The Ship Report is All Things Maritime!

Ship Report podcasts take you to a special corner of the world: the Mighty Columbia River in the Pacific Northwest. Nautical lore, news and info, mariner interviews, daily international ship traffic, and the inside scoop on our formidable marine weather. Join maritime journalist Joanne Rideout on the Ship Report, as we explore the fascinating nautical world, on the Upper Left Edge of Oregon and beyond.  The Ship Report is proud to celebrate 20 years on the air!

History and Hops – a Ship Report talk in Seaside on Thursday

Tomorrow I'll be giving a talk at the Seaside Brewing Co. at 851 Broadway in Seaside at 6 pm. I'll be talking about a 10-day Pacific Northwest voyage at sea that I took in 2010 on a gypsum carrier sailing out of Rainier on the Columbia, up to Puget Sound and south to...

As the days grow longer – a look at the equinox and what it means

Last Friday was the spring equinox, and it's evident that days are indeed getting longer. Today we'll take a look at how that all works and why the days get longer now and shorter later in the year. And when is the equinox anyway? Turns out it can change from year to...

“Don’t Let the Cat Out of the Bag” – a nautical talk about maritime lore and superstition

Today's show is all about an upcoming talk at Astoria's Columbia River Maritime Museum, featuring career mariner Jason "Boats" Linnett. He'll be giving a talk at the museum on Friday, March 27th at 5:30 pm. The Museum is on Marine Drive on the waterfront at 17th...

The Mercy arrives Thursday morning

Note: I'm posting this the night before (Wednesday evening even though it's Thursday's podcast), so that early birds can have the info about seeing the Mercy pass by on the river Thursday morning. Well, our much anticipated ship, the US Navy hospital ship USNS Mercy,...

A look at the US Navy hospital ship USNS Mercy, arriving in the river Thursday morning

A look at the USNS Mercy, the US Navy hospital ship that is arriving on the Columbia early Thursday morning. She's headed for the Swan Island shipyard in Portland for maintenance and repairs.

Columbia River Ship Traffic

Approximate Vessel Travel Times
  • Portland/Vancouver -Astoria: 6-8 hours
  • Kalama -Astoria: 5 hours
  • Longview -Astoria: 3.5 hours
  • Columbia River Bar – Astoria: 1.5 hours
Times vary according to tidal conditions, current, weather, and individual vessel horsepower.
Water Speed & Currents

Curated Links

Arts
Tsunami
Tides

When’s High Tide where you are?  Find Tidal info at www.saltwatertides.com

Tide times are often listed in 24 hour time.  For times after noon, subtract 1200 from the time to get regular clock time. Ex: 1300 hrs – 1200 = 1:00 pm)

MLLW:  Also, tides are referenced to Mean Lower Low Water, a reference point for depth on many nautical charts. MLLW is the average of the lower of the two low tides in a day, over a 19-year cycle. Minus tides are lower than MLLW.

Adjustments: If you’re right on the coast, subtract an hour from these times. Upriver, highs and lows happen later. For instance, in Knappa, add an hour. In Clatskanie, add 2 hours and 15 minutes.

The Ship Report
Ship Report Podcasts

History and Hops – a Ship Report talk in Seaside on Thursday

Tomorrow I'll be giving a talk at the Seaside Brewing Co. at 851 Broadway in Seaside at 6 pm. I'll be talking about a 10-day Pacific Northwest voyage at sea that I took in 2010 on a gypsum carrier sailing out of Rainier on the Columbia, up to Puget Sound and south to...

As the days grow longer – a look at the equinox and what it means

Last Friday was the spring equinox, and it's evident that days are indeed getting longer. Today we'll take a look at how that all works and why the days get longer now and shorter later in the year. And when is the equinox anyway? Turns out it can change from year to...

“Don’t Let the Cat Out of the Bag” – a nautical talk about maritime lore and superstition

Today's show is all about an upcoming talk at Astoria's Columbia River Maritime Museum, featuring career mariner Jason "Boats" Linnett. He'll be giving a talk at the museum on Friday, March 27th at 5:30 pm. The Museum is on Marine Drive on the waterfront at 17th...

The Mercy arrives Thursday morning

Note: I'm posting this the night before (Wednesday evening even though it's Thursday's podcast), so that early birds can have the info about seeing the Mercy pass by on the river Thursday morning. Well, our much anticipated ship, the US Navy hospital ship USNS Mercy,...

A look at the US Navy hospital ship USNS Mercy, arriving in the river Thursday morning

A look at the USNS Mercy, the US Navy hospital ship that is arriving on the Columbia early Thursday morning. She's headed for the Swan Island shipyard in Portland for maintenance and repairs.

The Ship Report, the show about All Things Maritime, features maritime news and information, local and international, based in the Pacific Northwest in Astoria, Oregon. shipreport.net. Podcasts available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Google Podcasts

The Ship Report is also broadcast  Weekdays at 8:49 am on  KMUN Radio Astoria, Oregon

Columbia River Bar
“Pilot transfer” is when a pilot disembarks or boards a ship. Ships generally must by law have a river or bar pilot on board when they are on the Columbia or Willamette Rivers. The bar and river pilots have separate pilotage grounds defined by the Oregon Legislature.

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Meet Joanne Rideout
Producer Joanne Rideout is a journalist and photographer who created The Ship Report in 2003. Since then Joanne and has been interviewing, writing and photographing the maritime world and its interesting people as much as she possibly can.
Ship Horn Signals

Commonly Heard off Astoria

One prolonged blast every two minutes or less: vessel operating in fog.

Five consecutive horn blasts: warning signal that means literally “I do not know your intention.” This generally means another vessel is in the way of a ship in the channel, and is being asked to move before they collide.

Three short blasts: Vessel going in reverse

One long blast followed by three short: signal for the change of pilots.