Yesterday, a dock mate from Scappoose pulled in in his cute mini cruiser called, Dot Calm. It is good to see him out as he has been working alot on his boat. She looks primo. Early in the morning about 0630 I noticed that he was diving off his stern. Later he recalls when he was entering the channel he slowed down quite a bit. He put his underwater cam corder on and saw that his prop was fouled with lots of seaweed. I've never known anyone that had such a device, but most practical. I'm certainly going to tell my friend, Too Tall about this. I'm certain he will love getting one. Many times, I call him, " Back Up Billy", as he wants to have back up plans for everything. Dot Calm leaves for Astoria. About 6 sailboats leave and one small sailing catamaran.
The coast guard
boat comes in and cruises out again. Kapeku's parents came over to see Shatoosh and we noted some other cruising spots they might be interested in. It is cloudy, but there is breaking skies to the south.
I depart for Walker Island and repeat my course of ducking behind Puget Island. The winds are increasing, so I close t
he back window but leave the sides open, which later I regret. As I proceed through the channel, the stern waves and winds are building to a considerable height and by the time I reach the Columbia river it is horrible. The large granite point is called CapeHorn and is noted for heavy winds. I have never experienced anything like today there and often wondered if this was a misnomer. Not today! This is terrible. The seas are breaking on my stern and now I wish I had closed my side flaps. The noise of them breaking is scary and I absolutely do not want to look back. I'm steering with intense focus, sitting on the end of the bench seat with both feet pressed hard against the bulkhead. My general speed is 5 knots against the current and ebbing tide. Shatoosh is being thrust down the fronts of the waves surfing up to over 8 knots. As I slow the speed of the engine on these surfs I am down to 3.9 knots when I plow into the ebbing tide and current, then back up to 8 on the next surf. Over and over this takes place. My quadriceps are quivering with fatigue, but Shatoosh is really riding all of this out very well. I meet a big trawler and sailboat coming down river and they are taking a beating going against all of this. As I approach the sandy islands of Eureka Channel all the winds stop and the seas are flat. Wow, I breathe a big sigh of relief. I open the back window, as the sun is out and its getting hot. As they say in Washington wait 5 minutes and the weather will change. It has been more than 5 minutes, but more like one and a half hours. I drink some water with electrolytes and I am restored.
I am over coming a sailboat which is drifting under sail in the light winds. I had previously seen a skipper on board, but now no one is at the helm and the boat is moving into shallow water near the shoreline. I wait and watch for several minutes and decide to make a turn back and investigate the situation. I scan the waters behind, thinking he could have gone overboard, but no one was in the water. I also think that he has pulled out of the channel to go below to relieve himself or to get food. As I come up along side he appears from the cabin munching on a bag of chips. I yell, that I was just checking the situation. He waves and yells thanks. You just never know and it is always best to check out the unusual.
I round the buoy at Gull island and see several boats anchored up in the sliver of a waterway between Gull and Crim islands. It is the catamaran I saw in Cathlatmet. I would love to go up there in Shatoosh but after seeing all the snags I decided it was not for me. This is my last leg to Walker island dock and guess what? The winds begin to scream again all the way to my destination. There are
2 boats already tied up and I see 4 boats anchored in my favorite little cove.(the photo taken the next morning as 2 boats had already departed) I have heard people doing a stern and bow anchor but this is the first time I have seen it. They are a group of Portland sailors who were in Cathlamet yesterday.
The 2 men from their boats come out to grab my lines as I pull in. I'm always happy to receive help on a windy day. I get the best spot on the dock; up river and on the inside. Ralph the singlehander on a big trawler is rocking and rolling on the outside, but he sticks it out. The winds die off after dark. He was one of the boats anchored in Mott island basin the other night. He had a rough time steering at Cape Horn also. He was going to try to get in behind Wallace island which I had thought of doing that but that would have been too rough to cross at that angle to the waves. We both aborted that idea. It was a good experience to see how Shatoosh handles in all of those big following seas. I get more and more impressed by this little ship.
boat comes in and cruises out again. Kapeku's parents came over to see Shatoosh and we noted some other cruising spots they might be interested in. It is cloudy, but there is breaking skies to the south. 
he back window but leave the sides open, which later I regret. As I proceed through the channel, the stern waves and winds are building to a considerable height and by the time I reach the Columbia river it is horrible. The large granite point is called CapeHorn and is noted for heavy winds. I have never experienced anything like today there and often wondered if this was a misnomer. Not today! This is terrible. The seas are breaking on my stern and now I wish I had closed my side flaps. The noise of them breaking is scary and I absolutely do not want to look back. I'm steering with intense focus, sitting on the end of the bench seat with both feet pressed hard against the bulkhead. My general speed is 5 knots against the current and ebbing tide. Shatoosh is being thrust down the fronts of the waves surfing up to over 8 knots. As I slow the speed of the engine on these surfs I am down to 3.9 knots when I plow into the ebbing tide and current, then back up to 8 on the next surf. Over and over this takes place. My quadriceps are quivering with fatigue, but Shatoosh is really riding all of this out very well. I meet a big trawler and sailboat coming down river and they are taking a beating going against all of this. As I approach the sandy islands of Eureka Channel all the winds stop and the seas are flat. Wow, I breathe a big sigh of relief. I open the back window, as the sun is out and its getting hot. As they say in Washington wait 5 minutes and the weather will change. It has been more than 5 minutes, but more like one and a half hours. I drink some water with electrolytes and I am restored.
2 boats already tied up and I see 4 boats anchored in my favorite little cove.(the photo taken the next morning as 2 boats had already departed) I have heard people doing a stern and bow anchor but this is the first time I have seen it. They are a group of Portland sailors who were in Cathlamet yesterday. 
