Spongy Grounds by Emma Schmitz View Point

We had some anxious neighbors wanting us to make everyone aware of some changes to the earth in Emma Schmitz View Point. We did encourage them to contact the City of Seattle.

This is at the southern part of where the rock bulkhead and the metal seawall meet. It looks like it could be a possible water line leak? Our intrepid reporter, Scupper, took this photo and commented that the grounds are quite spongy.

UPDATE 9:36 AM:

Scupper talked to Seattle Public Utilities worker who mentioned that the nearby water meter is spinning. He was in the process of contacting Seattle Parks to ask for direction of how to proceed. Apparently the parks department is in control of everything beyond the public sidewalk where there is a park.

This spongy bulge (aka the Beach Drive Bulge) should be resolved soon.

Blake Island closure scheduled

Blake Island is closing off the island to visitors this Wednesday through Friday to deal with thinning the enormous rabbit population.

Like many of the larger islands in the San Juans, Blake has seen it’s rabbit population grow out of control. Much of the island’s daucus carota has been decimated which could spell disaster for the beloved deer population. Hundreds of traps will be set mostly on the southeastern and northwestern ends of the island where burrowing is most pronounced.

Park officials have organized volunteer veterinarians from both King and Kitsap counties to spay all females caught during the 2 day closure. “Our goal is to thin the rabbit population by at least two thirds.” said long time ranger Peter Hare. An adoption rescue line has been set up for local residents to provide homes for many of the exiled bunnies. Peter’s team has currently secured homes for 375 rabbits (at the time of writing this article) however, anticipates the need for a few hundred more. They’ve also made this link available for any interested hosts that have questions regarding care for this particular species of San Jaun rabbit. Please contact the bunny rescue effort at islandbunnies.gov or call 360-Bun-Home if you’re interested in the rescue efforts. Hop to it!

 

Scupper, reporting for Beach Drive Blog

 

Delta Marine Mega Yacht “Delta 45”

Right now Delta Marine has a mega yacht cruising around our “back yards” off the shores of Beach Drive.

There are not a lot of details about this yacht via Marine Traffic. I can tell you she is a whopping 210 feet long and 29.5 feet wide.

Maybe she belongs to the owners of the 11,000 square foot mansion that’s being built on the 6000 block of Beach Drive.

 

Good Bye, Bart!

It was brought to our attention that the “Bart Simpson” house on Alki Point has been listed for sale.

The home has a fresh coat of exterior paint which covered up the fun painting of Bart doing some graffiti on the home.

If you look real close, you can barely see where Bart entertained passers by for years.

Hopefully the new owners of this Alki home will be fans of The Simpsons so that Bart can return!

Ay carumba!

 

Expect delays by Weather Watch Park on Beach Drive

This just in from our intrepid reporter Scupper, you can expect delays while repairs are being done to the sewer line by 4100 Beach Drive SW.


This stretch on Beach Drive is notorious for it’s sinking pot holes which makes for rough driving. Scupper asked if this section of road would be repaired while the sewer work is taking place. He was told that would be up to the Seattle Department of Transportation.

So drive safe, try to be patient and mind those potholes neighbors!

What the duck?!?

We spied this lone duck swimming off of Beach Drive this morning. Any idea what type it is?

Jacobsen Road Closure

Jacobson Road, which winds up to the Junction at the 4700 block of Beach Drive, is currently closed for repaving. A neighbor informed Scupper that the repaving will not fix the road’s drainage issue.
Photo credit: Scupper

Damage to the Blue Glass House’s Art

We were driving along Alki this afternoon when we were surprised to see that the beautiful blue glass tree has been knocked down.

We have no idea why or how this happened…just saddened to see it in this state.

Hopefully it can be repaired and upright soon for all to enjoy.

Potential Gale Winds prior to High Tide tomorrow morning

A gale warning has been issued effective 10:00 pm tonight through 10:00 tomorrow morning.  There is a possibility of flooding for those who live on the water off Beach Drive…especially if winds from the South are your nemesis. Based on the models that we rely on for wind predictions, we think we could be in for some real weather tomorrow morning starting around 7:00 am.  It looks like we will have high sustained winds with strong gusts at high tide between 7:45 and 8:30 tomorrow morning with the high tide predicted to be 12.3.

Here’s a snapshot from Windlert

Here is the current Puget Sound forecast:

 SUN  S wind 25 to 35 kt easing to 15 to 25 kt in the afternoon.  Wind waves 4 to 6 ft subsiding to 2 to 4 ft in the afternoon.  Rain in the morning then showers in the afternoon.

Of course forecast often change… we like to error on the side of caution when it comes to our weather.

We’ll be posting updates when/if necessary. You can also follow us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/beachdriveblog

Bikes from the Bike Share program off the shores of Beach Drive

This morning, Scupper spied bikes from a couple of Seattle’s bike share programs that were tossed over the seawall at Emma Schmitz View Point.
I wonder if the bike share companies pay for the removal of the tossed bikes or if the City of Seattle winds up with the bill.

It’s not the first time that I’ve seen the bikes from this program vandalized and left behind as litter.