BROWNSVILLE — Brownsville is one of Puget Sound’s most secluded and snug harbors — and one of its most charming maritime communities.
Tidal changes in Port Orchard Channel stir up nutrients that draw birds, seals and other marine life.
Boaters and residents shop at Sweeney’s Country Style Meats or dine and visit at the Brownsville Deli, watch sunrises and sunsets at Burke Bay Overlook Park, or picnic at the pavilion.
The Brownsville Yacht Club and Peninsula Sailing Club are based here. So is the Kitsap Maritime Heritage Foundation, which is restoring the 65-foot schooner Fiddler’s Dream.
“What attracts me and has kept me here for 21 years is the people,” said Jerry Rowland, a retired Navy chief petty officer who now manages the Port of Brownsville.
“I cannot say enough of about the tenants and constituents of the marina and the surrounding area. It’s like the rural farmland thing I grew up in in Nebraska. If you need help, somebody’s there to help you.”
Visitors can experience the charm of Brownsville from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sept. 24 during Brownsville Appreciation Day.
Tour classic wooden yachts — including the yacht on the cover (more on that later). Join in the Pirate Zombies’ Treasure Hunt, enjoy live music, and see the port’s newest attraction: the 114-foot Pokemon Mega-Gyrados sea serpent skeleton sculpture.
The day includes a custom car show; up to 150 cars are expected, Rowland said.
Lending a carnival-like atmosphere: arts and crafts booths, a batting cage, bounce house, dunk tank, dinghy and sailboat rides, face painting, inflatable obstacle course, kite building, and unicyclists.
Oh, and hot dogs and hamburgers for $1 each.
M/V Deerleap, a 1929 wooden yacht owned by Richard and Carolyn Gardner, is restored to her Roaring ’20s elegance and will be available for tour.
According to the yacht’s online history, Deerleap was built in Vancouver, British Columbia by the Hoffar-Beeching Shipyards for the president of Winnipeg Power and Light.
The first owner wanted “exceptional viewing capabilities aboard a comfortable and elegant cruiser, built specifically for excursions to Alaska.” For five years, he frequently cruised the Inside Passage with private hunting and fishing parties.
Deerleap was then sold to the owners of Vancouver’s Spencer Department Stores, who kept the boat through the Great Depression years.
Like many Canadian and U.S. yachts of its day, Deerleap was conscripted during World War II, painted gray and equipped with deck artillery. Its original Hall-Scott gasoline engines were replaced with 120 hp Vivian diesels, reportedly weighing 7,800 pounds each.
“When you board this beautiful vessel today, it is difficult to imagine that during World War II, her exterior brightwork and hull were painted gray and machine guns and cannon were mounted on her decks,” the yacht history states.
Today, the yacht has been totally restored to the elegance of the era in which it was built.
“Below the main deck, the master stateroom and guest cabins all have private heads with showers. The lower cabins are accessed aft by a spiral staircase …,” an online description states.
“The sumptuous luxury of the main saloon, with exquisite mahogany joinery work and beveled-glass china closets, is an excellent example of the opulence of that era. Her graceful lines and contoured hull slip through the water with the stately posture and gentle roll of one of the West Coast’s finest grand dames.”
Getting there: Take Highway 3 to Highway 303 (just north of Kitsap Mall). Head east to Brownsville Highway. Continue on Brownsville Highway to the Port of Brownsville.
