Today’s show is a bit of a mix: I wanted to thank the folks who came down to the Ten Fifteen Theater to hear my Ship Report talk and to hear Jerry and me perform on stage (eek!), and then a bit about tides, and how there is a vast difference in tidal schedules between what we Astoria and Vancouver/Portland.
Podcast: Play in new window
We see a lot of ships go by on the lower river near Astoria, but the river upstream past Longview is often busier, with a variety of vessel traffic all doing local work: tugs and barges hauling cargo, ship handling tugs, and ships being moved from anchorages to nearby berths.
Podcast: Play in new window
This Saturday the 19th, at 10:30am, I’ll be appearing at the 1015 Theater in Astoria, as part of their big Performathon fundraising event, which runs all day and into the night. I’ll be sharing memories of a trip I took on a cargo ship when I traveled from the Columbia River up to Puget Sound and south to San Francisco. It was an unforgettable experience.
Then at 10:45, my husband, Jerry Middaugh, and I will perform some folk music tunes that we hope will entertain you, and leave you with a feeling of hope about the world.
Many thanks to the organizers for inviting us to perform! We hope to see you there!
So come on down and support community theater – an important thing – a place where locals can share themselves and what they love with their community.
Podcast: Play in new window
On January 1, 2026, Oregon will require paddlecraft operators to purchase a Waterway Access Permit.
Permits will be available by the week, year and two year intervals. The new law will apply to all paddlecraft 10 feet or longer. That incudes kayaks, standup paddle boards and canoes. Fees for boat registration will also increase slightly.
Fees will help Oregon fight invasive mussels in waterways, and also improve access for paddlecraft at waterway access points that are currently mostly designed for boats.
Podcast: Play in new window
Today we see the Pacific Collector arriving from Honolulu, after a doing her specialized work of tracking missile defense testing. She’s one of a host of US military ships we see on the river, along with her sister ship, the Pacific Collector.
Photo credit: Daniel Ramirez from Honolulu, USA, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
Podcast: Play in new window
Let’s take a look at one ship on today’s schedule. It’s path traces a winding route from Russia through the Panama Canal to Portland, a journey of more than a month at sea.
Podcast: Play in new window
and
