The daily rhythm of life on the river goes on

Today, it’s another beautiful day on the river, and we have another opportunity to see the rhythm of daily life passing by: our 90 percent of everything on ships, a wonderful part of life on our river.

It’s something we love, and that hasn’t changed – despite tragic national events.

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A look at who’s on the river, and better weather on the way

Today we’ll do an overview of who’s on the river in terms of ships, with a few asides about anchorages, car carriers, ship names and when ships are allowed to cross the bar in bad weather.

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Offshore weather bringing winds and rain

Today we’ll take a look at the weather, which includes an interesting storm system offshore – and be grateful that it’s missing us.

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Baltimore’s bridge disaster

The horrific scene in Baltimore harbor strikes fear into communities like ours, where we have a big river and big bridges with ships passing under them.

Today we’ll talk about what’s known so far about the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore harbor after it was hit by a huge containership early Tuesday morning.

We’ll also talk about whether that could happen here on the Columbia.

Photo: The Astoria Megler Bridge has protective barriers around its supports that could protect it from the impact of a vessel. Joanne Rideout 3/26/24

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Waves and storms

We’re getting some stormy weather this week again, and that’s a good time to talk about why and how storms cause waves to get higher and more dangerous, and generally cause havoc at sea.

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Farewell, Fisher Poet Clem Starck

Today we honor Clemens Starck, award-winning Oregon poet and author who was a regular performer at the annual Fisher Poet’s Gathering in Astoria.

Clem passed away last week at the age of 86, but his evocative work lives on.

Today we’ll learn a bit about his varied life, and hear him readi a poem he wrote from his days as a merchant mariner, about the sinking of a ship in the north Pacific.

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The USNS Mercy heads to Portland

The US Navy hospital ship the USNS Mercy is slated to enter the Columbia River Friday morning. If she arrives according to the schedule, she could pass Astoria around 7:30am Friday.  She’s headed to the shipyard in Portland at Swan Island. We’ll talk about this iconic ship and her important role in the US military and the world.

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Beautiful, mysterious river fog: we’ll look at what makes that happen

The other morning in Astoria, residents and visitors were treated to a lovely natural event: the river and surrounding areas were shrouded in thick, velvety fog.

Ships sounded their fog horns while they made their way through it, while the hillside above the river enjoyed bright sunshine and blue skies.

Today we’ll talk about river fog and what causes it.

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The present and future of ship emissions

Sharp-eyed ship watchers concerned about pollution noticed a ship traveling in the river yesterday, emitting what looked like smoke from its stack. As it turns out, seeing that was good news, since it shows the ship has an emission scrubber on board, and what folks saw was mostly steam.

But that sighting opens the door to talk about recent international regulations that have reduced pollution in shipping, with plans for even more reductions by 2050.

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