Hammerheads, Humbolt Squid and now this… Opah!

August 11, 2012 by Leave a Comment

A very unusual fish was recently caught of the coast of Washington – Hawaiian Opah!

Opah is normally caught in warm Pacific Ocean waters near Hawaii.
But, this one was caught by Lou Javet while line fishing on his 42' Troller 32 miles off the Washington coast when he hooked into a sight that he had never seen before fishing here in the Pacific Northwest.  

Lou, a professional fisherman, works with Jon Daniels, owner of West Seattle's own Seattle Fish Company.   Lou is known for bringing in high quality Salmon and other local fish that Jon is interested in selling in his Fish Market, but as Jon says "After 20 years in this business, this one takes the cake!".

 

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The Hawaiian Opah Lou caught is pictured with Darren Wilkerson, a long time West Seattle resident who works at Seattle Fish Company, located at 4435 California Ave S.W.

 

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Seattle Fish Company has recently opened a grill for dining, but "locally caught" Hawaiian Opah has never been on the menu before – at least not until today.

 

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But, if you want to try it – you'd better hurry !!!
Photos and article courtesy of one of our esteemed Beach Drive Blog Correspondents, Friend of Scupper

 

Filed Under: Food and Drink, Wildlife Tagged With: ,

Mystery of a well-stocked trout pond in Mee-Kwa-Mooks park

August 8, 2012 by 4 Comments

I've read about the trout pond once located on the old Schmitz estate (formally named Sans Souci), but have never been able to pinpoint exactly where it sat.  A cool sketch of San Souci's grounds as depicted by the great niece of the West Seattle pioneers Emma and Ferdinand shows a number of landmarks but no specific mention of the "trout pond" 

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Note a "small pond" drawn in on the right. The trout pond?

It was time to leash up the dog and sniff this thing out. The Blue Spruce tree was the first landmark we found…

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Love the early century concrete work!

Then it was off to find where the waterfall was located. Figured that the trout pond could be somewhere down slope from it.

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Appears to be original stone-work for the water feature.  

My guess is that the well stocked pond was located further down the hill near Beach Drive itself. The Parks Department just cleared out some diseased trees and brush (in effort to help the recent restoration project ) and may have uncovered the location.

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On a hot August day, you can almost smell the fish!

There's even a concrete pad that once was a site for a bench of some sorts.

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The bench site looks somewhat new but the Schmitz estate didn't come down 'til the late 60's.

This aerial photo from 1968 clearly shows where the 1907 circa 17 room mansion was excavated as well as the extensive gardens. But no sign of the famous trout pond.

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All the gardens were said to be watered naturally from "Spring Hill"

Here's an archived pic named Sans Souci that shows standing water near whats looks to be the shoreline. Is it the pond?

  787 - Sans Souci Alki Point

Alan Schmitz, grandson of Emma and Ferdinand, holding a photo of the historic mansion that once occupied the hillside of what is now Mee-Kwa-Mooks park.

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Again, no clue as to the whereabouts of the trout pond.

So that's the end of my quest to find the ghost fishing hole of Mee-Kwa-Mooks. If anyone out there actually knows where it existed, please share!

Scupper Sr. for Beach Drive Blog 

 

Filed Under: Beach Drive Homes, Historic Homes Tagged With: ,

Is it safe for Fido to get in the water?

July 21, 2012 by 2 Comments

Numerous articles and publications regarding algae blooms have been circulating throughout local government sites and are now making their way around local West Seattle veterinarian clinics. Now that our family has added a virtual land seal (Scupper Jr.) to the pack, I figured it was wise to know more about the safety of dog paddling along our Beach Drive shores.

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This bulletin (commonly found in many states) has stirred up some confusion as to the safety of pets swimming in or around the algae blooms commonly seen on our marine beaches. As far as I can tell, these warnings are targeted specifically for lakes, ponds, rivers and non-moving estuaries. ALTHOUGH, I do have major reservations letting our pup thrash around in the colorful Puget Sound soup known as Noctiluca.

According to reports, The Washington Department of Ecology is still uncertain what else may be included in the unprecedented amount of recent algae blooms…

"They know for sure they have large amounts of common Noctiluca algae, which looks like tomato soup, but they have not identified several other strains they observed."

Conclusion: Your pets are likely to be just fine after swimming around these blooms but until I hear more, it's "Scupper, leave it!"

Scupper (Sr.) reporting for Beach Drive Blog

Filed Under: In the News, Pets, Puget Sound

Viking Tug invades Puget Sound…response is swift!

June 25, 2012 by Leave a Comment

 

The Sweedish super tug, Tor Viking II was spotted sailing north past Blake Island… 


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when out of no where, the flat-top USS John C Stennis and a fleet of WA State ferries was on it's tail!!!


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Never a dull moment covering Beach Drive.

Scupper, reporting for Beach Drive Blog

 

Filed Under: Just for fun, Puget Sound Tagged With: , ,

Aiviq: Monster Arctic ice buster spotted heading south…

June 24, 2012 by 2 Comments

Every now & then an unusual vessel will cross our waters and warrant some BDB research! A spokesman from the ship's builder mentions that this $200 mil giant ice breaker recently built in Louisiana and commissioned by Shell Oil is considered… 

 "the largest vessel ever built by Chouest, and will be among the most advanced and powerful, non-military icebreakers on the waters."

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I suddenly have "bigger boat" envy!

 

Scupper,  for Beach Drive Blog

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: , ,

Local TV network takes notice of Beach Drive’s community safety efforts

June 22, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Komo 4 just aired a piece on how involvement by the local community helped create a safer park on Beach Drive. You can see one of the most active community members walking their dog Tazi in the news video…

 

BDB gives a big hat tip to everyone involved in working with the various public agencies in making these safety changes. The additional L.E.D. lighting may not deter all the criminal activity taking place in the park's lower section but it definetly gives an innocent walker-by a chance to see "what's up" before heading down there!

I walked down there the other night and was impressed how the three L.E.D. lights give just the right amount of illumination. There were some fears that the area would be too lit and ruin any ambiance the lower park offers. 

The next anticipated change will be a sign noting the park's closing hours.  

Scupper, reporting for Beach Drive Blog 

Filed Under: Current Affairs, In the News, Parks Tagged With: ,

Missing something??

June 9, 2012 by Leave a Comment

This is the time of year when we see detached mooring buoys take a cruise along the shores of Beach Drive. The combo of newly grown kelp, sea-critters and extreme Spring tides will test for any weak links in a mooring system. 

Anyone want to claim this one? Found off our place on Thursday's extreme low tide… 

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Before adding the tug of your boat to your float, might be a good idea to examine the shape of your gear. I was a bit nervous putting my 17 foot fishing boat out in early May for the Spot Shrimp season so employed Alpha Marine Installations to dive down and take a look. They've installed several systems along the "Drive" and will periodically offer to do a complete inspection and cleaning for $200. Pretty cheap insurance considering the alternative!

Is that another loose ball I see floating down the drive? This one's just off the south end of Emma Schmitz park.

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Red arrow marks the location

 

Scupper for Beach Drive Blog

Filed Under: Lost and Found, Puget Sound

Low tide neighbors get exposed!

May 7, 2012 by 2 Comments

Two days of low tides offered some great sights along a couple of West Seattle beaches. Starting with the beach off of Emma Schmitz Viewpoint, found this Stingray looking critter on it's back and set him back in the water before the birds made a meal of him!

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then found these gooey looking dudes hanging off a rock about 200 yards out…

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Click here for an album of other photos taken off Beach Drive.

Then it was off to Fauntleroy Cove where I could almost walk straight on the Ferry from the exposed beach under the piers. Great access from Fauntleroy Park located on the north side of the dock…

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Great sculpture of a Raven marking the location of the park

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Tomorrow promises to be another great day to see what's lurking below with a minus tide of -3.3.  Someday I hope to get a glimpse of the famous Spirit Boulder that's been reported to peak it's head out at extreme low tides on the south side of the ferry dock.

Scupper for Beach Drive Blog

Filed Under: Puget Sound, Tides, Wildlife Tagged With:

Local dive serves up great seafood and heavy drinkers!

May 1, 2012 by 1 Comment

Just a couple hundred yards off Beach Drive lies one of the best little dives along the entire Alki strip. Locals would reefer to it as a a swim-up bar but most get to it by boat (want more puns?). 

Known to most as the Alki Rock Pile, this site also goes by Alki Reef, Jacobson Fishing Reef or Fish Haven (as noted on marine charts). Several popular dive sites on the web incorrectly state that this man-made reef was one of the original 13 artificial reefs created in Puget Sound in the mid 1970's by Washington Dept of Fish and Wildlife. It was actually created in May of 1987 as a "mitigation reef" to offset the ecological damage created when developing the Elliott Bay Marina.

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The idea was to carefully construct a reef which would provide an assemblage of economically important fish species similar to, or greater than, the impacted habitat.

A scientific study used to measure the effectiveness of the reef in 1989 described how it was built…

"A total of 181,400 metric tons of quarry rock was used to construct fourteen 41 m· 15 m· 6 m (high) reef structures in a 2.83 ha area during May 1987. This design of a 1:2 ratio of reef material: sand bottom also accommodated the trophic level relationships normally occurring for fishes feeding from reef structures and surrounding natural habitats."

While researching this particular reef on the internet, I found that it has become a reference point for building artificial reefs worldwide. 

Today marks the opening day for Ling cod fishing which will attract several boats fishing the reef in May.

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Photo credit to zlatcarp Hey baby, last time I seen a mouth like that, it had a hook in it!

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Divers get their shot of these lunkers in the 3rd week in May 

I'll end this fish story with a great video of a couple of divers that were escorted from Emma Schmitz Viewpoint to the reef by a "true local". Turn up your speakers and enjoy!

 

Scupper, for Beach Drive Blog

Filed Under: Dives, Just for fun, Parks, Puget Sound

Back to business for 4029 Beach Drive SW!

April 4, 2012 by 3 Comments

It's great to see one of our favorite old buildings on Beach Drive coming back to life as a small business again!  My wife and I ran into a couple of friendly guys moving stuff into this iconic location as we were taking a stroll north along the Drive. Being nosey bloggers that we are, we had to ask what was up?

A gentleman named Norm told me that he was planning to run his law practice out of the front of the space and use the back as a residence. He also told us he will do everything he can to keep the character of the circa 1928, 1610 sq ft space and was shooting for May 1st to be open for biz.

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Norm was gracious enough to let me take a few pics of the inside and around back of the historic building which can be viewed here. 

Want to know some history about the place? I knew you did!

An excerpt from Memories of Southwest Seattle Businesses describes the establishment at the northwest corner of Beach Drive SW and Carroll Street from the vantage point of what is now LaRustica Restaurant…

"Diagonally across the street at the northend of Weather Watch park, is another small storefront building. In the 50's it was a beverage store. They sold beer and wine and mixers, but no hard liquor. My friend Claudia Hickerson Moter lived there with her parents, Lyle and Juddy Hickerson. Lyle was seattle fireman stationed in North Admiral, and Juddy ran the store. The big street-side room was the store, with their living quarters at the back and below."


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This archive photo from the King County Assessor's Office shows the apartments next door (prior to current brick siding) with another small store-front at street level.

 

As you can see from this Seattle zoning map from 1923, this particular intersection of Beach Drive was full of small businesses in "the day"…


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The checkered section of this 1923 zoning map signifies "Business District" while the stripes stand for "Second Residences". 


Hmmm, Law office or Beer & Wine store? Law Office or Beer & Wine store? Oh well, either way…welcome to Beach Drive Norm!  


Scupper reporting for Beach Drive Blog

Filed Under: Beach Drive Homes, Historic Homes, Real Estate, Remodeling Tagged With:
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