Lighthouse Series - Stage 3
Elliott Bay
West Point
West Point Light, Seattle
← 6.0 mi / 9.6 KM →
Alki Point
Alki Light, West Seattle
Swim Notes
This swim is less than marathon distance (10 km). The crossing of Elliott Bay includes a close-up look at the bottom of the Discovery Park Bluffs, a view of the Seattle skyline, and an approach to popular Alki Beach.
The crossing intersects with the entrance to a major port, as well as two ferry routes and other busy cargo corridors. For this reason, additional qualification requirements apply.
Swim Qualification Requirements
Applicants must have completed two other Lighthouse Series swims to qualify for this swim.
From NOAA Coast Pilots
West Point at the north entrance to Elliott Bay, is a low, sandy point which rises abruptly to an elevation of over 300 feet 0.5 mile from its tip. The edge of the shoal extending west-southwest from the point is marked by a lighted buoy. West Point Light (47°39'43"N., 122°26'09"W.), 27 feet above the water, is shown from a 30-foot white octagonal tower attached to a building on the end of the point. Prominent in the area are the sump tanks of a sewage treatment plant about 0.1 mile east of the light, a VTS antenna tower between the plant and the light, and a large white dome about 1 mile east-southeast of the light.
Elliott Bay indents the east shore of Puget Sound just north of Duwamish Head. The entrance is between West Point on the north and Alki Point 5 miles south. The bay proper, lying east of a line between Magnolia Bluff and Duwamish Head, has a width of about 2 miles and extends southeast for nearly the same distance. The bay is deep throughout most of its area.
Alki Point at the south entrance to Elliott Bay, is low with a small prominent wooded knoll about 80 feet high immediately back of it. East of the knoll, lowland extends for nearly 0.4 mile before rising to the high land extending south from Duwamish Head. Alki Point Light (47°34'35"N., 122°25'14"W.), 39 feet above the water, is shown from a 45-foot white octagonal tower attached to a building on the end of the point.