The Tramp Harbor dock is a beloved and iconic spot. Extending far into the water, it’s Vashon’s only public fishing pier. Without a boat, it’s one of the best spots on the island to drop a line or a crab pot. It’s also a place where tourists go for a view of the water and some local flavor. It’s historical — the site where our first ferry landed — and it’s lovely on sunny days, foggy mornings and sunrises, the subject of countless photographs. But the dock at Tramp Harbor is also old, and we’ve known that it would eventually need repair to keep standing.
The park district, which manages the dock, could probably find $300,000 to fix the dock’s failing pilings and extends its life 20 years. After all, King County recently obtained a $450,000 grant from the Recreation and Conservation Office — the same agency that funded some of the construction of the VES Fields — to repair its dock at Dockton. However, the park district now has to do more. The state is gradually requiring that older structures around Puget Sound come into compliance with current environmental codes, and the creosote dock must be entirely rebuilt to the tune of $1 to $2 million dollars. The park district shouldn’t bear this burden alone when people from around the region and even the state enjoy the dock.
The request is not unreasonable — creosote is toxic and we should work to get it out of the water. But Puget Sound is full of creosote-treated wood in old docks, bulkheads and abandoned pilings, all in line to be dealt with as soon as there’s willingness and funding. Because this dock is in constant use by both islanders and off-islanders, the state should be flexible. It should either help fund the dock’s replacement or at the very least give Vashon ample time to come up with a plan and funding.
Unlike other park district properties such as Paradise Ridge or the sports fields, Tramp Harbor doesn’t have a specific audience or friends group to advocate for it. But that doesn’t make it any less part of the fabric of our community. Part of the beauty of the dock is that it attracts people from all walks of life. On a nice day, the pier might be filled with families taking their kids crabbing for the first time, fishermen seeing what they can catch or young adults having fun dropping a line in the water. Camp Goodtimes frequently takes its campers there to fish, and the fact that it draws people from off-island suggests the dock is unique in the region as well. We want the island to offer options for a wide range of people, not only those who can successfully mount fundraisers. So how sad would it be if we lost our only public fishing pier? It would be equally sad to lose the public marina at Dockton, but King County likely has more resources to fund the necessary work there. The park district is about to negotiate with the state Department of Natural Resources over Tramp Harbor. One official has suggested that the state understands the importance of the dock and is flexible — let’s hope he’s right. It’s too bad that the dock may close in the meantime due to its deteriorating condition, but perhaps the closure will only hasten the state’s willingness to help out.
