Note about tides

High and low tides happen at different times even within a small geographical area. For instance, if you look at the tide tables for the Astoria waterfront, high tide happens about an hour earlier at Cape D and Seaside, which are about 17 milles west. It’s later in increments as you head inland.

Tall Ships in Ilwaco this weekend!

The Lady Washington and Hawaiian Chieftain, both tall ships owned by Gray’s Harbor Historical Seaport, will be in Ilwaco this weekend.

For more info, check out http://funbeach.com/events/tallships/index.html and http://www.historicalseaport.org

Both are replicas of cargo ships of the type that once sailed the waters of the Pacific Northwest. Imagine the Columbia River waterfront skyline complete with tall wooden masts and sails!

Fisher Poets 2009

Another great Fisher Poets Gathering in Astoria.  I always enjoy being KMUN’s on air host for the event. It’s kind of like herding cats, so much going on – but the performances are always fabulous. New venues around town are a great addition – especially the Astoria Event Center. Great acoustics and ambiance.

Question about ship fuel

Had a question from a listener about ship fuel (this question ended up a little bit buried in the other blog messages so I thought I’d put it upfront here so it would be easy to see):

“i am curious about ships and refueling, fuel treatment onboard (heating, fuel viscousity etc)? do ships have enough fuel on board for a round trip or just one way? how do they refuel? does a barge come out or does the ship pull up? also how do they start those big engines? do they just turn a key and crank it over like a small boat or is there a process? thanks boomer”

I’ll check into this and post comments asap, and will discuss Friday on the Ship Report.

- Joanne

Stats on petroleum

A barrel of oil = 42 US gallons

a metric ton of fuel = about 300 gallons = 7.2 barrels

Where to buy the Quick Guide to Shipwatching

The Quick Guide to Shipwatching is now for sale at numerous locations around Astoria:

Lucy’s Books, The Columbia River Maritime Museum, The Cannery Pier Hotel, The Bridgewater Bistro, Northwest Gourmet Gifts (in the Red Building), and soon, Clementes Restaurant.

The guide is a 100 percent locally produced publication: I took all the photos myself on the Riverwalk in Astoria, and wrote all the copy. The layout was designed by local firm Spence Photo & Design, and printed by Anchor Graphics of Astoria. When you buy a guide, your money stays in the community.

Price: $4.95

Thank you for supporting the Ship Report!

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

Cargo Ships

The general cargo ships has pretty much gone the way of the dinosaur, but has been to a degree replaced by the container ship. Ships are getting larger and larger all the time, as marine architects find new ways to create faster, larger ways to get around on the water and carry goods. It’s another  manifestation of the marketplace.

I spoke with Capt. Johnson recently about ship emissions. He agreed that pollution is an issue, but made an interesting point – that if you calculate the carbon footprint of ship borne cargo, because so much is hauled in one ship at a time the amount of fuel expended per item is actually quite small compared to items shipped using other means.

That doesn’t mean we don’t need to address the issue of ship emissions, but it does once again raise the point that maritime shipping is one of the most cost effective and overall efficient means of transportation anywhere.

The bottom line is that humans currently use a whole lot of energy and despite our fears about global warning, we aren’t making any real strides to lower the amount of fuel we burn.

- Joanne

Sea Chanteys in Astoria

If you like to sing sea songs, come on down to the Rogue Public House on Pier 39 in Astoria tonight, Feb. 25 from 7-9.

It’s the second meeting of a monthly gathering of people who like to sing along. Everyone’s invited – bring a sea song or two if you’re so inclined. Keep in mind that this is not a concert, just a gathering of friends, acquaintances and soon-to-be friends who like to sing nautical music.  Have a beer and some dinner, and enjoy!

This event is sponsored by the Columbia River Maritime Museum and the Pacific Northwest Living Historians. Special thanks to Betsey Ellerbroek of CRMM for spearheading this fun event.

The sea chantey group plans to meet every fourth Monday at The Rogue Public House, from 7-9 pm.

Hope to see you there!

- Joanne

Car Ships

Lots to know about car ships — one other tidbit about car ships on the Columbia:

Such ships generally deliver about a third of their cargo in Portland or Vancouver, WA and then continue on to other ports to deliver the rest. Car carriers here sometimes come directly from Japan or Korea, or arrive from Vancouver, BC on a run down the coast. Also, if a car carrier is going to unload its last car and leave empty, sometimes the US  military takes the opportunity to load military equipment for transport to the next port the ship is traveling to. Car ships have hydraulic moveable decks inside that can adjust to the height of their cargo, so in theory they can handle large trucks and small cars or military vehicles, etc. with some adjustments. Anything on wheels is the preferred cargo of these RO/RO ships — Roll On/ Roll Off — and they are increasing in number on the Columbia as the U.S. imports more and more cars.

It’s interesting how our ship traffic reflects the world marketplace…

Joanne