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The Washington Coast
This year we planned a less ambitious trip a bit closer to home. A week to Grays Harbor and two weeks on the Columbia River.
The run from Ilwaco to Grays Harbor is about 50 miles. We had a solid southerly that got us there in under 8 hours, for a six and a half knot average.
West coast sailing requires good gear. Offshore we wear foulies, lifejackets and we use tethers.
Everyone has a personal locator beacon integrated in their lifejackets. These PLBs broadcast an AIS signal that will help find anyone that's fallen overboard. The range for these is about 5 miles.
Good gear and safety equipment are the root of an enjoyable sail. Wet and cold are no fun.
Reverend Captain Buswell preaches a sailing safety sermon.
But it's not all pious devotion. We spend some time off of the boat taking in the local entertainment.
There's plenty of traffic on the Columbia River and some great scenery too.
Aquila is 36 feet long and offers plenty of room for barges and ships bound for Portland, Oregon. We go well out of our way to yield the channel to large craft that belong there.
The shipping channel offers a minimum of 43 feet of depth to the port of Portland. Many of these ships are barely clearing the bottom when fully loaded. There are very occasional groundings, but they are rare as all ships employ both a bar and river pilots.
We stopped to see a fisherman catch a sturgeon near Puget Island. It was undersize and was returned to the river.
It played dead for a few minutes before swimming into to the depths.
Jim and I engage in a drinking contest. I'm not sure who is winning
Jim is an excellent bartender and offers his special of the day
Astoria is a great stop. The trolley costs 2 dollars for an all day pass that takes you from one end of the town to the other
I wanted to steer, but they said "no". I suspect a trolley is not steered but I'd like to try.
I spent some time watching the conductor but could figure out how the trolley is controlled. It's a mystery.
The crew commit some crimes.
Jim has a run-in with the law at the Astoria Film Museum
We visited the Tokeland Hotel. It's the oldest hotel in Washington state. The food was amazing and the hotel was great. Well worth visit!
Chickens, goats, peacocks and cats roam the grounds.
The art was interesting and good. It's a really great venue. I'm planning to go for a weekend.
Buoy 1 at the Columbia River shipping channel
This cruise was short, but still satisfying. We made lots of good stops and had some great sailing. The boat ran well and there were no mechanical problems. Everyone we met on the way was friendly, amusing or helpful. We met a few colorful characters on the way, like Garrett the fisherman. He told a few very loud stories!
I'm not sure what we'll do next year. Maybe another trip to Canada. We haven't seen Vancouver from the water and it looks like a real adventure.
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