Seafair Patriots 2013 Seattle

The Patriots replaced the Blue Angels this year for Seattle’s Seafair airshow main attraction. Today, Friday, 8/2/13, was the first performance called a “practice.” The Patriots were great in spite of performing in the rain and heavy cloud cover. These photos were taken from our dock on the west side of Mercer Island about one mile south of the I-90 Bridge.

Opening Day – Boating – Seattle

Opening Day - Boating on Saturday, May 4, 2013, is the official opening of Seattle's boating season. It is sponsored by the Seattle Yacht Club and includes many kinds of water activities. It will include a morning of crew races staring at 10:20 am and the grand Opening Day boat parade starting at noon. Participating yachts will be decorated to illustrate this year's theme for Opening Day, "Hawaiian Magic." The crew races are west to east through Montlake Cut and the boat parade is east to west through the Cut.

  Seattle has historically celebrated important occasions with water festivities. The Elliott Bay Yacht Club, the forerunner of the Seattle Yacht Club, held a regatta including several classes of boats in Elliott Bay for the Fourth of July, 1895.

  The first SYC Opening Day took place in early May 1913 with a parade and a regatta in Elliott Bay. The first Opening Day parade through the Montlake Cut was in 1920 after the Seattle Yacht Club moved to its new (and present) facilities in Portage Bay.

  Over the years, events such as the University of Washington crew races have become a part of the day's traditional festivities. Many spectators watch these popular races through the Montlake Cut from the shore, boats or TV. Opening Day 2013 marks the 29th anniversary of the Windermere Cup.

  Seattle Yacht Club's Opening Day has become the nation's largest regional celebration of water, spring and the opening of boating season. Opening Day in Seattle is a family and party affair. A huge spectator fleet lines the start of the crew races and the end of the boat parade from Montlake Cut east into Union Bay and Lake Washington. Spectator boats are also decorated (optional) and families and friends spread blankets on the shoreline and spend hours watching and picnicking.

  On 5/7/11 Susan and I launched our new boat, “Happy Hours,” and, with our wonderful crew, we proceeded to Seattle’s Boating Opening Day celebration and boat parade. Tom’s Boat Shop and I entered Happy Hours in the parade. The Opening Day theme was "Salish Sea Treasures" and we received the Alaska Airlines Trophy for 1st place in our class (Decorated Commercial). Last year, with very stiff competition, we placed third. We are entered again this year. We hope to see you there!

Pontoon Grammy

“Little Big Town tonight [2/10/13 in Los Angeles] won the first GRAMMY of their ten-year career. Their number one single, and one of the biggest country hits of the summer of 2012, ‘Pontoon’ landed them the GRAMMY for Best Country Duo/Group Performance.

The four bandmates (Karen Fairchild, Kimberly Schlapman, Jimi Westbrook, and Phillip Sweet) all appeared in person, waving and smiling broadly as they walked down the aisle to the stage.

‘Woo-hoo!’ shouted Kimberly Schlapman, clearly giddy about their win. ‘We wanted one of these for so long!’

‘This is such a longtime coming for us,’ echoed Phillip Sweet. ‘We’re so thrilled!’” (From CBS Los Angeles 2/10/13)

My Happy Hours "Pontoon" video filmed on Lake Washington and featuring this hit song “Pontoon” with LBT was uploaded June 6 and has 182,000 views from 143 countries!

Little Big Town's Pontoon video, with 10 million views, was the number one music video on Country Music Television's (CMT's) chart last summer. It is fantastic.

LBT’s performance of Pontoon at the 2012 CMT 2012 Music Awards on June 6 "rocked the house." This was Little Big Town’s (LBT’s) debut of Pontoon on national TV and for a standing-room-only audience at Nashville's Bridgestone Arena. They performed on a pontoon boat on the stage.

Seattle Boat Show 2013

800 Occidental Ave So, Seattle - CenturyLink Field

Hours: Mon-Thur 11am – 8pm

               Fridays     11am – 9pm

               Saturdays 10am – 8pm

         Sunday 1/27   10am – 6pm

         Sunday   2/3   10am – 4pm

This is the biggest boat show on the west coast. The show features more than 1,000 yachts and boats plus the latest accessories and supplies. There are more than 200 interesting boating and fishing seminars. 

Dykstra Seminars – W 1/30 - 6:15 - Yellow Room and F 2/1 - Noon - Red Room

The 1/30 seminar title is “Pontoon Boats in the PNW: Pros vs Cons.” Pontoon boats are sweeping the country but are just starting to become popular in the PNW. The new generation of pontoon boats uses modern multi-hull technology. But what are the drawbacks? We will present the pluses and minuses.

The 2/1 seminar title is “Cruising Lake Washington: Navigating the Locks, Where to Dock, Anchor, Party and Dine!” Lake Washington is a fabulous boating destination but is often overlooked by salt-water boaters. There is great anchoring where you can swim in 75º fresh water. We will discuss the many things to see and do including viewing the fabulous mansions on “The Map of The Stars.”

The Boat Show’s main location is indoors at the CenturyLink Field Convention Center. In addition the Show has exhibitors showing large yachts in the water at South Lake Union. There is free shuttle service between the two locations. www.seattleboatshow.com. 

I will be exhibiting at Captain’s Nautical Supplies, booth Concourse 2240 and will be there most of the time. I will occasionally be at Tom’s – Avalon Luxury Pontoon Boats, booth North 161. I bought my new Avalon (Avalon video) luxury pontoon boat from Tom at 2011’s show. I recommend you stop by and see some of the perfect boats for the PNW. www.TomsBoatShop.com.

Go to Dykstra Boat Show pdf for more information including hours, directions and a map. Call my cell – 206-931-6065 for show passes.