Listener questions about anchorages and Astoria’s cruise ship

A listener from the Long Beach Peninsula sent me a few listener questions about ships in anchorages on the river, and about what’s up with that big cruise ship at the Port of Astoria.

Answers in today’s podcast.

Also, here are links to Go Fund Me pages for the fishermen who perished in the capsizing of the fishing boat Coastal Reign on Saturday she tried to cross the Tillamook Bay Bar into port.

Families are grieving, and have lost significant financial support. Please help if you can:

Todd Chase: https://gofund.me/cd514ac3

Zach Zippone: https://gofund.me/8a7f03b7

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Commercial fishing boat lost off Tillamook bar, two dead

The Pacific Northwest commercial fishing community mourns after a commercial fishing boat capsizes trying to cross the Tillamook Bay bar from the ocean. Two fisherman died in the four man crew, and the boat, based in Warrenton, was lost. A too sad and too familiar story for fishing families.

Here’s a link to the GoFundMe page for the family of fisherman Todd Chase, 51, of Warrenton:

https://gofund.me/cd514ac3

Photo credit: This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license. Photographer was identified on Wikimedia Commons as “Visitor 7.” Many thanks for the use of this photo. It has not been altered.

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Injured crewman rescued from ATB tug in the ocean off Grays Harbor, WA

The US Coast Guard airlifted an injured crewman off a tug and barge rig in the ocean off Gray’s Harbor, WA. The vessel, the ATB Commitment, was bound for the Columbia River, carring refined Petroleu and headed for Portland.

This incident, one of several rescues within the past week in our PNW area, highlights the potential for serious injury on vessels, especially in the bouncy, unstable conditions caused by big seas.

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Multiple USCG rescues kick off Washington crab season

As crabbers ventured out in awful weather to start the long delayed Dungeness commercial crab season on the Washington coast, so did the U.S. Coast Guard, as three boats got in serious trouble near the mouth of the Columbia River last Saturday.

All told, local Coast Guard personnel from the Columbia River and Gray’s Harbor worked about 28 hours on Saturday alone to get mariners safely home. They were very successful, despite harrowing conditions, thanks to skilled rescue work and prepared mariners. No lives were lost.

Here is a link to the USCG video showing how local motor lifeboat crews were able to tow one of the fishing boats into the river under very challenging conditions, just this past weekend. God Bless our Coasties. ❤ https://youtu.be/z96ICBHJsiE

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Tugboats and their crews: unsung heroes in the pandemic

Today on the Ship Report, we’re talking about tugboats in the pandemic, and how their tireless work and willingness to flex with market conditions have made tugs and their crews a critical part of the supply chain during COVID-19.

Note to listeners: I forgot to record The Ship Report this morning when I was on the air on KMUN (I think I have pandemic brain to a degree and sometimes things just slip my mind when I don’t want them to…). But to honor my declaration that I was truly back to posting daily podcasts of the show, I re-did the Report later and recorded it. Because of that, I didn’t have to stick to the usual 9 minute constraints of the Ship Report on the radio.

So……I went on a bit. 

In this podcast, I was able to do a longer show, and go through the ship schedule in more depth than I usually have time for on the air, with more asides of (I think) interesting info about ships and matters associated with them. I was also able to more deeply discuss the role tugboats have played in getting goods to us during the pandemic. I hope you enjoy the extra info included in this Report, and that it’s worth your time. You might call this one a “geeks only” version.

Much love to all in these uncertain times  –  Joanne

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USCG rescue off Willapa Bay

A dramatic rescue of fishermen and a dog from a sinking boat in the ocean surf off Willapa Bay shows the immense power of the ocean. A story for those of us on land to ponder the next time we go for a walk on the beach.

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The Amazing Dr. Gladys West: she helped invent GPS

Today, a look at the story of Dr. Gladys West, a brilliant mathematician and one of the first black female scientists to work for the US Naval Weapons Laboratory in the 1950s. Her pioneering work led to the development of GPS technology.

[Photo: Dr. Gladys West is inducted into the Air Force Space and Missile Pioneers Hall of Fame during a ceremony in her honor at the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., Dec. 6, 2018. West was among the so-called “Hidden Figures” part of the team who did computing for the U.S. military in the era before electronic systems. The Air Force Space and Missile Pioneers Hall of Fame is one of Air Force’s Space Commands Highest Honors.(Photo by Adrian Cadiz) Courtesy Wikimedia Commons]

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Mask requirements now include all commercial vessels

According to an article in the maritime industry trade publication, Marine Log, new federal mask guidelines require mask-wearing on all commercial vessels, including cargo ships and fishing boats. We’ll talk about what that means for mariners.

Here’s a link to that Marine Log article: https://www.marinelog.com/coastal/inland/mask-mandate-which-vessels-are-covered/?utm_source=&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=22654

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Simply messing about in boats

Today, we take a look, just for fun, at a childhood classic, Wind in the Willows, by Kenneth Grahame. where the animal characters explain as well as I’ve ever heard it done, exactly why some of us are so crazy about boats and all things maritime.

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COVID vaccines for dockworkers

Today we’ll talk about the need for longshoremen in busy, congested California container ports to get vaccinated against COVID-19. They’re another vital part of the nation’s supply chain that’s being affected by the pandemic.

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