An opportunity Saturday to tour a US Navy ship that arrives at the Port of Astoria today. Likely the first of next week’s Rose Festival Fleet of arriving ships, including the USCG tall ship Eagle.

And it’s dredge season on the Columbia River – and we’ll be seeing at least one of these specialized vessels on the river for the rest of the year, doing her part to keep our ship channel free and clear for vessels. We’ll talk about what these ships do here and about their special role in the maritime industry.

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Today we’ll talk about a scholarship being offered through the Portland Merchant Exchange. It’s an opportunity for students interested in a career in the maritime industry to get some funding assistance with their education.

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It’s a wonderful story about a person escaping a soul-crushing rut, and making a bold decision to pursue a dream. Oregonian Oliver Widger sailed out of Warrenton last month (with his cat) and made it safely all the way to Hawaii. He quit his job, bought a boat and sailed away, despite having little experience as a sailor.

We’ve all dreamed of escaping at one time or another. So this begs the question: should you sail to Hawaii alone? Maybe. We’ll talk today about what it takes.

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Today we’ll take a look at where ships go where they come to the Columbia. When we talk about the ship schedule, we hear that some ships are going to Portland, but some to the Port of Portland. What’s the difference? We’ll talk about all the options for ships when they arrive and have to go somewhere.

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Today a look at who’s on the river today in terms of cargo vessels. A bit of gypsum, some cars, refined petroleum – and lots and lots of wheat.

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A look at today’s ship traffic, and a bit about why we are seeing some containerships here again.

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In the news this week is the accident in NY harbor, where a visiting tall ship hit the Brooklyn Bridge as the vessel was attempting to head out to sea. We’ll talk about the dangers of big rivers, and about tall ships that are used round the world to train cadets for the military in different countries, including the US.

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On Thursday morning, 19 sailboats set out from Ilwaco, Wash., out to sea across the Columbia River Bar. At an appointed time, they crossed the starting line and began a four-day race northward, 193 miles to Victoria, BC. The annual PNW Offshore Race is underway.

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Today, another repositioning cruise visits Astoria, as blue water cruise ships make their annual spring migration up the West Coast, to their northern summer vacation grounds in BC and Alaska.

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Today we honor a local business owner, North Coast Blues musician, and well loved community member who was instrumental in organizing iconic music festivals on the Long Beach Peninsula. Farewell, Clint Carter. We miss you already. Clint passed away yesterday after a long battle with cancer.

He was also a person whose voice was heard every year on the Ship Report around the holidays.

Today I’ll share a Ship Report annual tradition (a little earlier than usual) – a song Clint wrote, and sang with the Ilwaco Merchants Association: the Crabpot Tree Carol. It’s been a staple for years at Christmastime on the Peninsula, at the annual lighting of the Crabpot Christmas Tree.

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