The Ship Report

Our typical fall pattern of more rain inserting itself into the forecast, alternating with sunshine. Sea heights will rise next week. Fall continues as planned.

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Scientists are saying we are in for an intense El Nino period this winter. But what does that mean – what is El Nino, and its close relative, La Nina?

And how will it affect conditions in the Pacific Northwest, in particular? Today we’ll take a look at that.

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Let’s take a look at who is on the river today and what kind of weather they’ll be dealing with.

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What’s in store for the weekend with marine weather? We’ll take a look, and check out ships coming and going on the river.

The post A look at weather and ship traffic appeared first on The Ship Report.

Today I’ll share some advice from our beloved Coast Guard personnel here locally, about the approaching PNW heavy weather season, and what you should look out for if you are boating and on the seashore.

The post “Heavy weather season is upon us” – a cautionary note from the PNW US Coast Guard appeared first on The Ship Report.

Today’s show is a bit of a potpourri, a little of this and that: I’ll be answering a question about the hospital ship USNS Mercy (yes, she’s still in Portland), a look at our ship schedule, and solo circumnavigator Oliver Widger is making his way down the West Coast. He fixed a freshwater leak in one of his water tanks and is good to go, sailing in beautiful seas.

The post An update on the USNS Mercy, a look at our ship schedule, and Oliver fixes a leak appeared first on The Ship Report.

I’ve been on a bit of a tear about solo sailor Oliver Widger the past few days and have been sharing a lot of info on Facebook, as he departed from Neah Bay headed around the world alone. He plans to sail nonstop, and end his voyage where he started, after months at sea by himself.

There’s been lots of discussion on my Facebook Ship Report page about him, with most people very supportive of his efforts. But inevitably, someone complained that he really wasn’t doing anything that hadn’t been done before by more experienced people. Which is quite true.

So today I’d like to address the question: Why do we care about Oliver Widger?

Like most things, it’s complicated. But the short answer: Oliver is us.

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You may have heard of Oliver Widger. He’s the intrepid Portland man who, after getting a life-changing medical diagnosis, sold most everything, bought a boat and sailed to Hawaii with his cat. This week he’s beginning another adventure: sailing around the world alone, unassisted and without stopping.

He leaves from Port Townsend Friday morning.

Photo of Cape Horn: Jerzy Strzelecki, CC BY 3.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

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This week we’ve seen some interesting ships in our Astoria anchorage, with gear we don’t normally see on an average day.

We’ll talk about that and also take a look at ship traffic and our marine weather.

Spoiler alert: the weather’s looking awfully good.

The post A look at gantry cranes and other interesting gear on our anchored ships appeared first on The Ship Report.

In this final segment of my interview series featuring round-the-world racing sailor Heidi Brown, we learn about how injuries are handled aboard a racing yacht, when a crew member was seriously injured as they raced through the notoriously stormy Bay of Biscay, off Spain and France.

The post Racing around the world, Part 6: injuries are always a risk at sea appeared first on The Ship Report.