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The Rose Festival Fleet departs today
Jun 12, 2023Today our visiting Rose Festival ships depart. We’ll talk about who is headed downriver and when you might be able to see them pass by.
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River Pilots – a look at their work
Jun 09, 2023I got a listener question about river pilots and so I thought it would be fun to talk more specifically about their work, another seldom-seen aspect of river expertise and experience.
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Rose Festival Fleet update, and change of plans
Jun 08, 2023It looks like the last of the military vessels arriving for the Rose Festival in Portland are passing by us today on the river. We saw a change of plans for one ship, the USS Lake Champlain, which had been at the Port of Astoria for the past few days – she headed out to sea yesterday, after what was evidently a change in orders. But we have another arriving US Navy ship this morning. So there will be plenty to sea at the festival this weekend.
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More Rose Festival Fleet ships arrive in the river
Jun 07, 2023Today a look at our ship schedule, which includes three new arriving Rose Festival Fleet visiting vessels: two Canadian Navy ships early in the am (5:30-6:30am past Astoria inbound) and a US Navy ship that will arrive at the Port of Astoria around 2:30 pm.
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Tuesday Fleet Week update
Jun 06, 2023More about who’s coming into the river this week for the Rose Festival Fleet,
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Who will be coming upriver for Fleet week
Jun 05, 2023Today we’ll hear about when ships will be coming upriver for Fleet Week for the Portland Rose Festival.
(The image here is the USS Lake Champlain, currently at the Port of Astoria.)
Here’s a quick look at the ships that will be coming in from out in the Pacific and heading to Portland as part of the Rose Festival Fleet:
Tuesday
- HMCS Yellowknife – Vancouver BC to Portland – Ast~5:30am/Ptld~2pm
Wednesday
- HMCS Nanaimo – Canada to Portland – Ast~5:30am/Ptld~2pm
- HMCS Edmonton – Canada to Portland – Ast~5:30am/Ptld~2pm
Thursday
- USS Lake Champlain – Port of Astoria to Portland – Dep Ast~8am/Ptld~4pm
This schedule is for ships entering the river from the Pacific Ocean to attend the Rose Festival. There will be other vessels in attendance at the festival that are already on the river and will be in Portland.
For more info about Fleet Week, here’s their website: https://www.rosefestival.org/events/2023/fleet-week2
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Rose Festival Fleet week is here
Today, an overview of what ships we’ll see here in the river for Fleet Week, a cherished part of the annual Rose Festival in Portland.
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More on ship running lights at night
Jun 02, 2023Today we hear more from retired Columbia River Bar Pilot Captain Robert Johnson about lights on ships at night, including some interesting detail about bar pilot boardings in the ocean at night. We’ll hear about measures taken on board ships so that pilots and their helicopter crews can see what they are doing as they handle pilot operations in the dark on a moving vessel.
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The bulbous bow
Jun 01, 2023We see this every day on the river and probably don’t notice it. But it’s a really important design feature on all the ships we see: the bulbous bow.
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Running lights, vital equipment for night time travel on the water
May 31, 2023Today we take a look back in the Ship Report archives to an interview about running lights, with retired Columbia River Bar Pilot Capt. Robert Johnson.
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