The Most Recent Ship Report Podcast:

Kalama seeks to address sand shortage with dredge spoils project

To address a regional sand shortage, a critical element in concrete production, the Port of Kalama is hoping to get the go ahead for a project that would use sand dredged from the Columbia River instead of transporting sand in from elsewhere.

Archive Podcasts:

Lower Columbia Estuary Partnership receives EPA grant for local projects

Aug 16, 2024

Today we’ll talk about a large grant that the EPA just awarded to a local environmental group, the Lower Columbia Estuary Partnership, funding the group’s work to enhance communities and address watershed needs in our region posed by issues like sea level rise and other challenges. The grant is part of a massive funding bill called the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, signed into law last fall. 

It’s another example of behind the scenes work that often unsung organizations do routinely, to make our communities more resilient, and the public funding that makes such projects possible.

(Having some issues with posting transcripts… they’ll return here – in this space – as soon as I figure it out…)

A military vessel named Bob Hope with an interesting history

Aug 14, 2024

Today, an unusual vessel arrives on the Columbia: the Bob Hope, a military car carrier. We’ll talk about her interesting history and the military agencies that have used and continue to use her services. One of the many military ships we see often on the river.

This photo of the Bob Hope is used with permission and licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.

Being a Good Samaritan is the law on the water, but also a matter of reality and tradition

Aug 13, 2024

Today we’ll talk about why mariners must by law help one another if someone is in trouble on the water.

It’s also a time honored tradition, not to mention a recognition of the reality that all mariners are equally vulnerable when things go wrong at sea.

Show transcript here: http://shipreport.nfshost.com/audio/SRTranscript081324.pdf

Upriver vessel handling on the Columbia

Aug 12, 2024

Often we focus here on the Ship Report on the portion of the river between Astoria and the ocean, where things are quite dramatic and treacherous on a regular basis.

But the upriver portion of the river is formidable as well. Today we’ll talk about the heavy currents and winds that are among the factors that make inland transits also challenging.

Show transcript here: http://shipreport.nfshost.com/audio/SRTranscript081224.pdf

A gem from the Ship Report Archives: a talk with author and fisher poet Tele Aadsen

Aug 05, 2024

This week we’ll hear from the Ship Report arvhives from an interview I did about year ago with fisher poet and author Tele Aadsen. Today she reads an excerpt from the her book, What Water Holds, a memoir about life in the world of commercial salmon troller fishing.

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