The Most Recent Ship Report Podcast:
Archive Podcasts:
One of our local ships, the Pacific Collector, passes by on Wednesday
The Pacific Collector, a US military missile defense tracking ship, will head outbound from Portland Wednesday around 9 am, passing Astoria around 3. She’s one of a pair of ships with a similar mission: to gather data about missile defense testing. She’s unusual looking in that she has large radar arrays on deck that look like huge golf balls.
Podcast: Play in new window
The Golden Globe Race begins, with sailors departing from France to sail around the world alone
Sixteen sailboats left Les Sables D’Olonne, France, over the weekend to compete in a unique race called the Golden Globe.
Participants sail solo in boats equipped only with technology available when the race was first run in 1968. That means no GPS, no satellite connectivity, no cell or sat phones. Sextant and compass to navigate, radio for communication, and a willingness to spend 8 months or more alone at sea. They’ll sail to the bottom of the world using the “Clipper Route” and if all goes well, pass south of all the fearsome capes of the world, including infamous Cape Horn. Then they’ll said up the Atlantic and end the race in France where they started.
As in 2022, only one entrant is a woman. Last time, Kirsten Neuschafer of South Africa won the race, becoming only the second woman to enter and the first ever to win. This year, Norwegian Helga Marie (Mara) Løvenskiold Kveseth is now the third.
Podcast: Play in new window
Another look at river current – outboard motors, friction, horsepower and physics
While I’ve talked about the need to understand and work with current on the river, it seems that some vessels go out there any old time and do well. Let’s talk today about why that’s the case. It has to do with vessel design, physics, friction and horsepower.
Podcast: Play in new window
As our first storm of the season arrives, we enter the season for possible river bar restrictions
We’re having our first fall storm of the season today, and that brings the potential for interruptions to ship traffic as sea height increase. Even if that’s not what happens today, most assuredly sometime soon it will.
Podcast: Play in new window
Today is the first day of meteorological fall
It’s September 1st and that means the end of meteorological summer and the beginning of meteorological fall. A slightly different designation than standard fall later in the month, it’s used by weather scientists to keep track of weather patterns. And right on time, our weather is obliging with wind and rain, and cooling temperatures.
Podcast: Play in new window
A look at research vessels
Another kind of ship we see fairly often here on the river is the research vessel. Its cargo is live people: scientists whose mission is the study the oceanographic environment. As it turns out, the Columbia River is an ideal option for ships who are in our region of the Pacific and need to make landfall for various routine reasons.
Podcast: Play in new window
Cooling trend in our weather as fall approaches
We’ll talk about a recent blog post from UW meteorologist Cliff Mass, talking about the cooling trend we are entering in our weather, as fall makes its presence known. It will be cool on the coast and cooler inland.
Podcast: Play in new window
The lights you see at night on ships: They hold great meaning, especially for other vessels, and even aircraft, Part 2
Today we’ll hear the second of a two-part interview on ship lights from the Ship Report archives, from an interview I did years ago with Columbia River Bar Pilot Captain Robert Johnson.
Light colors and placement are not random, and their patterns hold great meaning for other vessels that may see them at night.
Today we’ll also learn about the vital role lights play when a helicopter is at sea at night, dropping off or picking up a pilot in the dark.
Podcast: Play in new window
The lights you see at night on ships: They hold great meaning, especially for other vessels, Part 1
Today we’ll hear the first of a two-part interview on ship lights from the Ship Report archives, from an interview I did years ago with Columbia River Bar Pilot Captain Robert Johnson.
Light colors and placement are not random, and their patterns hold great meaning for other vessels that may see them at night.
There are running lights, which give other vessels important information about a vessel’s location and heading, and work lights, which allow crews to work safely at night on deck and allow the ship to be clearly seen at anchor.
Podcast: Play in new window
Understanding the marine weather forecast: significant wave height
Today we’ll talk about an important term in marine weather: the concept of “significant wave height.” Understanding the meaning of this term can give you a more realistic expectation of what the weather may be like at sea when you go out in a vessel.
Podcast: Play in new window
Monday through Friday (except major holidays) watch for 10-MINUTE SHIP REPORTS: Ship Traffic, Marine Weather, News and Interviews
Subscribe to the RSS feed.
The Ship Report is also broadcast Weekdays at 8:49 am on Coast Community Radio Astoria, Oregon
Follow The Ship Report on
and
