The Ship Report

A ship horn signal that could be heard more often on the river in August Yesterday I heard a ship do its five-blast warning signal on the river, letting a sailboat know of its presence and cautioning it to stay out of the ship's path. This is a standard horn signal that ships and boats use when they see a potential issue developing and want to head off any possible problems with a nearby vesse...

How old fashioned navigation methods can still save the day when modern aids can't Last week, global internet service provider Starlink experienced a service outage for over two hours, causing difficulties for lots of remote users, including ships and boats, especially those far from land. While electronics are great, it's also a good idea to have some old fashioned navigation equipment an...

US carrier Matson says no to electric vehicles, citing lithium ion battery risk The US ocean carrier Matson has decided to no longer ship electric vehicles, because of the increasing frequency of what analysts believe are lithium ion battery caused fires on car ships. Despite newer industry recommendations designed to make ships safer, these fires remain a deadly, and usually in practice, uncontro...

Who's on the river today? We've been talking about other things this week so far. Let's take a look today at our ship schedule.

We see them every day, but likely ignore this big influence in our lives: What causes tides? Today, as part of the answer to a listener question, I thought it would be good to take a look at why tides happen. This influence is huge in our lives here on the coast and on the river, and it's interesting and helpful to understand what's driving it.

Thank you, a bit about music, being brave and, oh - tides Today's show is a bit of a mix: I wanted to thank the folks who came down to the Ten Fifteen Theater to hear my Ship Report talk and to hear Jerry and me perform on stage (eek!), and then a bit about tides, and how there is a vast difference in tidal schedules between what we  Astoria and Vancouver/Portland.

The busy upriver Columbia We see a lot of ships go by on the lower river near Astoria, but the river upstream past Longview is often busier, with a variety of vessel traffic all doing local work: tugs and barges  hauling cargo, ship handling tugs, and ships being moved from anchorages to nearby berths.

A Ship Report talk in Astoria on Saturday, and some music This Saturday the 19th, at 10:30am, I'll be appearing at the 1015 Theater in Astoria, as part of their big Performathon fundraising event, which runs all day and into the night. I'll be sharing memories of a trip I took on a cargo ship when I traveled from the Columbia River up to Puget Sound and south to San Francisco. It was an un...

The Pacific Collector: another interesting military vessel on the river Today we see the Pacific Collector arriving from Honolulu, after a doing her specialized work of tracking missile defense testing. She's one of a host of US military ships we see on the river, along with her sister ship, the Pacific Collector.

Let's take a look at one ship Let's take a look at one ship on today's schedule. It's path traces a winding route from Russia through the Panama Canal to Portland, a journey of more than a month at sea.

Minding the weather A look at today's gusty weather and how to plan accordingly if you're going out on a boat. One thing to remember: the experience of being on the river is very different when you are out on a boat from the way it is on land, even on the shore. And any precautions you take for the river goes double out in the ocean, where risks can be greater.

Staying safe on a boat means: prepare before you go Nothing says summer like the 4th of July, comin' right up. If you're looking forward to boating this weekend, perhaps even in the ocean, here's a bit about how to give yourself the best opportunity to stay safe on our challenging but beautiful Pacific Northwest waterways.

A look at weather, ships and waterflow in the river A little bit of everything today: a look at marine weather compared to land based forecasts, who's on the river today, and a bit about river flow and changing tides.

An overview of current ship traffic Today our ship schedule has just a few ships coming and going on the river. It's a good time to talk about the commerce we often don't see happening, that includes ships at anchor and ships already in port.

The Pacific Tracker: a specialized ship with a long and winding past Today we will see the Pacific Tracker travel up the Columbia to Portland. She's a military missile tracking ship that's berthed at Swan Island's shipyard. An interesting aspect of this ship is her past: she's 60 years old, and has had various uses and names - including as a  bulk carrier and containership. A case...

A look at the Tongue Point Job Corps Seamanship Program To end our week-long series of talks with Len Tumbarello, Maritime Program Program Coordinator for NW Oregon Works, today we'll talk about his previous work running the Tongue Point Job Corps Seamanship program in Astoria, and the benefits the program offers to students. We did this interview before either of us knew about the federal cut...

A look at a career in the Coast Guard Today we continue my interview with Len Tumbarello, Maritime Program Coordinator for NW Oregon Works. We've been talking about maritime employment opportunities this week, but today we'll talk about Len's career in the Coast Guard: how he got started, and what he did as a member of the service. Most of us would know a Coast Guard ship, boat or heli...

Northwest Oregon Works Maritime Program, Part 3 Today we continue hearing excerpts from my interview with Len Tumbarello, maritime program coordinator for Northwest Oregon Works. He's working to improve employment opportunities in the local maritime industry.

Northwest Oregon Works Maritime Program, Part 2 Today we continue my interview with Northwest Oregon Works Maritime Program Coordinator Len Tumbarello, about what kinds of maritime industry employment opportunities this new program could help generate in the state, through funding and development of education and industry partnerships.

Northwest Oregon Works Maritime Program This week we'll be talking with Len Tumbarello, Maritime Program Coordinator for NW Oregon Works. A Coast Guard veteran, Tumbarello also ran the seamanship education at the Tongue Point Job Corps Program in Astoria for years, helping young people prepare for jobs at sea. Now he's working with the this Oregon nonprofit to enhance maritime job opportun...

Farewell to one of my favorite authors: William Langewiesche Today we honor one of my favorite maritime authors: William Langewiesche, author of an incredible book called, The Outlaw Sea. One of the best works of maritime nonfiction I have ever read. It's on a list of cherished books I reread every few years. Many thanks to him for all his great work. Today we'll talk about him and about t...

A look at today's ships and their cargo We'll talk a little today about ships on the river and their cargoes, which are primarily agricultural products and dry minerals.

Farewell to the beautiful barque Eagle Monday we bid farewell to the USCG barque Eagle, the Coast Guard's training ship. She leaves Astoria headed south for San Francisco with a new cadre of cadets aboard, ready to learn the ropes about sailing a tall ship.

The Eagle lands in Astoria Friday morning, the beautiful tall ship Eagle, the US Coast Guard's training ship, comes in from out at sea to the Port of Astoria, where she'll be available for tours on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Here are the details: Arrive at the  Port of Astoria's Pier 1: around 11 am (this is a change from previous info per the bar pilots) Friday Tours: 3:30-7:00 pm S...

Eagle recap for Friday tours Today we'll take another look at the info about when and where you can tour the Eagle in Astoria. The original schedule, which was still out their earlier this week, was causing some confusion. On Friday, the Eagle will begin tours at 3:30 pm. On Saturday and Sunday at 10 am. And a reminder that you do not have to use Real ID to get aboard, Regular government issue...