http://lifeonkj.blogspot.com/

I kayak an awful lot, and almost always set out on (Seattle’s) Lake Union.  Pretty often I’ll paddle up the shipping channel, and through the Ballard Locks to the sea – technically Puget Sound.  Other days I’ll head out to Lake Washington, for a quick but often choppy crossing – if you’ve driven over the 520 Bridge, you know what I mean about chop.  Still other days, I stay on Lake Union and practice my technical skills.  There will be future posts on kayaking, but the point is that Lake Union is dear to my heart.

So I was fascinated to find the Eastlake neighborhood listing of parks and points of interest (POIs) on the web.  Besides, I’ve loved geography and mapping since I was a kid, and the hand-drawn map (which I’m stealing, below) is great!

Lake Union and Portage Bay

But the point isn’t just to show a cool map, and I’d even like to go beyond the fact that, with a little reading, you have a complete list of public docks from which you can launch a kayak, canoe, inflatable, or any other boat you can portage over a short distance.  The real point is that there are a number of local parks that need volunteers to help maintain.

In this death-recession, the city is cutting back on everything it can.  They’re asking people to “adopt” (ie clear) storm drains, so there’s no way most parks will get the maintenance and upkeep they need.  Over the long term, some of these may find themselves in danger of being shut down, or, less worrisome, “only” being less pleasant.  If you live in the area, enjoy the water (even if by land), and have some free time, you can help yourself, help your community, and feel good for volunteering.

So, without further ado, let’s look at your opportunities and mine for volunteer work here.

• Steam Plant Public Dock – This is the dock across the street from the Zymo Genetics building, at the section where you need to climb down, then back up, a flight of stairs.  I’ve used this dock to get out of the boat, and mess with the deck storage that’s not accessible from the kayak.  There are lots of parking lots nearby, so it would be a decent place to set in.  It’s not clear what type of volunteerism is needed here;  the page reads “To help in the effort to keep this section of the lake open, call 329-0429.”  ( That probably means a donation? )
• Propeller Park – I think this is the most exciting option on the list, because this park doesn’t exist yet.  And it won’t exist without people who are willing to turn a great idea into reality.  If you can roll your sleeves up and help break ground, 322-5463 is the number to dial.
• Terry Pettus Park – I use this park quite often, and have a friend who puts his sail boat ( more of a dinghy, really ) in the water here.  It’s a quaint little spot, set back from the road – almost invisible, really – at the border between industrial and residential Lake Union.  The wood is falling apart, however, and at least one bench is unusable at this point.  The neighborhood committee feels that the shrubs are overgrown and that the park should be more open – I disagree on that note, personally, and think this gives an “on the water” ambiance, even for those on land.  You feel isolated from the city, especially from the roadway.  Still, it’s a great park, and it needs a little tender love and care.  If you’d like to turn some elbow grease into a revitalized park, call the folks at 322-5463.
• Gas Works Park – I hesitate to list this one, because it’s so well known and well loved.  But then that’s probably a great reason for many people to get involved.  While the park itself is in great shape, there are plans to install a camera obscura and interpretive center.  I would feel better about lending my hand to a less developed park, but I’m sure many readers will feel otherwise.  The Friends of Gas Works would love to hear from you at 325-8119.

Photographed by 12fh

Lake Union from the Space Needle, with Mt. Baker in the distance (spliced from 4 separate shots)

– License

The Northlake Community Wharf project wrapped up the last of the Wallingford Community Center focus groups last night. For the past couple of months the good folks at Delridge Neighborhood Development Association have let us tag along as they lead focus groups of Wallingford Neighbors through a visioning exercise on what a community center might look like in Wallingford. It usually similar themes: a swimming pool, a place where the neighborhood can feel centered, a place that is welcoming and multi-generational. Right now they are just at the point where the neighborhood is imagining what it might want if resources become available.

For the last 15 minutes or so of these meeting I’ve been able to explain who we are, and detail the rough concept of what the NCW could be: Active small boat programs and access to the water, an interpretive shipyard for heritage vessels, and a space to serve community needs. I then ask a different question: “Given that The Center for Wooden Boats is pursuing this waterfront property in your neighborhood, how would you use it?”

What I’ve learned from this exercise is that because of the limited access to the water, people in Wallingford ( and to a large extent Fremont too) don’t think of Lake Union as being part of their neighborhood. Once the people in these groups started thinking about the possibilities then the ideas and excitement started flowing: What about a fishing pier? Off-boat fish sales? Kayak Storage? Boat rentals? Sailing lessons? Ice cream stand? Water taxi to South Lake Union? BYOB happy hour? It’s been great to see people’s excitement about the possibility of tapping into a neighborhood resource (the lake) that has been there all along but with no real way to access it. Thanks to the Wallingford Community Center planners for letting us play along and we look forward to further collaborations in the future.

I photographed the wedding of Amy and Rich at the Lake Union Crew Club in Seattle a few weeks ago. It was a fun ceremony and being right on Lake Union, it could not have been a more Seattle wedding.

Can you find me in the overhead photo? I set up a remote camera on the patio overlooking the ceremony. It is always a good thing to be in two places at once during a wedding, and the remote camera lets me do that. I used a Nikon D2H, with 18-35, and Pocket Wizards, to do that shot.

Thanks for looking!

Daniel

The smell of fish, the taste of America’s oldest corporate coffeeshop, the sounds of a giant, mechanical duck, the feeling of relaxation, and the look of beauty. Recorded with a Flip UltraHD.
July 9, Seattle, WA

Hidden Number live at Sunset Tavern, 4pm Sunday July 19th, 2009

The title sez it all.  Yet, dare I also mention that we’re  opening for My Bones and Organs and The Keeper?!  I dare.  Note the very excellent time on Sunday, which will give everyone plenty of time to get home so that they write that important report due Monday.  Please include charts and graphs.  How else will you stay competitive in this economic climate?  We are staying competitive by throwing in some Misfits songs in our set.

Dare I also direct you to a top notch video of our Tom Petty cover of “Don’t Come Around Here No More” posted by Chris?  Double dared.

We at Hidden Number hope your Independence Day (or plain vanilla Saturday) was a festive occasion.  A few of us spent time on the very boat from whence came Manos de Plata’s  brand new album, and watched the Seattle fireworks bobbing upon the waters of Lake Union.  We stood in the very chamber in the belly of the Sea Devil, and I double dog dare say that the reverb was palpable.  I hope you appreciate that the next time you listen.

-=HN=-

[Kai]

What a great day, and I think this video sort of outlines how nice the weather was on Lake Union, and Lake Washington.

Kayaked around lake union and toward Ballard.  Had a grand time and got caught in a circle of probably 100+ sailboats.  It was windy and hard work, but definitely worth the trip.

Crossing the lake through the sailboats was very exciting, especially when a few had to adjust their sails to recapture the wind.  Hearing the sails rip against the power of the wind and seeing them race from port to starbord of the tiny boats to ensure they didn’t tip was fascinating and thrilling.

Ever seen Gas Works Park from the water?  Amazing, rusty & industrial!

I highly recommend seeing the world from the view of a kayak.  It’s reasonable to rent a kayak for a couple hours and there are many places around the Puget Sound to rent kayaks.

I learned this the hard way yesterday.  But let me start at the beginning: Last night I went out to Eva’s in Seattle for my 21st birthday with my parents.  The food there was amazing! Plus I ordered a weird but delicious mixed drink, it was champagne and gin with lemon and a sugar cube in the bottom of the glass.  Very weird but I liked it a lot.  We also tried a bottle of Austrian wine, which I had never tried before or even heard of wine from Austria. Let me just tell you that it was yum!  But, with so much alcohol in my sleepy little self, I must admit that I became very unaware of my surroundings.  So, in the car ride back home from the restaurant I lazily tied the balloon my sister gave me to my purse with a sloppy hitch knot.  We were riding along for about 20 minutes and then all of a sudden, *bam!* The balloon flew out the sun roof with so much noise and freaked out the driver behind us.  It was funny, but also really scary when it happened, it was seriously loud.

And now it is thursday and I am sitting at my desk in the office.  I rode my bike to work today but just from Lake Union, a 15 minute ride.  I thought I was running late but I got here at 8:20… we don’t even open until 8:30 and I am not suppose to show up until 9.  Now I’m wishing that I had slept more, I am so incredibly tired and I don’t know why.  Hopefully it wears off by the end of the day but I doubt it.  I will probably just go home and go straight to bed.  I do have a busy day tomorrow! My boyfriend, Andrew, is coming from Spokane for the weekend (I am so excited!) and I need to clean my room before he gets here.  I also need to set up the yard for my birthday/4th party on saturday.  AND do my homework for my online class.  My goodness…. things to do.  Sorry for the mundane post but I seriously feel brain dead today, should be a productive day at work, lol.

On our second day in Seattle, we slept in a little in the morning and then met Devon in the city around 11 am.  We took the Duck tour, which I was very skeptical of, but which was actually a pretty good time.  The amphibious vehicle started out with a tour of Seattle by land and then went into Lake Union.  Though it was very corny, I’ll admit it was fun and let us see some parts of the city we did not already see.  We then went to a fish and chips place for lunch, though I did get chicken and chips.

After that, we went kayaking in Lake Union.  Neither Emily nor I had ever been, and we had a great time overall, though I got off to an awful start.  As we got in the kayaks at the dock, I managed to flip mine and ended up taking a swim in the brisk water!  After getting instructed as to what I did wrong (essentially everything), I got in again and was fine.  We spent almost 2 hours kayaking along the lake, which was filled with all kinds of vessels, big and small – and even some house boats and floating homes.

After kayaking, we went to Green Lake, a local spot for walking, jogging, biking, rollerblading, etc. and took a walk around the lake.  We then went back to Devon and Noah’s house and grilled out for dinner – a welcome change from eating out for every meal.

Date / Time: November 14, 2009 – 9:00 am
Location : Center for Wooden Boats
Address : 1010 Valley Street, Seattle, WA 98109

Contact: email: eoconner@cwb.org Phone: 206-382-2628
Cost: $ 30.00 CWB Members, $40.00 Non CWB Members
Classroom: Auditorium, Upstairs in Armory Building, south end
Flotilla: D-13 Fl-21
Remarks: Successful completion of this 8 Hr. class will satisfy the Washington State mandatory education requirements.
How to Get There: Driving Directions and Map.