Commodore
By Michael Lewis, C42, Wind Raven
You will be “sorely missed” and “sore that you missed it.” We need your help to complete the logistics of food, t-shirts and the myriad of other things that will make this the most successful Rendezvous yet and make everyone smile.
All of you that have registered will receive an information packet explaining the Rendezvous Program including a map, directions by land and by river, water depths, schedule, rafting instructions and the Rendezvous VHF hailing channel.
Beyond my efforts for the Rendezvous, I have been busy trying to get our new boat outfitted. Lots of “cruising toys” going on board eventually and it seems that the choices are many. Oh well! Income taxes are a good problem to have, when you consider the alternative of no income.
Ps - There is a life after the Rendezvous, keep in mind that we have the following events upcoming:
- October 20-21, Halloween cruise to Sand Island
- October 24, Meeting
- November 24-25, Thanksgiving Cruise
- December 8, Holiday Party
- December 15-16, Christmas Ships at Hadley’s Landing
- January 5-13, Portland Boat Show including Booth
- January 12-20, Seattle Boat Show Trip
See you at the Rendezvous!
Beer Can Races
By Dale MackAugust 31st concluded the 2001 season's of Friday Night Beer Can Races. The races, which began on June 15th, proved very popular with racers and non-racers alike.
Designed to be just-for-fun, the races were more about getting out on the water on Friday evenings with friends and family, than they were about racing. The race committee would drop a couple of race markers, post the course on the committee boat, and then send everyone on their way by 6:30 pm.
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| Dennis & Sandy Thomas, Nate & Margaret Hansen, and Terry & Kathie Annis prepare to go out and enjoy a leisurely evening sail in the August 31st Beer Can Race |
Secretary/Treasurer
By Kathleen Lewis, C42, Wind RavenWe welcome our newest members:
David and Sylvia Keller of Lake Oswego, OROur member list is now at 58 boats with others expressing an interest in joining. At this time last year we had approximately 30 member boats.Jeff and Jeanette Napier of Brush Prairie, WA
- Their 1983 – C27 – River Rose is at Hayden Bay – K1
- Their 1985 – C30 is at McCuddy’s on Marine Drive – D30
Please contact me for membership information, burgee or “Mainsheet” orders or questions.
Cruising
Plans for the Halloween Cruise to Sand Island
By John Meyer, C34, Shekinah
Please note, if you’d like an easy volunteer job, we could still have a Cruise Director for this weekend and with that honor you’ll get a really expensive, custom designed T-Shirt. Call us if you’re interested. Overall, there’s no way we would want to plan a CRACA activity on the docks when there are so many other, great people to visit with etc.
Costumes are permitted and encouraged. Kids particularly have a good time on this journey. I’ll bet there’ll even be a contest for the best (and worst) costumes. You know, last year at my work, I put a fork in my pocket and when people asked what my costume was, I pulled out the fork and told them I was Poseidon, sea god. I thought for sure with that one that I’d get the worst costume award, but not to be. Anyhow, that’s another story. If you can show up, even if you don’t wear a costume, have some goodies on board in case a creature comes along and rocks your boat. Docking will strictly be first come first serve so it wouldn’t hurt to get there early. It’ll be crowded but everyone helps everyone get in and out. It’ll be fun.
Plans for the Thanksgiving Cruise
By John Meyer, C34, Shekinah
This will be sort of a floating location (get the pun?). It doesn’t look like it will be at Canoe Bay so we’re open to an alternate site. For now we’ll plan on the Govt. Docks, east side. If you’d like to come and you have another idea of where to go, let Annie or I know and we’ll talk it over. (no commodore, we’re not going to anchor and raft off of nude beach!). Seriously, after the holiday, this might be a really nice time to get away and have some quiet time. Put it on your calendar and keep it open.
Crossing the Bar - Cruising to Westport
By John Meyer, C34, ShekinahPam and Don Evans, s/v Dream Catcher along with Annie and John Meyer, s/v Shekinah, headed down river, over the BAR up to Westport and back this past month. To many of you world cruisers, this is no big deal but to us it was one more mile post towards the open seas.
Our two boats met down river from St. Helens and cruised on to a wonderful anchorage behind Walker Island for the first night. The second day we were in Astoria making last minute adjustments, Jack Lines, etc. The next morning we left West Mooring Basin about 6am and were on the BAR around 8:15, approx. one hour ahead of high slack. The biggest problem was an extreme gauntlet of fishermen; some whom thought the trolling would be better directly in front of our boats.
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| The bar at Grays Harbor on the way to Westport |
We spent a day and a half in Westport where we both had relatives drop in for dinners. Then it was time to leave again. Fog limited visibility to ¼ mile and the wind was coming out of the North at about 10 to 15 knots. The swells were bigger and the wind waves slightly confused. Once out of the Westport Bar our sails went up and we both experimented with different types of sailing in a choppy sea. This time we worked our way out to ten miles off shore as we headed down the coast.
The fog totally wiped out any land sighting until Cape Disappointment, but Annie used her Coastal Navigation knowledge to plot our way down, taking readings every 15-30 minutes. As was always the case, Don and Pam soon were far out in front of us. After about four hours, we radio’d s/v Dream Catcher that we were switching to the iron Genoa as we wanted to get over the Columbia BAR before more fog settled in. Don and Pam, being more adventurous, knowledgeable and faster, sailed on. They called it right. The fog didn’t settle like it does in Westport and they had clear sailing all the way over the BAR and into Ilwaco. We navigated right to Buoy 7 and in, they crossed over Buoy 3 slightly ahead of us. I wish I’d had a camera because the view of their boat on a reach with the North Jetty and fog behind was beautiful. The BAR was a little more active that evening (although the fisherman were gone), and Don registered winds as high as the upper 20s. That night they went on to Ilwaco and we to Astoria.
We joined up again the next evening for an enjoyable few hours of story telling and note comparing. Finally, the next morning, s/v Shekinah cast off and headed up river. We lucked out and had a comfortable reach all day. Don and Pam were going to hold off until the afternoon and put their Spinnaker to work.
Vacation time was over. It was a baby step for us but an important one. We will continue to respect the BAR and the ocean but it will no longer be an unknown. We’re ready to go again as soon as work permits. I’ve got to add, we didn’t know Don and Pam very well before this trip but if you ever get a chance to cruise with them, do it. They are a wonderful, relaxed couple that has a lot of great and sensible ideas. (Don, your idea on the Auto Pilot really made our up river trip!)
Report from Shekinah's Cruise to Beacon Rock
By John Meyer, C34, ShekinahIn June of this year, Annie and I, along with one of our daughters and her friend headed up to Beacon Rock for a few days.
Most of you’ve been there and it’s as beautiful as ever. Possibly some of you’ve skipped the trip this year due to low waters.
We had the place to ourselves for three nights. The passage into the bay never registered less than 15 ft. The water inside the docks was skinnier and would definitely limit a large group from inside rafting. But, the year is mostly passed now and next year we’ll again have high waters – right?
I did want to pass on, for your planning next year, that the Beacon Rock State Park has completed new restrooms directly above the docks with wonderfully hot, clean showers. Ice can still be had at the trailer park ¼ mile up the road. A little bit of heaven right in our back yards.
Local Sailing Associations
- SailPDX (hosted by Oregon Corinthian Sailing Association, OCSA)
- Small Yacht Sailing Club of Oregon (SYSCO)
- Oregon Women’s Sailing Association (OWSA)
- Portland Yacht Club (PYC)
- Rose City Yacht Club (RCYC)
The Columbia River All Catalina Association newsletter is published online once a month. Articles are the opinions of the authors and don’t necessarily represent the consensus of the Association.
