The Ship Report

What’s in store for the weekend with marine weather? We’ll take a look, and check out ships coming and going on the river. The post A look at weather and ship traffic appeared first on The Ship Report .

Today I’ll share some advice from our beloved Coast Guard personnel here locally, about the approaching PNW heavy weather season, and what you should look out for if you are boating and on the seashore. The post “Heavy weather season is upon us” – a cautionary note from the PNW US Coast Guard appeared first on The Ship Report .

Today’s show is a bit of a potpourri, a little of this and that: I’ll be answering a question about the hospital ship USNS Mercy (yes, she’s still in Portland), a look at our ship schedule, and solo circumnavigator Oliver Widger is making his way down the West Coast. He fixed a freshwater leak in one of his water tanks and is good to go, sailing in beautiful seas. The post An upd...

I’ve been on a bit of a tear about solo sailor Oliver Widger the past few days and have been sharing a lot of info on Facebook, as he departed from Neah Bay headed around the world alone. He plans to sail nonstop, and end his voyage where he started, after months at sea by himself. There’s been lots of discussion on my Facebook Ship Report page about him, with most people very supporti...

You may have heard of Oliver Widger. He’s the intrepid Portland man who, after getting a life-changing medical diagnosis, sold most everything, bought a boat and sailed to Hawaii with his cat. This week he’s beginning another adventure: sailing around the world alone, unassisted and without stopping. He leaves from Port Townsend Friday morning. Photo of Cape Horn: Jerzy Strzelecki, CC...

This week we’ve seen some interesting ships in our Astoria anchorage, with gear we don’t normally see on an average day. We’ll talk about that and also take a look at ship traffic and our marine weather. Spoiler alert: the weather’s looking awfully good. The post A look at gantry cranes and other interesting gear on our anchored ships appeared first on The Ship Report .

In this final segment of my interview series featuring round-the-world racing sailor Heidi Brown, we learn about how injuries are handled aboard a racing yacht, when a crew member was seriously injured as they raced through the notoriously stormy Bay of Biscay, off Spain and France. The post Racing around the world, Part 6: injuries are always a risk at sea appeared first on The Ship Report .

Today we’ll hear more from my interview with Heidi Brown, the Astoria woman who returned this summer from sailing in the Clipper Round the World Race. She spent almost a year at sea on a boat with a crew of about 20 people, going from port to port on separate legs of the race, during which some crew members departed and others joined, but Heidi stayed for the whole journey.  Today we’l...

Astoria resident Heidi Brown sailed around the world for almost a year as part of the crew of a 70 foot yacht in the Clipper Round the World race. This week I’m talking with her about that experience. Today is Part 4. The post Racing around the world: a chat with Heidi Brown, Part 4 appeared first on The Ship Report .

Astoria resident Heidi Brown sailed around the world for almost a year as part of the crew of a 70 foot yacht in the Clipper Round the World race. This week I’m talking with her about that experience. Today is Part 3. The post Racing around the world: a chat with Heidi Brown, Part 3 appeared first on The Ship Report .

Astoria resident Heidi Brown sailed around the world for almost a year as part of the crew of a 70 foot yacht in the Clipper Round the World race. This week I’m talking with her about that experience. Today is Part 2. The post Racing around the world: a chat with Heidi Brown, Part 2 appeared first on The Ship Report .

Astoria resident Heidi Brown joined the Clipper Round the World race last year, and sailed 40,000 miles around the globe on a 70 foot yacht with about 20 crewmates. This week on the Ship Report. I’ll share excerpts from an interview I did with her, talking about what this life-changing experience was like. Today in Part 1, we’ll learn a little about her, and why she found this race was...

A listener asked me about what dew point is, and in the process of checking into it, I also learned about relative humidity. These two terms, which appear in most weather reports, have to do with water vapor in the air and are actually quite important measurements for people in some professions to know. The post Answering a listener question: What is dew point, and for that matter, relative humidi...

Our ship schedule continues to be robust, so let’s talk about it! The post A look at today’s ship schedule appeared first on The Ship Report .

For some folks, seeing a list of ships coming in and out of the river is just that – a list. When I look at them, I see all kinds of details that I’ve learned from many conversations I’ve had over the years with career mariners in our region and beyond. I’ve soaked up what they told me, because I found it fascinating. It’s rewarding for me to share that with you here...

Today we’ll talk about how we can look for clues in the marine environment right in front of us, or use readily available information, to keep us safe and enjoying life as we use the river and ocean beaches. We’ll talk about some things locals know that allow them to work with, instead of against, the immense power of the Columbia River and the ocean. The post How noticing the natural...

It’s another unseen piece of the maritime industry puzzle: how do ships get cargoes on and off. We’ll take a look at some of the most common practices.   The post A look at how the ships we see load and unload cargo appeared first on The Ship Report .

Today we have a small ship schedule, and that presents two opportunities for me here: to reassure you that a day here and there with fewer ships is not a trend. It’s just what happens. And also, I have a chance to use this time to look at the ships that are here in more depth. There’s a lot of interesting detail to talk about. Let’s take a look… The post A close look at tod...

This week we’re celebrating the birthday of legendary ship captain and maritime pilot Captain Deborah Dempsey. She was a Columbia River Bar Pilot for decades here in Astoria. She sailed around the world as the master of big ships. And from her admission into the Maine Maritime Academy in the 1970s to her hiring as a bar pilot, her life as been filled with instances where she has been the fir...

Today I’ll answer a couple of listener questions about what it means when ship traffic numbers are low (hint: not much on a given day), and a question about car ships and why they never seem to look different whether they have loaded or unloaded cargo (the secret decoder phrase is: ballast water).   The post Answers to listener questions about ship traffic numbers and car carriers appea...

Today, an unusual ship alert for a unique US Coast Guard ship that we hardly ever see on the Columbia. The USCG Cutter Healy, the Guard’s largest ship and an icebreaker, has been at the Portland Vigor shipyard since January for maintenance and repairs. She heads downriver and out to sea today. We’ll talk about her unusual mission and capabilities, which include breaking through 4.5 fee...

It was in the “ordinary things we take for granted that are quite important” department: the National Weather Service on Sunday suddenly did not have weather forecasts available to the public on their website, thanks to an IT issue. As they worked to fix it, we went a few hours without updated weather info. Maybe not the end of the world in most cases, but for folks in parts of the cou...

Continuing the theme of ships in the anchorage this week, I thought I would share another listener question about anchored ships. It has to do with a frequent choice ships make, which is to deploy the anchor on the port side instead of the starboard side when anchoring off Astoria. It’s an interesting question with an equally interesting answer, that shows the level of complexity of even ord...

Today I’ll answer a listener question about why anchored ships can look so disorganized when the tide is changing on the river. It’s a good question that involves water flow, natural systems, and reflects the complex and amazing place we live in. The post A listener question about anchored ships: Why do they sometimes look so disorganized? appeared first on The Ship Report .