The Most Recent Ship Report Podcast:
Archive Podcasts:
Crab season opens this week
Dec 30, 2019Commercial Dungeness Crab Season opens this week, after delays beyond the usual target date of Dec 1. Not all areas of Oregon waters are open, but crab in the lower Columbia region meet the criteria. Today we talk about how dangerous crabbing is, and what fishermen risk to bring you your dinner.
Podcast: Play in new window
Remembering those who are gone
Dec 27, 2019The last day of the closing year are a good time to remember those who are gone. Today we remember lost fishermen, with a song from Long Beach Peninsula songwriter Mary Garvey, in honor of fisherman Kevin Soule, who died in a fishing accident on Willapa Bay in 2018.
Podcast: Play in new window
Holidays at Sea
Dec 26, 2019Holidays at sea can be a lonely time for seafarers. Wise captains make sure the food is good and their crews’ traditions are observed. But that’s not always the case. We’ll learn a bit about holidays aboard ship.
Podcast: Play in new window
A Coastal Christmas
Dec 24, 2019In what is becoming a Ship Report Christmas Eve tradition, today’s show includes a reading of “A Coastal Christmas,” a charming local take on “The Night Before Christmas,” about how crabbers and the Coast Guard rescue Santa, his reindeer and his sleigh, and basically save Christmas for the whole world. And turns out Santa is a fan of Pacific Northwest seafood!
A Coastal Christmas was written by Long Beach Peninsula writer Lynette Rae McAdams and illustrated by Astoria artist Sally Lackaff, and is available in local bookstores.
Podcast: Play in new window
The bar’s on red status!
Dec 20, 2019The Columbia River Bar is on red status this morning? What does that mean? We’ll talk about it.
Podcast: Play in new window
More on the weather!
Dec 19, 2019Our weather continues to be a topic of conversation this week, as PNW winter makes its presence known.
Podcast: Play in new window
Atmospheric River coming our way!
Dec 18, 2019According to current forecasts, we’re slated to get smacked with a Pineapple Express sort of atmospheric river event over the next day or so. What’s an Atmospheric River, anyway? Not to mention a Pineapple Express, which sounds like a dessert you might order in Hawaii… We’ll talk about all that today on the Ship Report. Spoiler alert: it means lots, and lots, of water up in the air, ready to rain down upon us. Some areas could see seven inches of rain before this storm is over!
Podcast: Play in new window
Pilot boats on the Astoria waterfront: who’s on board?
Dec 17, 2019We’ve been talking lately about pilot boat crews and how they support and make possible the work of marine pilots on the river and ocean. Today we take a look at the pilot boat Connor Foss, frequently seen on the waterfront in Astoria. What’s her role in the piloting network and what challenges does her crew face? She also carries both kinds of local pilots: Bar and river pilots, who tackle separate hazards on the channel between the river’s mouth, Portland, and beyond.
Podcast: Play in new window
Lightship Columbia
Dec 16, 2019Once there were lightships on waterway entrances around the U.S. Now there are none. There’s a famous one here in Astoria, at the Columbia River Maritime Museum in Astoria. She was one of a number of lighthips – floating lighthouses – that marked the entrance to the river, dating back to the 1800s.
Podcast: Play in new window
Bad weather on the bar
Dec 13, 2019It happens every year: sooner or later the weather gets messy enough that ship traffic is affected. Today the Columbia River Bar is in yellow status, and some ships will have to wait. We’ll talk about what yellow status is, and how it affects vessels entering and leaving the river.
Podcast: Play in new window

