West Seattle, Washington
23 Wednesday
One more look back, not just at this past week’s megalow tides, but into history … Susan Grossman of Singingpixel Photography sent that photo of the old Luna Park pilings during one of their low-low-tide appearances. This gives us an excuse to remind low-tide fans to mark the calendar for the first week of June (tide table here), when we will again see this type of low tide (and even lower, with two minus-4 tides, “bottoming out” just before noon on June 4th, with a -4.1).
WSB contributing photojournalist Christopher Boffoli wandered the West Seattle shores during this afternoon’s mega-low tide — lowest of the month — to capture images like those, and a few more you’ll see ahead:Read More
Couldn’t get these in earlier, but any time’s the right time for gorgeous sunset shots. This one above was the Friday night view from Lincoln Park as a kayaker headed north, taken by WSB contributing photojournalist Matt Durham. Below, Robert Stever caught this view looking toward Blake Island and the Olympics earlier in the week:
That’s West Seattle Yacht Club commodore Jim Hanson, showing us the club’s official flag on the bow of his boat “At Ease,” moored at Des Moines Marina, where we talked with him about the club’s open invitation to you to join them for an open house tomorrow night, whether you have a boat or not, and about WSYC activities including their plan to sail in the upcoming Opening Day parade:Read More
We happened to be on the downtown waterfront a little while ago and just had to go over and check out this ship docked at Bell Street Pier, since we didn’t recognize its flag. Turned out to be the Peruvian navy cargo ship “BAP Mollendo.” Capped an international morning for us – we were by Pier 66 because the World Affairs Council across the street had invited us to come chat with a German delegation touring the US to learn more about how “new media” is utilized here. Talking with the trio (from Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk radio, the Leipzig Public Library, and Der Spiegel) after they asked us a bunch of questions about WSB and community-news blogging, we learned: (a) Not many Germans blog, (b) The Internet isn’t a big deal for kids/teens in Germany the way it is for American kids, and (c) Wikipedia is REVERED in Germany — editors have meetups, etc.
From Shannon Felix at Avalon GlassWorks, blown-glass razor clams that she says are the “sleeper hit” of the Shell Show her shop’s having through April. A portion of the $30 price goes to the Seattle chapter of the Surfrider Foundation. Next, the ongoing art of nature itself, shot at Alki by Jessica Seeley (who was there doing legwork for an Alki tour you’ll see on her Seattle Neighborhood Watch blog later this week):
Also from the shore, one more shot of the Corinthian Yacht Club race featured here yesterday – this pic came in tonight from Tracy W, with a Fauntleroy-Vashon-Southworth ferry appearing to mix it up with the sailboats (CYC has now posted race results, BTW):
And finally, we go indoors, for a triumphant shot from Saturday night’s “Blarney Bowl” fundraiser at West Seattle Bowl, put on by Beer Church to raise money for Whisker City (and raise $ they did – more than $6,000, as you can see on their site). The night included the first-ever “Bar Brawl” with local establishments fielding teams for friendly competition; this Beer Church photo shows Beveridge Place Pub proprietor Gary Sink at left congratulating “brawl” winner Dave Montoure of West 5, who’s getting a hug from a member of the BPP staff:
One last photo-related note — this time, about a photo featured here earlier this week: The most-recent WSB picture of the Lincoln Park house with the war-toll sign led to a followup posted tonight on the P-I site, including quotes from the original comments posted here.
Just a few of the sailboats we saw off Alki earlier this morning, as they headed around Alki Point and southward — it’s the Corinthian Yacht Club‘s Pully Point Race (more info here including the list of participating vessels). And thanks to Hopey for sending a different view as the race headed past the Fauntleroy ferry dock:
ADDED 2:20 PM: Hopey caught the racers heading back northbound past Fauntleroy:
Above, from WSB contributing photojournalist Matt Durham: Elijah Hajduk (age 5) and his dad Jonathan are towed by their dog Momo on a custom longboard at Alki. Below: Mac caught the fireboat Chief Seattle doing maneuvers off Salty’s:
And here’s a pic sent by “X,” who happened onto it while out geocaching on Alki with his wife:
“X” elaborates further: “On our walk back home along Alki, we heard a motorcycle rev up and then make a crazy sound. A poor lad had the misfortune of loosing control of his prized possession. We watched the bike slam under a truck. The driver flopped, bounced and slid. When we ran over to check on him, we were relieved to find him without any serious injuries, however, his motorcycle didn’t look so good.”
Thanks to Cleat for that shot of a Coast Guard boat heading westward against the major chop early this evening, bound for a search that happened in the 6 o’clock hour near Alki Point. We have been trying to get official info on this and haven’t been successful yet; reader reports say there was concern about a possible missing windsurfer. We hope “no news is good news” in this case; hard to believe it wouldn’t be widely, and officially, reported, if someone were still missing right now. 10:05 PM UPDATE: Thanks so much to Guy, who saw the original post here and just sent this note:
The kite surfer is okay. We live near the point and had seen him out there. All of a sudden we saw the kite go by very fast with no rider. I called the Coast Guard and reported it. They called me back later and said the surfer had had a life jacket and wet suit on and had made it back to shore but had lost his kite. He saw the CG helicopter and thought maybe they had spotted his kite. He called 911 and thus there was a happy ending!
Yes, yes, we know, sea LION, really. WSB contributing photojournalist Matt Durham got these companion shots with marine mammal and canines eyeing each other from sea and shore at Lincoln Park. (Prints of Matt’s WSB photos and his other work are available through his site, MattDurhamPhotography.com.)
The view from Constellation Park this morning, as one last stretch of fog reached out from the passageway to Bremerton, behind the south end of Bainbridge Island.
First: Deb sent the link to this West Seattle post on Vintage Seattle, through which we learned that VS blogger Jess Cliffe is moving to WS this weekend; welcome! Now, some current-day pix (from before the rain swept in):
That’s from Marybeth, as is this surf-level bird’s-eye view:
Next – two photos courtesy of Chas Redmond, who was on the Lincoln Park shore at a moment today when the water was sapphire blue:
Chas reports the afternoon winds gave that kayaker quite a bit of trouble.
Tonight’s sunset at Lincoln Park, from WSB contributing photojournalist Matt Durham (prints of his WSB photos and other work are available at his site, mattdurhamphotography.com). We have three other seaside scenes to share, these taken by Mac Lerch south of Alki Point:
Any birders recognize that last group? The wings look ternlike but the only terns we’ve seen around here are white.
If you didn’t have to go to work today – you probably missed the rising sun reflecting off the downtown buildings, as photographed by Steve (thanks for sharing) … Here are some other photos shared by folks in WSB-land:Read More
WSB contributing photojournalist Christopher Boffoli was shooting from Queen Anne when he captured that ferry passing Alki. His next two photos were taken from West Seattle:
Next photo is from John LaSpina (who also contributed this morning’s Junction sunrise) — the afternoon moonrise over Holy Rosary:
And though this wasn’t taken today (last Wednesday, to be exact), Vanessa Hutchinson e-mailed it to WSB tonight to share:
We appreciate your photos and video, as well as news tips – best address is westseattleblog@yahoo.com – thanks!
Thanks to David Hutchinson for e-mailing that video he says he got “with a telephoto lens at a respectable distance,” starring a young harbor seal resting on the rocks today near Don Armeni. Thanks also to Cleat for the photo below – the latest Washington State Ferry in a world o’hurt, photographed under tow off Luna/Anchor Park:
The daily update from the Orca Network mailing list (subscribe here) just came in, including this from a couple hours ago. That’s enough to get us away from behind the computer since one of our stated New Year’s goals was an in-person orca sighting. But first, sharing this with you:
Hello, I just wanted to let you know that I am watching orcas in Elliot Bay from my office window, 10:00 am 1/16/2008. I have never seen them this far into Elliott Bay. They are on the west side of Elliott bay, southwest of the Ferry Route, closer to the Alki side, down where there are some cargo ships moored out in the bay. It’s now 10:38 am and it looks like they have moved south and west around the point at Alki. There was a helicopter very high above them for a little while so I’m guessing it might have been one of the news stations. You might be able to track down some footage and determine which pod it is. It’s hard to tell from this distance how many there are, but at least 4. A very special treat for the day. Hope this is helpful. Have a great day!
Two other reports from the Orca Network suggest they were “transient” orcas, not members of the J, K, and L pods usually seen in the sound; and the e-mail also provides this link to the helicopter video, which was from KING 5.
Five beautiful photos from WSB contributing photojournalist Christopher Boffoli, capturing the rare sighting of the sun. First – driftwood and surf along Beach Drive:
A freighter heads north, with the snowy Olympics peeking through the clouds in the distance:
Heathers in bloom on Beach Drive:
A cormorant keeping watch atop a piling:
And the troubled (but lovely, we think) steel-electric ferry Quinault, one of the 80-year-old ferries that the state is ready to scrap because of their hull problems:
Forecast suggests this may be the last we see of the sun till sometime Sunday.
Orcas off Fauntleroy, spotted by JumboJim:
Wanted to report that we saw approx. 10-12 orcas off of Lincoln Park and Fauntleroy dock around 10:00-10:30 this A.M. There was at least one male (tall dorsal fin) in the group, maybe two. They were passing to the south. A first time sighting for us from our house. Considering we’re one mile from the water, near the crest of the hill, we were pretty amazed to see them. We had been looking for birds with our spotting scope when we spotted them. I checked an orca hotline and it seems they may have been K pod.”
Smaller marine mammals off Harbor Ave, reported by Paul Cozens:
Around 20 California Sea Lions have been cavorting in the waters between Salty’s and Jack Block Park. There does not appear to be a skinny one in the bunch, indicating they are successfully feeding on something. A Harbor Seal was spotted lounging on the beach this morning, also.
And two luscious West Seattle Farmers’ Market photos from this morning by Lois Grammon-Simpson — heart-y treats from Flying Apron Bakery, followed by those gorgeous tulips (first spotted last week) from Alm Hill Gardens.
Shannon in Fauntleroy reports she was “watching the Olympics pop in and out of the clouds” when her photo caught something else in the distance – a submarine being escorted by the Coast Guard. With the big sub base at Bangor in Kitsap County, you know subs are out there, but they’re not often seen.
On this breezy Friday morning, Bob Bollen just sent this great photo to share (thank you!):
… unless you count seaspray, such as that seen in the pictures above and below, taken by Jason Parker (thanks!) at Constellation Park. Forecast looks cool and showery. But you never know.
… is reading this story about West Seattle naturalist/author Lyanda Lynn Haupt and what she sees on the Sound – and checking out this photo @ Beach Drive Blog.
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