A dredging barge – the crane operates the large shovels and drops the dredged bottom material on a second barge
The Columbia is a very scenic river, but one thing it lacks are good anchorages. There are some places with good anchoring depths along the side of the main channel, but these are generally not protected from the wind or from the wake generated by passing freighters.
A few of the hundreds of salmon boats out for Labor Day weekend
So, we decided to make a push for Portland to get a head start on some of our backlog of boat projects. Since it’s Labor Day weekend and the salmon are running, we had to dodge hundreds and hundreds of fishing boats – there were so many its hard to imagine any salmon making it upriver.
The BNSF railroad bridge swings open to let us pass – luckily, we only had to wait for one train before it opened
Our final leg was uneventful until about 200 yards from the entry to our marina. It’s always been shallow at the entrance, so we crept in as the depth sounder read 3 feet, then 2 feet, 1 foot, 0.6 feet. There wasn’t any noise as Madrone ran aground – the boat just stopped, leaned forward a bit and then listed to starboard. The sandbar in front of the marina has shifted in the last 4 months, so we need to find a new way in.
Just like a typical anchorage, except this time we’re anchored by our keel wedged into a sandbar…
We launched the dinghy and Angie scouted for a deeper channel with our portable depth sounder while Mike waited for the rising tide to float us off the sand bar. The incoming tide in combination with some boat wake freed us from our sand bar, and we slowly and carefully motored into the marina through Angie’s newly discovered channel.
Our first grounding of the trip, and so close to home!
It’s (sort of) good to be home – stay tuned for a summary of the trip.
A blue heron perched atop a piling next to our new slip welcomed us home!
