Seafair 2022

[Glashawk]

Anybody heading out for Seafair? I’m heading out for the whole weekend, first time on logboom for the entire event on Kaulquappe.

For anyone who doesn’t know, the Blue Angels fly two shows Thursday and you don’t need a log boom pass to tie up to the boom that day. Passes are only required Friday thru Sunday. I’ve done the Thursday trip several times but never stayed through the weekend.

Would love to see more GPs out there!

[ericnw]

Great pic! I'm going to catch some of the flying today from the roof of my shop but fishing area 10 this weekend. Would love to hear about your experience on the log boom.

[jbs]

I was going to go out today to watch the Blue Angels but too many people at the ramp and have to work today. Been out to the Logboom many times. Glad to see Seafair is back and running. Have to get ready for the Rendevous, hope to see you there. Should be good weather.
jbs

[nova7163]

I'm not ready for it this year but I think it's on the list for next year. Maybe I can pick your brain about it at the Rendezvous. I can't find it on the website, how much does a log boom pass cost for a 28'?

[Glashawk]

Nova, 28 stern tie in yellow section is $875 this year. See photo of brochure. Here’s a few pics from Friday. Thursday weather pretty much sucked but the Blue Angels did fly!

[jbs]

I don't think they allow rafting anymore either, boats tying up to boat's on the boom.

[Glashawk]

I don't think they allow rafting anymore either, boats tying up to boat's on the boom.

correct, you have to have credentials(paid).

[jbs]

Watching Blue Angels on Kong TV right now Awesome, must be even better being there.

[Glashawk]

Thought I would provide some thoughts on the event in case anyone wants to participate in the future.

1) There is no better seat in the house for this event than on the logboom.

2) Consider what your stern setup is like. For example, Kaulquappe’s swim grid sticks out and is low to the water. This is what the logboom will bump into unless you protect it. However if you have an outboard or bracketed outboard or even an outdrive, you’ll want to come up with a way to buffer the log from doing damage. I used 3 old car tires I picked up from Les Schwab. The beauty of the tires is they sink and protect you against the partially submerged log. Fender’s don’t work for my swim grid because they just float. See photos.

3) I brought a 4x6 section of indoor/outdoor carpet to wrap over the logboom. Much nicer on your feet and the logs are slip and sometimes covered in barnacles so you can get cut up/scratched coming out of water. The carpet protects you.

4) You’ll want to consider having extra lines and fenders as many people show up without enough and you’ll want to protect your boat from theirs. You’ll need two stout 5/8” or larger stern lines to wrap around the log and come back to your cleats. This is you primariy security to staying put on the boom unless you want to drop an anchor and then back into the log boom. Water depth was around 150ft though so will take a lot of rode. Kaulquappe did fine being stern tied snuggly against the tires/log without a front anchor.

5) It’s key to have many floats of all types for your enjoyment of the water. Bring some small line to tie them off when not in use or you may find them in use by someone else several boats away.

6) I didn’t stay overnight on the boom. You are able to but since I had to take passengers back to Kirkland each evening and pick more up the next morning, I just grabbed moorage at Kirkland City Dock and enjoyed the activities and amenities there each evening. Plus Starbucks was just up from the marina and there were shoreside restrooms and recycling/garbage.

7) There was a service you could call and pay to pump out while on the logboom but I found it was easier to use the free pump out at Carrillon Point each morning.

Final notes would pertain to the crowd. Be prepared for the constant “log boom crawl”…where you will see some mix of drunk, high or just plain stupid trying to find their friends somewhere down the boom. This can also provide comic relief when they slip and fall into the lake.

Additionally, you can generally choose who you want to tie up next to but you can’t really tell someone you don’t want them to tie up next to you. We had a really loud party boat pull in with a very unskilled Captain who clearly didn’t understand how to secure his vessel. They had too many people on board and their holding tanks were full in the first 3 hours of being on the logboom! I didn’t want to know where they all “went” after that but steered clear of that boat the next two days!

The event itself was excellent and aside from Thursday rain and wind, the weather was perfect!

The locks were easy both ways for me but I will say going home was much longer because they used the large lock and stack many boats in to get the most bang for their buck. This just takes time to get everyone secure and then orderly released when locked. The whole thing from entering to exiting was ~40mins.

[ericnw]

Great pics and write up. Thanks for sharing this. Looks like you were pretty squared away to deal with all of the particulars. I think 25 year old me would have loved doing this but not sure I could hang these days haha.

[noluck]

looks like a blast,

[Yukon]

great pics Bryan! I'm liking your low pro 22" tires on Kaulquappe