More from the buoy deck of the USCGC Elm, Astoria’s buoy tender, Part 4

Today, more from Lt. Junior Grade Kirsten Sharp about the basic work of a buoy tender: what happens on the buoy deck, and how the ship manages to stay upright when she’s hauling a 5 ton buoy up  deck in rough seas.

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We continue our spotlight on the USCG Buoy Tender Elm, Part 3

More from my interview with Lt. Junior Grade Kirstan Sharp, operations officer on board the USCGC Elm. Today we go from the bridge to the buoy deck to talk about this ship’s important mission.

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Interview on board the USCGC Elm, Astoria’s buoy tender, Part 2

Today we’ll hear more from my tour of the USCGC Elm, Astoria’s hometown buoy tender with Lt. Junior Grade Kirsten Sharp. We’ll learn about the bridge, and how a 215 foot long ship can spin on a dime, thanks to cool technology and a joystick.

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A close up look at the USCGC Elm, Astoria’s buoy tender

Today we begin hearing excerpts of my interview with Lt. Junior Grade Kirsten Sharp, operations officer on board the USCGC Fir, Astoria’s buoy tender. This week we’ll learn about what buoy tenders do, and about opportunities for women in the Coast Guard.

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Woman, Captain, Rebel: a new book about a female Icelandic sea captain, Part 2

Today we hear Part 2 of an interview with anthropogist and author Dr. Margaret Willson about her new book, “Woman, Captain, Rebel, The Extraordinary True Story of a Daring Icelandic Sea Captain.”

We’ll take a look at what it was like to commercial fish during the early 1800s in Iceland. People went to sea in open rowboats, clad in woolen clothing with animal skins for protection against the elements, with the fish piling up around their feet as they worked, often in wintry conditions..

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Woman, Captain, Rebel: a new book about a female Icelandic sea captain, Part 1

Today we begin hearing excerpts from an interview with University of Washington anthropologist and author Dr. Margaret Willson, whose new book was just published. It’s called, “Woman, Captain, Rebel, The Extraordinary True Story of a Daring Icelandic Sea Captain.” Dr. Willson recently spoke at the Columbia River Maritime Museum in Astoria.

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The rest of the story – about the rescue of solo sailor Ian Herbert Jones

After a nailbiting couple of days, we’ll talk about the conclusion of the story of the injured racing sailor on a badly damaged sailboat, in a vicious storm in the south Atlantic – 1200 miles offshore, alone.

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Golden Globe solo racer in trouble in the south Atlantic

Yesterday a dire situation arose in the south Atlantic Ocean for one of the Golden Globe solo round the world sailing race participants. He was overtaken by a huge storm 1200 miles off the coast of Argentina. Battling steep seas and 100 mph gusts, his boat rolled and was dismasted. Now he’s injured and trying to keep the boat afloat until a nearby UK fisheries vessel can get to him from 300 miles away. Today we’ll talk about what can happen when you are alone in a terrible storm at sea.

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How ship size is measured, and it’s probably not what you think

Today we’ll clarify whether the MSC Katie was the biggest container ship ever to come into the Columbia River or the biggest ship, period. The answer isn’t always intuitive when it comes to ship measurement. Sometimes it depends on something called “gross tonnage.” We’ll talk about how the maritime industry assesses ship size.

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