Day 75: Astoria Again

Boats, Boats, and More Boats


Boat Passing Under Bridge & Rainbow with Bird (likely a seagull not a bluebird) Flying

Today was a big day for boats, or more accurately ships.  In the morning we watched the Pacific Logger head under the bridge and up the river.

Pacific Basin/Pacific Logger, Inbound from Japan (Flying the Hong Kong Flag)

 The Pacific Logger flies the Hong Kong flag, was built in 2000, is 580 feet long and has a gross tonnage of 19, 717.  It began it's journey in Japan, and is presumably heading up the Columbia to pick up a load of wood that is headed back to the far East.

 How do we know all this?  Bob got that ship traffic schedule from the front desk last night AND this morning, and augmented it with very detailed information from Marine Traffic website.

 After the Pacific Logger show was over we headed over to the Columbia River Maritime Museum. The museum is largely dedicated to material about the Columbia River Bar, one of the most dangerous passages in the world-- from storms that brought down ships to the Coast Guard Heroes that saved them.
From the Coast Guard Rescue Diorama


The Complete Coast Guard Rescue Diorama

The museum contained a replica of a Coast Guard vessel, and here I am standing on the kid box inside it so I can see over the edge.

Real Lisa, Replica Boat

Bob's favorite exhibit was this one of two cannons.  They were part of the 1846 wreck of the USS Shark, a US Navy vessel that ran aground on the Columbia Bar.  The discovery of the cannons was made by a beach-combing Oregon teenager in 2008.

Bob Between Cannons

In addition to Columbia River based exhibits the museum was currently highlighting Pacific Northwest and other severe weather.  We watched a 3D movie about hurricanes.  And I was also intrigued by this boat:
Boat that Rode the Tsunami of 2011 from Japan and Turned Up on the Oregon Coast 2 Years Later 

 The story is that it was swept away when the Tsunami hit Japan in 2011, and washed up in just about one piece on the Oregon Coast 2 years later. Sometimes nature is just amazing.

 While we were at the museum, we could continue to watch the ships go by on the river. We didn't catch the name of this one, but enjoyed watching it pass just the same.
Unknown Ship on the Columbia River

In addition to watching ships, we also had a chance to walk through one-- a decommissioned lightship.

Lisa on Deck
The Columbia-- a retired lightship

A lightship is essentially a boat functioning as a lighthouse.  This boat was built in Maine, was deployed on the Columbia as a lightship in 1951, and decommissioned in 1979.  It was immediately donated to the museum, and so is a frozen-in-time exhibit of what lightship life was like-- boring stretches broken up by bouts of really bad weather.  Today, lightships have been replaced by unmanned buoys-- which helpfully do not get bored, or eat much.


We headed back to the room after the museum to continue watching the ships go by our window.  The next one up was the YASA Eagle-- Flying the Marshall Islands Flag, built in 2012, 751 feet long, gross tonnage of 44,557, and headed to China.

YASA Eagle--Headed Out to Sea

As you can see from the picture above, it came through just after a rainstorm and made its way under the bridge and the rainbow.  Watch:




As the sun went down we watched the Thor Menelaus passing by our window.

Thor Menelaus--On The Way In

This ship flies a Singapore flag, is 623 feet long, has a gross tonnage of 30,743, and was built in 2006.  The voyage originated in Japan and the ship is headed for Vancouver.

Thor Menelaus Passes Under The Bridge at Twilight

Watching the ships go by seems a fitting way to end our Great Alaska Adventure.  Tomorrow we start the drive home-- covering about 500 miles, and landing in Ontario, Oregon (outside Boise, ID)

 Until then...

 Lisa

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