T-Pain isn’t the only one on a boat.As the LSU football team gears up for its season opener against the Washington Huskies, thousands of Tiger fans are heading to Seattle, to tailgate in a new way: on a boat.Situated between Union Bay and Lake Washington, Husky Stadium provides a great opportunity for pregame partiers to tailgate in a unique setting — on the water in an activity coined “sailgating.”Since Husky Stadium has a strict no-alcohol policy, many alumni and tailgaters take to larger boats and yachts for their pregame activities and cruise the lakes before each home game.With boat moorings surrounding the stadium and water taxis shuttling passengers to docks on the stadium grounds, “sailgating” has become a standard pregame activity, and now, Tiger fans will get a firsthand look at the aquatic tailgating experience.”Sailgating is a fun experience, particularly early in the season when the weather’s nice,” said Bob Meyers, University of Washington graduate student and experienced sailgater. “It’s a popular activity, especially for the alumni, but only a percentage own boats, so as a student if you get an opportunity to sailgate, you’d typically take advantage.”LSU fans and alumni from across the nation will take advantage of this unique experience when they head to the game Saturday, and many of Seattle’s commercial boat tour companies have already been rented by visiting fans.According to Corine Cooper, director of sales for Waterways Cruises and Events in Seattle, Waterways already booked 700 LSU fans onto three of Waterways’ largest yachts with tickets ranging from $150 to $300 a person. These yachts were booked more than eight months in advance.”This is the first time I’ve seen any school get this nuts about sailgating,” Cooper said. “We are expecting more than 1,800 LSU fans to be out on the water.”Cooper said in addition to the three Waterways yachts, another eight will be moored at the same charter dock, each filled with LSU alumni, and even more fans will go from other docks around Lake Washington.The yachts with Waterways will begin the cruises around 3 p.m. Saturday and will include a cash bar, authentic Northwestern dishes with salmon and king crab and a full wine tasting.”It’s going to be one giant Tiger party,” Cooper said. “Saturday will be pretty much all Tiger sailgating.”Other LSU alumni hired smaller boats and organized group trips to Seattle for their “sailgating”   experience.LSU alumnus Nic Bencaz and University of Central Florida graduate Paul Jones gathered a group of 22 fans to make the more than 2000-mile trip to Seattle and plan on “sailgating” all day.—-Contact Jake Clapp at [email protected]