Two Hours Under Sail as Seattle's Skyline Starts to Glow
Most ways onto Elliott Bay keep a diesel running the whole time. This one raises 2,500 square feet of canvas instead, and when the breeze cooperates the crew hands you a line and lets you pull. Two hours out of Pier 66 on an 85-foot schooner, timed so the light goes soft somewhere past the middle of the trip.
The Bay Lady is a gaff-rigged schooner with an 85-foot hull and an 87-foot mast, and she flies 2,500 square feet of sail. On a decent evening the crew shuts the engine off and lets the wind move the boat.
You can help haul the sails up if you want to, and nobody minds if you would rather stay in your seat with a drink and watch. The crew works around both kinds of passenger all season.
The sail runs two hours from Bell Harbor Marina, on the stretch of downtown waterfront north of the aquarium. It carries up to 65 people, so expect a full deck of strangers. The boat is wide enough to walk around on, which matters over two hours.
Season runs late April through the end of October. The evening departure slides earlier as the summer wears out, so the slot you pick when you book is the one that lands closest to the light.
Evening Colors Sunset Sail Tour in SeattleTwo hours on Elliott Bay aboard the 85-foot schooner Bay Lady, departing Bell Harbor Marina at Pier 66. One booking covers up to 30 travelers. Rated 4.8 across 724 reviews.www.viator.comA 1989 Hull Built to Look a Century Older
The Bay Lady looks older than she is. She was designed and built in Maine in 1989, made to order for carrying passengers under sail, and shaped after the gaff-rigged cargo schooners that used to haul lumber down the coast out of Puget Sound.
She is a 1989 boat wearing an 1800s silhouette, which is worth knowing before somebody on the dock tells you she is an antique. The hull under the varnish is American Ash, Honduran Mahogany and Brazilian Rosewood.
The seats have backrests. There are two restrooms and a railing that runs the full perimeter, which is why the crew is relaxed about putting small children and grandparents on the same trip. She also carries a cannon, and on some evenings it gets fired.
She worked out of Maine first, then San Francisco until 2020, when her current owners sailed her up the coast to Seattle.
The Route Is Whatever the Wind Allows
There is no fixed course. The crew sails where the breeze lets them, and on a strong evening that can mean most of the way across toward Bainbridge Island before they turn back for the city.
When the wind dies they run the diesel to keep the boat moving, so a flat evening turns into a cruise with the motor on. The operator says so on its own site, which is more than the listing does.
From the water you get the downtown skyline, the Space Needle off to the north, and the Olympic Mountains across the Sound. Mount Rainier shows up on a clear day and stays hidden on most others. Nobody stops anywhere. Everything on the list is something you pass.
Seals, porpoises and sea birds turn up regularly. Whales almost never do. The operator puts the resident pods about fifty miles north of Seattle, which is a long way off for a two-hour sail.
The Bar Is Licensed, So Leave Your Own Bottle at Home
The ship holds a liquor license, and that is the reason outside alcohol stays ashore. Food is a different story. The crew actively encourages it, snacks or a whole meal, along with any non-alcoholic drinks you want to carry aboard.
What they sell on deck:
- A rotating list of Washington and Pacific Northwest beer, plus hard cider and spiked seltzer
- Local wine, including a red, a white and a rosé bottled for the ship by NW Cellars under its own label
- A blackberry mimosa the crew calls the house specialty
- Soft drinks and bottled water at USD 2 each, and light snacks
Cards, cash and phone payments all work at the bar.
Drinks and snacks are sold separately and sit outside the fare. The only thing the ticket itself includes is the restroom.
Where to Stand, and Where to Park
Two addresses on Alaskan Way matter here, and they are not the same one. The ship ties up at Bell Harbor Marina. Check-in is at the operator's own booth at 2201 Alaskan Way, beside Anthony's Restaurant, and the marina office it backs onto sits on Pier 66. The crew gathers everyone at the plaza next to that office and walks the group down to the boat together.
- Arrive about twenty minutes early to get checked in
- Boarding opens roughly ten minutes before the departure time
- Park across the street at the World Trade Center garage, 2200 Alaskan Way, which is the garage the operator points its own customers to
- Street parking on Alaskan Way is metered and capped at two hours, which will not cover a two-hour sail plus check-in
Bring a layer. It runs colder on the water than it does on the pier even in August, and it drops again once the sun is down. Sunglasses and sunscreen earn their place on a bright evening.
Cancel at least twenty-four hours before departure and the booking refunds in full. If the crew calls the sail off for weather, you choose between another date, a credit, or your money back.
Nobody narrates over a loudspeaker. The crew decided long ago that a running commentary ruins the part people came for, so if you want to know how old the boat is or which mountain that is on the horizon, you walk over and ask. Most of them will keep talking well past the answer.
The boat is back alongside Pier 66 two hours after it left, which puts you on the waterfront with the evening still in front of you.