Lake Union boat (sort of) & checklist for less than $150

I lived here for years before realizing there was an easy way to get out on Lake Union with a boat (well a large raft). In particular, you have to strike exactly the right balance between something being too small (a pool toy, not something you go out on the lake in with your friends) and too cumbersome and expensive, like a raft for river rafting. And besides that, it took multiple rounds of trial and error before I pulled off a trip out on the lake with friends where “everything went right”. So here I’m just listing out the complete packing list, so you can get it right the first time:

• Solstice Voyager 6-person raft (about $150). I’m sure there are other products that work, but everything else I tried was too big or too small, so this is the cheat code. Also, “6-person” is a lie; it can hold 3 people comfortably and 4 uncomfortably.
• It comes with paddles, but it’s much more convenient to get a real kayak paddle.
• You MUST have one lifejacket in the boat per person. (Not legal advice, but my understanding is: If you’re 12 or older, you don’t have to be wearing it as long as you can swim, but it has to be in the boat.) And one or more of the lifejackets should have a noisemaker (i.e. whistle).
• Car-powered pump to inflate the raft.
• Everyone should have swimwear; water tends to get into the raft, and since it collects wherever you’re sitting, it’s extremely uncomfortable to do it in street clothes.

Optional but extremely convenient:

• A hand-powered pump to finish off pumping the raft. The car-powered pump cannot push more air into the raft once it reaches a certain pressure, but filling the raft with a little more air will make it more buoyant and easier to paddle.
• Tarp to lay on the ground when rolling the raft back up. The bottom of the raft will be wet as you’re rolling it back up, and if it’s directly on the ground, dirt or sand will stick to it.
• In case there is dirt on the raft as you’re rolling it back up, an extra towel or rag (besides the ones for the humans) to wipe dirt off and sort-of dry it off as you’re rolling it
• Laundry hamper or other container to hold the raft after it’s rolled and folded back up. Otherwise it will just unroll itself wherever you stuff it in the car.
• Cooler for drinks.
• If the raft doesn’t have cup holders (and the Solstice Voyager doesn’t), bring a wide-mouth resealable bottle for your drink, and then once you open a bottle or a can, you can pour the contents into the wide-mouth bottle with some ice. (Otherwise, once you open a bottle or a can, you have to hold it in your hand until it’s all gone.) But if it’s alcohol, wait until you’re out on the lake to do this — if you do this before the trip, technically you could be breaking open container laws, if you have a resealable bottle in the car containing alcohol.
• Waterproof phone cases for any phones that you’re taking out.
• A pop-up changing station if you want to change out of swimwear afterwards (or your friends can just hold towels in front of you), in case your put-in point is a park without a bathroom.

Where to enter the water:

Lake Union Park has bathrooms, but it may be harder to park there. There are many smaller parks on the east side of Lake Union, where parking is much easier and free, but they don’t have spots to use the bathroom or change. I think the closest public bathroom to the parks on the east side is at Rogers Playground. I’ve always found plenty of available parking in the lot just north of the Eastlake Boulodrome Park. (The spots along the west edge of the lot are assigned to businesses but the spots in the middle of the lot are public.) If you put in at Lynn Street Park you can also get food & drink at Pete’s Supermarket (but then be sure to leave the car in one of the public street spots, not one of the customer-assigned spots).

Pro tips once you’re on the water:

• I think you have to be out of the water before the sun goes down; online “sunset” calculators are not a reliable indicator, because they calculate when the sun goes below the horizon, but in theory the water police can ask you to leave the water once the sun dips below Queen Anne Hill on the west side. So watch where the sun is.
• Ivar’s has a dock where customers can tie up, walk ashore, and order food from the take-out stand. (I doubt you can walk into the sit-down restaurant with your swimsuits on.)
• You cannot land or launch boats at Gas Works Park. And it’s not recommended to swim anywhere in Lake Union, but especially not near Gas Works (see https://www.reddit.com/r/Seattle/comments/1el0tl9/is_it_okay_to_swim_in_south_lake_union/ )
• Notwithstanding that caveat, at Terry Pettus Park there is a post in the middle of the water where you can clamber up the ropes and jump off the top. (At your own risk! There is no indication that it’s illegal, but I am not sure. And I always jump off the second level of posts near the top, not the pinnacle at the very top, since I’m too worried about slipping.)

That’s it, hope you are able to use this to have at least one nice day out on the lake before summer’s over!