The Columbia

Posted By: Greg CM26 Seattle CLM005771173
Date: 1/11/08 11:25p.m.

Report: outside forum guidelines

In Response To: I Want Spring! (pic) (Dave CM26 #64 Oregon)

Hi guys, It was probably about 10 or 12 years ago, my friends and I were into exploring new adventures and exploiting the fact that our sailboat is capable of 70 mph, so we decided to spend some time on the great Columbia River (it forms the border between the Western parts of Oregon and Washington, for you East-coasters). We put in at Maryhill in Klickitat County, where the Stonehenge replica is, among other interesting stuff. I just now checked it on Google Earth, and you can clearly see the boat launch and the ramp we used. We did a car shuttle and put a vehicle about 90 miles down-river, near Portland. I'll never forget going through the locks at one of the dams, although I've forgotten which one it was: I think it was Bonneville Dam, although it could have been The Dalles. Traffic was very scarce on the river when we were there, and when we arrived at the locks, it was just us. Excuse me, sir, could we go through your locks, please? The lockmaster had to get in his car and drive over to the dam, but then the gates open and in we go. We were a fly on a football field: looking up at the walls from the bottom of that concrete cavern above us was awesome. They flushed our little boat and about 12 million gallons of water on down the river. It was quite impressive. If you do a similar trip, you will probably discover a strange phenomenon. We were unsure ahead of time how much of this trip would involve actual sailing, so we went in with no expectations. What we discovered is that the river ran fast enough to make travel rather constant, so there really wasn't much point in messing with the sails. But something I still don't understand is that the boat made it very clear that our trip down the river would be stern-first, and you are wasting your time trying to force it to do anything different. At first it seemed rather undignified, but we got used to it, and spent the next 89 miles going backwards. All in all it was a fun trip. Hope you enjoy it, however you do it.