The Ship Report

CG41332: Part 3 - how the boat capsized We're into Day 3 of my interview with John Kopp, about his book CG41332m, about a tragedy on the Columbia River Bar during Coast Guard training in which three students lost their lives. Today Kopp reads from his book, a passage about the moment just before the boat flipped in the breakers near Clatsop Spit. Show transcript here: http://shipreport.nfshost...

CG41332: Part 2 of the story of a Coast Guard tragedy Today we continue hearing parts of an interview series featuring John Kopp. former USCG surfman, and author of a book about a little-known Coast Guard tragedy that happened on the Columbia River Bar in 1977. The book is titled CG41332, named for the boat involved in a horrendous accident in which three students lost their lives. It's a harr...

Part one of an interview with author John Kopp about a USCG tragedy Today we begin an interview series featuring John Kopp. former USCG surfman, and author of a book about a little-known Coast Guard tragedy that happened on the Columbia River Bar in 1977. The book is titled CG41332, named for the boat involved in a horrendous accident in which three students lost their lives. It's a harrowing,...

Who's on the river today, and a look at an upcoming interview series Today we'll look at daily ship traffic and where it's headed, and also a heads up that I'll be taking some vacation time for the next week and a half. While I'm gone the show will air as usual and you'll be hearing an extended interview I did with author John Kopp about his 2023 book, CG41332, about a USCG...

Tragedy on the Columbia River Bar This weekend, a recreational boat overturned on the Columbia River Bar. Out of the five people on board, two were rescued safely, one died, and two remained missing when the Coast Guard called off their search Saturday night. Today we'll talk a bit about why the bar has been historically, and remains, one of the most dangerous river entrances in the world. Sho...

National Data Buoy Center: a rewarding agency to work for Today we conclude this week's interview with Craig Kohler, operations branch chieg for the National Data Buoy Center. We've learned a lot about this agency and its network of high tech data buoys in US and international waters. Today, Kohler talks about how rewarding it is to work for an agency that does valuable scientific work at...

National Data Buoy Center: how buoys stand up to brutal ocean weather Today we'll hear more from my interview with Craig Kohler; he's an official with the National Data Buoy Center. We've been talking this week about the network of data-gathering buoys in US waters and around the world. Today we talk about how this data helps scientsits, and also how these hardy buoys stand up to the p...

National Data Buoy Center tsunami warning buoys We continue this week's interview with Craig Kohler from the National Data Buoy Center, a US agency under NOAA and the National Weather Service that operates a network of data buoys in US coastal waters and around the world. Today we'll talk about the NDBC tsunami buoys that are strategically placed in the ocean to warn officials when a tsuna...

National Data Buoy Center - an important local buoy gets repaired and put back in service Today we'll talk about our local National Data Buoy Center buoy, 46029, which was returned to service in June, 20 miles off the mouth of the Columbia River in the Pacific. This important data buoy had been out of service since last fall. Today we'll talk with NDBC adminstrator Craig Kohler about the b...

National Data Buoy Center - valuable local resource and worldwide agency Today we'll begin hearing excerpts from my interview with Craig Kohler, operations branch chief for the National Data Buoy Center. NDBC maintains a network of buoys in US coastal waters and in other places in the world, that transmit weather and climate data to satelites. We have NDBC buoys in our coastal waters including...

A look at ship traffic, and - hot weather is about to arrive Today we'll take a look at ship traffic on the river, and at the predictions for our upcoming holiday weekend heat wave. I'll be taking the long holiday weekend to regroup a little from the exhausing but wonderful process of finally launching my boat (see yeastserday's podcast.) So after today, I'll see you all again Mond...

Passage, afloat again at last Many of you have asked me about my boat, Passage, a long term restoration project I started 16 years ago with my dad. Friday she was launched and is doing fine. Here's a bit of her (and my) story. Show transcript here: http://shipreport.nfshost.com/audio/SRTranscript070224.pdf

A look at one of Astoria's old hometown ships: where is the USCGC Alert now? Earlier this year, the USCGC Alert, a Coast Guard ship that had been in Astoria for decades, was reassigned and replaced by a brand new cutter, the USCGC David Duren, which is now in Astoria. Today we take a look at where the Alert is now... she's got a new home on the East Coast (a region she was first assigned t...

Rogue Waves Today, a look back in the Ship Report srchives at an interview about rogue waves with Capt. Deborah Dempsey and Terry Wilson - both dear friends of mine. This interview is especially poignant, since Terry is no longer with us. Today we'll learn about rogue waves from two mariners who have each experienced them at sea. Show transcript: http://shipreport.nfshost.com/audio/SRTranscrip...

Part two of the Sinking of the Meteor: a gem from the archives Today we'll hear part 2 of the true story of the sinking of the commercial fishing boat Meteor, on the Columbia River Bar in the 1970s, as told by former fisherman Michael McCusker. Show transcript here: http://shipreport.nfshost.com/audio/SRTranscript062724

A gem from the archives: the sinking of the Meteor I need to take the next few days off, and so we'll hear a few shows from the Ship Report archives. The two part show that you'll hear today and tomorrow is a listener favorite: the true story of the sinking of the commercial fishing boat Meteor on the Columbia River Bar, told as no one else can by Michael McCusker. You can hear Michael Thu...

Getting around on the river Today we'll take a look at what factors affect how long it takes a ship to get from one place to another, on the ocean and on the river. Show transcript here: http://shipreport.nfshost.com/audio/SRTranscript062524.pdf

Who's on the river? Today we'll take a look at today's ship schedule, including a Canadian tug with an unusual destination. Show transcript here: http://shipreport.nfshost.com/audio/SRTranscript062424.pdf

The Panama Canal Today we have a ship arriving from France, which means she likely traveled through the Panama Canal. We'll talk about that historic waterway, its problems with drought in recent years. and how a coming La Nina climate trend might help alleviate that. Show transcript here: http://shipreport.nfshost.com/audio/SRTranscript062124,pdf

Buoys in the 'hood Today I thought we'd talk about some of the most ever-present and often ignored (by people on land) things in our river neighborhood - and that's navigational buoys. Vital for mariners, they sit in the water day and night doing their work, making the watery highway safe for travel. Each buoy is unique, by color, numbers and sound, and they have lights so they can be...

Research vessel Atlantis visits Astoria There's a very special ship at the Port of Astoria right now: the research vessel Atlantis is at the dock, taking a temporary break from her research work in the Pacific Ocean. Such vessels often stop into Astoria because we are conveniently near the ocean, to get supplies and change crews. The Atlantis is a famous ship, espeically known for the submersi...

Interesting river anomalies Today we'll take a look at a couple of interesting natural occurences on the river that can pose challenges for boaters: whitecaps and eddies. A glimpse at our profound natural world in action, right at our watery doorstep. Show transcript here: http://shipreport.nfshost.com/audio/SRTranscript061724.pdf

Ship mystery solved: what was all that smoke? A listener contacted me and sent me a video to ask about huge quantity of smoke spewing from a passing container ship. The situation did indeed look rather dire, with lots of smoke billowing in the air. Turns out this situation was not an emergency, but was instead white steam from the ship's scrubbers. We'll talk about what that means, why som...

Nehalem River canoeing death highlights an overlooked aspect of water safety The death of a canoist on the Nehalem River last week offers a good reason to talk about water safety in a different way. Most people think the water dangers here are on the coast: the beach with its sneaker waves and rip currents, the Columbia River Bar, and the river's cold water and strong tides. But equally danger...

More on wildlife rehab: what's the success rate when saving oil-soaked birds? Today we hear Part 2 of my interview with Ginger Nealon, wildlife rehabilitation coordinator for the Wildlife Center of the North Coast, based in Olney, Oregon. They've been helping oil-soaked birds that were injured in a recent oil spill. Today we'll talk about how successful such efforts are, what you can d...