On Memorial Day weekend, we decided the join the crowds and headed up to McMicken to catch up with old friends. We weren’t disappointed, arriving midday, we discovered nine boats full of our closest friends rafted up. We tied up next to Serenity and Sea Ya so that Lauren could visit with Chloe and it didn’t take long before the two of them were off exploring the sand bar in the kayaks.
Sea Ya, Serenity and Yes Please rafted together
Meanwhile, after catching up with several families we hadn’t seen since last summer in the San Juan Islands, Captain Boyd took the dog ashore for his very first potty stop via the dinghy! Yankee wasn’t quite sure what was going on, but figured it out very quickly and by evening would hop in the dinghy as soon as we put his life jacket on him. Now we know that he is good to go for multi-week trips this summer.
Mike and Glen slow cooked a big slab of Halibut on the grille which melted in your mouth and made for an excellent dinner. The wind kicked up and swung to the north, which makes this anchorage very uncomfortable (no protection) and forced the large raft of boats to untie and reset anchors. Fortunately, it calmed down at dusk and everyone slept like babies after a great day on the water.
The girls love exploring in the kayaks
I normally steer clear of crowded anchorages, but had a blast at McMicken Island and may make Memorial Day an annual even there, like so many of my friends do.