25 July 2008 FridayAll of the cruising I did last week was in a small area of the Columbia River that runs north and south.
Right when you thought the river ran east and west! Well, it does for the most part of the lower Columbia from the Bonneville Dam to the pacific ocean.
Double click on the map and you can enlarge it.
This North and South section runs along I-5 and I always wondered what it was. Now I have become quite intimate with it. Carrolls Channel and Martin Slough can be seen from I-5 as well. The N- section begins with Kelso and Longview WA. The next town south is Kalama and then Vancouver WA. The S-section begins with St. Helens, Columbia City, Goble and Rainier on the Oregon side. The Multnomah Channel connects the Columbia River with the Willamette River on the Oregon Side. Sauvie Island, which is the longest island in the US in fresh water and has a huge wildlife refuge on it. In the winter there are tens of thousands of Canada Geese and Sandhill Cranes. It has the Multnomah Channel on the west side and the Columbia River on the east side. This is a fun island to circumnavigate.
This is a wonderful Columbia River Website: Refer to this site often for all my river destinations. Descriptions of towns, cities, historical sites, sloughs, rivers, islands, early History, 2,500 Photos, and Lewis and Clark's Journal Entries.
After sending out lots of emails about my blog, I have gotten lots of positive comments. Make sure you post your ideas, thoughts, desires in the comment section and read others. Since I am at home without any of my logs, charts and photos I am at a loss for images to put in at this time. Two days ago I didn't think I would ever have a blog and now I have a fun project to play with and lots of ideas.
Too Tall Tom from California wants to have Albin details, what modifications came with Shatoosh and what modifications were done by me. What worked and what didn't work? Could I take a lot of detail pictures. OK, OK, Too Tall.
My friend Carol from Bellingham wanted to have a map of the area, as all these places were unkown to her. It will be a while before I can get back to Shatoosh, but when I return I will be armed with lots of goodies like real charts, not car maps.
Georgia writes from Gig Harbor: What a fabulous blog. I feel like I'm so privileged to know you I'm so glad you mentioned Sabra. I thought she was a de vine boat. I found another blog Called Zac's Blog. He is 16 and sailing around the world alone. I think he started in San Francisco. He has just left Hawaii. It's fascinating reading.
Larry from Kalama asks about Locking thru Willamette at Oregon City. See his comment below and my reply. I met Larry at Martin Slough and we had lots in common, boating, country music, Hawaiiana. His custom cruiser, Starship, is really an interesting design and he keeps it bristol clean.
Bambi from San Antonio writes: Just enjoyed reading your new log. As I read your descriptions of cruising along the river, I felt almost like I was there on the boat. Ah nostalgia! Took me back to days of yore when I shared some of your adventures on your various sailboats. I'll look forward to seeing more postings. (Bambi was a long time crew person on my Mutineer 15, my Kenner Kittiwake 23, my Pacific Seacraft 25, and Sabra, my Swan 36. She never got sea sick and could go below and fix an amazing dinner for everyone while underway. All we had to do was anchor or get the boat tied up and sit down to a feast. Thanks, Bambi for all the meals and good times. You have always been the best galley crew.)
