The Quick Guide to Shipwatching

In case you did not hear about this: I released a new publication on Friday, March 7,at a reception at the Cannery Pier Hotel in Astoria: The Columbia River Ship Report Quick Guide to Shipwatching. It’s an 8-panel folding guide to ships, crews and cargo on the Columbia.

I created the guide in response to listeners who told me they had trouble remembering what I’d said when they were seeing ships on the river or elsewhere. Now that it’s out, I’m working on getting it for sale at various venues around Astoria, and then will branch out beyond there a bit.

Currently the guide is being sold at Lucy’s Books, the Columbia River Maritime Museum, and the Cannery Pier Hotel. I hope it will be sold at other venues as well.

One interesting bit of feedback I got from a former fisherman: he told me at first that one of my photos in the guide was wrong – that I couldn’t have seen it on the Columbia River. It’s the photo of the fishing boat. I assured him that I had personally taken all the pictures myself on the Astoria Riverwalk. He said the fishing boat was actually an Alaskan seiner and in 30 years he had never seen one on the Columbia River. So! I guess it’s sort of like seeing a rare bird when you’re birdwatching. I used the photo because it was pretty and obviously a fishing boat! Didn’t know it was an exotic species!

Joanne