More Rose Festival Fleet, and some info for newcomers to the River

Today ships begin heading upriver to Portland – they’re called the Rose Festival Fleet. We’ll talk about who you might see today.

And a look at a news story about a man who thought he could float across the Columbia on a raft: so some practical advice for people who aren’t familiar with big, powerful rivers like ours.

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The Rose Festival Fleet arrives this week

Each year, the Rose Festival Fleet of visiting military vessels arrives in the river just in time for the Portland Rose Festival. Today we talk about who will be here in the river this year and when they’ll arrive over the next few days.

It’s an interesting mix of active duty US Navy ships, Canadian Navy vessels, and Astoria’s USCG cutter Elm, our hometown buoy tender, based at Tongue Point.

Photo credit: each year the Fleet is greeted in Portland Harbor by a fireboat in a display of welcome. Photo by Jason McHuff from Portland, Oregon, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

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A look at one of our great hometown ships, the USCG Buoy Tender Elm

A look at an amazing and mostly unseen ship whose role is absolutely vital to safe passage on the Columbia River and surrounding waterways. The Coast Guard Buoy Tender Elm, homeported in Astoria.

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Automated ships, ahem

Today a bit about advances in the development of fully automated ships, that would ultimately operate with no people on board. And a small rant from me about the need for real live humans.

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Pacific coast wind energy projects

Wind energy projects are being proposed for the West Coast thanks to evolcing technology that allows floating turbines. We’ll talk about why that matters here in the PNW.

Image: floating wind tubine assembly in Norway, courtesy Wikipedia.

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Priscilla Pearls, a unique bit of Martha’s Vineyard history

Today, in a follow up I mentioned on yesterday’s show, we’ll talk about the origins of something called Priscilla Pearls, unique artificial pearls manufactured for a time in the early 20th century in Martha’s Vineyard. A story from the days when herring were abundant there.

Image: TheAnnAnn, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

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A little maritime music: The Herring Song

Today we take a break from the troubles of the world, and hear from a pair of maritime musicians who hail from Martha’s Vineyard in New England.

Meet Molly Conole and Mark Alan Lovewell; they’ve just released a new CD called “Home with Molly and Mark.”

It’s got some maritime gems on it. We’ll hear one today called “The Herring Song.”

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Water safety – just in time for Memorial Day

It’s Memorial Day weekend, and as I often do this time of year, I’ve put on my safety hat.

Just a few tips you can put in your pocket, to help you stay safe and happy in your maritime adventures in the Pacific Ocean and on the Mighty Columbia.

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How Cape Disappointment got its name

A look at some local history and a little reflection on what it must have been like being an ocean explorer outside looking in – at the mouth of the infamous Columbia River – when there were no dams to tame the rivers flow, no navigational buoys to guide you in, and no GPS.

Photo credit: Krystal Hamlin from Oak Harbor, WA, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

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