All about the West Seattle neighborhood around Beach Drive
Given all the depressing news about sea-star populations wasting away in Puget Sound (as well as along many other west coast shorelines), I thought I would check for myself during this afternoon’s low tide. I snapped this pic at a large rock formation located at the edge of the 2.5 tide…
I didn’t have time to count all the toes but I can report that all the arms of these stars looked perfectly healthy!
Scupper, reporting for Beach Drive Blog
We’re in for some blustery weather combined with some high tides today and tomorrow…could be pretty interesting around kick off tomorrow.
TODAY…CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF SHOWERS IN THE MORNING…THEN RAIN IN THE AFTERNOON. HIGHS IN THE MID 40S TO LOWER 50S. SOUTHWEST WIND 10 TO 20 MPH BECOMING SOUTH 10 TO 15 MPH IN THE AFTERNOON.
TONIGHT…WINDY…RAIN. RAIN MAY BE HEAVY AT TIMES. LOWS IN THE 40S. SOUTH WIND 20 TO 35 MPH. GUSTS TO 40 MPH INCREASING TO 50 MPH AFTER MIDNIGHT.
SATURDAY…WINDY. RAIN IN THE MORNING…THEN SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS IN THE AFTERNOON. HIGHS NEAR 50. SOUTHWEST WIND 15 TO 30 MPH BECOMING SOUTH 20 TO 30 MPH IN THE AFTERNOON. GUSTS TO 40 MPH.
SATURDAY NIGHT…WINDY. RAIN SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS IN THE EVENING…THEN RAIN SHOWERS AFTER MIDNIGHT. LOWS NEAR 40. SOUTHWEST WIND 15 TO 30 MPH WITH GUSTS TO 40 MPH DECREASING TO 10 TO 20 MPH AFTER MIDNIGHT.
SUNDAY...BREEZY. RAIN SHOWERS. HIGHS IN THE MID 40S TO LOWER 50S. SOUTHWEST WIND 15 TO 25 MPH BECOMING SOUTH IN THE AFTERNOON.
Here are the Seattle tides:
01/10 Fri 06:14 AM 6.75 L
01/10 Fri 11:57 AM 11.46 H
01/10 Fri 07:18 PM 0.71 L
01/11 Sat 02:58 AM 10.05 H
01/11 Sat 07:41 AM 7.29 L
01/11 Sat 12:48 PM 11.08 H
01/11 Sat 08:05 PM 0.18 L
Puget Sound Marine Forecast (oddly, not updated since Wednesday):
FRI SW WIND 15 TO 25 KT...EASING TO 10 TO 15 KT IN THE AFTERNOON. WIND WAVES 2 TO 4 FT...SUBSIDING TO 1 TO 2 FT IN THE AFTERNOON. FRI NIGHT S WIND 10 TO 20 KT...BECOMING SW 25 TO 35 KT AFTER MIDNIGHT. WIND WAVES 1 TO 3 FT...BUILDING TO 4 TO 6 FT AFTER MIDNIGHT. SAT SW WIND 25 TO 35 KT. WIND WAVES 4 TO 6 FT.
The New Year rolls in with very low and high tides for the Seattle area. The lowest tide of a minus 3.15 is just a few hours away at 10:44 pm tonight and the highest upcoming tide is a 13.29 on Saturday at 7:22 am. We hope your 2014 is swell! Thanks again for reading our blog 🙂 Happy New Year.
| 01/01 | Wed | 05:19 AM | 12.48 H |
| 01/01 | Wed | 10:39 AM | 7.03 L |
| 01/01 | Wed | 03:41 PM | 11.94 H |
| 01/01 | Wed | 10:44 PM | -3.15 L |
| 01/02 | Thu | 06:00 AM | 12.9 H |
| 01/02 | Thu | 11:30 AM | 6.52 L |
| 01/02 | Thu | 04:35 PM | 11.71 H |
| 01/02 | Thu | 11:30 PM | -2.9 L |
| 01/03 | Fri | 06:41 AM | 13.17 H |
| 01/03 | Fri | 12:23 PM | 5.9 L |
| 01/03 | Fri | 05:31 PM | 11.26 H |
| 01/04 | Sat | 12:17 AM | -2.18 L |
| 01/04 | Sat | 07:22 AM | 13.29 H |
| 01/04 | Sat | 01:18 PM | 5.19 L |
| 01/04 | Sat | 06:30 PM | 10.6 H |
| 01/05 | Sun | 01:05 AM | -1.02 L |
| 01/05 | Sun | 08:04 AM | 13.26 H |
| 01/05 | Sun | 02:15 PM | 4.43 L |
| 01/05 | Sun | 07:35 PM | 9.82 H |
| 01/06 | Mon | 01:53 AM | 0.49 L |
| 01/06 | Mon | 08:47 AM | 13.1 H |
| 01/06 | Mon | 03:15 PM | 3.66 L |
| 01/06 | Mon | 08:48 PM | 9.05 H |
| 01/07 | Tue | 02:45 AM | 2.23 L |
| 01/07 | Tue | 09:31 AM | 12.79 H |
| 01/07 | Tue | 04:18 PM | 2.89 L |
| 01/07 | Tue | 10:13 PM | 8.53 H |
UPDATE 3:43 PM by Scupper:
This was the scene within a few minutes following the capsized skiff. The two boats (capsized boat on left & small working boat on right) were heading north together off of Beach Drive SW and appeared to be handling the following seas relatively well. The pictured sailboat was sailing in a SE direction just off the 4800 block then abruptly reversed course and ran north to the scene. I assume they may have been alerted by a Mayday call given that a Coast Guard cutter was closing in fast from the west. You can make out the 3 survivors sitting on the hull.
At the time of the incident, the flooding tide was flowing against the 30+ knot gusts around Alki Pt. This along with the shallower waters can get pretty hairy.
Scupper
Original post below.
The Coast Guard is currently rescuing a small aluminum boat that appears to have flipped over leaving the passengers to scramble on-top of the capsized hull of the boat for safety. It appears that the boat was traveling with another vessel. A second Coast Guard boat has arrived on the scene.
We watched two sailboats just moments ago wrestle the wind and waves. One sailboat looked to be having a terrible time, with ropes and portions of the sail into the sound. They finally dropped their sails and opted to motor away. The second sailboat seemed to navigate the sound a bit better, however, we noticed their sail had tears in it.
UPDATE 2:13 PM: The capsized boat has been left behind. There is a helicopter on the scene now too. We’re assuming the Coast Guard is trying to figure out how to safely remove the hull. Scupper speculates that the small boat must have been pooped by a following wave.
This is all unfolding south of Alki, about 400 – 500 yards off the shores of Beach Drive.
UPDATE 2:58 PM: Scupper is at the scene and has heard from a police officer that one person is missing from the boat.
The fire and rescue boat, Leschi, is now involved along with a police boat.
UPDATE 3:11 PM: A person has been retrieved from the Sound and is now in the helicopter.
UPDATE 3:22 PM: The hull is being hooked and it appears that it is attempting to be towed. We’re wondering if the second sailboat that turned back was possibly responding to a distress call?
A frequent visitor to the south Alki “Rock Pile” reef appears to be suspected for illegal fishing. The authorities have been rafted up for at least an hour searching and confiscating what must be illegal fish. This has been a regular stop for this boat over the last couple of years.
The boat registration appears to be from Oregon
With a view from my telescope, I can see handcuffs being put on a couple of the men and a telephones being passed between the 10 fishermen/women/children and the authority. Might be a language barrier. Poles have been confiscated and paperwork passed out.
The bottomfish rules for Area 10 are as follows…
Several fish have been thrown to the gulls. We may be reading about this on a poaching enforcement site soon!
Scupper, reporting for Beach Drive Blog
As a neighbor and I were tracking down the impending giant herd of pink salmon, we noticed that the old buoy off of Alki Point mysteriously disappeared while this new one near Lincoln Park magically appeared!
This new scientific research buoy installed by King County Natural Resources & Parks will be measuring all kinds of data regarding our local water quality. A member of the water quality team kindly sent us this info:
A new marine buoy was successfully deployed on July 30th off of Point Williams (West Seattle) in Central Puget Sound by staff of the King County Environmental Laboratory’s Field Science Unit. The buoy is anchored at a depth of approximately 550 feet. An in situ water quality monitoring system is contained on the buoy and consists of water temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen, turbidity, chlorophyll, nitrate, and depth sensors that collect data measurements every 15-minutes. The sensors are suspended below the buoy at a depth of about 1 meter. Data are sent via a cell-phone in near real-time to the County’s marine mooring webpage where the public can access the data. The webpage can be found at https://green.kingcounty.gov/marine-buoy/default.aspx
This in situ water quality monitoring system is one of four systems of this type that collect high temporal resolution data that are used to evaluate daily, and sometimes hourly, variability in Puget Sound marine waters. The data are integrated into the County’s monthly marine monitoring program in order to provide a more comprehensive picture of marine water quality dynamics.
She also stated that this new and improved float is a replacement for the buoy that was located off of Alki Point. Apparently the Alki buoy had a pretty tough time weathering our recent winter storms. This new model is much beefier and will hopefully hang for it’s five year stint as stated on it’s Application for Use.
This photo from Natural Resources appears to be working with the old Alki buoy. The newer version off of Lincoln Park is said to be much easier to maintain “With the new and improved design, they just have to lift up a cable and change a connection—WAY better and safer.”
UPDATE:
The nice folks at the DNR followed up with a live link to the science buoy: http://www.ysieconet.com/public/WebUI/Default.aspx?hidCustomerID=165 He said “Just mouse over the green dot on the proper location and you will get the most up to date data. Click on the dot and you can view graphs and download data. Note that the Seattle Aquarium unit provides very interesting data. You can compare the 1 meter data to 10 meters, which often times shows huge discrepancies due to the fresh water coming out of the Duwamish River.”
The gentleman that maintains the DNR buoys also wanted to leave his phone number (206-684-2323) if anyone notices if the light on top stops flashing or any other obvious damage that can lead to a navigational hazard. Boarding or approaching a state owned buoy too closely is illegal.
Scupper, reporting for Beach Drive Blog
It’s hard to miss this 215 foot yacht, even through tonight’s misty Puget Sound waters.
Delta Marine’s project name for this superyacht is “Invictus”, check out more information here.
With much of our industrial history only dating back a hundred years or so, the lowest tides of the season still show-off West Seattle’s colorful past. Today’s low tide of -3.7 was about as low as we’re going to see this year so I figured a walk around the point was in order. The first stop was checking out the pilings rearing their worn heads from the early 1900’s off of Weather Watch Park at Carroll Street SW.
Some of the only history I’ve been able to find about the old pier is the verbal account of Ada Hallberg published in the newsletter Footprints of the SSWHS
There was a pier at Carroll St. in the early 1900’s; it was a regular port of call for the little steamer Eagle, which carried passengers to several ports on the Sound, including this little village of South Alki. Villagers would gather here when the steamer docked to meet the passengers. It was a time that neighbors met to greet each other and to visit with each other whether they expected a passenger or not. It was a gathering place for people whose homes were a considerable distance from each other.
The only other evidence of a substantial pier existing at this location is from a USCG chart dated 1918. I have inquiries into the Log House Museum as well as the Puget Sound Maritime Museum for any vintage photos showing this location was a launch (40ft or less) for Mosquito fleet steamers. The steamer Eagle was reported to have burnt & sunk in it’s home port of Winslow in the Spring of 1903. Many blamed the misfortune on an improper christening! NOT THAT THIS IS ONE OF MY FAVORITE FISHING HOLES but I can personally attest to the unusual deep underwater ravine located just off the park…
Next stop is some submerged pilings found on the south-end of Alki Beach. This was the southern stretch of several piers along Alki Beach…
Photo courtesy of BDB’s Rhonda Porter
This Seattle Archived photo 1936 shows the pier off in the distance.
Third stop is the site of the biggest, most bestest amusement park west of Chicago
A shot of the pier and support pilings of Luna Park & a protected niche for repairing halibut fishing boats
Fourth point of interest was the dawning of of Seattle’s first regular ferry service (outside the Mosquito fleet) near what is now Seacrest Park. An excerpt from History Link…
The company built a dock near today’s Seacrest Marina and began offering regular service to downtown Seattle on a steam-powered sidewheeler named the City of Seattle, the first bona fide ferry on Puget Sound, launched December 24, 1888. The crossing took eight minutes. One hundred and thirteen years, ten bridges, and tens of millions of dollars later, the City of Seattle still holds the record for the fastest trip between Seattle and West Seattle.
Finally, I wonder where these tracks and ramps led to…
Davy’s Locker perhaps???
Scupper, reporting for Beach Drive Blog
Spotted this big fella posing on the back of a fishing boat this afternoon. And to think Beach Drive boat owner’s worry about seagull poop!
Looks like he could eat that outboard with just one bite
Scupper reporting for Beach Drive Blog (yes, that’s my boat!)
Throughout the last couple of days, I’ve seen at least three lines of crab pots set between Alki and Lincoln Park. This area of Puget Sound is only available for Indian crab harvesting. Other commercial licenses are restricted to other areas of Puget Sound. They appear to be tending the pots twice a day and releasing quite a few Sunflower Stars caught in their pots.
Sho’ am hope’n dey don’t empty all da honey holes of cwabbys befo us boys get a go at it on July 1st!
Scupper, reporting for Beach Drive Blog
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