From electric boats to kayak caroling, winter's lively on Lake Union

By Brian J. Cantwell
Northwest Weekend Editor

GREG GILBERT / THE SEATTLE TIMES An electric boat cruises Lake Union with Seattle’s skyline in the background.

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Sip a glass of wine, synchronize your heartbeat with the quiet purr of the boat's motor, snuggle with your sweetheart and admire strings of colored lights glowing on Queen Anne TV towers as they reflect in the mirror-calm surface of Lake Union.

Behind you, houseboats twinkle with holiday color. Ahead, the cold silvery light of dusk glints off office buildings poking high into the downtown sky.

A December view from aboard a small cruise ship? You might say so. At 21 feet, it's a very small ship.

The engine's quiet isn't because it's far from your seat. It's quiet because it's electric. And your shipmates might number more in the range of "Gilligan's Island" than "Love Boat."

An outing on a rented electric boat is a new way to enjoy the quiet drama of Seattle's urban lake in the cold season. In calm weather, the only worry is dodging occasional float planes, which mimic the landing style of ducks with their frothy splashdowns.

Views include the lake's idyllic floating-home community; massive dry docks where ferries and fishing boats are repaired; marinas with million-dollar yachts; boathouses overflowing with sleek racing shells; the classic craft of the Center for Wooden Boats; and old boatyards chock full of maritime history.

Our affair with this downtown lake isn't only a summertime romance. Here's a menu of ways to enjoy Lake Union during the holidays and throughout the coming winter:

The latest buzz

Seattle's newest hot date — or unusual office party — is a pilot-it-yourself rental from The Electric Boat Co., which offers small, canopied boats with plastic wraparound windows to keep passengers out of the wind and weather. The 10-passenger boats, built in California, even have heaters.

	GREG GILBERT / THE SEATTLE TIMES The Electric Boat Co. has canopied, 10-passenger vessels that come complete with heaters for those cold winter cruises.

Power comes from 16 batteries, similar to golf-cart batteries, that power a 48-volt motor to spin the prop. Operation is about as simple as driving a golf cart; renters don't need previous boating experience. With "electrical" names like "All Charged Up" and "Watt's Up Doc," these vessels never foul the air with fumes.

"You just show people how to go forward, backward, right and left, and send them on their way," said Lyssa Thompson, who arranges rentals for the family-run firm based at Yale Street Landing on South Lake Union.

Don't plan to water ski. Top cruising speed is 7 knots, which coincidentally is the speed limit for the lake.

Special for the holidays are "Cocoa Cruises," two hours in a decorated boat, with catered treats from Boat Street Kitchen and holiday music provided ($30 per person, 8 person minimum). You choose from menus such as ginger cake with orange glaze and hot mulled cider, then tootle up the lake to get a close-up look at the decorated houseboats.

If you want to bring your own picnic for that adventurous December date just for two, the boats rent for $75 per hour with a two-hour minimum. And for soaky Seattle, the Thompson family offers a special worth remembering: On rainy days, regular rentals are half-price. More information: www.theelectricboatco.com or 206-223-7476. Office is at 1001 Fairview Ave. N.

Christmas ships

	GREG GILBERT / THE SEATTLE TIMES Claire Tangvald adjusts Christmas lights on the houseboat where she lives.

For holiday viewing from shoreline or restaurant, there's the commercial Christmas ship parade led by Argosy Cruises (and sponsored by The Seattle Times, among others). The Christmas Ship Festival started its season last night with a loop through Lake Union.

For the Lake Union habitué, the Argosy parade doesn't return for a formal loop of the lake until Dec. 23 (after nightly appearances throughout the Puget Sound area). But that return is the festival finale, including the annual Best Decorated Boat Contest, and a bonfire for shoreside observers at Gas Works Park. (For a full schedule, see the Web site: www.argosycruises.com/themecruises/xmas.cfm.)

If you're like a Christmas Eve kid who just can't wait, another fleet of lighted boats — classic trawlers decorated like Santa's sleigh, sloops lit up like candy canes, that sort of thing — is putt-putting your way sooner: Dec. 10 and 11, the Queen City Yacht Club's annual Chet Gibson Memorial Christmas Cruise starts from Gas Works Park at 6 p.m. and circulates counterclockwise around Lake Union before heading off to other waters.

The parade is named for the spirited captain who started the tradition to brighten up the war year of 1941.

There are no entry requirements. If you have a boat and want to plaster it with lights, you're welcome to join in. Landlubbers may watch from shore.

More information: www.queencity.org/lighted_boat_parade.htm or 206-709-2000.

Merry ferry

	GREG GILBERT / THE SEATTLE TIMES The Fremont Avenue ferry departs from its dock under the Aurora Bridge. The 50-foot, steel-hulled passenger ferry offers Sunday "Ice Cream Cruises" and a special cruise during the Dec. 23 finale of the Christmas Ship Festival.

Through winter, you can tour Lake Union from the deck of the MV Fremont Avenue, a vintage 50-foot, steel-hulled passenger ferry that offers Sunday "Ice Cream Cruises" ($5-$8) departing hourly 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. from a Fremont dock immediately below the north end of the Aurora Bridge.

The 45-minute cruise, with heated indoor seating or open deck seats (blankets supplied), features a look at the houseboats, including the one where Tom Hanks lived in the "Sleepless in Seattle" movie, and the lakeshore's many nooks and crannies. Ice cream, hot drinks and other snacks are available from the galley.

The little ship, decorated for the holidays, also offers a Christmas Cruise ($30-$40 with a light dinner, soft drinks and cocoa) along with the Dec. 23 finale of the Christmas Ship Festival.

In winter, call to confirm Sunday sailings. More information: www.seattleferryservice.com or 206-713-8446.

Kayaking carolers

	DEAN RUTZ / THE SEATTLE TIMES, 1998 Kayakers gather around one of the Argosy Christmas Ships that sail local waters during the holidays. The Christmas Ship Festival started its season last night with a loop through Lake Union. The festival's nightly parades also will end in Lake Union on Dec. 23.

This weekend, kayakers will paddle among Lake Union houseboats and sing Christmas carols in what has become an annual charity benefit.

Northwest Outdoor Center, a commercial paddling center, is leading groups of up to 30 paddlers tomorrow, Saturday and Sunday, from 6 to 8 p.m. nightly. The Friday and Saturday groups are filled, but space remains in the Sunday outing (2100 Westlake Ave. N., www.nwoc.com or 206-281-9694).

Floating-home owners each year invite groups of paddlers to sing to (or with) them during pre-arranged holiday parties.

"Typically, everybody is decorating their places and having a good time, and it's a lot of fun," said Darin Reid of the Outdoor Center.

For other outings, the Outdoor Center and another Lake Union business, Moss Bay Rowing Club (1001 Fairview Ave. N., 206-682-2031 or www.mossbay.net) rent kayaks all winter long. Moss Bay also offers guided outings on the lake, or you can arrange a "takeaway" rental ($55-$75 per day) and organize your own caroling.

Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus

Something about the haunting whistle on the restored Virginia V steamship is reminiscent of the ghost of Christmas Past.

The 1922 ship, one of the original Mosquito Fleet vessels that plied Puget Sound in the early 20th century, offers holiday cruises of Lake Union. Its Happy Hour Holiday Cocktail Cruise is Dec. 10, 6-9 p.m. Tickets for $50 include one beverage and hors d'oeuvres. A lake cruise during the Dec. 23 Christmas Ship Festival finale costs $70, including a buffet dinner catered by Ray's Boathouse.

There's also a Dec. 18 dinner cruise (also $70), which includes Lake Washington. More information: www.virginiav.org or 206-624-9119.

Wooden boats and Capt. Christmas

The Center for Wooden Boats on South Lake Union continues through winter to offer free half-hour public boat rides every Sunday at 2 p.m. — weather permitting — aboard one of the center's classic sailboats or on its 1906 steam launch, Puffin.

The sail outing might be aboard the Colleen Wagner, the center's recently acquired Sharpie, or on Admirable, a restored Bristol Bay gillnetter.

In addition, the center invites the public to a Dec. 11 community social from 2 to 5 p.m. at its shoreside complex at 1010 Valley St. "Capt. Christmas" will arrive aboard the Puffin, which will offer free rides. Cocoa and other refreshments will be served.

You can also learn to sail on weekends year-round through the center's 6-week "Sail Now" program ($300), or rent boats. More info: www.cwb.org or 206-382-2628.

Paddle Seattle

	GREG GILBERT / THE SEATTLE TIMES Lee, standing, and Jean Bjorklund organize trips on a dragon boat every Saturday and Sunday. The first three trips are free. And if you like it enough for a fourth visit, you'll be invited to purchase a membership in the Tacoma Dragon Boat Association.

Kayaks aren't the only paddle craft on Lake Union. For a weekend workout, you have your choice of sleek racing vessels, and the experience won't cost you a dime.

See what it's like to paddle a dragon boat, every Saturday and Sunday from the Kenmore Air terminal, 950 Westlake Ave. The Tacoma Dragon Boat Association is expanding to Seattle, and paddlers practice on Lake Union at 8 a.m. Saturdays and 3 p.m. Sundays throughout the cold months.

Your first three practices are free before you'll be asked to pay a $100 membership fee.

The Sunday practices are on Lake Union, whereas the dragon boat ventures farther afield on Saturday. More info: Lee Bjorklund, 206-523-4518, or see www.tacomadragonboat.org.

Polynesian-style outrigger canoes are also out on the lake every weekend. Two groups, the Seattle Outrigger Canoe Club and Hui Wa'a O Wakinikona outrigger club, practice at 10 a.m. Saturdays, launching from a beach on north Lake Union. It's just west of Dunato Boat Yard, 2309 N. Northlake Way, east of Gas Works Park (look for the tall stand of poplar trees). Volunteers are welcome to join the practice workouts after signing a liability waiver. Dress warmly, in layers. More info: Stan Dahlin, 425-277-0293.

Row till you glow

Winter birds on a wintry lake Even urban waters host water birds. The Audubon Society suggests you keep an eye out for these feathered inhabitants of Lake Union in winter: Ivory-billed coots, great blue herons, ruddy ducks, gadwalls, green-winged teal, hooded and common mergansers, common golden-eyes, buffleheads, wigeons, lesser and greater scaups, multiple gull species, kingfishers and mallards. In the vegetation around the lake, look for merlins and red-tail hawks. And a peregrine falcon is regularly seen perched on the Interstate 5 Ship Canal Bridge. Source: Washington Audubon

A Seattle trademark is the morning ritual of sculls gliding across our lakes like graceful water striders.

If you're looking to really warm up on a cold day and you've always hankered to join the ranks of rowers, "it's a great time of year, you have the lake to yourself, with hardly any motorboats," said Karyn Crouthamel, program director at Lake Washington Rowing Club, which, despite its name, is headquartered on Lake Union at 910 N. Northlake Way.

The club offers learn-to-row classes, no membership required (eight sessions, $120). A new round begins in January. For a complete schedule, see www.lakewashingtonrowing.com. More info: 206-547-1583.

George Pocock Memorial Rowing Center at the south end of University Bridge (3320 Fuhrman Ave. E.), also offers beginning classes open to non-members (16 sessions, $170). New classes monthly through winter. For a schedule: www.pocockrowing.org. More information: 206-328-0778.

Brian J. Cantwell: 206-748-5724 or bcantwell@seattletimes.com

Copyright © 2004 The Seattle Times Company

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