The Ship Report

Today we’ll talk about the approach of autumn, shorter days and the different kinds of twilight we experience as the sun rises and sets.

The post Some seasonal and navigational astronomy as the days get shorter appeared first on The Ship Report.

Today we’ll take a look at the Crystal Symphony, a luxury cruise ship that will be in Astoria on Wednesday. She’s just begun a 39 day cruise that started earlier this week in Vancouver, BC, that will take her down the West Coast, to Mexico, through the Panama Canal, visiting various locations in South America and the Caribbean, and eventually to New York City.

Image: the Crystal Symphony in Alaska waters. Photo credit: Gillfoto, CC BY-SA 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

The post Today the first of three remaining cruise ships calls on Astoria for the 2026 season. Her cruise is an unusual one. appeared first on The Ship Report.

Today, a look at who’s coming and going on the river, and since we frequently see ships arriving from Vancouver. BC, going to Vancouver, WA, I thought it would be fun to talk about how these namesake cities got their names.

Plus, in our weather, “Fogust” returns with foggy conditions, especially on the river.

The post A look at today’s ship schedule, and a bit about our two Vancouvers appeared first on The Ship Report.

Today I’d like to answer this question from another angle, after seeing someone post a photo of a calm Columbia River Bar on a recent day, from the perspective of being out there on the water in that area in a small boat. And essentially posing the question: “It looks pretty calm to me…What’s the big deal?”

So today we’ll talk about this a bit. The answer, in a nutshell, is: timing…

The post Answering the question: So what’s the big deal about the Columbia River Bar? It looks pretty calm to me… appeared first on The Ship Report.

Today we’ll talk more about how tides change all the time here, and affect us on both the river and ocean beaches. And how this information is practical to know as we go about our daily lives, even if we never go near the water.

The post More on tides in our daily lives appeared first on The Ship Report.

Today, we take a look at the strain vessels are under in the work they do.

And how weather can push things to the breaking point, causing lines and wires to “part” or break, with sometimes catastrophic results.

Photo: Courtesy Sara’s Old Photos. The tanker Keystone Canyon broke loose from the Port of Astoria docks during a storm in 1994. The ship ended up pinned against the Astoria Megler Bridge. No serious damage occurred to the bridge or ship, but the incident showed how storm conditions can overwhelm a ship’s docklines.

The post A look at why lines (and shrouds) on ships and boats can “part” and why it’s so dangerous appeared first on The Ship Report.

Today we’ll talk about a useful guideline for navigating in heavily tidal waters like the Columbia. It’s called the Rule of 12ths.

The Rule of 12ths divides the tidal cycle into segments, and shows when the most active times are happening. It offers a useful pattern to determine when the falling or rising tide will be exerting its strongest influence in the river.

A good tool to decide when to go out in a small boat, what times to avoid, and how to use the tide to your advantage if you are traveling on the river.

The post The Rule of 12ths: a way to gauge tidal dangers on the Columbia appeared first on The Ship Report.

Today we’ll look at today’s abundant ship schedule, and also take a look at this week’s tides, which feature pretty big tidal swings between high and low tide. This can be an issue for people on the river in boats, as many people are during this month’s Buoy 10 salmon fishing season on the Columbia.

The post Today’s ship schedule and a look at tides in the river appeared first on The Ship Report.

While ship traffic may seem slow some days on the lower river near the Columbia’s mouth, there’s plenty happening upriver near busy ports, and inland as far as Idaho. We’ll talk about upriver traffic on this busy marine highway, which includes the Snake River and Lewiston, Idaho.

The post The busy inland Columbia River appeared first on The Ship Report.

A listener sent me an interesting question this week: asking why pilot transfers happen while ships are moving, because the process seems unsafe.

Today I’ll talk about why this practice remains the best and safest way to handle that pilot boat maneuver here (and in many places around the world). And yes, it is inherently risky, even with all efforts to make maritime piloting as safe as possible.

The post A listener question about pilot boats and ships appeared first on The Ship Report.