Christmas Intruder?

Speaking of paddlers, the guy pictured was seen cruising down the shoreline of our fine beach on Christmas morning if you can believe it!  Not only that, but he was laughing and saying Merry Christmas, Mele Kalikimaka or Noel or something along those lines.  Can you imagine that?

Leslie Joins the ranks of Stand Up Paddlers!

Leslie Stand Up Paddling

In what may have been a moment of temporary insanity, our neighbor Leslie  stepped onto a Stand up Paddle board and cruised the beach recently from the other side; the water side.  She didn't even get wet!  Leslie attributes her success to her water aerobics class where she incorporates noodle balancing as a part of the curriculum.

Second Annual Paddling for Pints a Success!And heres proof!

Paddlers stop for a picture. They were not tired.

Cristina, what?  I don't know what she was doing...

Cristina and Peter

This is the pints part!

Extra! Extra!  We made the paper again!

Once Again the Gateway documented our swim through photos and a short article.  This year photos from both shores were published.  Additionally, a Cheers! was submitted by an anonymous writer.

14 of the 2011 swimmers

Swimmers Escape to Point Richmond Beach for the 5th Time!

Athena, youngest swimmer to cross the passage

In summary we had 15 swimmers.  Four swimmers attempted the 2 mile but only Peter Bortel completed the round trip swim in 1:39:11 with a dramatic run down the beach to the finish. The other 3 swimmers did a reverse 1 mile swim to the Vashon shore.  11 swimmers did the traditional 1 mile from Vashon Island, Mark Howard finished in first place at 32:27, Steve R in second, and Drew Kellerman came in 3rd without fins!  Water was challenging this year with a wind from the south, a lot of boat traffic, and colder than normal water temperature.  Water was measured at 54 degrees all the way across this year.

Complete swim times:
               1 mile
Mark H.                  32:27
Steve R                   38:27
Drew                     40:09  (no fins)
Larry Burr               41:50
Tesa                        45:00
Brett                       45:20
Anthony                  47:19
Daniel                     53:35
Brook                    1:01:33
Scott                      102:25
Steve W.                1:11:11
              2 Mile
Peter                       1:39:11 
Athena                    No time
Jeff                          No time
Mark D                   No time

 

The 2011 kids swimmers

Five brave youngsters attempted the kids swim; around the Rees trampoline over to the Johnson buoy and back around the trampoline.  All five kids went out about 20 yards, stopped treading water for about 30 seconds, then decided to come back in.  If that doesn't say something about the water temperature I don't know what does!

start of the Escape swim 2011

2 mile swimmer approaches Vashon Shore

Paddlers ready themselves to Escape to Pt Richmond Beach

Safety paddler watching his daughter swim

Safety Paddler and his dog

participants and friends relaxing at swim finish

4th Of July 2011 on Pt Richmond Beach:  Lots of kids, fireworks, and Good food!

SMILING DOG CAPTURED ON FILM, er digital card!

 

Now, is it my imagination or is Donna's dog smiling at me?

Did anybody see this spontaneous kayaking event happen last weekend?  Who Knew?

Stick walker photo wanted,

will go right HERE!

I will give a reward for anyone who can send me a photo of the "stick walker" that showed up in our neighborhood last month! In fact, please send photos of anything interesting that you see going on in our neighborhood. 

I want your photos!

FINALLY, PROOF THAT WE PADDLED FOR PINTS!

Funny thing happened today.  Out of the blue I was given some photos from our Paddling for Pints adventure last summer.  Also included in the package was a video of the event.  I didn't even remember that it was captured on video! As a result, here are a few photos of our spontaneous pedal/paddle to Tides Tavern in august of 2010.

So are you ready to paddle with us this summer?  While the date has not been set we do intend to paddle again this August. Check back on this blog for announcement of the event date.

More Orca!

Orca visited our shore again today! This time it appeared to be transients numbering 4-5. The whales made a nice showing down by the number 6 marker as seen in the photo above.

Oh, and a pod of Orca came by last week...
It was on February 2nd at about 3:20pm.  The whales were headed north, and not near us but closer to Vashon Island.  There were about 2 dozen of them porpoising along at a rather slow pace.  Behind was, I think, a research vessel keeping back a bit as to not crowd the Cetacea Delphinidae.  Sorry, no pictures this time.

 

As Seen in the Gateway...

Yes, we made the Peninsula Gateway again! We are pictured on the inside of the cover this year next to the cheers and jeers.  

Polar Bear Swim 2011 a Splashing Success!

With a crowd of about 50 in attendance about 18 individuals entered the water during this years swim. Frigid temperatures did not keep our polar bears out of the water! The water temperature was 44 degrees, the air was in the 30's On the other hand the sun was shining, no wind, and we didn't have to chip our way through ice to get to the water!

Julia Rees and Brett Walter jump from pililngs

While the swim was going on, before and after too, those witnessing the swim feasted on what may be known as "a taste of Point Richmond beach."  There was traditional chili, turkey soup, corn chowder, hot buttered rum, hot cider, and a dessert spread that made you want to swim just so you could have more!  And I'm just scratching the surface of what there was available to eat!

Roxy with Grandson Benjamin

Dave and Tesa Johnson enjoy warm sun

Christy, Dana, Heather and daugther

Jeff Focht realizes that he
just swam in 44 degree water!

Dana with new paddle board

Diana holding book "swimming to Antarctica"