Boaters Guide to Seafair

Lake Washington is famous for Seattle’s Seafair summer celebration on Lake Washington just south of the I-90 Bridge. This is a month long festival of many activities throughout Seattle and usually ends the first Sunday in August. (See the 7/27/11, 7/28/11 and 2/20/11 posts for information on last year’s highlights and Stan Sayres, LW’s famous hydroplane racer who brought the hydroplanes to Seattle.) This year it concludes on August 5.

The final four days feature hydroplane races and the Navy’s Blue Angels’ air shows. The hydroplane races are on the lake south of the I-90 floating bridge. The air show’s center is over this area. The planes and their stunts can be seen from much of the lake and its shores. During these four days the lake is crowded with spectator boats and the lake is renowned for the associated “floating party.” The Blue Angels practice throughout the day on Thursday. The Friday, Saturday and Sunday Blue Angels shows begin with Fat Albert at 1:30 pm followed by the Blue Angels airshow from 1:40 to 2:15.

Seafair has numerous regulations for boaters. Click here for 2011 regulations. This is a summary. Zone 1 includes the hydroplane race course and the logboom northeast of the course. Zone 2 is marked by a restricted buoy line on the outer edge of Zone 1 and covers all of Lake Washington, including Andrews Bay, outside Zone 1 between buoys north of the I-90 Bridge and buoys south of the north end of Seward Park (pdf with map). No vessels can enter this area without a logboom or shoreline resident pass after 9 am Thursday through Sunday. Vessels with passes must enter the restricted areas before 9:30 am on Thursday and noon Friday through Sunday. All vessels without a space on the logboom must exit Zone 1 and Zone 2 no later than 9:45 a.m. on Thursday, and by 12:30 p.m. on all remaining days. The logboom is reserved for customers with passes from 6:00am Friday to 6:00pm Sunday. Boaters proceeding to the logboom in Zone 1 or to any area in Zone 2 shall do so only at idle speed. Any person swimming or otherwise entering the water (outside the logboom only), shall remain within 10 feet of their vessel or the logboom. Vessels on the logboom may raft up to 3 vessels. Vessels in Zone 2 may raft up to 6 vessels. Towing other vessels, including inflatable and other watercraft is not permitted. Children 12 years and younger are required to wear life jackets on vessels shorter than 19 feet and on larger vessels on an open deck or cockpit. The maximum allowable Blood Alcohol Content is less than .08%. Where no capable operator is found aboard a vessel the operator and passengers will be removed from the vessel and the vessel will be impounded.

Seattle’s Biggest Party

Lake Washington is famous for Seattle’s Seafair summer celebration.  This is a month long festival of many activities throughout Seattle and ends the first Sunday in August.  The final four days feature hydroplane races, the Navy’s Blue Angels’ air shows (previous post) and the Seattle area’s biggest party. Over a million people watch the Blue Angels and party on the water and shoreline.

During the Seafair air shows all the boats, except those tied to the log boom, between the I-90 Bridge and Seward Park must move out of this area. After the Friday through Sunday air shows, which is usually around 2:30 pm, the boats return in mass. The party-on-the-water begins!

This is Seattle’s summer on-the-water version of Mardi Gras. Thousands of boats packed with partiers crowd the area. Most are in swimming suits and the babes are in bikinis. Some only wear the bottom part. Many with the tops on (sometimes) collect strings of beads Mardi Gras style.

Boats raft to other boats. The hydroplane races are the excuse but very few watch. Water fights with high powered water guns, hoses and water balloons are everywhere. Of course there is a lot of drinking. Over the last few years the police have cracked down on drinking while piloting a boat. Boats need to have a designated captain.

After the air-shows we make trips with our new boat, Happy Hours, to join the spectator fleet. Because of our location we have a head start versus the main flotilla. We provide water guns. Prepare to get wet if you wish to join us on these excursions.

Professional photographer, Bernard Zee, has a neat website with a lot of great photographs of 2009’s party-on-the-water.

Stan Sayres Hunts Point – Former Home

This (LW 130 Homes page 147 and see map on previous post below) is the site of the former home of Stan Sayres (1897-1956).  He was known as “The Legend of Lake Washington” and “The Fastest Man Afloat.”  The 2 acre vacant lot with 750 feet of waterfront is for sale for $19.7 million. Stan designed, developed and built new and faster boats named Slo-Moshuns.  He set his first boat-on-water speed record of 160+ mph in 1950 on LW and continued to set new records, all on LW.  He took Slo-Mo IV to Detroit and won the 1950 Gold Cup, boat racing’s biggest prize. Stan brought hydroplane racing to LW in 1951 as part of the Seafair celebration.  The 1951 race was the first U.S. hydroplane race west of Detroit and was a huge success.  Stan became a local hero.  South of the I-90 floating bridges is the Stan S. Sayres Memorial Park, known as the “Sayres Pits.” This is the site of Seafair’s hydroplane races and the Blue Angels air show.