Blake Island closure scheduled

April 1, 2018 by 2 Comments

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

 

Filed Under: Breaking News, Events, Just for fun, Not on Beach Drive

Delta Marine Mega Yacht “Delta 45”

March 11, 2018 by Leave a Comment

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.

 

Filed Under: Boats Tagged With:

Good Bye, Bart!

March 7, 2018 by Leave a Comment

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!

 

Filed Under: Alki, Art, Beach Drive Homes

Expect delays by Weather Watch Park on Beach Drive

March 7, 2018 by Leave a Comment

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!

Filed Under: Safety, Traffic

What the duck?!?

March 6, 2018 by 2 Comments

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

Filed Under: Wildlife Tagged With:

Jacobsen Road Closure

March 1, 2018 by Leave a Comment

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

Filed Under: Construction Tagged With:

Damage to the Blue Glass House’s Art

February 1, 2018 by 3 Comments

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.

Filed Under: Alki, Art Tagged With: ,

Potential Gale Winds prior to High Tide tomorrow morning

January 20, 2018 by Leave a Comment

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

Filed Under: Safety, Weather Tagged With: , ,

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

November 19, 2017 by 4 Comments

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.

Filed Under: Crime, Rants and Raves

Wild Wind and Waves: BARKING DOG REPORT

November 13, 2017 by Leave a Comment

It’s been a while since we’ve issued a “Barking Dog Report”. One of the main reasons for starting this blog was to help alert neighbors when we think we’re going to flood from the combination of strong winds and high tides coming over our bulkhead. Like a neighbor’s friendly dog barking dog, it could be a false alarm or it could be an actual event to contend with. So if you see a “barking dog report” – we are preparing to flood or for a strong weather event. The joys of living on Puget Sound!

Today is one of those days… we are preparing to possibly flood because of the strong winds in the forecast combined with the high tide this afternoon of 11.73 at 1:19 pm.

The National Weather Service has issued a High Wind Warning which is in effect until 9pm tonight.

 

…HIGH WIND WARNING IN EFFECT UNTIL 9 PM PST THIS EVENING…

The National Weather Service in Seattle has issued a High Wind
Warning, which is in effect until 9 PM PST this evening. The Wind
Advisory is no longer in effect.

* WIND…South 25 to 40 mph with gusts TO 60 or 65 mph.

* SOME AFFECTED LOCATIONS…The I-5 metro corridor from Lewis
county north to Snohomish county. Includes the greater Seattle
area, Bellevue, Tacoma, Bremerton, and Olympia.

* TIMING…Late this morning through early this evening.

* IMPACTS…Falling trees and limbs, power outages, and minor
damage to structures.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS…

High winds can topple trees onto roads, vehicles, and rooftops.
Falling trees or large branches have been known to cause
fatalities during windstorms. Downed power lines can cause power
outages lasting a couple of hours or longer. Secure loose outdoor
objects or light-weight furniture before the potentially damaging
winds arrive.

The Puget Sound Marine forecast (last updated at 2:36 am as of the writing of this post):

 GALE WARNING IN EFFECT THROUGH THIS EVENING    TODAY  S wind 25 to 35 kt rising to 30 to 40 kt in the  afternoon. Wind waves 5 to 7 ft. Rain.

 TONIGHT  S wind 30 to 40 kt easing to 15 to 25 kt after  midnight. Wind waves 5 to 7 ft subsiding to 2 to 4 ft after  midnight. Showers likely.

And last but not least, check out Wind Alert’s current forecast (as of 8:38 am) for Alki Point:

We have sustained winds starting at 20 mph around high tide (1 pm) with gust predicted about 47 mph and BUILDING throughout the afternoon.

A high tide of 11.73 around 1 pm when the winds are expected to really pick up and waves estimated at 5-7 feet means that we believe odds are we will have water coming over our bulkhead and are preparing accordingly.

Check out this ol’ post from 10 years ago about the “The P’s” for preparing for this type of weather event.

Stay safe, Friends and Neighbors!

Filed Under: Safety, Weather
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