The Most Recent Ship Report Podcast:
Archive Podcasts:
Fisher Poet Mark Alan Lovewell
Feb 28, 2020Fisher poet, songwriter and musician Mark Alan Lovewell was today’s guest on the Ship Reporrt. He’s from Martha’s Vineyard, and is visiting Astoria for the 23rd Annual Fisher Poets Gathering. I was fortunate to have him as my guest live on the air today He’s a passionate advocate of fishermen and the fishing life. Hear him sing part of his iconic song, “Fishing Boat Sarah,” about what a boat means in the lives of a fishing family.
Podcast: Play in new window
Fisher Poets Gathering: Clem Starck
Feb 27, 2020Award winning poet Clem Starck is another regular at the FPG every year. His imagery grabs listeners and takes them along. This riveting poem, the “Pan Oceanic Faith,” is named for a ship that went down while Starck was a merchant seaman. It’s a haunting tale of survivor guilt and the sense of random fate that can overtake sailors at sea.
Podcast: Play in new window
Fisher Poets Gathering: Smitty Smith
Feb 26, 2020Fisher Poet Smitty Harrison Smith was an icon of the event. His eloquent, gritty works inspired many other fishermen and women to write. Here’s his poem, “Crick Robber Gray,” about a special shade of gray favored by commercial fishermen before the days of radar and sonar.
Podcast: Play in new window
Fisher Poets Gathering: Johanna Reichold
Feb 25, 2020This weekend is the 23rd Annual Fisher Poets Gathering. In honor of Fisher Poets past and present, today we’ll hear a song from the 2008 Gathering, recorded by KMUN radio at the Wet Dog Cafe in Astoria, as part of a CD project where artists agreed to allow their work to appear on an anthology of performances from that year. Johanna Reichold was a standout that year: a passionate woman poet and songwriter who here shares here song about a hellish captain: “The Whole Town Told Me Not to Work for You.”
Podcast: Play in new window
Cruise ship coronavirus update
Feb 24, 2020Today, an update on where things are at with cruise ships and the coronavirus – one of periodic updates you’ll hear on the Ship Report.
Podcast: Play in new window
Ship handling… a bit more
Feb 21, 2020This interview just had so many great details I thought I’d share it this week. More on ship handling from Capt. Robert Johnson.
Podcast: Play in new window
Ship handling continued
Feb 20, 2020More on shiphandling – how to wrangle vessels at sea.
Podcast: Play in new window
Carships and ship handling
Feb 19, 2020More on specialized ship handling skills at sea and in the river on carships.
Podcast: Play in new window
Carships, Part 3
Feb 18, 2020Well, I started listening to more of this great archive interview from 2006 with Capt. Robert Johnson, Columbia River Bar Pilot, all about car ships, and there was such good info in it that I decided that last week’s two part series should be extended a bit more. Today we hear more about these giant ships that carry vehicles, and especially about the difficulties handling them on the bar and on the river in bad weather.
Podcast: Play in new window
More on carships, etc.
This interview turned out to be so interesting that I thought I’d continue it through part of this week. From 2006, here’s more of an archive interview with Capt. Robert Johnson, Columbia River Bar Pilot. Lots of info about the art and science of ship handling.
Podcast: Play in new window

