PDX to Astoria

We have always wanted to make the 80+ mile journey down the Columbia River to the coast and this summer we finally did! So here’s a little recap of the adventure!

The first leg of the journey was to leave our morage at Jantzen Beach, and stay the night at Cathlamette, WA. Both of us were nervous going past Port of Kalama because that’s as far as we have ever taken the boat. Some showed their nervousness by taking a nap…

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Next town to pass through, Longview, WA!

When we were going through Longview we watched helicopters putting out the paper mill fire. Also saw a news helicopter filming.

We hit a few choppy waves after that, but nothing like the Hood River trip. We had to go around the Puget Island to get to the channel, to get into the 5ft deep creek to get into the Guest Morage at Calamath. Puget island had some pretty river front housing!

after parking the boat it was time to wander into the town! We also learned the Washington version of gambling, Pull Tabs!

We found the nightcap location, and it was built out of shipping containers. The inside was so modern and chic! Also I made a friend.

First night was in the books. We woke up nice and early to keep the journey on its way.

We got to the 4 mile long bridge to nowhere and missed the entrance. When we turned around we felt the current and had to floor it to make it into the L shaped walls. We parked safely on the B Row, with no neighbors!

We walked to the hotel next to the marina and they suggested to take the Trolly into town.

We saw a couple of fisherladies cleaning the silver salmon they had just caught. We picked up the trolly at the very begining, and rode it all the way to the end (1st to 35th st) it took about 30 minutes, and it dropped us off at the Rouge Brewery. After grabbing lunch we grabbed the Trolly about an hour later to the middle of town. While sitting in the sun at Fort George Brewery, a whole bunch of vintage VW busses kept circling for parking. While walking we ran into a couple that was apart of the group traveling to Mexico as a group.

On the walk back to the boat we saw a cool ceramic art shop, and popped in to look. There was a whole family inside that informed us that they own the Tiki Bar next door. So we checked Munktiki out. It was so well done and the owner makes all the mugs for the signature cocktails. My volcano even came on fire! Also there was a tropical storm that went off when certain drinks were ordered, which I found to be fun.

The rest of the walk back to the boat had a few games of pool, some cool art installations, and a funny sign for a bar.

That evening we debated staying another day, but decided it was best to head out early in the morning to avoid the tide going out.

The next morning we got some fuel and started on our way. And it turned out to be low tide so the current was okay. We passed a huge moving container ship heading for the bar. Our next morage was Port of Kalama. We’ve stayed there before and really enjoy the town.

To top off an awesome trip, the next morning we left Port of Kalama and aimed upriver to St. Helens. There is a fuel dock there that is 2$ cheaper than up in Portland. We stopped got it pumping and the turning numbers stop turning. I ask the lady inside, and she said

“oh I guess we ran out of gas”

We were pretty empty and start to figure out where we are gonna be able to stop next. We couldn’t go up the Multnomah channel because it would take an hour. So we went super slow back to Janzen Beach. We putted in on fumes, but we made it!

WE MADE IT!!!

Happy to be back in the channel, and tied up to the fuel dock. That was a close one, we’ll call that one

The Unintentional Poker Run.

Thanks for reading,

S & S

PDX to Hood River on the Columbia

Spencer, Debbie, and I left Friday August 12th, 2022 from our Portland moorage to begin our trip up the Columbia River. Our trip was pretty uneventful at this point. We stopped to admire Multnomah Falls from the river, and didn’t accidently pass it like we had done a few weeks before.

It was a quick jaunt to the first docking spot on the Washington side, to Beacon Rock. We enjoyed the Beautiful sunset, the shore power, fish jumping and dancing, a blue heron, and a yummy burger for dinner.

The next morning we woke up at 7am to make our way to the impressive Bonneville Lock. Our very first time using a Lock meant watching others on YouTube to help us prepare. Spencer used the radio for the first time and secured a 9am appointment.

We arrived early at the lock and they let us go up 15 minutes early. We watched the doors open and waited for the green light to enter.

I moved all 4 fenders to the starboard side, and added a line to the center cleat of the boat. I threw the line maybe 5 times before some of the line went in the water, weighing the rope down, 6th time’s the charm!

Once attached to the floating cleat, we pushed and pulled away from the massive concrete wall. No mistakes! All hands were on deck, and we looked like pros.

The rest of the journey was going well, until we got to the curves in-between the mountains. The waves were large and were breaking over the bow. I was pretty worried at this point, but not hiding down below…yet. The waves continued and then as we got closer, wind surfers and kite surfers sprinkled all over the water. Some came up super close to play in the wake, and others we questioned if they could even see us! At this point I was too nervous of the waves and activity, I had to hide down below. (Worst waves were about where we were on the Apple Maps screenshot below)

Getting closer to the harbor, we had to find the entrance by following the White Salmon Interstate Bridge. The wind was really strong and someone else was on the gas dock, so we idled around until it was available.

Once the “Crazy Train” vessel left the fuel dock, we parked, picked up the phone to call the gas attendant. The Shell station informed us the regular fuel pump was broken. We panicked a little, because we only had a quarter tank and needed fuel to get home. Spencer checked for other fuel docks, but nothing was open nearby.

So this is what he had to do…

Walking up and down 5-6 times to and from the Shell station, Spencer earned his much needed Coors Banquet that day. Somewhere in-between walking the “Crazy Train started creeping back up. I caught their boat, thinking I’m being friendly. They inform me that we were in their spot… the wife was not happy with me. I explained that my husband was shuffling fuel back and forth currently and he would talk with them when he got back.

The (Oregon City!) couple had trailered their boat in and had gone out for a spin hoping their spot was still there when they returned. We had no way to tell they were trying to reserve the spot (at a first come first serve dock). Spencer agreed we would move back and let them have the spot back, which left us with no shore power for the night. The generator came in handy! The wife did come by with a friendly chat later that day which was nice.

While Spencer was filling up, a weird looking creature crawled up the fender. It sat for awhile, and then we noticed it looked like it was coming out of it’s own stomach. Time goes on, and the animal crawls out and seems to be drying itself off. We watch it dance around the fender, dry off and develop wings, and become a Dragonfly! Insane!

Captain Bob, who sold us “Margie Too”, drove his car “Red Rooster” to join us for Modern Taco dinner. The nachos were the real winner! We also had Beef Kimchi, Pork, chicken, and steak tacos.

We chatted back at the boat, and enjoyed the sunset.

That evening, we walked to find the pedestrian bridge that the neighbor had told us about. Arguments may or may not have happened on said bridge location, but we saw more of Hood River this way.

We walked up to the local watering hole, greeted by an intoxicated man ready to talk politics, but we kept walking! We each had a cold beverage and looked into a taxi for the ride home. Promises of a Bike taxi fell short, we got sent to voicemail and had to find a new taxi service.

While waiting for the new taxi van to come back, a group of 5 women all dressed in bridal gowns requested a photographer service and the photoshoot commenced. After all that back to the boat we went.

After a McMuffin and some coffee the next day, we made our way home. We left around 8:30, and by 9am Spencer was soaked by the big swells for about an hour. This time the waves even scared Debbie, but Shelbi was ready to get back to the “rivers and the lakes that she’s used to”. Like the great TLC once sang…

We followed a large yacht in the Cascade Locks Marine Park, to wait for our Lock appointment. We found a gift shop, we bought a postcard and a silly hat.

Calling in the appointment left us with a negative from the lock master. They were running the downstream ride earlier than normal for the “Messenger” vessel. They asked if we could make it there in 10 minutes, we could join the sailboat. Full throttle to the Lock, and we made it in time.

Spencer discovered the toilet would no longer flush, soooo fun news. After hitting a few more good bumpy waves nice and fast, no way related to anger of things breaking, we discovered the vaccuflush was working again. YAY!

We proceeded to Puffin for a snack and to get a bag of ice. We shared the nachos and the coconut shrimp. after the waitress refused to give us any to go ice, we used the ice vending machine at the top of the boat launch, and helped 3 kiddos retrieve their ice as well!

We stopped one last time to have a happy hour with Bob on the 1967 Cristcraft Commander “Aquarama” dock, jumped in to cool off, and toured an 1984 36ft Sea Ray. Then it was time to ship to shore!

Back moorage sweet moorage, beautiful sunset, and ready to go home sweet home.

Time will tell if we will ever make that a boat trip again, but for now I’m all good!