And so the good ship Statendam with 1,360 happy campers on board sailed for Astoria. Happy campers in the ship and a worrying captain on the bridge. Astoria, Portland, the Columbia River, great place to visit and great scenery to look at but to get there you have to cross the Columbia Bar at the entrance to the river. It is similar to what you can have at Corinto Nicaragua, only worse, as here you get the undampened Alaska swell. Pilots board ships with a swell of 21 feet running and literately rock-and-roll the ships over the bar. The rock & amp; roll is of great concern to me as it would not be the first time that a wheelchair, with contents, would take off from one side of the Lido and get smashed into the windows at the other side. A reason to be very careful. The ship was already slightly rolling when we approached the area as the swell was ¾ on the stern and then you get a corkscrew motion that is hard to deal with even with the stabilizers. However the pilot was attentive and came far, far out, to have sufficient time to set up a plan and not to delay our sailing into port. The shopkeepers were eager to receive us.
The pilot boat is built for this sort of (winter) weather that is normal in this area and coming alongside with 6 feet of swell did not mean anything to them. The boat operator was so excited about servicing a cruise ship that he did a complete spin with the boat after the pilot had hopped on board safely. After the Master –Pilot conference it was decided to enter the river mouth under an angle so that the swell would remain on the beam and could be counteracted by the stabilizers as best as possible while going over the shallow area where the swell builds up. I alerted all on board to be ready for a big roll but we managed to keep it down to about 2o degrees, which is nothing. I knew I would get a ribbing from the guests later who would all be full of anticipation for “A big roll” and then find that nothing was happening. But I do not mind to look the fool if it works out for the best.
The Statendam docked in Astoria today. (Photo courtesy; Chief Officer Marcel van Zwol who walked around the port to get this shot.)
30 minutes later I could announce the all clear and invite the guests outside to view the scenery. On the starboard side there were gun emplacements from WWII visible amongst the lush greenery of the shore side. Astoria gets 75 inches of rain each year, so if it is not green here, where would it be? Next place of interest was a little Marina where they filmed part of the movie “Free Willy”. Including the moment when he is released back into the water.
By noon time we came alongside which took a bit longer than expected as I had to dock on current and wind and then had to endure the slowest gangway hook in, that I had seen in a long long time. Luckily the whole ship had been cleared by the CBP in Vancouver and the moment we opened the door, the invasion of Astoria started. It was nippy but sunny and most guests went ashore to see the sights. I contemplated for a moment to go and visit the Maritime Museum here, which I know to have a very nice display but the library is only opened on Tuesday’s so the calling of my bed won the argument. I needed to be fully alert when sailing down the river and the short cruises with late departures and long standby by’s take a lot out of you.
By 8 pm we were ready to sail and the agent reported that the shopkeepers had a satisfactory day and also the buzz on board was a positive one. It would be great if we could do Astoria as a port, then scenic cruise up the river and also visit Portland for a day. Sailing away was nice. There is a local gentleman who has a sort of foghorn on the top of his car that produces enough noise to make your dentures rattle five miles away. So we honked back accordingly when the very loud greeeting boomed out. Going down the river we noticed that the swell had died down during the day and although I had pre-warned the guests for the chance of a roll while going out, the ship remained as steady as could be. By 21.30 we said goodbye to a very pleasant and professional pilot and we were on the way up again towards Strait Juan de Fuca.
Tomorrow by noon time we should be docked at Victoria. Wind still weather and a sunny day are in the forecast.
May 19, 2012 at 10:04 pm
No sales tax in the state of Oregon– shopping in Astoria and Portland would reduce the damage to the wallet. 🙂
I wonder– did you also see the USCG training out near the bar? (Since their training school is on the Washington state side of the river…)
May 19, 2012 at 10:06 pm
PS- very nice picture by your CO!
May 19, 2012 at 11:32 pm
Ah, Astoria. A beautiful area if you like lots of rain. Great for sturgen fishing though.
May 20, 2012 at 12:02 am
Captain, since you have started to cruise in a new area, do you have a map from where you are and were you are going to?
May 20, 2012 at 12:14 am
Wondering, do you know if that bar is every dredged? I think more cruise ships should go to Astoria and Portland. People who cruise are always looking for new stops. Crossing the “bar” would make this a fun stop. Thanks for your blogs. Really enjoy reading them.
May 20, 2012 at 7:33 pm
Good morning,
Good Question:
Yes they do dredge there, as a matter of fact two dredgers are working there from end of june to the beginning of Oct. From the end of and until the beginning of the storm season.
The problem is that they would have go very very deep and very wide to make a difference to the swell. The swell comes up from deep ocean and builts up regardless whether it is 50 feet deep or 60 feet deep. I think you would have to dig out a 10 mile area at least, and go to 200 feet to make a difference and do that each year again.
Not really feasible and definitely cost prohibitive. So the only option is to let the ships rock and roll a bit. Mid season visits for the cruise ships would be best, but then we are all in Alaska.
Best regards
Capt. Albert