Let’s have fun on Lake Sammamish! We welcome sailors, power boaters, water skiers, fishermen, rowers, kayakers, jetskiers, sea planes, and non-boaters to join us. Getting together for on-lake and off lake events recreational, social, and amateur competition is what we are all about!
Too much rain in the forecast for the early part of the day. No one wants to boat in the rain. Let’s do it next weekend
Lake Washington had a great Opening Day yesterday 5/7/22 (first time since Covid), let’s continue our emergent parallel Lake Sammamish tradition with our own opening day parade around the lake next Saturday. We’ll start at the state park boat launch, and proceed clockwise around the lake, with music playing and festively decorated boats and costumes – whatever you like to celebrate our return to boating season. It should take about 4 hours depending on our speed – fast idle about 4-6 MPH, so we would get to the north end around 4 PM and finish at the boat ramps around 6 PM. Photos are from last year’s parade.
We welcome all boaters on and off the lake. Feel free to join in for whatever portion you like. Life Jackets and Thermal protection (e.g. wetsuits) are MANDATORY in small people powered and sail boats as the water is under 50F and very dangerous. Anyone in small boats who refuses to WEAR a lifejacket is asked to demonstrate their swimming skills by swimming or treading water for 3 minutes in this 50 degree water before joining the parade. It would be great to have a safety boat at the end as Todd did last year. For safety let’s please keep the people powered boats behind the powerboats (excluding the safety boat if we have one) so we don’t have a problem with a capsize and a long line of closely spaced boats coming right at them (while skippers are looking at the shore waving). All boaters, if you see anyone go into the water sound your horn (continuously) and point at the person in the water (while trying to render aid).
I have 4 boats from the Sammamish Neighbor’s Facebook website confirmed so far and hope to have Lakeside Fueling join us to promote opening their “Gas delivery on the Lake” season.
Let me know if anyone wants to sponsor a decorated boat prize! Last year Nothing Bundt Cakes delivered a bunch of cakes for the participants at the launch ramps which was great.
Please reply below if you can join us.
For those without boats, I’d recommend viewing from the Sammamish State Park, as we should go past there a little after 2 PM. I don’t want to overplay this as a big “destination worthy” parade, we’re still in the growing phase, but hopefully we can add more boats this year to keep building it up.
As with all our Lake Sammamish Yacht Club parades, this is WEATHER DEPENDANT – if rain is in the forecast we will RESCHEDULE the date or time, as it’s no fun to parade in the rain. Look here to confirm it’s on. Current forecast is 61F with a little rain in the morning ending before noon.
Jim Mackey
LSYC Commodore
(425) 449-0070
The weather gods have spoken and told us to reschedule our Opening Day Parade to Sunday 5/2 instead of Saturday. The weather charts indicate Sunday has only a 6% chance of sprinkles with no accumulation and 50% clear skies, however Saturday has a 55% chance of heavy rain. The rest of the plan remains the same:
Let’s DO the Lake Sammamish Opening Day Boat Parade!
We got a great response to my 3/14 NextDoor LakeSamm post:
https://nextdoor.com/p/c736wgYr_nM_?utm_source=share&extras=NTA2ODI%3D
Over 40 people commented expressing interest in joining or watching.
I NEED YOUR HELP with:
– Publicity/Awareness – getting news coverage before or after the event
– Recruiting – contact individuals or businesses to see if they would like to participate with a boat or some other “Parade Float” perhaps with commercial advertising if they like
– Contact Boat Dealers – ask if they will participate or do boat Demos for potential customers as part of the parade
– Judging decorations – Perhaps ask Boating stores or restaurants to donate prizes (for sponsorship publicity).
– Organizing Parade watching parties (being COVID safe) – potentially Sammamish State Park, Vasa Park, Idlewood Park, Sammamish Landing, or just your own neighborhood
– Photography of the parade
– I would appreciate a couple boats volunteering to act as a safety boats at the end of the parade with throwable life jackets and a tow line in case boats get into trouble.
Please Post what you can volunteer to do and your results. I’m offering active participants in the parade and organizing 1 year membership in the Lake Sammamish Yacht Club at no cost (other than volunteering)
The Theme:
After the year of Covid we’ve been through, lets go with “Care and Optimism”, positive and rebuilding Community and Neighborly support. A thanks to our community care givers, essential workers, and all the people who responded changing their lives to stop the spread. As well as somber reflection for all those we lost or who have lost someone. Anything pro-vaccination is also great. Decorate if you like or don’t, just bring your smiling faces 🙂
The Plan:
Meet at the Lake Samm State Park Launch ramps at 11:30 to get organized, if you are launching a boat and/or decorating come earlier so we can get all the boats in the water, decorated, and ready to go. We will always have stragglers who miscalculated how long it will take to get there and launch. At Noon we will begin going clockwise around the lake.
Lake Sammamish State Park beaches will be the first good viewing area, this is also a great spot for anyone who wants to join for some or all of the route by Kayak, Canoe, SUP – Lifejackets and Thermal protection (e.g. wetsuits) are MANDATORY the water is under 50F and very dangerous. Anyone in small boats who refuses to WEAR a lifejacket will be asked to demonstrate their swimming skills by swimming or treading water for 3 minutes in this 50 degree water without a lifejacket before joining the parade.
We may circle in front of the State Park beaches if there’s a good viewing crowd, and to form up the parade order. We will travel at 4-7 MPH generally inside the slow wake buoys (except where there are hazards – if you see me go wide, follow me to avoid poorly marked stumps), we may move a little faster in areas with no houses (e.g. Marymoor). Slower inside the Sunken Forest – here it is important to stay close to the docks ~ 20-30′ to avoid hazards.
At this pace we expect to reach South Cove about 12:30, Vasa 1:00, Weowna Point 1:15, Idlewood Park 1:45, Apartments 2:00, cross over to East Side 2:15, Sammamish Landing 2:30, Webber Point 2:45, Mint Grove 3:15, getting back to the Launch ramps by 4:00 – ALL times are APPROXIMATE, if it’s really nice we tend to go a bit slower, if cool and windy we may go faster.
Boaters & Floaters are welcome to join in at any point for as much of the parade as they would like to participate in. Be Safe don’t extend beyond what you can safely cover especially if wind is a factor and be mindful of cold water danger. I’ll be playing the stereo with earplugs in to get people to realize we are coming and come our or down to their docks. I will not be able to hear you on the boat. My mobile phone is (425) 449-0070 please call if there is an emergency or safety issue, but the phone drives the stereo so don’t call with questions during or before the parade as I’ll be busy. Happy to talk the day before, that’s a fine time for questions.
Date and timing is subject to weather, if significant rain is likely, we will shift to Sunday, or an alternative date TBD. No one wants to spend 4 hours on a boat in the rain or come out to see the parade with umbrellas. We will probably make a Go / No-Go decision by Wednesday night based on the forecast, and post it here.
SO – Please post how you can help with the requests above!
– Get those boats out of storage (should be great weather this week)
– Think about decorations if that’s you thing
Let’s make this first annual Lake Samm Opening Day Parade a success!
If you can volunteer with any of the above let me know what you can do.
Jim Mackey
LSYC Commodore
(425) 449-0070
Todd Thull has graciously stepped up to be our Safety boat at the end of the parade behind any canoes, kayakers, SUPs, etc. Please take safety seriously, wear your lifejacket, and follow his guidance for staying with the parade. I’ll be up front and most of the powerboats will be playing music and looking forward. I ask the hand or sail powered boats to stay behind the powerboats, or VERY close to the docks so we don’t have a problem with a capsize and a long line of closely spaced boats coming right at them (while skippers are looking at the shore waving). All boaters, if you see anyone go into the water sound your horn (continuously) and point at the person in the water (while trying to render aid). This is a photo of Todds boat – try to stay ahead of JUST that boat so he can keep an eye on everyone.
@Angela Marks from Nothing Bundt Cakes in Issaquah offered to donate some cakes. Maybe bring those to the launch ramp post parade for a little pick me up for the participants after their circumnavigation of the lake?
If it’s as nice as expected, anyone who wants can join me in a tie up by the launch ramps at the end. Maybe attach one boat to the non-launch ramp dock to the right of the ramps and others tie on? Keeping masked or socially distanced if not fully vaccinated. I got my shots 🙂
Would be great to get people’s ideas for what other events LSYC might do with the lake. For example I hear Seafair on Lake Washington has just been Canceled – maybe we should do our own? I’ve tried to get folks interested in other events like traveling BBQ events, parties at Sammamish Landing, etc. We just never get much participation. Hoping this activity might get more people to have fun on the lake as a community, and we find more ways to do things together.
-Jim Mackey
LSYC Commodore
(425) 449-0070
Friends, Boaters, and Boating Organizations!
This year the Holiday Lighted Boats Parade is targeting Saturday Dec 5th 4:00 – 9:30 PM. (If the forecast doesn’t hold we will reschedule). With all we’ve been through this year, we REALLY need to spread some cheer around the lake. This is a wonderfully socially distanced event. I’m hoping to double the great turnout we had last year. What else would you be doing on a Saturday Night in December this year? This year’s Halloween Dock Trick or Treat got more than double the turnout of prior years, and the Great Pumpkin float was extremely popular. EVERYONE is at home in the houses around the lake so it’s going to bring a lot more joy, waves, and flashing lights.
The event is SO much better in years where we have a longer parade of boats. Last year was great (see photos attached), but we can do better. I’m reaching out to anyone who has (or knows someone who has) a boat in the water, an outboard motor, or can launch and join in for all or some portion of our trip around the lake. In past years I’ve even towed a decorated catamaran sailboat behind my boat just to get another lit up boat out there. Last year rowers from Sammamish Rowing (and their safety/coach boat) joined us mid-lake West side for part of our cruise – be sure your vessel is well lit up and you are safe with life jackets, and thermal protection. We love businesses to join in and we’ve had Seattle Mastercraft, Lakeside Fueling, Sambica, Bakes, NW Inboard, Seattle Boat and others participate in past years. There are often bonfire parties around the lake to watch us at the south end of Mint Grove Cove, Vasa Park, and Idlewood and near the finish on the east side. But due to Covid there WON’T be a “Light-Up The Night” event at the State Park this year.
We will do the whole lake in one night, cruising clockwise around the lake. Let’s plan to launch at 3:30 PM so we are decorated, lit up, and on the water at the State Park Launch Ramps by 4:30 PM. Sunset is 4:18. We will cruise over to South cove by 5:10, get to Vasa around 6 PM, Weowna Point by about 6:20, Idlewood about 7:00, then up to the north end apartments. We will cross over to the East side by 7:30, Mint Grove by 8:15 PM, and back to the State Park Launch Ramps by 9:30 PM – all times very approximate. Without the State park event we will have time to circle for places that do a bonfire on shore or have a great turnout.
It really is a lot of fun to see our neighbors all around the lake run to the windows, porches, and docks as they hear us coming and wave and flash their lights. It’s also great to see all the decorated homes that face the lake, docks lit up with decorations, and home interiors lit up with Christmas Trees. While it is chilly, put on down coats, bring blankets, a warm beverage and think of it as a once a year sleigh ride round the lake. It’s your opportunity to wish holiday greetings to all your lakeside neighbors one house at a time. Even if you can’t cover the whole lake join in for what you can!
So let me know who is in for this event this year! Lets make it bigger and better than ever.
Attached are some photos from last year for inspiration. Let me know if you want help or advice on decorating. LEDs and an inverter let you get a lot of light pretty easily.The City of Issaquah made a Video of us off the State Park here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wHbAgRbvsX0&feature=youtu.be
The 5th Annual Great Pumpkin Float around Lake Sammamish was a big success. It’s a Halloween celebration with 500-1000 of our neighbors just one home at a time. We play Halloween music at full volume and flash spotlights into their homes so they see us coming. About 1/4 of the houses have someone home and see/hear us. They run to the porch or windows waving and flashing their house lights or flashlights (cause we can’t hear anything and it’s hard to see in the dark). It’s great to see the excitement in the kids, especially as Trick or Treating can be difficult in parts of this extended “neighborhood”.
This year was great with Colin Dana, Kristina Owen, and Marisa Rose on board to make it a party, and share the driving, photography, and spotlight work over our 4 hour circumnavigation of the lake. Despite a very discouraging forecast the steady rain held off till after midnight when the boat was put away.
Great thanks and support on Nextdoor LakeSamm from so many folks.
Finally after a 5 year long email thread, multiple meetings with Sammamish Parks folks, and even a City Council appearance, we have cleats at the Sammamish Landing North Dock that can be used by boaters! Hurrah!
You can now dock your boat and go for a jog on the East Lake trail, or have a picnic at the park, or use the nice new restrooms if you are out on the north end of the lake, or have someone park at the lot and meet you on the dock. Finally Sammamish Landing Park is a “Landing” for boats.
Some history of this issue: Sammamish Landing park opened in 2013, but the brilliant designers who put the posts outside of the dock surface, (instead of embedding them within the dock edge as is common practice) didn’t recognize that there’s no way to tie up a boat with a 2 foot concrete piling between the boat and the dock. They put in nice big boat cleats, it was just that there’s no way to use them because a boat won’t safely fit between these pilings and the cleats were on the side with the pilings. So even if you can catch the dock on the side without the piling (there’s nothing to hold on to on the dock edge) and step off, you had to tie your dock lines to the opposite side of the dock, creating a trip hazard, requiring longer lines, not securing the boat as well, and generally looking stupid. This is obvious to any boater who spends 10 seconds looking at the dock.
Jackie Schmidt (also of LSYC) and I sent emails to the parks folks soon after the docks opened, expecting this fix might take a week to get a guy with a wrench to move the cleats from one side to the other. It did not. We presented it to the Sammamish City Council, which approved the change. But then there was a city lawsuit over the poor dock design / manufacture (in addition to the idiotic piling placement, the docks also broke apart in our winter storms). Finally that ended and we though we were back on track. But the person we were working with left, and we had to start over with emails. Then they couldn’t make the change in the fall because of “considerable logistics to attaching the cleats due to challenging access of the dock infrastructure which is required to install the mounts.” But I visited this weekend and was surprised and pleased as punch to see the cleats are finally on the proper side where they can be used.
Now it would have been better if the pilings were on the south side as our summer winds are generally from the north, and it would have been better if the swim ladder was on the end or the other side, and if one more cleat were added near the offshore side of the swim ladder would have made it possible to dock a 2nd boat on the other side of the swim ladder (behind my boat in the photo), but at least we finally have 4 cleats on the correct side of the dock in 2018!
Note the South dock (the “L” shaped one) had it’s cleats removed as the non-piling side is in the swim area (Even though swimable temperature is only 4 months of the year). Boats are not supposed to dock there.
Thank you Jackie for staying with me on this one. Now that it’s here, feel free to enjoy it.
I guess persistence does pay off.
Article on the dock repair lawsuit: http://www.issaquahreporter.com/news/settlement-sammamish-landing-dock-to-be-repaired/
Link to the Park Website: https://www.sammamish.us/parks-recreation/parks-trails/sammamish-landing-park/
This gallery contains 17 photos.
Sorry AGAIN. With the forecast calling for a 75% chance of heavy rain for most of Saturday, and high winds gusting to 20 mph kicking up waves Saturday night, and the lake level so high that most of the docks are underwater and thus invisible, we just can’t do the lighted boat parade tomorrow night. Sunday was better, but not much, and the lake levels are still high. So we are pushing the parade to next Saturday 12/19. I know we will lose a few more boats, but we really had no option. The State Park Beach Bonfire event is CANCELED, too much involved in trying to pull that off for a 3rd target date, and the high water has covered the beach.
Current forecast for next week is the best we’ve seen with only a 20 % chance of very light rain, winds of only 2 mph and we might even see some moonlight. Let’s hope the 3rd time is the charm. That should give more folks time to get the home decorations up, as it’s been so wet each weekend, many of us are behind, and it’s certainly hard to decorate an under water dock.
Let me know who is still in! I’m hoping we still have 4-6 boats, I’d love to get a few more to join us.
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Sorry to say we have to postpone the Holiday Lighted Boats Parade to Next Saturday 12/12 (same time 2-3 PM launch, targeting 10 PM completion), due to the forecast – > 90% chance of heavy rain (National Weather Service, Weather Underground, and AccuWeather) on original date 12/5
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Join our Holiday Lighted Boats Parade – let’s get more boats out there this year! Please keep your boat in the water or put it in for this event. It’s great to see the holiday lights & home displays from the water as a parade and we always get a great response from those on shore – flashing house lights and coming out to wave, and bonfires on the beach. Put on your warm coat, a lap blanket, bring a warm beverage, and we’ll ha
ve a Lake Sammamish “sleigh ride”. It’s our own mini-version of the Christmas Ships. A little inverter works wonders with the today’s LED holiday lights, or an inflatable decoration to put on your boat. We are also looking for someone with photography skills/equipment (very low light, rocking boat) to join us on the boat, to photograph the best decorated houses on the lake and post the “award winners” on line.
This year we’ll start at early and do the whole lake in one night (launch boats at 2-3 PM to get decorations ready and leave the docks at 4 PM sharp). We should be done a little after 10 PM. We are targeting Saturday Dec 5th if it doesn’t rain. (If rain is forecast we will push to Sunday the 6th or the next weekend.)
At the State Park Beach there will be bonfires, hot chocolate, decorations and luminary walkways (candle bags) and for the first time the Issaquah Singers chorus will lead the carolers on the beach. Last year we got coverage in the Issaquah Press and over a hundred people came out. We also had groups come out to watch on the beach mid lake east side and at the apartment docks on the north end. This year let’s get more boats and continue to grow this new tradition! Please email me at jim.mackey@gmail.com or just call me at 425-449-0070 to let me know if you have a boat the could potentially be put in the water to join the parade.
Facebook Event: Please Like / Share / Repost
Hope everyone had a Happy Halloween!
One of the best events of summer, hosted by the community that founded LSYC is on again this year! Thank you to Jen and Scott Baisch! Our website background photo is a panorama from their 2013 concert.
Passing on their Invite to LSYC:
Join the 4th of July Raft up in Abernathy Cove from 4-8 PM. Jen and Scott Baisch will have a band playing from the top of their dock, you’re all invited to anchor off and raft-up. This is a water only event, no going ashore. Let’s hope this amazing weather holds!! Remember to bring bumpers, anchors, dock lines to raft up and BE SAFE!
Abernathy cove is a bit south of the point (bend) on the east side of the lake. You should see the boats and hear the music once you are in the area.
I see there is also another 4th of July Live Band boat in concert on the other side of the lake just south of the Sunken Forest from 5 – 9 PM passing on that info:
Hi neighbors, I’m Danna and I live on SE 42nd St. 4th of July is just around the corner and Craig and I want to let you know that we are having a DJ and live Band beginning at 5:00 pm on the 4th of July. Bring a beverage and a bite and pull your boats up to a buoy and tie up for a Flotilla! Music will go till about 9:00 or so. Just in time to motor on down to see the fireworks from the barge. “Free Rain” will be our band, and “KNZR” the Hot new DJ will show his many musical talents. This is a free concert, unless of course you want to tip the talent.☺️ Keep in mind that there is apparently a limit of 5 boats hooked together. If you have an anchor, that is also an option. In short, pass the word and we will see you on the 4th!
I’ll plan to start in Abernathy cove, our traditional 4th of July party harbor, then as that begins to wind down check out the new event as that goes later (till 9 PM and is closer to the fireworks). Have to figure out when we get dinner in there. Wow 2 bands same time, then fireworks, it’s like a free music festival.
I encouraged Dustin to drop by with the new Lakeside Fueling fuel barge. You can learn about the service, top off your tanks, and rock-out all at the same time.
LAKE SAMMAMISH YACHT CLUB 