Summer Cruising on The Columbia
We enjoyed a lot of summer daysailing aboard Seven. Summer 2017 sailing was close to home with good friends.
July 8 and 9, 2017 - On Saturday, Corby and Zack made the four hour run from Hayden Island to Portland.
Sunday, Chari, Ann, Les, Gina and Richard departed OMSI for the ride home. We lifted the Hawthorne and Steel bridges, then passed swimmers at the end of the the Willamette River Big Float event. They had swum 11 miles from Sellwood to Cathedral Park in St. John's. Plenty of water-skiers, fishermen and paddlers today, but not much wind for sailing. We detoured to the Sauvie Island bridge to admire boats and houses in the Multnomah channel. After rounding Kelly Point, the Vancouver railroad bridge kindly opened for us with no wait. We made lines at the Columbia Point Yacht Club just after 4 pm.
July 3rd, 2017 - Got out for a few hours after work. 10 to 15 out of the NW drove Seven to Government Island in about an hour. This is my first chance to try the new 100% jib. It's a used sail and I'm not completely pleased with the way it draws. I'll change the sheets and find the right setting for the genoa cars.
Lots of traffic on the river just before the holiday. It was an easy two hour 10 mile sail to the Glenn L. Jackson Memorial Bridge, but river sailing means a lot of tacking. Once you get everything dialed in and up to speed, you're generally on the other bank and have to start over. This is fun with crew, but a lot of effort alone. Mounting the auto-pilot would help, I guess.
Back at the marina, I nosed her up onto the sand and adjusted the depth finder to read from the water line. I'm sure the residents on the riverside were confused by the intentional grounding. But now, the depth finder reads six feet when the keel touches the bottom - just about right. A good short sail, home before dark.