Cruising the Columbia River

J

journey on

New member
We're going to cruise the Columbia River next week, putting in at Camas. Never have done this before we have the following questions. Forgive the innocence, but here are the questions:

1. Are there any marinas upriver of Portland, or can we anchor?
2. Any special things about going through the dam locks?
3. Winds on the Columbia River, especially through the Gorge(wherever that is)?
4. Where can we get a Columbia River cruising guide?

The southern Boris
 
here's a link to some good info from B. Dam to the mouth http://www.boatoregon.com/Library/ColumbiaGuide.pdf
Unless you have a strong, salmon like, craving to run upriver, I would suggest going downriver, musch more neat stuff to see and do. But, if you're going upriver there are places to tie up at:
Beacon Rock- a WA state park with floats and mooring bouys & a crapatorium just below B. Dam

Hood River & The Dalles both have marinas

Just up from The Dalles is Horse Thief WA State park

Just up river from the J.D. dam is the John Day river, a mile or two up the J.D. river is a nice, boat only, campground with floats and facilities run by the Corps of Engineers. I believe it is called LePaige park

Up from there on the WA side is Crow Butte, a nice park.

There is also a nice little port in Arlington

I've never been through the locks and other than the John Day arm, have never boated on that upper section. There is a reason that chunk O' river is know as the wind surfing capitol of the world :) be close to a port in the afternoon. I've driven the chunk of interstate along that river a bunch and noticed that water can get real nasty...it's not like there are large waves...more like just big holes in the water, not fun looking.

As Cheers said, a cruising guide can be found at GI Joes and West marine, these stores are easy to get to off of I5 just before you hit the Columbia at the Delta Park exit

enjoy the river, I hope to spend most of the week putzin around the river below Portland
 
Thanks for all the help! We printed out the guide, read El and Bill's pages (we've heard about the wind, appreciate the geology,) and we'll give it a go.

Boris
 
journey on":3n4cislt said:
We're going to cruise the Columbia River next week,
Click to expand...
Boris – The Columbia Gorge is a beautiful and fabulous place. What most people call the George starts just East of Camus and continues East another 130 miles m/l. However the river is navigable all the way to Priest dam (no locks there) about 65 miles north of the Tri Cities (Kennewick, Pasco & Richland) If you turn east at the Tri Cities onto the Snake River you can go to Lewiston, Idaho. You will find marinas and camp grounds all along both rivers.

I drive the Gorge four to six times a month and most of the time there is an East wind. It is strongest between Hood River and The Dalles.

I have offered other C-Brats this and it is an offer to all C-Brats. When you get to the Dalles and you want a break for a while, I will give you a tour of a wild animal ranch on the Washington side of The Dalles. Some of the animals there are; zebra, giraffe, watussi, wallaroo, black back & nilgia antelope, reindeer, muntjac deer, emu, camel, buffalo, elk, llama, yak, miniature mules, miniature donkeys and more. Most of these animals are in large open spaces. They are not penned up in confined areas.

I hope to have a web site up for the place next week.
 
Hey Bob, is that restaraunt open again. I know it used to be years ago but several years ago the lumber company took it over. I didn't realize it had reopened. Personally, I really enjoy the upper river. The geology of the region is fascinating. It is another world up there. Just make sure to try to do all your traveling in the mornings. When I sailed I would go up to Hood River for a week each year. Where else can you practice heavy weather sailing in fresh water. Great fun. There is also some terrific fishing for small mouth and walleye for virtually the whole length upriver from portland. There used to be a fuel dock at camas. But they tended to close in late september for the winter. You can rent a car in Hood River and go see the local sights. Maryhill across the river is a great art museum. The observatory in Goldendale. The steam train out of Hood River. Cascade Locks is very boater friendly as well.
 
We just returned from a trip to Beacon Rock. It's got a great dock at the state park with electricity on the dock. The only suggestion I can make is to make sure you have a good chart or follow the aids to navigation very carefully. The river is very low and there are a lot of sand bars exposed right now. The first time we launched in the Columbia River we were lucky to have an experienced boater with us because we would never have known about all the sand bars.

We have cruised the river from Illwaco to the Dalles, but have never gone through the locks.

Have a wonderful time.

Dee
 
The locks are a piece of cake. Just call the lockmaster and tell him your intentions and he will give detailed instructions. Tugs and barges will get first priority. I was hired by the contractor to do some QA/QC when they built the new locks back around 1990 or so. That lock, before it was put into service was a huge rock canyon. The sun never reached the bottom of it. It was an incredible feeling to climb down on the scaffolding to the bottom and look up at those rock walls
 
Hey Everyone,

I have really enjoyed reading about your experiences with boating on the Columbia, I set off with my pal Bob this coming Saturday.

The excitement is building.

Keith
Foote's Rest
22' C-Dory Cruiser
 
Boris, if I had better timing, I should have brought the boat out and joined you. We just came back from an Alaska Cruise on Princess Cruises, and now preparing to head out west again in a week for a drive down the coast and some sight seeing in San Francisco (without the boat). If I had a little more time, I would have loved to hooked the boat & trailer up and hauled it out with me. Colby
 
colbysmith":wdhnpap0 said:
Boris, if I had better timing, I should have brought the boat out and joined you. We just came back from an Alaska Cruise on Princess Cruises, and now preparing to head out west again in a week for a drive down the coast and some sight seeing in San Francisco (without the boat). If I had a little more time, I would have loved to hooked the boat & trailer up and hauled it out with me. Colby
Click to expand...
Boris' original post on this is now 10 years old. Hopefully Keith will post up and let us know more about his trip as it is happening.

Keith - from where are you starting? I'll be in Ilwaco on Sat. AM - hopefully going out tuna fishing, weather and wind permitting.
 
Hi Everyone,

The plan is to leave Richland, WA on Saturday Sept 01, 2016.
The current plan is to overnight at Elochoman Slough Marina - in Cathlamet, Washington on Friday night the 7th. Than take out at the boat ramp on the East side of Astoria late morning or early afternoon.

If you want to follow along, I started a blog www.BoatInDining.com

I plan to highlight different places we can boat to and have a good meal.
If you have any suggested places to eat - send them my way.
 
OK, this should be fun.

Kieth, check your dates. It appears you are planning an extended time on board, And with the winds in the gorge it might take that long. I know you were looking for a cruising guide for the river(s). The Evergreen Press gueides are pretty thorough. West Marine in Portland has them and also Rogers Marine Electronics in Portland.

As to boating in to eat on the river, That might have to be down in the Portland area. I know of the Island Cafe there, only place on the rive I can think of to boat in and eat. Arlington, OR has a couple of places within walking distance, and maybe the same for Dallas and Hood River.

In your west bound travels, if you see a dirty gray or brown cloud forming on over the hills, down river, it is time to find shelter ASAP or NOW. It only takes minutes for those to "sneak up" on you.

Enjoy and stay safe.

Harvey
SleepyC :moon

0_CD_Cover_SlpyC_with_Classics_MBSP_2009_288.thumb.jpg
 
There's a great place to eat right at the Ilwaco marina - the Salt pub/hotel. It's well worth a stop. While there is no official guest dock, this time of year there will be a ton of open slips. Pull into one with no hose or fenders attached and the odds are high it's open and no-one will care. I know the slip adjacent to (W of) my tomcat has been empty for > 1 month. I'm in G-60 so that one is (I believe) G-58. If you were to pull in for a couple of hours, it shouldn't be a problem and if it's during normal business hours, a call to the port office will probably result in them telling you that you can use a closer slip for a trip to the restaurant.
 
Back
Top