Tag Archives: Puget Sound

Septic work underway at Fay Bainbridge; trailer dump closing

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A long-awaited septic upgrade is underway at Fay Bainbridge Park this week. The $57,000 project will replace the park’s old and fragmented septic systems with a single system less prone to flooding.

Two new drain fields have been dug into the berm above the beach and will serve all the buildings in the park.

The park remains open, though it may be closed to vehicle traffic intermittently during the project.

The park district is shutting down its trailer dump service at the park because the new septic system is not designed to handle chemicals from recreational vehicles. The district recommends RV campers use other Kitsap dump facilities including nearby Eagle Tree RV Park in Poulsbo.

Fay Bainbridge was once in line for a much grander and wastewater treatment plant while it was still a state park. Those plans never materialized. The contract for the new septic system was awarded to Northwest Cascade Inc. last month.

For more information, contact Mike Mejia at (206) 842-3931 or mike@biparks.org. The district is also seeking input from Fay Bainbridge users with a beach ecology survey.

 

 

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Orcas take a cruise past Bainbridge Island

 

Orcas swim south through Puget Sound between Fay Bainbridge Park and Ballard at about 3 p.m. Monday. (Tad Sooter photos). Here’s Chris Dunagan’s story on what the whales were up to.

A large pod of orca whales put on a show off the east side of Bainbridge Island Monday — albeit a show best enjoyed with binoculars. The whales appeared to be cruising midway between the island and the mainland.

The Orca Network relayed reports of the whales off Point No Point late in the morning. They were spotted off Jefferson Head and Fay Bainbridge Park at about 1 p.m. By 4 p.m. the whales were between Elliott Bay and Eagle Harbor, and still swimming south. Facebook users reported seeing the whales from the 4:40 p.m. Seattle ferry.

Though they stayed far from shore, the whales caused a stir along the waterfront. A few families enjoyed whale watching with binoculars from the beach at Fay Bainbridge in the afternoon and a float plane (left) zipped low overhead, making a bee line for the pod. KING5 even followed the whales live with a helicopter for a while.

If nothing else, it was a good excuse to head for the beach on a spectacular October day.

If you snapped some whale photos Monday, please share them with us. You can email Tad at tad.sooter@gmail.com or post them on the Bainbridge Islander page on Facebook.

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Kayaking congressman seeks federal boost for marine trail

The island’s own kayaking congressman wants to raise the profile of Puget Sound’s Cascadia Marine Trail, a 150-mile long network of campsites for human and wind-powered boats.

The Washington Water Trails Association, the group that established and oversees the trail, says the federal designation that Congressman Jay Inslee seeks could have special meaning for Kitsap County. In June, the WWTA had to remove three Kitsap sites from the trail after county officials made it known that no camping – even the bare bones, low-impact kind the water trail users adhere to – is allowed in county parks.

Federal designation could give boost funding, protections and clout necessary to expand the network closer to the WWTA’s goal of over 150 sites.

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