New Year’s Eve Ship Horns on the Columbia

Astoria embraced a long standing tradition again this New Year’s Eve, ushering in the new year in maritime style on the Columbia River. ‘Round midnight, an ethereal mix of sonorous ship horns, spontaneous fireworks and midnight revelers in the streets filled the air, transforming a typically rainy Pacific Northwest winter night into something special to be remembered.

Note: if you want to skip ahead to hear the New Year’s ship horns segment, listen in at about [2:49] in the recording.

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New Year’s Eve on the Astoria Waterfront – will we have ship horns?

A look at plans for ship horns on the waterfront tonight for New Year’s Eve in Astoria.

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The Coastal Jet

Today we’ll listen to a clip from the Ship Report archives: part of a talk Columbia River Bar Pilot Capt. Thron Riggs gave at the Columbia River Maritime Museum in Astoria, talking about a local weather phenomenon called the Coastal Jet. It involves fast winds close to the coast, creating a counter intuitive situation where ships approaching the Columbia River Bar often find worse weather near shore than they experienced way out at sea.

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Anchoring series: Why ships always anchor in the same places

More from retired Columbia River Bar Pilot Capt. Thron Riggs on anchoring ships, and why ships anchor generally in the same part of the river and not just anywhere.

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Anchoring series: how pilots decide where to anchor

More on anchoring from Capt. Thron Riggs, retired Columbia River bar pilot. Today we talk about how pilots decide where to put a ship when they reach an anchorage area.

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A Coastal Christmas

Just in time for Christmas Eve, a reading of “A Coastal Christmas,” by Long Beach Peninsula author Lynette Rae McAdams (the book is illustrated by Astoria artist Sally Lackaff).

It’s a retelling of the traditional Night Before Christmas story. But in this Pacific Northwest version, Santa gets rescued by some fishermen and the US Coast Guard.

Graphic: the cover of the chapbook, A Coastal Christmas, by Lynette Rae McAdams, illustrated by Sally Lackaff.

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Anchoring series: A conversation with Capt. Thron Riggs

Today we begin a series on how to anchor a ship, with Capt. Thron Riggs, retired Columbia River Bar Pilot.

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New age of sail? A newbuild wooden sailing cargo ship

A new sailing wooden cargo ship is now being built in Costa Rica. Her owners plan to use her to haul specialty cargoes along the US West Coast. Meet the schooner Ceiba, billed as the world’s largest ocean-going “clean” cargo ship. Is this the beginning of the return of the age of sail?

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Search and Rescue off Astoria

I had occasion to observe an SAR (Search and Rescue) operation being conducted by the US Coast Guard in the Columbia River off Astoria. They were searching for possible lost kayakers who may have been swept away by King Tides running strong in the river. It was heartbreaking to watch the light fading on a winter day, and the helicopter searching, searching, and finding no one. A cautionary note about paying attention to conditions before you go out.

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Boating safety: how to prepare for emergencies on your boat

If you go out on a working vessel, preparedness is usually the norm. On a recreational boat, it’s important to think ahead about what you need to have and to know, before something bad happens. Because it will. And you need to know how to handle it.

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