Registration is open for spring season rowing with Green Lake Crew.

The season runs Jan. 30-May 21, 2012. There are courses for experienced boys and girls, novice boys and girls, and beginning/intermediate/competitive adults.

Class registration is through the Seattle Parks Department’s SPARC system.

The Green Lake Crew operates out of the Green Lake Small Craft Center (5900 W Green Lake Way N) and hosts the Green Lake Spring Regatta, the Summer Rowing Regatta, and the Frostbite Regatta every year.

Thanks for the tip, Jill!

©Amy Duncan for My Green Lake | Seattle's Green Lake Blog, 2011.

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Post tags: boating, parks and rec

Green Lake Small Craft Center

The Seattle Board of Park Commissioners, a seven-member citizen board, will hold its next public meeting on Thursday, September 8, 2011 at 7 p.m. at the Activity Resource Center at the Woodland Park Zoo (5500 Phinney Ave N).

The meeting agenda includes an update on Woodland Park Zoo activities from  Zoo Executive Director Deborah Jensen. The Woodland Park Zoo Society operates the zoo under a management agreement with the City of Seattle.

There will also a briefing on Seattle Parks emergency preparedness. Parks staff will brief the Board on how Parks and Recreation is prepared to deal with natural or man-made disasters, and how Parks staff fit into the City’s overall emergency preparedness program.

A briefing on “City Council direction on Parks small craft centers” is also on the agenda. Parks staff will “brief the Board on progress responding to a City Council statement of legislative intent directing Parks to examine the operations of the small craft centers, Green Lake Small Craft Center (5900 W Green Lake Way N) and Mt. Baker Rowing and Sailing Center, with an eye to making them financially independent.”

The Park Board meets the second and fourth Thursday of each month to advise the Parks and Recreation Superintendent, the Mayor, and the City Council on parks and recreation matters.

For more information, please call Sandy Brooks at 206-684-5066 or email her at sandy.brooks [at] seattle.gov.

©Amy Duncan for My Green Lake | Seattle's Green Lake Blog, 2011.

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Post tags: boating, emergency preparedness, parks and rec, zoo

Don Goldberg tweeted at 11:57 a.m. that a boat had capsized in Green Lake near N 62nd St. “EMT is here with life preserver,” he then tweeted a few minutes later. Don also linked to two photos he took at the scene:

Photo courtesy Don Goldberg

Photo courtesy Don Goldberg

At 12:15 p.m., KIRO 7 reported via twitter: ”Boat overturned with 2 people onboard. Another boat came to the rescue. SFD says they think everyone’s OK.”

By 12:20, when I arrived at the lake, I could no longer see any emergency response vehicles at the scene.

©Amy Duncan for My Green Lake | Seattle's Green Lake Blog, 2011.

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Post tags: boating

This photo of boys sailing their model boats in the Green Lake wading pool was taken during the summer of 1934:

David Carlos shared the following photo on the MyGreenLake Facebook page today (Sunday, August 28, 2011):

Photo credit: David Carlos

“A group of radio-control sailboaters meets the last Sunday of each month around 10 am, at the northeast part of the lake,” David reports.

©Amy Duncan for My Green Lake | Seattle's Green Lake Blog, 2011.

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Post tags: 1930s, boating

A small sailboat capsized just before 12:30 p.m. this afternoon (Saturday, August 20, 2011) on Green Lake.

The sailboat was carrying two young girls and their father, according to Officer C.E. Allers of the Seattle Police Department Harbor Patrol.

A bystander says that the boat was not far from shore when its mast broke and it tipped. All of the occupants were wearing life jackets.

Following the tip of the boat, a witness on the shore immediately called 9-1-1 and 13 emergency response units were dispatched to the Green Lake Small Craft Center, at the southwest corner of Green Lake Park (5900 West Green Lake Way N).

There were no injuries, according to Officer Allers.

©Amy Duncan for My Green Lake | Seattle's Green Lake Blog, 2011.

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Post tags: boating, kids

Earlier this afternoon (Tuesday, June 21, 2011), Seattle’s Mayor Mike McGinn posted about the staff of the Green Lake Crew program on his blog.

Mayor McGinn says that he recently received a letter from a parent who has a son in the crew program. “She wanted to let me know about the good work our staff had done to help her son fulfill his dreams,” McGinn writes. “It’s a great letter, and I appreciated her comments. City employees work hard to deliver public services, and I thought that recognition should be shared.”

Here is an excerpt from the letter, which can be viewed in full here:

I wanted to write to give kudos to the staff that work at the Green Lake Crew program. My son just completed his novice year. My son is a freshman at Roosevelt, and is also a cancer survivor who has struggled with physical and developmental challenges caused by this for most of his life.

When he told me last spring that he wanted to row crew in the fall, I said, “sure,” thinking he’d give it up quickly. He nagged me as school approached and with some concern I signed him up for the program, hoping that the staff would be able to find some place for him. He is a big kid, very strong, but not coordinated due to a stroke he suffered when he was sick. He also has vision and hearing problems. For these reasons, he’s always avoided any kind of a team sport, although he is active and loves the water and the outdoors.

Green Lake – in particularly Jason Frisk, Mpetela (his assistant), and Lucas Ridinger, the Novice Coach – did a wonderful job involving my son and giving him great opportunities to be a part of the team. He rowed in several regattas this season and plans to join again in the fall (he’s traveling a lot this summer or he’d be on the summer crew).

The Green Lake Crew operates out of the Green Lake Small Craft Center (5900 W Green Lake Way N) and hosts the Green Lake Spring Regatta, the Summer Rowing Regatta, and the Frostbite Regatta every year.

©Amy Duncan for My Green Lake | Seattle's Green Lake Blog, 2011.

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Post tags: boating, local politics, parks and rec

The camp will use boats provided by the Green Lake Small Craft Center, and Seattle Parks and Recreation will provide life jackets.

The Green Lake Small Craft Center is located at the southwest corner of Green Lake (5900 West Green Lake Way N), right next to the Aqua Theater.

Sailors will learn the basics of sailing, rigging, safety, and boat handling. Participants must be at least 10 years old, and weigh at least 80 pounds. Both new and experienced sailors can register.

Camps run weekly Monday through Friday from 12 – 4 p.m. until Friday, August 12, 2011 and cost $175 for 20 hours of instruction.

For more information or to register your child contact the Green Lake Small Craft Center at (206) 684-4074. Only a few spot are left, so register soon.

©Amy Duncan for My Green Lake | Seattle's Green Lake Blog, 2011.

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Post tags: boating, kids, parks and rec, teens

Athletes from the Puget Sound region, Western Canada and Hawaii will compete in Olympic-style flat water canoeing and kayaking at the 32nd Annual Ted Houk Memorial Regatta.

Everyone is welcome to watch the event, but racing is limited to paddling clubs and their members. Races start at 8 a.m. on Saturday.

“National and International level paddlers, in some cases Olympic hopefuls,” will compete, according to former SCKC head coach and current club President Dave Fort.

The Ted Houk Memorial Regatta will be the first major event of the season for four SCKC members who were named to the US Junior Sprint Team earlier this month. They will go on to train at the Olympic facility in Lake Placid, NY this summer and will then compete in Europe.

The regatta is named after Dr. Theodore “Ted” Houk who, according to club historian Dr. Eric Hughes, founded what became SCKC in 1969.

Dr. Theodore “Ted” Houk

Hughes says Dr. Houk had a dream to get area youth involved in the “little league of water sports” and to develop healthy young minds and bodies through competitive paddling. His ultimate goal was to place paddlers on the Olympic team.

The club is now home to members of all ages and skill levels, including former Olympic athletes and hopefuls.

©Amy Duncan for My Green Lake | Seattle's Green Lake Blog, 2011.

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Post tags: boating

June 2010 life jacket sale at Evans Pool (file photo)

Seattle Parks and Recreation will sell low-cost life jackets and helmets one Saturday a month from May through September at Green Lake’s Evans Pool (7201 E Green Lake Dr N).

Life jacket and helmet sales will be held from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. on the following Saturdays:

• May 21, 2011
• June 18, 2011
• July 16, 2011
• August 20, 2011
• September 17, 2011

“Drowning is the second leading cause of unintentional injury and death among children ages 1 – 14,” reads a Seattle Parks news release. “Wearing a life jacket saves lives. Washington State law requires children ages 12 and under to wear a Coast Guard approved life jacket or life vest on vessels fewer than 19 feet long. In addition, there must be a life jacket on board for each person older than 12 years.”

The life jackets are comfortable, high-quality vests in fashion colors, according to Seattle Parks.

Life jackets in sizes infant to youth large will cost $20 and sizes for teens to adult size XXL will be $30. All sales will be final, and there will be no refunds or returns.

Fitters will be on site to help purchasers choose the correct size. The person for whom the jacket is being purchased must be present for proper fitting. Purchasers under age 18 must be accompanied by a parent or guardian.

Helmets will also be available, for a cost of only $10.

This program is in partnership with Seattle Children’s Hospital, Fisheries Supply, the Coast Guard Auxiliary, and the Cascade Bicycle Club Education Foundation.

For more information about ife jackets, please contact Diane Jones at (206) 684-7440 or diane.jones [at] seattle.gov. For more information about helmets, please call (206) 233-7133.

©Amy Duncan for My Green Lake | Seattle's Green Lake Blog, 2011.

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Post tags: bargain alert, boating, cycling, kids, safety, teens

Two young men tipped a sailboat on Green Lake this afternoon (Friday, May 13, 2011). The incident brought a large emergency response and at least two TV news helicopters to south Green Lake and Tangletown.

Emergency responders were first called to 5700 West Green Lake Way N at 2:26 p.m., and two more response calls were issued at 2:28 p.m. and 2:36 p.m.

KIRO 7 tweeted that the men were picked up by a police boat on the lake. By 2:35 p.m., when I arrived at the scene, both men were out of the water. Wrapped in blankets, they were shivering, cold, and barefoot.

Both men were standing without aid and speaking clearly.

Update, Saturday, May 14 2011:

The Seattle Police Department has released the following statement about the incident, which involved a sailboat, not a row boat as I previously reported.

On May 13th, at approximately 2:15 PM, a witness called 911 to report an overturned 12 foot wooden sailboat was approximately 100 yards off the southeast shore of Greenlake.  The witness reported that it appeared one person was struggling in the water.  North Precinct officers and Harbor Patrol officers responded to the location.  When officers arrived, the boat had been righted, and one person was onboard, and one person was still in the water. Harbor officers launched their own boat from the boat house and pulled the victim from the water.  They then were able to push the disabled sailboat back to shore.  Seattle Fire Department personnel checked both adult male victims for injuries and treated them at the scene for cold water exposure. Other than being cold and wet, there were no injuries.  The men stated that an unexpected gust of wind caught the sail and overturned the boat.

©Amy Duncan for My Green Lake | Seattle's Green Lake Blog, 2011.

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Post tags: boating