10/15 - 10/29 - 2017 Snake/Columbia River C-Dory Cruise

Colby,

That Hammond takeout is miles better than the ramp in Astoria, as Tyboo says. Killer fish and chips a short drive in to Hmmond at Buoy 9, if you are famished. Tyboo knows the way.

You guys are doing this in fine style. With any luck on the wind, you should have smooth sledding iall the way. Afternoons down here can be gnarly.
 
Good Morning,

The winds look very favorable for you today, should be down river wind at the tight spots, and light.

It is about 12-15 miles uip the Willamette to the falls as I recall. There is a nice marina (Freds just past the entrance to the Sauvies Island channel, at the Portland end tip of the channel).

Hope you have a great trip. have to run.

Harvey
SleepyC :moon
 
Im on the Multnomah Channel this morning and it is perfect. Sunny, no wind, flat water. A great little detour to avoid some of the ship traffic.
 
hardee":2ixv1i58 said:
It is about 12-15 miles uip the Willamette to the falls as I recall.
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Just FYI - The falls are ~22nm up the Willamette from the Columbia. Downtown Portland is ~11 miles up the Willamette.

Seeing downtown Portland might be fun. There's a nice public dock (no services).

Most tugs in and around Portland do have AIS. The two big tug companies, Shaver and Foss, both use them.
 
So sorry I won't be able to join the group and finish the trip with you all. I have injured my back. I will see how things go and maybe but doubtful I will meet you in Kalama.
Thanks for doing such a great job of posting the trip I have been following you in spirit. Be safe.
Big Dave
Raven Dancer
 
We are near Arlington headed down along the Oregon side of the river in our truckcamper. If you can post where the group is spending the night we would stop by.

Jay
 
Well, lets see how this works. Lousy cell service here, basically weak signal.
We are at Port of Camas tonight. Very interesting day today. Not sure what the heck happened to that good forecast we were all seeing, but if you've seen the movie, Down Periscope, think of the scene where Stepanik is in the engine room right after they use the tanker Denali as a hat. He just sealed the last leak, brushes the water off his head and says, "now that was fun..." Well, regarding today, NOW, THAT WAS FUN! Lol! :mrgreen: Our
light easterly winds were blowing about 30 mph. We started out with 1-2', then 2-3', and when it was all said and done, we saw a lot of 3-5'! Like splashing around in a wash tub, with current! Thought I was back home on a windy Lake Michigan kind of day... The fastest and slowest boats (Me and Cat Claw, in that order,) ended up leading the rest of the group. Each boat and crew has it's own sweet spot for the best handling and comfort level, and mine and Lews was at a faster speed than the rest. We think Lew was going faster today than he has the rest of the trip! :mrgreen: Anyway, we all got to the Port of Camas marina safely. The one and last lock for us today, the Bonneville Lock, needs a good flushing. We had to enter through logs and wood debris and then the lockmaster had to make several attempts at shutting the lock gate behind us as one of the logs was caught in the gate...
Now, about the marina. The fuel dock has a lot of river current running down beside it, making docking for fuel a little challenging. Price was $4.59/gal, so another expensive one. For most of us, this will probably be our last fill up for the trip. The transient dock is the inside of the break wall. And to get to the marina office, along with the showers, seems like a half mile walk, and the main connector between the dock and land has water spray breaking over it with the winds. I'll try to get some photos uploaded, but they may have to wait for internet or better cell coverage.
Forecast is good for tomorrow again, but hope it holds better than the last one! Plans are to leave here at our regular time of 8am, and head down to Kalama. Not sure if we'll get to those other spots shared by Hardee and others above or not. I just follow the group.... lol (or sometimes lead if the water gets nasty....) :mrgreen: Colby
 
You are past the crux. The narrower parts of the Gorge can really be a wind tunnel. Should be relatively smooth sailing, rest of the way. Kalama a good marina. Most of the smaller, out of the way marinas on the lower river are friendly places, though only the larger ones will have decent fuel prices.

WA side of the channel, ftom Stella down to the upper end of Puget Island very scenic. Ditto Skamokawa to Harrington Pt. Cathlamet Channel also very pretty, but a little sketchy to find/follow the channel.
 
That sounds exciting! This time of year that is typical for down here in the estuary at least every couple days but I figured the first leg from Bonneville would be an easy one. You have to have one day like that so maybe now it’s out if the way.

If the river is nice and you are going strong by the time you reach Kalama you night consider going another 25 or so miles to Cathlamet. A lot of folks think that is the best port on the lower river. Kalama has the grain elevators, sure, but Cathlamet has a brewery and a taco shack 100 yards from the dock. They won’t be open, but they are there. It is a quaint little town with neat walking trails and a well kept marina. That leaves only 20 some miles to Astoria through the most interesting part of the lower river. The run from Camas to Cathlamet is kind of boring.

It has been really nice down here the last couple days. I am thinking about going upriver about 30 miles for a little fishing on the only remaining day for sturgeon retention Thursday. So if you are staying in Kalama Wednesday night then I might be inclined to run the last stretch with you. I ain’t going to catch any fish this time of year anyway.
 
A big yowsa on the marina at Cathlamet. The taco shack is not open off season, but it is a sweet place. The town has an older downtown with a couple restaurants, great scenery, and a good museum. No bright lights big city atmosphere. Very sheltered, well off the main channel.

Marina at Kalama has significant highway noise ... not very restful.

Of course, Tyboo and I are lower Columbia river rats ... it is our back yard. We are definitely prejudiced towards these smaller quieter places.
 
Very cool Colby & the folks on this trip...thank you for sharing the video!!!!

Wish I had the time off to join you all...

Cathlamet is a nice place...been to a number of spring gatherings in years past.

Enjoy the rest of your journey on the Columbia!!!

John
 
Colby, i realize you were probably busy driving during that "fun" part, but if you looked around, you saw the river is narrower, the mounts higher, and the gorge walls steeper. Kind of like the eye of the needle. Might have even seen some wind surfers, or kite surfers along the way. As Tyboo said, that is pretty normal for that part of the river, especially this time of the year. (Although you just went through the Wind Surfing Capital of the World.)

Big agree from here, too, on Cathlamet over Kalama marina. Camas, not one I would have picked, and you are seeing why - protection, Freds or Rodgers or Beacon Rock are more protected. But hey, you are making good progress, got a boat ride out of the deal, and got to seem some spectacular areas. I guess mike and I see the river a bit different, as I think the most interesting is from Beacon Rock down to Kalama, but I like seeing the traffic and the river in the city.

Enjoy and stay safe.

Harvey
SleepyC :moon

IMG_2044_sized_1.thumb.jpg
 
All has been very scenic. However other than some fisherman and 2 or 3 tows, no kite surfers, it’s been pretty much just us! And as many of you said early on, a lot of stuff is closed up for the season. We are all learning as we go along. Would have been nice to have had some locals along on the cruise. We’ve had to be a bit flexible in our plans due to the winds, but Jim had a lot of this planned out with regards to mileage’s between stops, and we’ve tried to maintain that while still staying within an allowed time schedule. As with most anywhere there is so much much more to see and do if more time available. Gives one another reason to come back later and explore more! We’re done with locking now so that is one less constraint. If it were more in season I would be inclined to run a bit more independent to see more of the stuff mentioned, but this time of year it’s good to go with the group for that safety in numbers thing. Colby
 
We stayed the night at the Port of Camas in our truck camper & found the group this morning in time to have a good chat & see them off for this days run down the Columbia River. Mt Hood was beautiful as the morning sun made its way up behind it. With low wind & mostly clear skies they should have a memorable day on the river. We know Lew from our shared time in Yellowstone & Lake Powell & it was good to see him again & hear some first hand about the trip. Also great to finally meet Colby who has been doing such a good job keeping all of us informed on this trip & good reports from past trips. & of course good to meet in person the others too.

Jay
 
Big dave":t4jmt814 said:
http://www.columbian.com/news/2017/oct/25/another-100000-gallons-raw-sewage-released-into-columbia-river/

Yuk be careful to avoid contact with the water ! Sorry this had to happen to you guys
Dave
Raven Dancer
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Might be a good reason to hang out up in the Willamette, for a day or so, and then let that stuff flush out ahead.

Harvey
SleepyC :moon

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I hate it when the turd factory breaks ! I think it’s a good reason to head to Cathlamet and spend the night there. Way better marina anyway unless you’re a fan of freeway and train noise all night.
Anyway guys wash your hands well 💩💩
Dave
Raven Dancer
 
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