Voyage of the sv Hot Potato

August 9, 2014 by 1 Comment

Making headlines for the second straight day on BDB, folks on the 5000 block of Beach Drive woke up to the un-named/registered 26 foot sailing vessel anchored out in front of their views.

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You ask how you could be so blessed to have this blue tarped boat swaying near your buoys?? Seems it was towed there by what looked like the Seattle Harbor Patrol! We first noticed the sailboat several days ago anchored out front of Weather Watch Park but recently noticed it was leap frogging south about a hundred yards or so during every flood tide. Here’s how it unfolded yesterday…

1:00 PM – The head honcho of BDB makes a call to the Coast Guard to alert them of an unsecured vessel. They pass her onto Seattle Harbor Patrol which in turn passes the buck to King County which in turn tells her to contact the Coast Guard… well, see a pattern here? Nobody wants responsibility to tow or secure the boat.

6:15 PM – The 26′ “Hot Potato” floats off it’s anchor heading out towards the shipping channel

8:00 PM – Near miss! A container ship heading north almost sends Hot Potato down to Davy Jone’s locker for good.

Approx 9:15 PM – A patrol boat with blue lights flashing is seen towing said vessel southward towards which we thought might be Des Moines or Tacoma.

Some good news for our Beach Drive neighbors is that 2 notices have been neatly taped to the aft cabin of Hot Potato. One of which reads Notice of Intent to Obtain Custody. It’s one of the first steps in disposing derelict vessels in an environmentally responsible way and, not to mention, allows time for the rightful owner to step forward.

(b) Before taking temporary possession of the vessel, the authorized public entity must make reasonable attempts to consult with the department or the United States coast guard to ensure that other remedies are not available. The basis for taking temporary possession of the vessel must be set out in writing by the authorized public entity within seven days of taking action and be submitted to the owner, if known, as soon thereafter as is reasonable. If the authorized public entity has not already provided the required notice, immediately after taking possession of the vessel, the authorized public entity must initiate the notice provisions in subsection (1) of this section. The authorized public entity must complete the notice requirements of subsection (1) of this section before using or disposing of the vessel as authorized in RCW 79.100.050.

 

In other news, wouldn’t you think they could find a more visible location for this sign?

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Scupper, reporting for Beach Drive Blog

Filed Under: Beach Drive Homes, Boats, Puget Sound, Uncategorized

Do you know the owner of this sailboat?

August 8, 2014 by 4 Comments

This 20 – 25 foot sail boat (similar to a Thunderbird style boat) appears to be drifting.

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We first noticed this boat closer to Weather Watch Park. We are not sure if it broke anchor or is dragging anchor. The boat is currently off the shores of Emma Schmitz View Point (approx 4600 Beach Drive).
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A couple of notices have been posted on the vessel, which appears to be unoccupied.  If you, or someone you know, is the captain of this boat, please let them know it’s gone adrift!

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The authorities have been notified.

Filed Under: Boats, Puget Sound

Mystery Buoy washes up off the shores of Beach Drive

July 5, 2014 by 1 Comment

Earlier this week, while we were on vacation, we received these photos from Kimberly. This research buoy washed up on the shores along 5500 Beach Drive SW.

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West Seattle Blog has reported this from King County:

King County Environmental Laboratory employees are looking into how a water-quality- data-collection buoy came loose from its mooring before washing ashore along West Seattle on June 29.

The buoy and its host of environmental sensors had been in place off Point Williams since July 2013 and automatically transmitted a wealth of important data about environmental conditions. King County employees were notified early in the morning of June 29 that the buoy was ashore along the 5400 block of Beach Drive SW, south of Me-Kwa-Mooks Park…

Exactly how the buoy came loose from its mooring remains a mystery. The buoy was secured off Point Williams by nearly 1,200 pounds of weight, including two railroad wheels and a heavy gage steel chain that was attached to the buoy by a shackle mechanism….

Filed Under: Puget Sound

Follow up to Last Night’s Vehicle in Puget Sound off Emma Schmitz View Point

June 22, 2014 by 1 Comment

Here are a few more photos from this morning showing where the vehicle (appears to be an SUV or mini-van) to follow up from last night’s post.

The event took place this morning around 2:30 am at the southern point of the rock retaining wall of Emma Schmitz View Point where a vehicle was purposely sent into Puget Sound. No passengers were found. Inside the vehicle, on the passenger side, a concrete block was found. The vehicle landed upside down.

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While the vehicle was being removed from the Sound, it was turned back on it’s wheels. We don’t know if this photo is from when the vehicle went in or was removed from the Sound.

It appears that parts of the sea-wall have been damaged.

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A floor mat, side mirror and garbage from the vehicle remain at the scene.
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UPDATE JANUARY 23: From the West Seattle Blog – the vehicle was stolen from Queen Anne.

Filed Under: Crime, Puget Sound

Vehicle in Puget Sound off Emma Schmitz View Point

June 22, 2014 by 1 Comment

Horns are sounding from a vehicle that appears to have drove off Beach Drive at Emma Shcmitz View Point right now. We have called 9-1-1 and the SPD and Harbor Patrol on their way.  The vehicle’s lights are still blinking.

We will update this post when we have more information.

2:58 am UPDATE: Scupper was first on the scene, immediately followed by the SFD. SPD and Harbor Patrol. It appears that the vehicle left Beach Drive without a driver.

A concrete block landed on the passenger side of the vehicle that may have been placed on the gas pedal.

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Currently the tide is on the way out.

There is no sign of passengers in or around the vehicle.

Filed Under: Crime, Puget Sound, Safety

Coast Guard hanging out off of Beach Drive

June 12, 2014 by Leave a Comment

If you’re wondering what the Coast Guard has been doing hanging out off the shores of 5000 block area of Beach Drive, they were called in for a boat that was near the seawall from a buoy coming loose.  We witnessed a small boat in that area which could have been the one the caused the concern. It appears it safely made it’s way out of the area and the Coast Guard has left the area.  There is a buoy near the bulkhead that seems to have broke loose.  We’re experiencing a decent amount of chop in the water which can loosen buoys and/or boats.

Here is the current Puget Sound Marine forecast:

TONIGHT
SW WIND 5 TO 15 KT. WIND WAVES 2 FT OR LESS. SHOWERS AND
SLIGHT CHANCE OF TSTMS IN THE EVENING…THEN RAIN AFTER MIDNIGHT.

FRI
SW WIND 10 TO 15 KT…RISING TO 15 TO 25 KT. WIND WAVES 1 TO
2 FT…BUILDING TO 2 TO 4 FT. RAIN LIKELY IN THE MORNING…THEN A
CHANCE OF SHOWERS IN THE AFTERNOON.

FRI NIGHT
SW WIND 15 TO 25 KT…BECOMING S 10 TO 20 KT AFTER
MIDNIGHT. WIND WAVES 2 TO 4 FT…SUBSIDING TO 1 TO 3 FT. A CHANCE OF
SHOWERS.

SAT
SW WIND 10 TO 20 KT…BECOMING S 10 KT IN THE AFTERNOON.
WIND WAVES 1 TO 3 FT…SUBSIDING TO 1 FT OR LESS IN THE AFTERNOON.

If you have a buoy, if nothing else, this could serve as a good reminder to double check yours.  The person who installed our buoy recommends inspecting chain and shackles every two years after installation (why not check every year?).  We wound up having to replace a good portion of ours recently after five years.

Filed Under: Puget Sound, Weather

Sunny flash-back Thursday on Beach Drive

May 15, 2014 by 4 Comments

The super fine folks at the the Southwest Seattle Historical Society dug up another vintage photo for us to enjoy…

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The caption read: “Beach area below Jacobsen Dr on the left approximate location of Emma Schmitz and the houses on what was the orginal orchard area (of the Schmitz estate).”

I lined up the houses and vacant lots in the photo to put the circa between 1921-25. It appears that the old seawall was quite a bit higher and set back further than the current seawall constructed in 1927.  The one remaining mystery of this historic photo is the house(s) to the far north/left. Are they the houses at the north end of the park or were homes at one time built on the wider strip of land of the park? I’m thinking the cameras were just that much better in the 20’s 🙂

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The above photo was taken yesterday at low tide. The kids were splashing around where the old sewer/run-off  structure is now. If you’re thinking the water must’ve been freezing and it must’ve been some sort of a double-dog-dare, think again! I measured the water temp in the shallows to be around 75 degrees…no fool’n!!

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As far as the “original orchard” is concerned, a life long resident in the area told me that this is likely the last remaining fruit tree still standing from the original Schmitz family estate (now Mee-Kwa-Mooks park)…

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Scupper, reporting for Beach Drive Blog

Filed Under: Beach Drive Homes, Bulkheads, Historic Homes, Parks, Puget Sound

Tribute to a Beach Drive yacht that served her country

May 3, 2014 by 2 Comments

 

What better time than opening day of boating season to look back at a local legend? The Schmitz family yacht named Sans Souci II was 50′ long and weighed in at 8 tons. Built in 1907, she would’ve been 107 years old today! The following photo appears to be during an opening day parade between 1907 to 1917.

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After a decade of pleasure use, she was drafted into service by the navy and renamed the USS Sans Souci II.

Sans Souci H, a wooden boat built during 1907 by Frank Tregoning’s yard at Seattle, Wash., was enrolled in the Naval Coast Defense Reserve on 15 June 1917 following United States entry into World War I; delivered to the Navy on 9 July 1917 by her owner, D. G. Schmitz of Seattle; and commissioned on 1 August 1917, Chief Boatswain’s Mate R. W. Capps, USNRF, in command.

Assigned to local duty within the 13th Naval District, Sans Souci II operated on patrol duty from Seattle until September 1917. She also served, briefly, as a tender to Philadelphia (Cruiser No. 4), the receiving ship at Puget Sound Navy Yard, Bremerton, Wash., during late 1917. Sans Souci II resumed patrol duty in Puget Sound, frequently operating with, or alternating with, SC-300, until 23 December 1918. She then remained inactive until decommissioned on 7 February 1919 and was struck from the Navy list the same day. Ordered returned to her owner on 26 March 1919, Sans Souci II remained on yacht registers into the early 1930’s.

This rare photo, courtesy of the fine folks at The Log House Museum/SWSHS, show her freshly decommissioned and still in uniform…

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Circa 1919, anchored in front of the Schmitz family estate (mansion in background) which is now known as Mee-Kwa-Mooks Park on Beach Drive SW

Soon after decommissioning, this WWI veteran resumed her duty as a pleasure yacht. Here she is in of my favorite photos entertaining some beach Drive residents in their groovy roaring 20’s swimwear…

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 Photo courtesy of Log House Museum/SWSHS book “West Seattle”

If some evening you’re awakened by a deep rumbling off the shores of Beach Drive, just might be the ghost of the Sans Souci II making way towards Alki Point!

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 Scupper, reporting for Beach Drive Blog

Filed Under: Boats, Parks, Puget Sound

Are you missing a kayak?

April 1, 2014 by Leave a Comment

UPDATE 9:50 AM: The kayak is being retrieved by the SPD.

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There appears to be a submerged kayak floating off the shores of Emma Schmitz Park this morning.

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The Seattle Police Department has a boat that just happens to be in Port Orchard, that will be checking this out. The Coast Guard has been notified as well.

Filed Under: Boats, Lost and Found, Puget Sound

Windy, Wavy, Rainy Weekend

February 14, 2014 by 1 Comment

We are “on watch” for the weather this weekend because of the high tides along big winds that are heading our way. Hopefully everything simmers down before the weekend – however, it’s always best to be prepared for worst case scenario.  It’s looking like a good weekend to cuddle up with your Valentine…after making sure you have enough gas for your trash pump, generator is working and you have spare candles.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Puget Sound, Weather
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