Looking for a small boating town/ town with a harbor (Seattle: apartment, to rent)

[StCloud]

I am on my first step in researching a new place to move to within Washington. I am looking to move out of state and was wondering if anyone can help me out.

I'm looking for a small town/village that has a boat harbor that isn't too expensive to live in. Just a small town, not a big city. I'm just looking to rent a 1 bedroom apartment so nothing too fancy. I plan to learn to sail so that is a major factor. Maybe even a coastal village next to a forest would be a plus.

Like I said, this is just my first step into researching since I do not live in Washington. Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

P.S. These pictures are just a few examples of what I am looking for:

[poopskooper]

Since there was a recent thread pertaining to Union on Hood Canal, you might want to look into it. Of course, Union is a very small town but has a nice little marina. I've only been to the marina once and it was quite awhile ago but it was beautiful that day. Kind of like the photos show on the website:

Hood Canal Marina

There are other marinas on Hood Canal too that you might want to check out. If you want a larger towns with a bigger sailing presence, maybe the northern Peninsula towns of Port Angeles, Sequim, and Port Townsend?

Lots of sailing opportunities on Puget Sound locations too.

[prosin]

Look to the west side of Puget Sound (depends on your definition of "small"):

8,000+ residents:
Bremerton
Poulsbo
Gig Harbor
Port Orchard
Port Townsend

3,000-8,000 residents:
Port Angeles
Sequim
Fox Island

1,000 to 3,000 residents:
Kingston
Port Ludlow/Marrowstone Island (Nordland)
Anderson Island

And take a look at the San Juan Islands and Whidbey Island.

[Hemlock140]

If you want really affordable and don't need to find a job, try these:

Raymond
Aberdeen
Hoquiam
LaPush

[Dendrite]

Originally Posted by prosin

Look to the west side of Puget Sound (depends on your definition of "small"):

3,000-8,000 residents:
Port Angeles
Sequim
Fox Island

Minor detail but the population of Port Angeles is nearly 20,000 rather than 3-8,000.

[prosin]

Originally Posted by Dendrite

Minor detail but the population of Port Angeles is nearly 20,000 rather than 3-8,000.

Oops! Guess I think of it as a smaller town because their one high school is a WIAA 2A school.

[willowkim]

Port Angeles is awesome if you want proximity to forest & mountains, too. Olympic National Park is amazing. It's got a great harbor. The marina is nothing as picturesque as your picture up there, but the mountains are there. You can also see Canada across the strait. You didn't mention whether you need to work... that's always the issue with the smaller, more remote town. Port Angeles also has a nice arts scene, live music, a couple great music festivals, nice galleries. It's a working class town and still trying to find its identity since most of the mills have shut down. We lived there 11+ years and still own a home there.

If you want more artsy, smaller, (& more liberal...) and more picturesque, Port Townsend is cool. It's a Victorian seaport and has a really nice little downtown, very quaint. Much smaller there. I personally like that Port Angeles is closer to all the destinations out west... Lake Crescent and Lake Quinault are two of my favorite places.

I also think Poulsbo is a pretty great little town!

You should plan a scouting trip so that you can drive around to some communities and see what you like!

[pnwretired]

Gig harbor.

[Inkpoe]

What is "big"? I get that Seattle would be big, but would you consider Olympia "big" as well? Its got a small town feel to it. I'm surprised there's no mention of Anacortes so far.

You can also look through this list and vet out the ones that wouldn't work for you: Washington Marinas - WA Marinas boat slips yacht slips Washington United States

[lady fern]

Originally Posted by poopskooper

Since there was a recent thread pertaining to Union on Hood Canal, you might want to look into it. Of course, Union is a very small town but has a nice little marina. I've only been to the marina once and it was quite awhile ago but it was beautiful that day. Kind of like the photos show on the website:

Hood Canal Marina

There are other marinas on Hood Canal too that you might want to check out. If you want a larger towns with a bigger sailing presence, maybe the northern Peninsula towns of Port Angeles, Sequim, and Port Townsend?

Lots of sailing opportunities on Puget Sound locations too.

I thought of the Union and Hoodsport area as well.