Following a delightful breakfast of salal berry pancakes, bacon and eggs we cast off our lines from B Mondo knowing that it may be 2017 before we once again get to raft up with Walt and Odile. They bring us gifts of warm fresh bread and brownies. We give them cubes of butter and a box of milk. I think we got the better end of that deal!
We head out for our 30 plus hour run to Astoria under sunny skies. As we approach the traffic lanes that separate large ship traffic coming out of the Straits of Juan de Fuca we are very thankful for clear skies. We had a near miss with a large ship last year in nearly the exact spot that we see one this year. The difference is we can see this one since it is not sheltered in dense fog. We test our radar and AIS settings since the ship is just at the edge of distant fog. Both show it to be eight miles out. As it closes the distance we alter course slightly to ensure that we pass behind the ship. Clear of the ship we continue on. We pass the time talking to the many playful dolphin who swim and cavort within feet of our boat. We also see numerous sea lions and whale sports in the distance.
The seas are quite calm today. This allows easy work in the galley which means we can have something other than granola bars and sardines. Lunch is the remains of our bon voyage steak sliced onto Odile's home made bread and followed by one of Walt's chewy, nutty brownies. Have we become spoiled or what!
We enjoy a beautiful sunset followed by a moon set with fishing boats off in the distance followed by a delightful sunrise on our voyage south along the Washington coast. The seas remain calm and there is not enough wind to sail but our trusty motor and auto pilot keep us on track. We arrive at the Columbia River bar a bit early so we turn off the motor and float around then we do a slow sail over the bar with our still reefed main and a 1/3 head sail out.
The bar report is 2-4 foot seas and 100% visibility. This is true for the first 30 minutes but all of a sudden we are in pea soup fog. After a call to the Coast Guard for an updated bar report they say again that it is 100% visibility. I let them know that we are in the channel and we can see about 50 yards....maybe! We soon hear a revised report that indeed says visibility five zero yards repeat five zero yards in a voice bordering on anxious. Now everyone knows to approach cautiously. Our normal three hour transit to Astoria takes 5 and 1/2 hours but we arrive safely thanks to a close eye on the radar, AIS and slow going with watchful eyes.
After a sound sleep we depart up river, destination the delightful Longview Yacht Club. We enjoy the flood tide which adds a knot and a half to our normal speed. We dine on their deck and have nice discussions with some of the members who are working on the club house. The next morning, well rested, we take off for the City of Rainier dock to pick up Carl's brother Jim. The three of us go to a nice cafe for breakfast which will give the outgoing tide some time to pass through so we don't have to fight the tide and the current.
We have a nice motoring up the river enjoying the normal river commerce, barges, logging containers, dredging, and a treat, one of the tall ships with its pirate crew and the Queen of the West paddlewheel. We make decent time and arrive home a little before 7:00 p.m. It is nice to be home. Once again our trip has proven to be nerve wracking fun and worth every minute. Until next year!
No comments:
Post a Comment