Welcome to

Little Manzanita Bay

People and wild creatures enjoy the Bay’s quiet waters. Two road-ends bring children to skimboard; seniors swim the bay with inflatable orange floats bobbing behind them; neighbors kayak across and socialize on the water; paddle boarders follow the creek upstream; and parents bring toddlers to marvel at crabs scuttling on the sand. Large powerboats and jet skiers rarely venture in.

Manzanita Creek feeds the Bay, draining a watershed that extends up to the spine of the island. It is one of only two creeks left on the Island where adult salmon have been observed in the last three years. Spawning adult Coho, cutthroat trout, chum salmon, and out-migrating juveniles ply the creek and its tributaries.  Mother otters teach their young to compete with bald eagles, osprey, kingfishers, terns and gulls for the running fish.

We Stand for the Land!

The Friends of Little Manzanita Bay is partnering with the Bainbridge Island Land Trust to help preserve several natural areas within the Little Manzanita Bay watershed. We are very excited about this partnership! We will be posting more information as things develop!

Click here to check out more info at the website for the Bainbridge Island Land Trust

Cold Plunging In Manzanita Bay

Even in the coldest, dreariest weather you can find people out swimming in the bay. What’s up with that? It’s called cold plunging and it’s gaining popularity. Check out this story from Tidelands Magazine

CLICK HERE FOR THE STORY

Feeding Frenzy in Little Manzanita Bay!

Sea Lions plunging into a school of Smelt

A Majestic Bald Eagle

March 18, 2024. It has been quite the scene in Little Manzanita Bay the past few days! A huge population of Smelt fish has been attracting a massive number of hungry seals and sea lions, like over 100! The seabirds and Bald Eagles have been hanging around hoping to join the party too! It’s an incredible display of nature and a hopeful sign that the bay is healthy.

Bald Eagles soaring overhead

A Bald Eagle returning to its nest in Little Manzanita Bay

Our First Annual Paddle Party

On Sunday September 24, 2023 we held our first-of-many paddling events. We all met at the Dock Street road end in Little Manzanita Bay to have an afternoon paddling around, getting to know each other, and enjoying this beautiful bay we are trying so hard to protect. The turnout was fabulous, despite a little drizzle. Even the “Mayor of Manzanita” Fred Grimm came out in his rowboat to pass out cookies! We all had a blast! Check out some photos!

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UP THE CREEK WITH LOTS OF PADDLES

 

            The Friends of Little Manzanita Bay planned an all-comers paddle event for September, 2023.  The idea was to get the word out to all our community supporters, gather in the Little Bay on a favorable tide and follow Manzanita Creek up as far as it would take us.  Following our successful resistance to a proposal for a dock more than twice as big as anything else on the Little Bay, we wanted to keep front and center our commitment to promoting human-powered uses and preserving the Bay’s natural assets.

 

With an 11.8 foot tide predicted for the afternoon of September 24, we scheduled the group paddle for 3PM.  Our Executive Director, Cheryl, put the word out to more than 400 folks who had supported us in the dock campaign.  We posted flyers, designed by our Treasurer, Clay, at strategic points around the neighborhood on both sides of the Bay.  The weather report was for rain, and we expected maybe three or four members of the Board of Directors would show up, but few others.  As we all know, the “rain” icon on your phone often means just a little drizzle, however, gray skies in late September don’t usually make paddlers put their boats in, and we were not optimistic. 

 

            But then folks started showing up, some coming from Dock Street or from the Road End on the south side of the bay.  Some came up from Big Manzanita Bay, or from their homes up and down the creek or out on the Port Orchard Channel.  They were young and old, in kayaks, Hobies, canoes, and on paddleboards – anything that floats without a motor.   Fred (the “Mayor of Little Manzanita Bay”) brought his rowboat with a homemade figurehead on the bow and bags full of cookies.  He was, as always, extremely  popular.  Board member Carrie rode the front of a paddleboard powered by her son. Some of us were bundled up against the rain and chill; some of those in their teens were in shorts and t-shirts and sometimes in the water.   Someone counted 22 boats; others said there were 28.  A couple of dozen watercraft, anyway.

 

            The whole thing was Clay’s idea, to build community, so he said a few words to welcome everyone, thank them for braving the elements, and to start us off.  We headed east up the creek past Belinda’s, Peter’s, Chris’s and Al’s places, past a couple of listing swim floats and an aluminum boat tangled in the brush, a derelict catamaran and a car tire up one of the tributaries at the first bend – all potential Little Bay cleanup projects that FOLMB plans to undertake in the coming year.  We turned north into the flat water around the first hairpin, out of the wind, where everything gets quiet and calm – a different world.  A seal had been following us but left us at that bend as we entered the dripping realm of the otters, raccoons, kingfishers and the occasional Great Blue Heron.  We held our breaths passing under a very diagonal 90-foot Douglas fir that seemed to hesitate in the act of falling (It fell in early October). 

 

            We followed the Creek upstream as far as the tangle of fallen brush and timber would allow and turned around – an exercise in two-way traffic management.  We talked about the recently acquired Land Trust parcels planted this year with a wide variety of native plants, and future plans to consolidate those holdings for long-term preservation.   On the way out, some of our hardy teen paddlers braved the water and, with the reappearing seal, swam out into the Bay.  Rewards awaited on the north shore, where neighbor Kimberly had brewed up a big pot of excellent chili, with homemade cornbread and honey, and we all gratefully spoiled whatever might have been plans for dinner, thanked her profusely and paddled off in all directions for a sauna, a shower or just a Sunday nap. 

 

            Thanks from FOLMB to all the paddlers who braved the Fall drizzle!  Stay tuned for announcement of FOLMB Paddle 2.0.  (We’ll try to do it in August this year.)

Beautiful Scenery in Little Manzanita Bay

A flotilla! Another gorgeous day on the water. We are fighting to preserve the tranquility of the bay and prevent the building of deep water docks that will likely cause irreversible harm to its delicate ecosystems. Join us. If you haven't already
“As one goes through life, one learns that if you don’t paddle your own canoe, you don’t move.” – Katharine Hepburn We are fighting to preserve the tranquility of the bay and prevent the building of deep water docks tha
Come by the Bainbridge Island farmers market tomorrow - say hi and sign our petition. We are fighting to preserve the tranquility of the bay and prevent the building of deep water docks that will likely cause irreversible harm to its delicate ecosyst
A SUPER moon set on the bay this month. We are fighting to preserve the tranquility of the bay and prevent the building of deep water docks that will likely cause irreversible harm to its delicate ecosystems. Join us. If you haven't already please:
Mount Tahoma. Translates as 'the mother of waters'. We love these clear summer days when 'the mountain is out'. We are fighting to preserve the tranquility of the bay and prevent the building of deep water docks that will likely cause irreversible h
Come by the Bainbridge Island farmers market tomorrow - say hi and sign our petition. We are fighting to preserve the tranquility of the bay and prevent the building of deep water docks that will likely cause irreversible harm to its delicate ecosyst
Low tide and high tide at #littlemanzanitabay. We are fighting to preserve the tranquility of the bay and prevent the building of deep water docks that will likely cause irreversible harm to its delicate ecosystems. Join us. If you haven't already p
We are fighting to preserve the tranquility of the bay and prevent the building of deep water docks that will likely cause irreversible harm to its delicate ecosystems. Join us. If you haven't already please: email the City Planner at ahillier@bainb
Anyone else enjoying these super low tides? Great day for a walk tomorrow afternoon. We are fighting to preserve the tranquility of the bay and prevent the building of deep water docks that will likely cause irreversible harm to its delicate ecosyste
Pacific Madrone, (Arbutus menziesii) in flower along Little Manzanita Bay. 💮We are fighting to preserve the tranquility of the bay and prevent the building of deep water docks that will likely cause irreversible harm to its delicate ecosystems. Join
Sunset at Little Manzanita Bay. We are fighting to preserve the tranquility of the bay and prevent the building of deep water docks that will likely cause irreversible harm to its delicate ecosystems. Join us. If you haven't already please: email th
I watch the sky progress through its morning paces, the light turning from rose to saffron as the sun ascends, its rays like ribbons tangling in the tops of trees. Lauren Slater. We are fighting to preserve the tranquility of the bay and prevent th
Nootka rose (Rosa nutkana) has been used by the Indiginous People all along the west coast of Turtle Island for its cooling and astringent properties. Nootka is one of the many indiginious plants we have growing along the banks of Little Manzanita Ba
We are fighting to preserve the tranquility of the bay and prevent the building of deep water docks that will likely cause irreversible harm to its delicate ecosystems. Join us. If you haven't already please: email the City Planner at ahillier@bainb
Salmon berries in the rain. If you haven't already, please email the City Planner at ahillier@bainbridgewa.gov to register your opposition to the dock, and check our website to learn more, link in bio for all. #savethebaystopthedock #savelittlemanza
Look at these two heroes wrangling invasive scotch broom around Little Manzanita Bay. This is the best time to cut it down before it goes to seed. We are fighting to preserve the tranquility of the bay and prevent the building of deep water docks
🌈🌈🌈 over Little Manzanita Bay for Pride Month. We are fighting to preserve the tranquility of the bay and prevent the building of deep water docks that will likely cause irreversible harm to its delicate ecosystems. Join us. If you haven't alread
"There is one art of which people should be masters - the art of reflection." - Samuel Taylor Coleridge. We are fighting to preserve the tranquility of the bay and prevent the building of deep water docks that will likely cause irreversibl
A beautiful day in the neighborhood. We are fighting to preserve the tranquility of the bay and prevent the building of deep water docks that will likely cause irreversible harm to its delicate ecosystems. Join us. If you haven't already please: em

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