I'd like to arrange a day sail (or even motoring) or multi-day outing with someone in the Astoria, Oregon/Ilwaco, Washington area to venture into the Pacific across the Columbia Bar. Perhaps it would work to go out, circle the light ship, and come back in. If you have a boat in the vicinity of the mouth of the Columbia (or even farther up river) and would be willing to embark on a bar crossing excursion, please contact me by private message. I am more than willing to share expenses.
Seeking a Columbia Bar Crossing Opportunity
- Thread starter dkinzer
- Start date
What's your issue with the bar? Why do you need to go on someone elses boat? I did the bar on my trip from SF to BC in 2016,
I've posted our log here:
San Francsico Bay to British Columbia 2016
I've posted our log here:
San Francsico Bay to British Columbia 2016
Stu makes a good point. FWIW, that crossing is equally 'dangerous' and extremely 'well documented'. I have been over it both ways in a variety of sailboats for decades. We do watch the weather, sea state, time the tide, and are patient if an extra day in port seems warranted.
Basics: cross the bar, west of buoy 10, 1.5 hours after the low tide, to give the outgoing current time to stop. You want the slack or start of the flood.
It's the force of the 6 kt outgoing current running into the west/NW big seas that produce those short steep waves during the ebb.
There is a race coming up soon involving a lot of Portland boats, going from Ilwaco to Victoria. You might want to look for a Portland boat needed extra crew.
Basics: cross the bar, west of buoy 10, 1.5 hours after the low tide, to give the outgoing current time to stop. You want the slack or start of the flood.
It's the force of the 6 kt outgoing current running into the west/NW big seas that produce those short steep waves during the ebb.
There is a race coming up soon involving a lot of Portland boats, going from Ilwaco to Victoria. You might want to look for a Portland boat needed extra crew.
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I’m sorry but you are asking for someone to take you out, instruct you , in their boat and split the costs?
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I completely understand the OP's view and request. I think it's prudent to go out with someone experienced to take a look at a dangerous piece of water if you're unfamiliar with it, or hesitant to do it solo, or both. I felt this way about Woods Hole back here in MA - I once heard "six rescues a week" cited for that. I have friends and family members who have run into trouble, damaged props, etc., there. So, good to get a guide the first time, or ride along. It's similar in concept to putting a pilot on a ship entering or leaving port. Local knowledge is everything! You all don't object to pilots, do you? 
I object to asking someone to do it and offering to pay half of expenses.I completely understand the OP's view and request. I think it's prudent to go out with someone experienced to take a look at a dangerous piece of water if you're unfamiliar with it, or hesitant to do it solo, or both. I felt this way about Woods Hole back here in MA - I once heard "six rescues a week" cited for that. I have friends and family members who have run into trouble, damaged props, etc., there. So, good to get a guide the first time, or ride along. It's similar in concept to putting a pilot on a ship entering or leaving port. Local knowledge is everything! You all don't object to pilots, do you?
I don't understand. Are you saying he shouldn't ask someone, or he shouldn't offer 1/2 expenses? Or he should offer 100% expenses?
I've found the sailing community to be just that, a community, not a marketplace. Maybe some friendly guy will take him out. That's how I learned to navigate my sometimes tricky and treacherous waters. And I've done the same, now, for the new newbies.
I find it difficult, at the very least, and impossible at best, to reconcile these two inputs. Extremely well documented is just the tip of the iceberg for The Bar. Before I went anywhere near the Columbia River Bar I read everything I could about it for the few decades I lived on the West Coast, and approached it with care and diligence for the conditions and currents obtaining for the entire week before I got within 50 nm of the place. OTOH, we now have someone with his opinion that essentially says "I won't go anywhere new unless somebody else is willing to take my sorry scared little hide there first." I find that very infantile.
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Absolutely. Some guy will take him out and he should offer 100% expenses and then some. That’s the right thing to do. Allow the owner to decline. I’m either going to go out because I want to and take a friend or go out as a paid mentor /instructor ( which I won’t because I’m not licensed).
gee…… now I’m overthinking my first trip this summer to Woods hole. Any suggestions?I completely understand the OP's view and request. I think it's prudent to go out with someone experienced to take a look at a dangerous piece of water if you're unfamiliar with it, or hesitant to do it solo, or both. I felt this way about Woods Hole back here in MA - I once heard "six rescues a week" cited for that. I have friends and family members who have run into trouble, damaged props, etc., there. So, good to get a guide the first time, or ride along. It's similar in concept to putting a pilot on a ship entering or leaving port. Local knowledge is everything! You all don't object to pilots, do you?
Yea, I won't take a nickel, not even sandwiches from guests, to avoid the appearance that I'm operating commercially without a captain's license.
I did it a couple of times. My son wrecked a prop going through there (on a twin screw powerboat).
There are a lot of good online resources for it. It's been a long time since I did. The trickiest part is figuring out a good time to go through, and then at one point, I think it's called Broadway, the current is at a diagonal to the channel, and it's confusing and scary.
But, it's not nearly as treacherous as the Columbia Bar, the most dangerous bar crossing in the world - nicknamed the Graveyard of the Pacific. I would certainly want help on that one!
Which way are you going to transit it, from Buzzards Bay "to sea" or from Vineyard Sound?
Study the chart so you know what to do - it is well marked. Go at slack tide or with the tide. You can follow another boat that looks like they know what they're doing, which you may have to do anyway if it's busy. It requires your full attention but is not that bad.
I may be misunderstanding your advice and it likely only applies to Woods Hole, but in crossing the Columbia River bar, do not... cross -either way- on the ebb. Always on the flood or "flood slack".
jssailem
SBO Weather and Forecasting Forum Jim & John
- Oct 22, 2014
- 22,752
Know your limits. know your boat. Study the water hazards and how to avoid them. If concerned, take a ride and observe the areas of risk. Then use the knowledge to empower you. Approach the risks from a conservative angle.
Looking at this image of Woods Hole It appears that other skippers have successfully visited this water front without harm.
The Columbia Bar is no different. It is not about crossing the bar it is about preparing to cross the bar. You can see the bar and all of it's fury from the Coast Guard station lookout on the Washington side. You can visit with the local Astoria or Ilwaco boat man who use the bar as a transition from harbor to great fishing. You can plot your route from Astoria Marina to the bar and back, making note of the currents, the sand bars, the speed of your boat so that you time the crossing at best water. You can practice all of this timing in the Columbia River verifying your boat speed and calculating your boats performance.
The boaters who get in trouble fail to do any of this preparation. They leave it all to chance. And just like buying a lottery ticket, sometimes they are lucky and sometimes they are not.
It applies only to Woods Hole - I've gone through against the tide, with the tide and at slack - I find the last two to be easier. Ebb vs. flood aren't much different, it's just easier not to fight a 5 knot current. Wood Hole is not in the same league as the Columbia Bar.
jssailem
SBO Weather and Forecasting Forum Jim & John
- Oct 22, 2014
- 22,752
Here is a sailor who knows. He could cross the Gulf Stream on the opposite coast without an incident.
On the flood the incoming water lays down the wave/swell action over the shallows of the bar.
Use the information provided.
The weather forecast talks about "seas building during the tidal EBB"
In The Main Channel...Combined seas 2 to 4 ft through tonight. However...seas will temporarily build to 6 ft during the strong ebb around 530 am this morning...and during the ebb around 600 pm mon evening.
Today would not be a good time. | Columbia R. (Cape D) | 4/21/2023 6:15:05 | Restricted | Recreational:40 WEST OF BUOY 10 / Uninspected Passenger Vessels:40 WEST OF BUOY 10 | MAIN CHANNEL 6-10 FOOT EBB CHOP WITH OCCASIONAL EBB GENERATED BREAKS, MIDDLE GROUNDS 3-5 FEET, PEACOCK SPIT 6-10 FEET, CLATSOP SPIT 8-10 FEET WITH OCCASIONAL BREAKS. WINDS ARE 10-15 KNOTS FROM THE SOUTH. VISIBILITY IS 7 NAUTCAL MILES. THE COLUMBIA RIVER BAR IS CURRENTLY RESTRICTED TO RECREATIONAL BOATS AND UNINSPECTED COMMERCIAL PASSENGER VESSELS 40 FEET IN LENGTH OR LESS WEST OF BUOY 10 |
For comparison, here's a shot of Woods Hole with the path(s) you can take to pass through - there are lots of rocks outside the channel and there's a strong current potentially:
And here's what the Columbia Bar can look like (having never been there I have no idea how normal this is):
And here's what the Columbia Bar can look like (having never been there I have no idea how normal this is
):