PNW 2022, Columbia River and San Juan Islands

[colbysmith]

Took my time getting out of Kalama today, as I walked into town to do some shopping. The rains are back, but not too much wind and the current continues to push from behind giving me 8-9 mpg at 1300 rpm, and proceeding at about 7-8kts. Saw some very interesting, and large, war ships. I think it would be a great time to be walking around on the Portland water front, as the Rose Festival information says free tours of many of the ships that will be docked there. I'm back in Cathlamet tonight, and watching the rain.. Tyboo or DaNag, can you move this thread to the forum for Grand adventures? TIA. Colby

 

[colbysmith]

A good view of the Port of Kalama offices, with the Interpretive Center, and of C-Traveler on the guest dock.


Even though there are train tracks right near by, I didn't hear any trains at night.


The USCGC Elm on her way up to the Portland Rose Festival


I'm not sure if the USCGC Terrapin was escorting the next two large war ships to the Rose Festival, or participating in the festivities.


Some large firepower here! This is the USS Michael Monsoor. Not sure why she needed help with steerage, but the tug Samantha S is towing from behind to do just that. Some more info on the Monsoor.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Michael_Monsoor






The USS Coronado.
Some more info: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Coronado_(LCS-4)



I wonder how current this is? Seems to be the layout going in I see going into Cathlamet. (Actually called the Elochoman Slough Marina)


Just an informative sign.

 

[TyBoo]

…and that’s a wrap.

 

[DayBreak]

Colby,

Appropriate move to the Grand Adventures Forum Index. I have been a daily follower of your adventures along with Jay's SE Alaska group cruise 2022. Great photography! Thanks for sharing. Gary

 

[colbysmith]

Thanks and you're welcome Gary. I'd much rather be taking the photos up in Alaska with Jay and group! Maybe I'll get up there again someday. I'm reliving my trip from a few years ago through a lot of their photos.

Oh oh, Tyboo, that's not my boat! Are you using stock imagery? lol. But today was a wrap for the Columbia River part of my visit. No new photos tonight. It was a rather mundane trip back from Cathlamet. Passed a couple freighters going by, a tug pulling a barge, and a pilot boat. I lost most all the current I had upstream of Cathlamet. Today with 1300 rpm, I was getting 6.6 mpg and only running at 6 kts. The final stats for this part of my trip was a total fuel burn of 91.3 gallons in 322 statute miles of travel. Ran into fog and mist around Rice Island (Tongue point?), and then the rain started just about the time I got to the ramp... Ride was relatively smooth until a few miles from Astoria, when I started getting a foot of chop. Closer to the Astoria bridge it built to around 2 ft of chop, and then settled down again at the bridge. However was back in it about half way across to the Skipanion River. Not anything worse than the Great Lakes on a normal day. Crossed the great Skipanion Bar, lol, and all was smooth.
Tyboo shared a great dinner of steaks and spuds with me, and I'll head up to a college classmates tomorrow, and then on to my brothers. Rosanne will fly in on Tuesday, then keeping my fingers crossed that the weather cooperates for a week of cruising the San Juans, launching next Friday. Colby

 

[TyBoo]

Oh oh, Tyboo, that's not my boat! Are you using stock imagery? lol.

That's what happens when old guys try to do stuff on the little phones! I fixed the picture.

 

[pcg]

I'm looking at launching out of Cap Sante on June 17th

This might not interest you, but the Race to Alaska starts from Port Angeles on June 13. Makes for a very exciting early morning spectator event.

Oops just noticed a boo boo. The race starts from Port Townsend, not Port Angeles! Even if you can't be there for the early start, the previous day or two is fun to walk around town and watch the boaters prepping.

 

[colbysmith]

Thanks Tyboo. I hear you about old eyes and small smart phones! Hope you limited out today fishing!

I forgot to mention, if anyone in the PNW is interested in a 22 lb Claw anchor or prop hubs for a Mercury, I brought mine along. I'd like to trade the claw for a Delta. The prop hubs are free if anyone can use them. One is brand new, the other used but in good condition. I had them with the Merc on Midnight Flyer, but have a Yamaha on C-Traveler, so don't need them. Colby

 

[harrymac62]

I may be late here, but I am moored at Mc Cuddy's just outside Scappoose. There is a free launch there. You can rent a slip too if desired. Mark Anderson is the harbormaster 503 5433836
Harry Mc Manus
physically strong, mentally awake and morally straight

 

[primative]

Harry,
Last time, years ago, when I stopped in, a person could launch, but there was no dock for boarding, at least not that I knew of. Is there a dock now?

Thanks,
Tom

 

[colbysmith]

Second part of my PNW cruising tomorrow when I launch at Cap Sante to cruise around the San Juans. Any favorite anchorages? Hoping to find a few of the island docks available as well. What about Lopez Island's Fisherman Bay. They have any temporary dockage available for walking around town? I hear there is a restaurant dock, but they want you to eat there or pay a fee for temporary moorage. I've only been in the area twice before, but stayed mostly in the marinas then. Would like to stay away from marinas this time and just anchor or use the state park docks. TIA. Colby

 

[DayBreak]

Colby,

Stop by the County dock at Olga, Orcas Island, where you can walk to the Art Gallery, Catkin Cafe, and just a bit further down the road is the Buck Bay Shellfish Farm where you can get shellfish and other great seafood. You can stay on the dock free overnight if you have a State Parks Pass or just pay the fee. Great place to stay overnight if the winds are from the NW to East. Kind of bumpy if from the South or West. Looking forward to more of your fantastic photos. Gary and Colleen

 

[colbysmith]

Thanks Gary & Colleen. I'll look it up on my charts.

Launched around 1p this afternoon at Cap Sante. Wish I could upload video. Just before we launched, I briefly met John, off of Betty Louise, another CD-25. I didn't get a chance to chat with him, as I was busy prepping C-Traveler. He did chat with Rosanne briefly before heading out on his boat. John was apparently one of the original founders of the earlier C-Dogs BBS.
Just cruised a short distance over to Eagle Harbor on Cypress Island for the day. Hooked up to a mooring ball here with 7 other boats in the small bay. I think I figured out a nice quiet hookup. I ran a line through the ball's ring, and then brought each end around the forward vertical supports of my bow rail, tying the line off to my center bow cleat. I placed the mooring ball just about a foot in front of my bow, and directly under the forward tip of my anchor. There is a short bar between the anchors flutes. I ran a short rubber bungee cord through the balls eye, then hooked both ends of that to that anchor bar. That keeps the ball from hitting the boat with current and wind changes. However, after the boat started sailing a little bit with the breeze, the hooks were snapping to one side of the bar or the other, echoing through the hull. An easy fix was to reverse the bungee cord, so that the cord went around the bar, and the hooks went on the ball's ring. Quiet now! Colby

 

[DayBreak]

Good job Colby. Eagle Harbor is notorious for the banging on the ball overnight. We have a bungee cord example of what works for us in our C-Brats Customization and Additions album. It works but the length of tie on the mooring ball determines how much bungee cord to use. Eagle Harbor is one of our favorite places. We love the hiking on Cypress. It could take a week to hike all of the different trails on that island. Enjoy! Gary

 

[hardee]

Colby, nice hookup. I just remembered why I don't like doing mooring balls. I have to get out on the fore deck. Thanks for the update.

Harvey
SleepyC :moon

 

[Pat Anderson]

When we go to Eagle Harbor, we just anchor, why use a mooring ball when you can anchor? It is also difficult to land there except at full high tide - way too mucky otherwise.

 

[colbysmith]

We came in yesterday at -2' on the tide. Yep, that's a minus 2. No issues. We took the farthest in mooring ball in about 4' of water at the time. Looked like a lot of eel grass as we were coming in, and with all the mooring balls in here, it would have been hard to anchor and have swinging room.
Surprisingly enough, while the bungee cord was working great at keeping the mooring ball from banging the hull, sometime during the night both hooks came off the ball ring. Bungee remained on my anchor fluke bar, but I can't understand how the hooks came off with the amount of pressure on them, and that if one hook came off first that the bungee wasn't pulled off the boat and into the drink... Next time I'll have to find a more permanent way to hook the bungee cord on so it can't come off. :? Being use to mostly calm waters at night, it was a little more rolly than I liked. Wife slept through it, but I'm a light sleeper anyway. And then when the ball would bang against the hull... Winds were forecast to be out of the SSW at less than 10, and I think the very minor waves are probably just tide and current action. Today we're heading for Friday Harbor so we can attend church this weekend. Tomorrow I think we'll head to Stuart Island so we can hike up to Turnagain Point. Colby

 

[primative]

Well done with the mooring ball improvisation with the low tide. Another solution for a situation. Always something, and we keep learning. Whatever you customize for the future will be in your bag of tricks.

I have a " Trips to take" section in my notes and really appreciate your travel notes and other's experiences, I am taking note of staying off the balls if possible in Eagle Harbor.


C'mon Sunshine :hot

 

[colbysmith]

I've had the same problems with the mooring balls in other locations as well. So I'm still tweaking my tricks. I really think the bungee thing would have worked if the hooks hadn't come off the ring. I did raft with another boat one time, and found by tying the ball between our bows, it was like tying it between floats on a catamaran. That worked beautifully for a rafting situation. I think being on a mooring ball is kind of like anchoring, but not as concerned about dragging the ball. Just a matter of keeping that damn ball from banging the hull! I'll just keep tweaking at it. :wink: Colby

 

[colbysmith]

While yesterday's short cruise from Cap Sante over to Cypress Island was on smooth water, today's was a little choppier crossing Rosario Strait. Nothing really bad, and most likely from wind against current. If I had to call it, I'd say 1' in chop. Just picked up the speed and went across a little faster, showering the boat in salt spray. Sure don't miss that in our fresh water back home! Saw the WSF Chelan coming out of Friday Harbor and turned into Lopez Island before we got close enough to be an issue.
We ended up out on the far end of H dock. One thing I've noticed walking the docks here at Friday Harbor, why so many boats have expired registration stickers? Some of the boats don't look too bad, while other definitely need some TLC! Isn't it illegal to even launch a vessel in Washington that is not currently registered? I overheard one of the marina managers telling a customer that the wait list is pretty long for annual dock space. Seems to me they have at least a dozen boats on the H pier that aren't currently registered. While the marina staff I talked with were friendly enough, the kid doing my check in didn't know they had a porta potti dump station. Later, I called back and talked to a different employee, and he said there was one at the floating restrooms. I forgot about that from my previous time here. (It's on the back of the restroom at the corner of E Dock where F dock walkway intersects.) Speaking of prior time out here, my facebook memories popped up Midnight Flyer getting slung launched at Cap Santa exactly 8 years ago (yesterday), and today a memory video of Rosanne feeding Popeye the seal 8 years ago. I remember that time. It was cold enough that I finally walked up to the Ace Hardware and bought a small electric heater. (That was before my Webasto!) Today we walked up to that Ace Hardware to get some hose washers, as my hose nozzle was leaking because of a missing washer!) We also walked up to the St. Francis Catholic Parish to attend church this afternoon, then stopped on the way back at Aloha BBQ for supper. Actually a pretty good menu and the food was fine. And nowhere near as busy as the waterfront grills. The corner with the big fire this past year is just an open lot now.
If I still can't get my video of C-Traveler being slung launched to upload, I'll upload some still shots. Tomorrow the plan is to cruise out to Stuart Island and get on one of the docks (floats) at either harbor, and then hike around. Colby