Decisions, Decisions

The morning looks dark, wet and gloomy. However my morning coffee seems to pack a punch. It is the new stuff from the Delta Dan and has a vanilla flavor to it. I am planning to go down river to Cathlamet, but with the weather being bad and the weather report talking rain, I pull up anchor and head uphill, going against the tide and current. And to top it all off, the wind is coming down river as well. As I pass Gull Island, the dredgers are busy as beavers and advanced from yesterday. They stretch the whole width of the river and I did not know where to gain passage. I called on the radio and asked if I could pass between the dredger and the yellow buoy. He stated, "yes". I thank him and slog up river and am out of their way.

6 Ships are in Longview. One is from Singapore, one is from France, The one from Port Vila is still anchored. I look up Port Vila to see where they are from. I had seen ships from there before but have forgotten. Port Vila is the biggest port in Vanuatu.

I decide to pull into Rainier, get ice, dump off trash, go to the Mexican Restaurant and then wait until the tide turns to advance up river. I get Pashmina up on the cabin top. While I am out, the Coast Guard Buoy Tender, the Bluebell, out of Portland docks across from me. They are very interested in Shatoosh when I return. They all liked the teak cleats. The crew are all very young men so I tell them that the light on marker 80 is out. They wanted to know where the light was, so I said, "Eureka island". They did not know where that was. I said, "up river from Cape Horn". They did not know where that was, either. They assured me that they would pass on the word.

I met 2 fellows cruising on a Compac 19. It is a very salty looking little cruiser. One guy had seen me in Cathlamet and had liked the looks of the Albin, so looked them up on the internet. I gave them a tour, which by now, you all know is my favorite thing to do. They left the same time as I did. I see them pulling into Martin Slough bout 2 hours after I arrived here. They wanted to try to sail, but gave up at Kalama.

I had another wonderful day on the water, meeting new friends who love boating and getting to be on Shatoosh one more day. It is just the best.