All about the West Seattle neighborhood around Beach Drive
A Beach Drive neighbor shared on Facebook today that her truck, a white Ford Raptor, was broken into last night somewhere between 10:00 pm and 5:30 am (October 27-28th).
If you happen to have any camera footage – please let us know and we’ll pass it on.
Different forecast models are showing the possibility for some serious wind today. When and how much and exactly where the wind hits are not in agreement… but if you still have your summertime umbrellas or any other potential projectiles out this morning, you may want to stow them in a safe place.
There is a small craft advisory starting at 11:00 am that was issued early this morning.
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM 11 AM PDT THIS MORNING THROUGH THIS EVENING
TODAY S wind 5 to 10 kt, becoming NW 10 to 15 kt with gusts up to 25 kt late this morning, rising to 15 to 20 kt with gusts up to 40 kt early this afternoon, backing to SW with gusts up to 30 kt late. Waves around 2 ft or less. A slight chance of tstms.
Wind Alert has gusts of 30mph starting at 8:00 am and calming down a bit after noon.
Windy – European Model – has gusts of 39 mph starting around 11:00 am with stronger gusts south. Staying gusty until 8:00 pm.
Windy – HRRR shows gusts of 34 mph starting around 11:00 pm and gusting until 8:00 pm.
Windy – NAM‘s forecast looks like a sleeper after the other models with gusts of 26 possible tonight around 8pm.
We’ll see which forecast is closest to having an accurate prediction soon.
Last and never least… here are the tides. As I write this post, we’re heading towards low tide of 1.48 feet at 10:37 am.
High tide is estimated at 11.09 feet at 5:04 pm.
Depending on which wind forecast is accurate, it could get splashy.
A neighbor shared photos from their security camera showing a person in the fenced back yard around 3:45 a.m. this morning.
The picture is pretty grainy – the person is using something to cover their head.
Neighbors may want to check their security cameras to see if they had an uninvited visitor.
A neighbor from the 4700 block of Beach Drive shared that a prowler at 5:17 am, their security camera caught a prowler in their driveway.
When he heard a car coming, he crouched down behind the front of the car so as not to be seen. Both of their cars were locked and appear to not have been accessed by the prowler.
It looks like he is wearing a black backpack, black cap, and blue hoodie, and holding a package.
You know the drill – always lock your car doors and don’t leave anything of value.
A word from your neighbor mortgage lender and Beach Drive Blog Sponsor.
We have several condominium projects that line Beach Drive and Alki in West Seattle and I thought this is too important to not share. There are major changes that are taking place with regards to financing condos.
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac — which set the rules behind most home loans — recently updated how they evaluate condo buildings. When someone gets a mortgage on a condo, the lender isn’t just qualifying the buyer, they’re qualifying the building too, looking at the HOA’s reserves, budget, and insurance. If a building doesn’t measure up, it can lose eligibility for standard financing, which shrinks the buyer pool and affects resale values for everyone in the building, not just one owner.
What’s changing:
One thing worth knowing: this isn’t just a “conforming loan” issue – many lenders rely on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s metrics to determine whether or not a condo is “warrantable”. If a condo is determined to be “non-warrantable” it often means that the mortgage programs that are available may require larger down payments to qualify for along with higher interest rates.
Why it matters even if you’re not selling: your neighbors’ ability to sell or refinance depends on the whole building’s standing, not just their own finances. It’s worth asking your HOA board a few questions — is the reserve study current and is the budget funding toward it — so the condo owners aren’t caught off guard.
Questions? I’m always happy to help a neighbor!
More information here: Changes to Conforming Guidelines for Condos
Amanda posted on our Facebook page that a painting of Seattle was removed from their sailboat and she would really like to have it returned.
“the one that we are missing from our boat we would have this returned no hard feelings.., understand it came with our boat and stays with our boat… The sooner there is resolution in this matter the sooner we can be on our way.”
I’m assuming it was taken when the boat was beached on the shores of Constellation Park.
Hopefully whoever took the painting will return it to Amanda soon.
UPDATE: Coco is back home!
Coco is the Great Dane pictured on the right.
Coco’s humans have reached out to see if anyone has seen her around Beach Drive.
Updated August 11, 2026
Far Far Away and the two other boats that came to refloat her, are now all beached on the shores of Weather Watch Park. 
Last night, we watched the Coast Guard and Seattle Fire Department tow the two sailboats (with masts) with the mastless sailboat following behind, and honestly, I was surprised that they left these boats and crew anchored at this spot. With our current low tides, this seems inevitable that the boats would be beached again.
Photo Credit Meegan Corcoran
Last fall, you may remember the derelict motorboat, Gooey, that the authorities secured to a buoy off of Lowman Park, until the person aboard signaled he and his dog needed help as they were taking on water. They wound up being towed to Don Armeni where the boat sank at the dock later that night… there was a lot to this story too. It seems that more derelict boats are showing up along the shores of Beach Drive (and everywhere).
We are just past this morning’s low tide of -2.5 at 9:26 AM and are heading towards a high tide of 10.7 feet at 2:02 PM.
The story continues…
UPDATE 8:00 pm: Far Far Away is now being towed with the other sailboat by the Seattle Fire Department. “Jimothy” is following behind on it’s own power.
We missed the actual event of Far Far Away floating off of the beaches from Constellation Park today. Witnesses tell us that it was an amazing sight watching the female crew, Amanda, work the mast and halyards to finally free the sailboat.
Photo credit: Scupper, the Intrepid Reporter for Beach Drive Blog
It appears that Far Far Away is tied to their other sailboat and is currently drifting south. Meanwhile, the mastless sailboat (aka Jimothy) is still off the shores (in the water) of Constellation Park with the two dogs and the male crew member aboard.
As of the publishing of this post (6:30 pm) it looks like Amanda is trying to tow Far Far Away with their other sailboat and are somewhere in the Puget Sound between Emma Schmitz View Point and north of Lincoln Park.
Scupper and I happened to be passing by Constellation Park today and decided to check in on how the effort to refloat the beached sailboat Far Far Away was going. Plenty of people were gathered to watch the two people try to free the boat as they resourcefully strung line from Far Far Away to the mastless sailboat with a motor.
Someone in the crowd said “let’s help” and then a group of kind people gave it all they had to assist the grateful sailors.
Alas, it seems that the tides were just shy of being enough of what would free this boat this afternoon.
Scupper went back with water and wound up giving it a second try with another group of people who wanted to help.
I’m sure they’ll keep trying as tides will continue to get higher through the 15th of August.
I am very touched by those who paused their day today and came together to offer help.
Next daytime hightide is tomorrow at 4:45 pm.
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