Boats Have The Right To Anchor In The Lake

Hey Johnston: I have a waterfront home on Yarrow Bay and notice numerous sailboats are putting in mooring buoys and tying up on a permanent basis. Can these boats drop anchor anywhere on Lake Washington? Also, none of these boats has anchor lights, and it gets to be a navigational hazard to weave through boats and mooring lines to get to my dock.

Answer: Lake Washington is a federal waterway, and boats have the right to anchor in it. Roger Heath of the King County Police marine patrol said there are boats anchored for months all over the lake, and there isn't much shoreline property owners like yourself can do about it.

Heath said there are some shoreline owners who have property rights up to 300 feet off the shoreline. But these rights have been passed down from the turn of the century, and we think you would know if you had them.

The Yarrow Bay shoreline is policed by the Clyde Hill Police Department, and if you think someone is trespassing by tying up to your dock, give them a call at 425-454-7187.

The city of Yarrow Point also has marker buoys that indicate where the city limits start; boaters aren't supposed to anchor inside that boundary.

Not only is Lake Washington a federal waterway, but so are Lake Sammamish and the Sammamish River. Federal law applies to lakes and rivers, Heath said.

Hey Johnston: I live in Newcastle, and a city newsletter stated that Lake Washington Boulevard would be completed by the end of August. I called to see whether they were on schedule with their bids. The employees were rude to me and wouldn't answer my questions. Could you find out?

Answer: This caller was kind enough to leave the names of the rude employees. Mr. Johnston checked with Assistant City Manager Barbara Korando, and she assured him that it's not city policy to be rude to the residents.

The two employees mentioned by the caller will be given lessons in polite responses to questions posed by people who pay their salaries. Mr. Johnston has been to this class himself.

The contract to fix this road will be on the City Council agenda tonight. Korando said the $650,000 cost will be picked up by the federal government because the slide that closed the roadway happened in February 1996, when there was a lot of flooding in King County. The feds paid for a lot of the damage.

This project should be completed by the end of next month.

Hey Johnston: I know fireworks aren't legal in Bellevue, but they are legal in some Eastside cities. I want to know why no fireworks stand on the Eastside was selling snakes on the Fourth. You know, the little black pellets that turn into ashy "snakes" and then turn into black stains on the driveway when you step on them? I took my 8-year-old to a half-dozen stands, and not one had snakes. The people said they couldn't get any. What happened?

Answer: Someone ate one, got sick (big surprise there) so the company stopped making snakes, according to Pyrodine American of Fife, a fireworks distributor.

How to Just Ask Johnston: This column appears Mondays and Wednesdays in the Eastside edition. Leave your questions on Steve Johnston's voice mail at 206-464-8475. Or write: Just Ask Johnston, c/o The Seattle Times, 10777 Main St., Suite 100, Bellevue, WA 98004. The e-mail address is east@seatimes.com