Heads Up Frontline PBS special on Puget Sound

[McSkagit Tim Jones]

I just got my website up and would like some feedback. On it, I talk about Puget Sound, past, present and future. Puget Sound is in reality very polluted and there is probably no correcting it. But we can hope.

This thread is a heads up to the upcoming PBS Frontline special on Puget Sound. Several years in the making, this two hour documentary will probably change your perception of Puget Sound forever. Airs Tuesday the 21st at 9:00. Don't miss it!

My website: Close Encounters Ecotours. If you click the cashed link you will get the placeholder. Click the general link to see the website.

Would like to hear from you and don't miss the special........

"The problem is there is no marine equivalent of the Dow Jones crashing. Oil slicks get the public’s attention, but how often do you see those? And yet, one expert estimates that storm water carries the equivalent of an Exxon Valdez-type spill into the waters surrounding Seattle every two years." Hedrick Smith, producer Poisened Waters


McSkagit

...retro EcoTours

Tim- Your website/business model gave me goosebumps, great intentions, cool backstory and fantastic follow through. Your hybrid powerplant Skagit Saratogan restoration has done everyone that appreciates clean water, beautiful scenery and history, very proud.

Well done,

Greg

[Steve_Kiesel]

Great website Tim. I like all the history you've included. I always try to get my granddaughter out on the water when she comes up in the summer. We used to go out of Port Townsend on the research vessel's, they no longer do that. I'll book an outing when I know for sure when she is coming up.

[Helmar]

Tim Jones Website

Great Website Tim

http://www.closeencountersecotours.com

We will make sure to get a link to you as soon as Carol does the updates.

Well worth the waiting...Very nice looking, easy to navigate and all.

Very fun! Love the 50's graphics, the theme cruises, the history and the B&W pics. Best wishes on this exciting new venture!

[Marty Loken (Norseboater)]

Close Encounters

Tim -

I really enjoyed reading all of the copy, especially the backgrounder on how you first saw a Saratogan at the Boat Show, then later stumbled across your boat in Anacortes, dragged it home and started what turned out to be a 20-year project. It's obviously inspiring to see anyone take on such a job, stick with it through a lot of adversity and life changes, and make it to the finish line.

The only suggestion I'd make about the website, as you get closer to launch of the tour business, is to integrate more detailed information on the specific tour options, so that website browsers can more quickly see a simple menu of tours, dates, costs, hours of departure and return, etc....and be able to complete a reservation for particular dates online. (I know you've just launched the site, and it's absolutely great in terms of background history, lore on Puget Sound, the Saratogan history, etc., but most actual customers will probably just want to know When, Where, How Much and What Their Experience on the Boat Will Be Like. They'll obviously appreciate the ecotour aspects--hybrid vintage boat, etc--but it's all about them, their vacation schedules, what it'll cost, etc., more than being about your or your boat (from their point of view).

Seeing the website makes me even more revved-up about the June 6 weekend launch party. We'll be there for sure, aboard our boat and ready to watch you demonstrate the karaoke mentioned on your website!

- Marty

[McSkagit Tim Jones]

Ahoy Marty, Thanks for the feedback.

Yes, the site needs some tuning and more specifics abouts the cruises. Having not actually been there and done that, I'm open to comments and ideas. There are only so many hours and realistically two tips per day is about it. Experience will sort of dictate when and where to be. I'm guessing most folks will want to see the whales and I'm only willing to run so far and not into Canadian waters. To run up to Point Roberts or over to Victoria is probably not going to happen.

A lot of question marks! Appreciate the response and any comments or suggested changes anyone else has to the site would be appreciated.

Tim
P.S.
I've spent the last four days cleaning and unloading the Glasply in anticipation of selling the old girl. Can't believe how much stuff I had on that boat!

[Tim_Mattson]

P/S mess

Tim + all,
I watched that show and have seen the stuff they showed my entire life as I grew up in West Seattle and lived some time on Harbor Island.My wife lived and grew up in South Park so the photos were of her backyard.There are maybe 20 Superfund Sites within the lower portion of the Duwamish,all on hold as of late.
Seeing the Sound lose it`s Kelp beds the past 20 years has basically been caused by our lawncare,shoreline building,stormwater drainage ,dumping,manufacturing and many many other causes.
The lack of kelp beds means there is no shade ,no shelter and no Nursery for the younger fishes and critters.Once you lose the nursery ,you lose the whole replacement process.
Raising live Salmon (for release in non-salmon rearing streams for a school program),I`ve seen how a fish doesn`t care what it is eating,it eats anything that floats.
Elliott Bay once had a huge kelp bed off of Magnolia,as the Marina went in,it was supposed to be replaced.2 years later ,the kelp is suddenly gone.......still wondering if it was removed or just died from waves or propwash or?
Now gone ,the rockfish pop has plummeted to almost nill.
The shade of the kelp protected the smaller fishes from the UV,most critters stay below 100` because of it,smaller fish don`t have an option.
May be why Coho or Silver Salmon are now caught at 100`-160` deep,something I was never taught while growing up.
One good thing,the flounders have exploded and the Lingcod are now infesting the now steep shores of the Bay,basically a Salmon Kill-zone as the Lings can gulp down an entire school of salmon smolts in one mouthful.I`ve cleaned them with stomaches packed.
Halibut in Ak has risen in numbers but the size is now reducing as the food chain declines.
1989 ,TBS filmed a documentary in Seattle that was called "Danger at the Beach". They took a shot of a Coho I caught in the bay while filming the skyline as they set-up the shows premise.....the decline of our waters.
20 years ago we were told,in the 70`s we were told, and yet we still seem to not get it.
The rivers and streams are like Veins in our body,taint them and we don`t last long.The fish that travel up streams,sometimes carry our pollution up to areas where none had been before......Once in the food chain ,it trickels to us from all directions.
Read the Wa State Fish Regs and notice it now says to NOT eat fish over 12`` thru-out the state due to Mercury,PCBs and other contaminates ,(or at least to limit to one per month.....whew!).
Even our medicines are reaching places we never intended.Birth control taken by women is being found in lower depths of Puget Sound,Caffeine has been found at 600` down!
The Killer Whales plight is also an indicator of what is to come our way in the future.
Trouble is ,we share this Body of water with the entire planet.We need to learn to share it with the critters instead of our neighbors.
My kids are getting taught about all of this and are active in sharing it with their classmates.I`m glad others are sharing too.Good work!
TM the FishHugger

[McSkagit Tim Jones]

Well said Tim! You've summed it all up in a few paragraphs.

Just in the 30 years I've lived in the San Juans have seen tremendous changes in the fishery. Seems our attention is constantly pulled away from important stuff to BS. That's the gov and the media.

Reading the sport fishing guide/regs, one gets the feeling that you need to take your attorney along to make sure you interpret the regs correctly.

Just got a flyer from Department of fish and Wildlife in the mail. "Take Me Fishing" takemefishing.org Guess fishing license sales are down like everything else and they have to advertise to sell fishing licenses.

Rebroadcasts. In case you missed 'Poisoned Waters' is rebroadcast April 25 at 0200 (Friday night /Saturday morning at 2am)

Also Jean Michel Cousteau's Ocean Adventures airs again April 26 at 0200 (saturday night/sunday morning at 2am. Caught the last 20 minutes of this last night. Talks about salmon farming destroying the wild salmon runs and the plight of the Orcas.

Thanks for responding Tim.... Look forward to talking to you in person...
McSkagit Tim Jones