The Ship Report

How our sunny, chilly weather can affect those working at sea Our sunny weather may be a welcome break from the usual rain, but the lack of cloud cover is bringing cold nights - and that poses particular hazards for those working at sea these days, especially commercial fishermen.

A look at the bows of ships: the very important front end of things Today, a look at a very specific and important design feature on ships: the bow, the very front end of things. Why do they look the way they do? And why do some ships look different than others? Image: a ship with a plumb bow in the Astoria Anchorage. Credit: Joanne Rideout 2025.

Who's on the river today? A look at ships coming and going, including a couple of US-flag Jones Act ships, and a little about flags, cargo and the weather.

Kalama seeks to address sand shortage with dredge spoils project To address a regional sand shortage, a critical element in concrete production, the Port of Kalama is hoping to get the go ahead for a project that would use sand dredged from the Columbia River instead of transporting sand in from elsewhere.

The river can be deceiving unless you look carefully I was walking along the riverside in Astoria yesterday and it sure looked calm out there on the water. Upon closer inspection, there was a actually max ebb tide happening, and the water in the channel was rushing toward the sea. No wind though, and not much surface turbulence. A reminder that the river can be deceving to the inexperienced: don't...

Solo racer Pip Hare's amazing adventure Today we'll talk about the incredible journey of solo racing sailor Pip Hare. She was competing in the round the world Vendee Globe race in mid December, when her boat was severely damaged and lost its mast. Instead of calling for rescue or abandoning the boat, Hare used broken parts and a small sail to create a small makeshift rig, and slowly sailed 700 mil...

Who's on the river today? A look at today's complement of ships, including one that may eventually be carrying a mineral substance used for, among other things, kitty litter.

A review of anchorages, and the kinds of ships that use them most on the Columbia Today, I thought we could do an overview of anchorages on the river.  We see ships in anchorages up and down the river corridor. Why do ships stop there? What happens on board ships in the anchorage? Can ships just anchor anywhere? Why do some this anchor and others don't? We'll talk about all this and more in today'...

USNS Washington Chambers enters the river today An unusual vessel arrives in the river today: The USNS Washington Chambers. She's a cargo ship that is a member of the Navy's Military Sealift Command fleet, and she's headed for the shipyard at Swan Island. She's been involved in some unique military exercises at sea recently - we'll talk about that too. And a correction to Tuesday's podcast about t...

Something to cheer about in the depths of winter: the days are getting longer Today we'll talk about a happy fact: the days are getting longer! Since we passed the winter solstice in December, we've been adding a little daylight daily in small increments. Soon it will add up to wonderfully longer days, and eventually summer once again.

Interesting backstory on a complex Christmas ship incident shows mariner expertise On Christmas Eve, some lower Columbia land dwellers saw a ship and two tugs slowly making its way upriver to Rainier, where it remains anchored. The ship experienced engine failure on its way downriver, and had to turn around and retrace its path. The complex backstory around this incident, which might have seemed t...

A look at today's ship schedule: who's on the river? We've got a calm weather outlook for the week, and ships coming and going. We'll see who's here and where they're from, and what kinds of cargoes they're handling.

New Year's Eve on the Astoria Waterfront 2024 It's that time of year again, when Astoria is usually quite fortunate to hear ship horns on the waterfront at midnight. It's different every year, depending on who's in the anchorage and who chooses to participate. Thanks to the kind ship captains who agreed to sound their horns for us this year. Enjoy these sounds of the New Year's night and our town,...

Dungeness Crabbing - Part 4 More about our local Dungeness crab fishery and what it takes to do this demanding profession.

Dungeness crabbing - Part 3 We continue our look at the local Dungeness crab fishery.

Dungeness crab fishing - Part 2 Today we continue our look at the local Dungeness crab fishery, from a 2016 interview I did with fishermen John Corbin and Scott McMullen.

Something special for Christmas Eve: A Coastal Christmas My annual Christmas Eve reading of A Coastal Christmas: a retelling of the story of The Night before Christmas, in which PNW fishermen and the US Coast Guard rescue Santa and save Christmas for everyone.

A look at the Dungeness crab industry This week and next I'll be taking some time off for the holidays. While I'm away I'll be sharing excerpts from an interview I did in 2016 with local fishermen John Corbin and Scott McMullen, all about the local Dungeness Crab fishing industry. At the time, Corbin was chair of the Oregon Dungeness Crab Commission, and McMullen is chair of the Oregon Fishermen's...

More weather coming our way, and a look at next week's shows A  look at the next round of weather coming our way. And a preview of next week: an archive interview about the local Dungeness crab industry, while I take a much needed break for the holidays.

A look at weather data from Tuesday and Wednesday, and the "Sailors Empathy ToolKit" Today we'll look at data from Tuesday night's storm, which left much of our coastal area without power on Wednesday. We'll also take a look at a new set of small experiments I am compiling to help land dwellers understand what it's like to be a mariner on a vessel at sea. I call it the Sailors Empathy Toolkit. So...

A look at common heavy weather terms to describe intensity as more storms come our way The National Weather Service says we'll be looking at 20 foot seas and 60 mph winds offhore by the end of the week. Ships are already waiting out in the ocean. Another wintry week on the lower Columbia.

A look at who's on the river, amid worsening weather We have another round of winter weather coming in with high seas and winds, meanwhile ships that were stuck in port or out at sea over the weekend, during our previous storm, are hoping to move on before the next one hits.

The river at night Today, as we continue through the season of short days and lots of darkness, we'll talk about getting around on the river at night.

A look at bar restrictions up and down the coast as a new round of weather arrives Those of us who live on or near the Lower Columbia River tend to think of bar restrictions as things affecting the Columbia River Bar. But actually, there are river and bay bars up and down the coast and they all are dynamic and dangerous areas where inland waterways meet the ocean. Today we'll take a look at what's...

Gantry cranes: a look at some unusual equipment on an anchored bulk carrier A listener sent me a photo of a ship in the Astoria Anchorage that had some unusual looking equipment on deck. It's called a  gantry crane, and it allows the ship to handle containers using onboard equipment.