Having crew onboard for a change is special so Hira is busy in the galley making coffee and french toast. The first cup seems rather weak to Linda, so Hira beefs up another brew. It seems better but I think Linda is used to a more concentrated blend. My other friend Judi calls it, "Panther Piss". We depart about 1045 hrs and mosey along the back sloughs before heading down river to Kalama again. On the way out Hira spots an immature eagle on the shore with a fresh kill. Yum, yum.
Kalama has an interesting Hawaiian Heritage from the 1800's. Many strong men came from the Sandwich islands to build Ft. Vancouver. Each year of late they have Hawaiian Days in August and there are many Hula Halaus in the area. I cruised in last year and it was quite a festival.
My genealogy investigations took me to Ft. Vancouver several years ago where I learned my ancestors the Gilmours and the Dunsmuirs came from Scotland in 1850 with the Hudsons Bay Company on the ship Pekin to mine coal on Vancouver Island. They ran agroun
d on the Columbia River bar(the graveyard of the pacific) and Mrs Gilmour gave birth to a son, named Allan Columbia Gilmour. On the way up the Columbia to Ft. Vancouver Mrs Dunsmir gave birth to a child as well. Their journey took over 6 months at sea, rounding the Horn and sailing to the Sandwich Islands before coming into the Columbia River. After their contract ended the Gilmours returned to Scotland in 1855 on the Princess Royal (Mrs G. was pregnant again) and the Dunsmuirs find the largest coal mine in BC. They became the richest family in BC and their home attop the highest hill in Victoria is known as the Craigdarroch Castle. It is open to the public for tours. See web site below for information.Our 5 nmile trip to Kalama pales in comparison. Linda goes back to her home in Tacoma, Wa, where she is a busy newly published author. See her website below(catacumen.com) I get the head pumped out and head back up river slogging against the river's brisk current and ebbing tide. The sun burns off the cloud cover as the wind and waves create quite an upriver slop. I hold in close to shore and there on the beach is a wedding party having pictures taken. Red dresses and roses with the bridesmaides and the bride in white. I toot my horn and everyone waves back to me. It is a strange sight to see them standing in sand next to this year's unsightly harvest of runaway logs from the upriver runoff.
I arrive back in Martin Slough around 1400 hrs and the dock is filled with sailboats from a Portland Yacht Club, so I elect to anchor in the large lagoon. This is the first time I have anchored here. I'm becoming quite proficient at single-handed anchoring on Shatoosh. I select my location and find the lagoon quite deep at 30 feet. I place the gear in neutral and go forward in the cabin and open the hatch. From there I can reach the anchor while standing on the v-berth. I drop the anchor, pay out some line and cleat it off. I return to the helm through the cabin and place the throttle in reverse and set the anchor. I then return to my anchor position and pay out more line. I never have to go forward and stand on the deck to anchor or to get dock lines or fenders. Everything is done from the forecabin or the cockpit. The dock lines are all lead back to the cockpit and the fenders are all tied together and are retrieved and let down by a single line at the cockpit. It is such a safe way to single hand.
I spend the afternoon doing little chores/ maintenance/
reading The Yoga of Emotions, the latest Yoga Journal/and playing Sudoku puzzles on my electronic NY Times version . In between all this I sit and watch many other boats come in to anchor. I spot 2 eagles overhead, one a bald and the other an immature eagle. They are in their spiral, falling mating flights which is so spectacular to see. They return later in the afternoon to show off this dance again for me. I have a very quiet evening and beautiful moonrise. I have lasagna with sauteed yellow squash and onions. yummie, yummie for my tummie.
