Cape Flattery to Astoria

September 17, 2008 September 17, 2008

Darusha

We left Neah Bay Monday morning, bound for the first leg of the Big Adventure. Headed for Astoria, OR, 145 miles away, we were cautious and excited. The Washington & Oregon coast is reported to be a wild and woolly place, and while we had a great weather forecast (20 kts from behind, and 5-6 foot seas), we were still apprehensive.

We motorsailed past Cape Flattery, taking in the awesome view of the rocks as we went past at 7 knots. Unfortunately, that was the best wind we had for the whole 29 hour trip, as we ended up motoring the whole way.

We needed to get to the mouth of the Columbia River by about noon the next day, in order to catch the flood over the notorious Columbia River Bar. We did get there in time, and while the bar conditions were calm, we did almost the whole thing in thick fog. We were very grateful for the radar and GPS chartplotter.

We pulled into the west boat basin in Astoria, where we were pleasantly surprised to be charged only $20/night, with all you can eat showers included.

We had a nice early supper at the Cafe Uniontown, then happily slept for 12 hours.

GEOPRESS_LOCATION([46.18333,-123.85])

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Categories: Travel

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8 thoughts on “Cape Flattery to Astoria”

Denis & Holly says:

September 17, 2008 at 6:29 pm

Good Going!!! Not to depress you, but we were only able to sail for 12 hours of our trip to San Francisco. Of course, this meant seas were smooth and comfortable for motoring...Enjoy Astoria. Don't miss the Maritime Museum.

Carol Arnold says:

September 17, 2008 at 8:31 pm

Glad to hear you have made a good start! Fog seems to be the bane of everyone's travels these past two weeks. Last night's BCA meeting was a full house - lots of tips about cruising in the Sea of Cortez -- brought out lots of dreamers and doners. Look forward to more updates.

Freya (B&B) says:

September 17, 2008 at 9:44 pm

Good on ya', mates! We too were frustrated/amused by weather forecasts that only give average winds...one day of calm + one day of gales = 20 knots. We'll be eagerly following your progress!