Seen on the shore: Eye-catching boat at Lincoln Park
Bruce Butterfield of the Fauntleroy Community Association tipped us to this boat when he saw it passing southern West Seattle shores – by the time we got down to Lowman Beach for a look, it was on the beach at Williams Point (by Colman Pool) – we couldn’t take the time to walk over there right now to find out more, but caught this photo via zoom. 4:48 PM UPDATE: Looks like it’s part of Tribal Journeys – just got some photos from Alki – posting them separately. Web site here.
Coastal coyote: Sighting by the sea
Out of the WSB inbox, from Patricia:
During the usual morning dog walk, we were on Beach Drive headed towards Alki point, just across from the Sewage Treatment Plant when I heard a running sound. Looked down at the beach (tide was out) and a coyote was looking at us as it ran south along the beach.
Pretty exciting to see. Expect to see them up on the hills and in the parks, but not on the beach!
Alki pump-station project update: More trucks, noise ahead
For the first time in months, Metro sent out a major update on the year-and-a-half-long 53rd Ave. Pump Station expansion project that’s been under way along Alki since March. Major points: Next week, for a period lasting up to 36 hours (likely Tuesday/Wednesday), a particular phase of the project will require wastewater to be trucked away from the spot instead of channeled through pipes. Crews will work around the clock, but Metro warns people to expect “increased noise, more truck traffic on the road and potentially odor.” Here’s how the “Vactor” trucks will get to and from the site:
Trucks traveling to the West Seattle Pump Station will follow Alki Avenue Southwest to Harbor Avenue Southwest. Trucks traveling to the Alki Stormwater Treatment Plant will follow this route: Alki Avenue Southwest to 63rd Avenue Southwest to Beach Drive Southwest to 64th Avenue Southwest to Southwest Wilton Court.
Then in late July, four to five weeks of “sheet pile driving” will commence, to stabilize the site for excavation, and residents are warned this is likely to bring vibrations as well as more noise. You can read the entire Metro project update here; the project’s main infopage is here.
Photos: Seafair Pirates Landing at Alki
Thanks to David Hutchinson for that photo from the Seafair Pirates‘ Landing on Alki a few hours ago, and for the next four – avast, er, vastly better than ours, so we’re showing you his first, with ours tacked on at the end. We also shot video and will have that up in a separate post a little later.
Despite the mostly cloudy weather, the event felt more festive than last year, or perhaps our perception came from standing on the beach instead of up on the promenade – who knows. More of David’s photos – pirates up close and personal! – and ours, ahead:Read More
West Seattle 4th of July: Scenes from Alki
That was the Beach Fire From Hell. As the evening progressed, its stokers started throwing in the furniture they brought for their day at the beach. A chair, another chair, a table. Flames roared skyward. Black smoke billowed seaward. Embers danced toward nearby log-sitters’ backs. Parks crew came over immediately after the fireworks and doused it, about the same time two officers broke up a simmering squabble nearby. Speaking of officers:
They wasted no time clearing the beach as soon as both fireworks shows (Jul-Ivar’s started first, followed by Lake Union, both quite clearly visible from our spot toward the west end of the sand) ended. “LET’S GO, LET’S GO, TIME TO GO, PEOPLE, BEACH IS CLOSED, SIDEWALK TOO,” they shouted (and loudspeakered from a slow-moving car). 10:40 pm is earlier than the usual beach-closing time, a few people were heard grumbling. (We stopped briefly to send a Twitter message for the previous post and we were quickly told in no uncertain terms to get a move on.) Now, the pre-fireworks sights:
Brief appearance by the crescent moon, visible over Bainbridge before clouds moved in from the south. Nice sunset too:
Long night ahead; our windows are open and it still sounds fairly thunderous out there.
West Seattle Weather Watch: Keeping cool on Alki
Actually this group probably wasn’t feeling all that cool, huddling around a barbecue by one of the picnic shelters to roast marshmallows. Nice umbrellas, though. Down on the sandy beach, a Malibu-size throng:
And a reminder that the Seafair Pirates’ Landing is one week from today – an Alki Ave. house has decorated its dolphin fountain with pirate headgear:
The official National Weather Service top-of-each-hour readings are here (KBFI is Boeing Field – 85 at 4 pm – KSEA is Sea-Tac Airport – 89 – K91S is Alki Point but that doesn’t measure temperature).
Reader report: Car damaged in Alki rampage
Alki’s David Hutchinson just sent these photos along with this report:
I don’t know the cause but just before 7 pm a very large group of teens (50+) came running down 59th SW and headed west down Alki Ave towards Spud. They climbed over fences and trampled the flowers in front of Spud. Several climbed onto the roof of a white car parked in front of Spuds and then stomped up and down on the hood (see attached photos of the damage).
Here’s David’s other photo:
Not sure if we will be able to get followup from the Southwest Precinct before tomorrow (we will see if the rest of the team can find out anything from the police reps at the Community Safety Partnership meeting that’s under way now) — ironically, the briefing we attended at City Hall this afternoon largely focused on the fact that Alki is the traditional “area of emphasis” for police now that it’s summer, and they are responding to many more incidents detected “on-view” (in person) than are reported via 911 — which as Councilmember Tim Burgess noted, is the way community policing is supposed to be done. (More details on that briefing later; first we’re writing up the parks-levy hearing, which just concluded after two hours — twice as long as it was scheduled for.)
ADDED WEDNESDAY MORNING: May or may not be related but definitely a case of Alki vandalism if not possibly also “car prowl” — Chris took this photo of a car parked by Whale Tail this morning with its windows smashed out:
Must be a three-day weekend for a lot of people!
That’s the view from the beach-facing window at Tully’s on Alki, where an elementary-school field trip just cleared out, blueberry-shake samples just circulated, and we’re working out of the house for a while just because … the forecast for the rest of the week doesn’t look this good and we wanted to see the beach before the clouds return. The photo doesn’t quite do it justice but there are a LOT of people down at the beach already, and not just obvious field trips (tomorrow is the last day of classes for Seattle Public Schools)! 2:37 PM ADDITION: WSB contributing photojournalist Christopher Boffoli has been out and about too – he just sent these photos from south of Alki Point.
P.S. Those are different ferries, in case you were wondering – top photo shows a Super Class ferry, second photo has an Issaquah 130 Class ferry (here’s the WSF fleet guide, for our fellow ferry fans).
West Seattle scenes, Saturday night edition
On Alki tonight, the first clear night since the big beach-fire briefing at the Parks Board meeting (WSB coverage here), things weren’t too crazy at dusk – that fire ringed by tiki torches was the biggest one on the beach; Seattle Police kept watch nearby:
Right across the street, hours earlier, a cloudy morning didn’t keep West Seattle Moms of Tots from carrying on with a bake sale to fight childhood hunger — with this sweet (in more ways than one) cake among the offerings:
Selling the treats, Amy Evans and Cynthia Tamlyn, on the north side of Aimonetto:
As reported earlier in the WSB Forums, they are more than halfway to their $750 fundraising goal after this morning’s bake sale, part of a nationwide effort; even if you missed the bake sale, you can donate online here (look for the “make a gift” link on the right side of the page). Meantime, they weren’t the only ones giving their time to a good cause this Saturday morning:
If you drove along Delridge at midday today, chances are you saw at least one yellow-bag-equipped volunteer taking part in the North Delridge Adopt-a-Street cleanup. North Delridge is one of several neighborhood/community groups that make Adopt-a-Street commitments to tidy up a certain area at least once a quarter. And finally – WSB Forum Community members, who have rallied around many a good cause, got together for a fun time late today at Beveridge Place Pub – here’s one tableful:
And of course the conversation continues, online anytime, in the Forums.
2 more beach-fire updates: Council commentary; “briefing” details
(WSB photo taken on Alki, November 2007)
Two more notes this morning on the still-smoldering re-emergence of the notion of banning beach fires on Alki (and at Golden Gardens) — First, City Councilmember Sally Clark has posted a blog entry panning the prospective ban, writing in part:
Let me just say that if there’s one thing I believe it is that we have a God-given right to have bonfires on the beach. Yes, I care about global warming and I believe that we all must make changes small and large in our lives to keep the planet alive. However, I cannot support extinguishing beach bonfires. Beach bonfires are not killing the planet. Hummers, coal-fired power plants, routine air travel, and single-occupancy car commutes are killing the planet.
Second, we’ve now read through the document that’s part of the “briefing” that park commissioners will get this Thursday (read the full document here). Here’s one point that didn’t get much play before Superintendent Tim Gallagher‘s “clarification” announcement late yesterday saying “no action this year”: The list of possible restrictions includes the idea of requiring people to pay for permits to have beach fires. The memo says Parks spends $60,000 a year to manage the beach-fire program and didn’t expect much immediate cost savings even if a ban were implemented: “Even with the cessation of the beach fire programs, park resources maintenance staff will still need to respond to illegal fires with cleanup until the public understands and accepts a no beach fire policy as a logical element of the CAN Initiative.” We sent a note late last night to Superintendent Gallagher to double/triplecheck that his “no action this year” statement meant NONE of these changes would be put in place this year, meaning COMPLETE status quo — he e-mailed back early this morning, “No change this year.” As for what happens for next year and beyond – we’ll keep watch.
Beach-fire ban update: Parks says “no action this year”
Sent this afternoon by the Parks Department in the wake of our report last night and others:
… Seattle Parks and Recreation Superintendent Tim Gallagher clarified that Parks does not intend to take any action this year [on the proposed beach-bonfire ban].
The briefing is an opportunity to make the Board, which has many new members, aware of the costs and issues associated with beach fires, and to let them know what the options are for regulating them.
In 2004, Parks did a substantial analysis of the issues surrounding beach fires after receiving a citation from the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency for allowing the burning of illegal fuels. Parks decided at that time, with the support of the Park Board, to continue them with some education and regulation.
Parks continues to receive a steady trickle of complaints about associated behaviors–drinking, loud music, and huge amounts of trash, and continues to have concerns about the costs of managing the program.
We also heard late today from Parks spokesperson Dewey Potter, who we had e-mailed to ask about the process that would be involved in making any sort of decision on this – she notes that it would be an “administrative” matter, not a “legislative” matter. Potter also forwarded the briefing paper that the board will be reviewing for next Thursday’s meeting; you can read it here.
Reader report: Sailboat on the beach
Was it tide-related trouble, a resident’s boat, or just a temporary stop? A WSB reader who wishes to be anonymous sent that photo and this question:
I was jogging through Lincoln Park late this afternoon with cameraphone in tote and snapped a pic of a beached sailboat at the south end of the park, toward the ferry terminal. The boat appeared to be anchored in the water on side and tethered to the drift wood from the other. The name of the boat, barely visible in these pics, is “Cheeky Bosom.” I’m 100% serious about that. Anyone know the story of what happened? I didn’t see an owner of the boat anywhere.
Seen along West Seattle’s shores at low tide
(2 more photos added 3:55 pm – scroll down)
11:51 am today was Seattle’s the lowest tide of the year (tomorrow’s almost as low, 12:39 pm; here’s the chart). Here’s a couple of pictures that were taken more or less at the tide’s lowest point today.
From Lowman Beach:
From the bottom of the Water Taxi dock at Seacrest:
ADDED 3:55 PM: Thanks to “K” for e-mailing these photos (and noting “it was great to see everyone out there”):
Lowest tides of the year, day 2: Scenes from Alki
You know, it’s a lovely day outside FOR FEBRUARY! and the worst part is that the cold temps coincide with the lowest tides of the year (tomorrow’s the lowest – as noted yesterday). Photographer Bob Bollen braved the elements and took some shots at Alki during low tide this morning.
So put on another scarf, stick the coffee in the microwave one more time, and enjoy.
West Seattle low-tide-week scenes, day 1
As reported here a few hours ago, we’ve got very low tides at midday all week – bottoming out on Wednesday with the lowest tide of the summer. The field trips weren’t waiting for that – the photo above shows Eastside kids swarming Constellation Park (buses parked nearby bore the names Issaquah, Bellevue, and Newport). We stopped by Lowman Beach, too, where these birds perched on tide-exposed infrastructure for an eagle’s-eye, er, seagulls’-eye view:
Tidewalker alert: Lowest tide of the summer this week
(WSB photo taken at Seacrest, May 2007)
If you can get out and get to the beach at midday, this week brings some excellent chances for low-tide walks. Here’s the chart; today the tide bottoms out at 10:19 am at -2.8; tomorrow, 11:04 am, it’s -3.8; then Wednesday, it’s the lowest tide of the summer, -4.1 at 11:51; Thursday is almost as good, -4.0 at 12:39 pm; and Friday it’s -3.4 at 1:38 pm. On Wednesday and Thursday, you’ll even have a chance to consult an expert, as the Seattle Aquarium will have its beach naturalists out at Lincoln Park and Constellation Park (south of Alki Point), 10:30 am-2:30 pm. (But almost any place on the West Seattle shore is a great place to see what is revealed at low tide — our other favorites include Cove Park just north of the Fauntleroy ferry dock and Seacrest, where the pilings beneath the pier host a nice array of starfish and other sea life, as shown in our photo above.)
Tonight’s Lincoln Park sunset
This time of year, the quieter north side of the Lincoln Park shore is an especially wonderful place to watch the sun slide behind the Olympics.
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