Northwest Dive Club

well, maybe there will only be 20 of us, but i know that Yvonne et al will appreciate any support they get...

Dang, I wish I could be there to support. I'm there with you guys in spirit though!

Tangfish wrote:Dang, I wish I could be there to support. I'm there with you guys in spirit though!

Likewise. I'll be thinking about y'all tomorrow.

There weren't very many people . . . I think the cold, wet morning discouraged some. But those of us who were there posed with the banners and the sign-clad dogs, and various folks took pictures, and it's up on the West Seattle blog site (where, to my dismay, the first half dozen or so responses were all from people who want to see the restaurant gone).

We can just keep hoping.

The more I think about it, the worse of an idea the new place sounds like...

I suspect that the new place will eventually be all over parking enforcement in the lot...

I also suspect its not going to work out as well as they think, very different business model from what they're used to...

lamont wrote:The more I think about it, the worse of an idea the new place sounds like...

I suspect that the new place will eventually be all over parking enforcement in the lot...

I also suspect its not going to work out as well as they think, very different business model from what they're used to...

Totally agree, the current diver friendly parking lot will turn into a west Seattle parking ticket hot spot.. :angry:

If you look at the taco truck lines on the marination web site, I can just imagine the parking nightmare and subsequent altercations between the new owners trying to enforce parking rules to benefit for their customer base and divers who are used to parking there beyond the 2hr time constraint..


:queenliz:

Yea, I pretty much figured that would be the first thing to go...

In addition to simply the parking, i foresee the dining area becoming a point of contention as well. multiple dive classes of 8-10 folks sitting down for a few hours as they warm up and review their day and sign logs, buying maybe a few cups of chowder and some fries? the parking will only the beginning of it. I envision a new sitting area that discourages loitering behavior

If you've spent any time talking to the current owners you find that not just in the winter, but year round, his business actually IS very dependent on the diving and fishing community. The passenger ferry folks are really just passing through. THAT is why they cater to us.. we are there, year round... we have seen them through the coldest of winters. They don't open at 6am to sell to the early morning ferry traffic because those folks don't buy very much. THAT is why you don't see folks being ticketed in the parking lot, because ACF doesn't call it in... they manage the parking lot.

Conceptually the idea that food truck model might work better there than a sit down and relax place is understandable but what the folks at ACF found out was that the passenger ferry traffic isn't there to eat, even fast fast food, grab and go stuff... they tried it. the ferry traffic for the most part, (of course with exception) is there to get somewhere else...

Seacrest is not like the main 'beach' on alki. its not really a 'destination' in itself. basically no one other than divers goes there to 'hang out' all day... If anything ACF has made it far more of a destination than it ever was before. Without the divers, it's essentially a ferry terminal, and a stop on a 'view of seattle' walk in the summer, a place to rent kayaks to go elsewhere, but for sure not a volleyball beach, packed to the gills with humanity like the main drag around the corner.

but... what do i know... maybe they will follow on with the tradition and realize now with our petition and rally, how important the divers are to the local community (and maybe we can talk them into warm shower year round)

ljjames wrote:
but... what do i know... maybe they will follow on with the tradition and realize now with our petition and rally, how important the divers are to the local community (and maybe we can talk them into warm shower year round)

I suspect the city made its determination (minus the BS "evaluation" dog and pony show) on the perception a new business will make the city more money than the known and current one.

I believe your evaluation is spot on. Ferry traffic is transitory. If divers aren't there, who will be?

Jeff Pack wrote:If divers aren't there, who will be?

Seagulls.

1. Ferry riders and seagulls
2. ???
3. Profit!

I can haz leaze?

*sigh*...

I've been there often were there are a couple of divers, a couple people in the restaurant/bar and a FULL parking lot around 7 pm. I think there are more fishermen than we think. But, you don't really ever see the fishing crowd in the restaurant either. Summer is a different story, it is at least a little bit of a destination. But the other 10 months? We'll find out. I'm sure they will be busy at first but we'll see how long it lasts.

loads of fishermen, especially during squid and salmon season. (albeit different groups) a constant year round contingent for perch, rockfish and the occasional octopus... but in all honesty, i suspect most fishermen are often worse than divers about buying anything more than hot chocolate I've never checked to see if the lure/bait sales are around the corner in the adventure center.

My guess is that, at worst, nothing changes for the divers.

If these ladies were savvy enough to build a successful business in today's economic climate, they are smart enough to know which side of the bread the butter goes on ... in which case, they're not gonna want to alienate a significant percentage of their potential client base.

I think it more likely ... particularly seeing the reaction from the diving community ... they'll make an effort to win us over. Complaining about parking won't get that job done.

As much as I'd love to see AFC sticking around, I don't think changing restaurants will have much of an impact on the diving situation ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

any way it falls out, i think it'll be educational, in a microeconomics/politics sorta way, to watch what happens...

lamont wrote:1. Ferry riders and seagulls
2. ???
3. Profit!

I can haz leaze?

*sigh*...

Underpants Gnomes!

lamont wrote:any way it falls out, i think it'll be educational, in a microeconomics/politics sorta way, to watch what happens...

its already been educational and cool in the sense that a fair number of folks got a bit riled up about something local and perhaps learned something in the process

and again, we were able to show Yvonne et al that no matter what the outcome, we were there for them...

How could we not? She was always there for us.

I hope the city reverses its decision, although realistically the odds are against it happening.

And if they don't, I hope AFC finds a storefront nearby that we can help kick-start into a successful business ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

I don't regret supporting AFC for a second. However, I DO regret signing that petition. I am now on Move-On.org's mailin list and I'm being inundated with "progressive" causes!

You should be able to opt out pretty easily, i did so already

ljjames wrote:You should be able to opt out pretty easily, i did so already

Yeah, I did. I hadn't checked my e-mail in a few days and discovered quite a few from them when I checked in this morning. They actually sent me an e-mail this morning asking me to run for office!

It still amazes me how they assume that if you sign a petition for a specific reason it somehow means that you are on "their" side.

- John

as soon as i saw who was behind the petition website, i was sorta waiting for this topic to come up...

i actually *am* on their side, but i don't need their spam in my inbox...

i figured it was worth it for AFC, though, to put up with having to opt-out of their mailing list yet again...

ljjames wrote:You should be able to opt out pretty easily, i did so already

That was rather annoying. Even after I opted out, they sent me another e-mail asking me not to. They must be kind of desperate to hang into people.

I clicked on the link, went to your website and jumped through the hoops to get unsubscribed. Yes, that really means I don't want any more mail from you. :angry:

I was also waiting for this topic to come up... It only took a couple of minutes to unsubscribe, but I was a little upset to get on their list too.

my apologies for the inconvenience... I promise you that the petition meant so much to the folks at ACF...