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…
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