New Whittier boat ramp

[Pete & Donna]

I took this picture on 3/8/09. looks like its ready for use

[Hookemup]

Looks nice. Cant wait to try it out.

[vadimb]

I took this picture on 3/8/09. looks like its ready for use

looks nice, anyone going out of whittier yet?

Hey Pete & Donna, could you post the picture in your signature, I wanted to see how the canoe is mounted on top of your enclosure.
thanks
Vadim

[Pete & Donna]

Bellaluna in Whittier Harbor

[kaisersosei]

We launched off of the new ramp on 2/27/09, Friday before last and it was indeed very nice. It was also closed and the cops came by to tell us so but there were no signs or anything indicating that it was closed so we left from there and had to retrieve on the other old ramp. From what I saw, it looked ready to use.

I spoke with the Harbormaster and the engineering company inspected the work yesterday and they are waiting for them to sign-off on it to open it. The formal opening is supposed to be April 15 but they feel that it will be sooner than that.

[Mort]

Props

Well, congrats to the harbor master on a job apparently well-done. And as importantly, on time for the season opener! With all the grief Whittier has (rightfully) taken on ramp conditions, they deserve some praise for getting it right. Hope ramp ops smooth out this year - time will tell. And hopefully prices won't skyrocket - they are still outrageous.

Cheers!

[Homertime]

Though I've fished PWS a few times with others, I've never personally launched in Whittier. Some friends are getting a PWS trip lined up for May. If I pulled my boat over from Homer, what could I expect in costs? (tunnel, launch, parking for a few days and what ever else I haven't thought of) My boat is 10 x 30. I know what the permit to haul it is.

[dtol]

Some Questions

I was at the Harbor Masters office in Whittier to buy my season launch permit today ($120 by the way). While there I took a look at the new launch ramp. I asked the lady at the office what will happen to the west ramp. She said that the west ramp will be eliminated.

This created some alarm in my mind. There were a total of 4 sides or lanes to launch from with the west ramp and the old east ramp. The new east ramp will provide a total of 3 sides or lanes to launch from after the west ramp is gone. This means that all the boat traffic will be concentrated in front of the east ramp and all the vehicle traffic related to launching will be at the intersection in front of the east ramp.

It looks like a net loss of one lane to me.

I took the attached pictures at a relatively low tide. look at how shallow it is at the end of the east dock. This is going to make it difficult to get backed out and turned around. There is very little room to back up and work your way out of there and there appears to be hazards to your prop etc on top of it all.

[Larsenvega]

Eliminating the west ramp??? Why the heck are they going to take out a functional ramp? I understand that it is not the best thing to use during low tides, but at least it reduces the overall traffic of the east ramp since it is easy for smaller boats to use. If this is true, it is a pretty poor decision.

[Alaskan Fly Guy]

They ought to use the west ramp for kayaks. They hold up the "show" quite a bit from what I have seen.

[Alaska Gray]

They ought to use the west ramp for kayaks. They hold up the "show" quite a bit from what I have seen.

You don't know the half it!!!!!!

[akfishnut]

New Harbor - East End Of Bay

Has anyone ever wondered why they don't go down to the end of the bay and put in a new harbor and boat launch? From what I have seen there is plenty of land and a whole hillside of rock close by for building.

[skydiver]

For a while, there was talk of a tractor launch at the head of the bay. Don't know what became of it.

[tjb]

Whitter East Ramp usable

The east ramp in Whittier Harbor is ready to use. Make sure you have traction devices if you come between October and April. If you get your seasonal launch pass before April 1, it is only $120.00. April 1st to October 1st there is $.05 tax on the dollar making it $126.00. You can phone the harbor office and order one over the phone with a Visa or Mastercard and they will gladly mail you one. If you come before the private parking lot is open it is $10.00 a day 12am to 12am to park in the harbor area. You get parking permits at harbor office. Just remember after the private lot has snow removed there is no more parking the the harbor area. Do not forget to get a parking permit or you will get a parking ticket. The harbor office is open from 8am to 5pm, 7days a week.

[tjb]

march 31 last day no tax - get launch permit now

April 1st Whittier launch permit will have a $6 tax added on.