Boating Opening Day – Seattle

Boating Opening Day 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!

$11 Million Mercer Island Mansion For Sale - Burtenshaw

  This mansion was listed this week (April 2013) for $10.9 million by Wendy Lister and Kirsten Paulsen, CBBain: “A Vassos Demetriou Tour de Force. An unforgettable treasure of 178' of pristine waterfront on a coveted double lot with gated entry. A dramatic, yet elegant floor plan awaits you at this Contemporary Masterpiece that will impress the most sophisticated home aficionados. For the first time available on the market, this Custom home offers premium finish work & a symphony of entertaining spaces that embrace the beauty of the Pacific Northwest. All 5 bedrooms are en suite. Yachts are welcome.” Vassos Demetriou is a renowned Kirkland based architect. He was the architect for Charles and Karen Lytle’s new Hunts Point home (p 157 and LW Cruising Hunts Point Southeast – Cozy Cove – Mansions).

  This property is owned by Jerry D. and Angelina Burtenshaw. During the late 1950s and early 1960s Jerry learned the restaurant business from his father opening restaurants under a variety of names throughout the PNW. He later became in charge of Alpine-Burtco, an international catering and concessions company. The company is the concessionaire for Safeco Field (Mariners), the Tacoma Dome and the former Kingdome. Jerry and Angelina created the UW School of Medicine Jerry and Angelina Burtenshaw Scholarship to provide financial assistance to medical students. He received the Dean’s Distinguished Leadership Award from WSU, his alma mater, for leadership and financial contributions to the university. This new mansion was custom built with a top-of-the-line security system and is 9,790 sq ft on 0.9 acres with 178 feet of waterfront.
The mansion is 1/3 mile south of the Boulevard Pl Mansion (previous post).

UW’s Big Dawg

Big Dawg at the front row (far left) dock for game day

Big Dawg and Kittilsby mansion (left) on Mercer Island

UW’s Big Dawg was featured in The New York Times recent article about UW’s Sailgate parties (previous post). The Big Dawg belongs to the Frank Miles family. The article labeled the Big Dawg yacht “a 94-foot, 3-story barge.”

Excerpts from the article include: “Members of the Miles family come to games on the Big Dawg . . . the family patriarch, Frank Miles . . . Frank met his wife, Jeanie, in high school, and after they graduated from U.W. they bought a 23-foot boat and started taking it to games. As the size of their boat increased, so did the size of their party, which began to include employees from their sand and gravel company . . . Others, like the Miles family, dock up front, and pay for permits that cost $215 to $750 each season, depending on boat size.”

The Big Dawg’s home is the dock of Tim and Lisa (Frank and Jeanie’s daughter) Kittilsby on the north end of Mercer Island. The property is between the LW 130 homes on pages 47 and 48. The one acre property includes a 6000 sq ft mansion plus covered and open sports courts. Frank founded Auburn based Miles Sand and Gravel in 1943. Tim and Lisa are now in charge of the company.

UW’s Sailgate Parties

The University of Washington is famous for its “Sailgate Parties. The partiers in Lake Washington’s Union Bay, just west of Husky Stadium, are in full force before, during and after the UW home games. This was an exceptionally good year with great weather and an above average number of afternoon games. Next year will be without these parties as Husky Stadium is being renovated and the Huskies will be playing in CenturyLink Field.

The New York Times ran a recent article featuring these parties: “. . . On fall Saturdays . . . when Washington plays at home, the occupants of Husky Harbor emerge near the stadium’s east end like some sort of tailgate flotilla. They come on charters, luxury yachts and smaller vessels, in sailboats, motorboats and speedboats, even boats coated in purple paint . . . Once docked or anchored, they tailgate with a twist, a practice the locals have alternately called boatgating, sailgating and sterngating. . .”

The NY Times also has some great photos in a 13 picture slidshow.

We were at these parties with our boat, Happy Hours, (previous post). We took friends to the games and enjoyed the parties in the water. The water-slide was a huge hit!