Beach Drive Blog

Please bees careful walking/running up Jacobson street today!

During a jog up Jacobson hill this morning, I ran into a city crew trying to decide what to do about the leaning alder they had just cut down. It just so happens that the hollowed out Alder laying on the ground is home of a swarming bees nest.

One of the crew informed me that a local bee keeper has been contacted for their expertise and over-heard other options to move the infested log to an unpopulated corner of MeeKwaMooks or Lincoln Park.  You've been warned!

The University of Washington research vessel named the Thomas G Thompson has been a spotted as a regular these days off off Blake Island.

I'm guessing that they are testing the local waters beyond the out-going currents of Rich Passage where several Atlantic Salmon farming pens are located.  Their website isn't revealing what they've been up to recently but a potential break out of Salmon Anemia in Puget Sound must have their attention.  Monday was so beautiful out that I ventured over in the Beach Drive Blog zodiac to check out the operations.  Enjoy!

 

 Scupper, reporting for Beach Drive Blog

 

Gill Netters set for Fall salmon runs

Starting to see the "net set" working the waters off of Beach Drive. A local resident we'll refer to as Mr. Green Horn hitched a ride Wednesday as a go-fer-boy and mentioned none of the boats are having great catches yet, "the Chums still don't seem to be all that plentiful right now".

Scupper, roporting for Beach Drive Blog

Newest Bulkhead on Beach Drive

Update October 14, 2011:  apparently the construction of this bulkhead may be involved with the 75 foot sunken vessel of Waterfront Construction, causing a fuel spill. Read Beach Drive Blog's coverage here.

Our intrepid reporter, Scupper, decided to check out the barge that was heading to a newer Beach Drive home.  How often can you watch a bulkhead being built?

 

 

What Kind of Bird is This?

My husband, aka, Scupper, spied this hawk(?) in one of our willows yesterday dining on his latest victem.  It appears to be larger than a crow and smaller than a seagull.

 

 

See more pictures of this bird by clicking here.  Photo credits: Scupper.

Surfs up on Beach Drive! Reading the waves

Coming down off Jacobson hill last night around 5:30, I figured the wind was blowing around 40 mph by the way the waves were reacting to the wind. It's Scupper here to review how waves can tell you how hard its blowing on our neck of Puget Sound. 

Flat mirror like water translates to winds at...zero

Waves just starting to crest with a cap translates to winds at...about 10mph

Sporadic white caps across the water translates to winds at...about 15mph

White caps just about everywhere translates to...about 20-25mph

Large waves with some spray blowing off the white caps translates to...25-30mph

Consistent streaks of spray & foam blown off the waves...30-40mph (what I saw coming down off the hill!)

Beyond what's described above results in denser foam/spray off the waves and indicates gale force to what the Beaufort Scales would consider "storm" conditions.

Scup

 

Talk'n about Gale & Stormy

Ok, settle down you old salty dogs, these aren't the fair-weather countersunk sailors you see sunning themselves on the decks of 50 ft. sailboats.  We're talking about weather classifications.

We hear the terms "small craft warnings" or it's "blowing a gale" often enough to take a  more detailed look at what these terms really mean as far as wind speed and water conditions. Let's start with small craft warnings.

There are no exact definitions for small craft warning and therefore is subjective to the local marine area.  Let's call it lower 20 to just over 30 mph winds where my neighbor Pat may want to delay his standing paddle surfing gig for another day.  You could  expect  2-4  foot waves  with white caps out on the sound for at least a couple of hours.

When neighbor Jeff tells his wife "simmer down Agnes", there's usually a gale predicted to blow on www.beachdriveblog. You can expect winds in the lower 30 to upper 40 mph range. Waves come in at 4 to 6 feet commonly sending spray onto Beach Drive over Emma Schmitz park.

I'm currently in a dense fog of creeping crud caught from my sons that brought it in from high school...

Scupper

Editors Note:  Please welcome a new contributor to Beach Drive Blog who is writing under the alias of "Scupper".    Scupper is a Beach Drive resident and we look forward to more colorful post.   If you live in the Beach Drive neighborhood and are interested in contributing to the blog, please let us know!