Edmonds ‘Temperature-Taker Dude’ has become a legend

He’s like the Bigfoot of Edmonds. He’s hairy and often spotted near nature, but just not as elusive. In fact, if you’ve ever spent time in Edmonds you’ve likely seen a flash of chest hair and jean shorts as this guy methodically tests the water in 12 different spots. But why?

First of all, despite having many nicknames like “barefoot,” “bigfoot,” “Edmonds walker,” “merman,” and “Edmonds Beach Water Temperature-Taker Dude,” his real name is Bill Lindsay. And for all of the curiosity and intrigue out there, I found that all you need to do is ask, because this Bigfoot is a talker.

Unseasonably warm November on par with Seattle weather in 2080

“One day it was summer time, I was walking next to [the water], like exercise, and it was summer so I thought ‘Well, I might as well just take my shoes off and walk in the water’ … next thing you know I was walking waist deep in the water and it was so nice. I said, I have to figure out why everybody says it’s cold, [because] it wasn’t. So I went and got a thermometer,” Lindsay said.

That’s when he began taking the temperature of the water along the Edmonds waterfront. It’s something he’s been doing every day in the same 12 spots along the beach for 25 years.

I went along with him for a day of temperature taking. It was a rainy, cold day at the beach and while he’s known for walking confidently bare-chested and in cutoff jean shorts, on this day he was in full jeans – but still just a T-shirt.

“Well, I’ve got fur on me … it’s like a woolen sweater,” Lindsay said of his hairy reputation.

We started down the rocks along the jetty by the ferry dock in Edmonds. That’s where he takes two of his 12 temperatures. Once we reached the first spot, Lindsay took out his thermometer and began the process.

“You put the thermometer in the water and then you kind of estimate how long it’s going to take and then you take it out again and put it back in again, you read it, and keep doing that until it stops changing,” Lindsay explained.

By now, he’s got a great memory for the 12 temperatures he takes along the Edmonds beachfront. It’s not until he’s done and gets back to his car that he starts scribbling away at a data sheet he designed himself.

Why does he do this?

Lindsay grew up on the Jersey Shore, where weather forecasts also included the water temperature. He would spend all day at the beach as a kid. He came to the Pacific Northwest by way of the Navy. That was 40 years ago.

“The Navy moved me out here — transferred me out here — and I was on a hydrofoil. It was a research hydrofoil,” Lindsay said. “I was the executive officer of it. It was a small boat. It had four officers and 20 men.”

After the Navy, he landed at Boeing where he’d be stationed for the next 38 years.

“Writing repair manuals for landing gear components, for electronic components, for the things that drop out of the ceiling when you’re sitting in the passenger seat … and the oxygen masks,” Lindsay said.

He likes gathering data, too. He even chronicles the plants in his garden. So it isn’t too much of a surprise that he would record the water temperature.

Does it have to do with climate change? “Sure,” he said, but he’s no activist.

Member of Trump’s transition team could put us in a ‘world of hurt’

Bill is just wired like this. He’s wired for data. He has an unquenchable thirst for knowledge and he loves talking.

“People ask me what the water temperature is because I’m tracking it,” Lindsay said. “Every time I’m down here there are people to talk to. It’s amazing, you know, I get reinforced when people ask me questions about it. One year, I helped some students get a perfect score on their math final. Got a stick and started writing on the sand like a blackboard and it was a mathematical story problem.”

So it turns out the elusive ‘Edmonds Water Temperature-Taker Dude’ might seem like he’s on a solo, bare-chested, jean shorts-wearing mission but he’s actually just like the rest of us.

He’s just found a way to also be a legend.

Follow @http://twitter.com/ColleenKIROFM