Some days you just have to be at the right place at the right time. Such are the fortunes of a photographer, pro or amateur.

These two photos were taken within about 50 yards from each other, but about an hour apart. We were standing near the locks that connect Lake Washington to Puget Sound on the north side of Seattle. Of course, this is a relative explanation. For the guys on the tug boat coming off of Puget Sound, its the connection from Puget Sound TO Lake Washington. Some people are so narrow minded. This explanation is for those of you out there in Blogland, who need a precise explanation. You know who you are.

There are two parks on either side of the dam that separates these two bodies of water. On the north side, near the locks is the Army Corps of Engineers park and flower garden. I call it a flower garden because the government spent a lot of money for the signs that say just that. Without the signs, it's just a park with some paths that have about five plots of flower beds; not what comes to mind when you see numerous signs touting "gardens". Since it's their park, their signs, and a relatively cheap way to enjoy an hour or so hoping to witness a boat accident among high priced boats and the snooty people who own them, I'll call them flower gardens.

As stated earlier, the Army Corps of Engineers built the locks and operate them. There are two areas for boats to moor while descending or ascending to their desired navigable destination. The large area on the north is about the size of a couple narrow football fields, while the smaller one takes up the square footage (in liquid terms) that would round out the two-football-field analogy.

One must both cringe and inwardly smile the way one of the four to five attendants treat the operators of the private craft that give the impression of being less than skilled at fine-tuned navigation. From the way he snarls at the boats that take too long to decide whether they will wait for the next lockage to the smirks and condescending advice thrown at those who can't decide whether to tie their ropes on both stem and stern or one or the other. He give the impression that he both dislikes his job AND enjoys the sarcasm enormously. The fumbling and bumbling of some of the pilots is in front of about 50 to 150 onlookers from above.

One such inaptitude was witnessed toward the end of our visit to the locks and the fish ladders located on the south of the dam. We were on our way back to our vehicle when we noticed a singe pilot having difficulty maneuvering his sailboat out toward the Sound after being lowered in the locks. Why he was all alone, one can not know. My guess is that he couldn't wait to get out on his new/used boat despite his wife telling him that she wouldn't put her life in his hands until after he took sailing lessons. Another possibility was that his friends decided that they would no longer put their lives in his hands after traveling with him by water on previous outings. Either way, he was not a master of the seas. He simply took a long time to get out of the chamber. In his defense, a lady next to us who was watching, too, mentioned that it was not as easy as it looked since there were strange currents near the locks and dams. He was making a case for her explanation.


Once he finally got clear of the locks, he drifted off to the south near the fish ladders and the netting installed to steer the salmon toward them. He had the nets cleared, narrowly missing them the first time. But he was not to be denied. Looking closely at the bottom picture you can see that his boat is right on top of the end of the floats that held up the netting. He sat there for quite some time before another boater happened along-side. I can only assume that he eventually got help, but the harbor patrol was probably not in a hurry to get there, since the only danger that he was in was one of dying of embarrassment. Remember, it was a gorgeous day and those 50 to 150 people on the locks were about 1/3 of those visiting the parks at the time.

One other bonus for visiting this area is to peer into the viewing windows located to see the salmon and other fish using the fish ladders, unique in two ways: a rare fish ladder where salt and fresh water meet, and; an uncommon viewing area at a fish ladder. Many of life's best things to do are free. In Seattle, this is a favorite destination, along with viewing the surround area from Queen Anne Hill, and shopping a people watching at the Pike Street Market.