Digital Black and White.

This is a typical night view off my back porch. In the far distance a line of hills goes from right to left and ends in about the middle. That point is the northern bank of the Columbia River where the Columbia Bar begins, a very, very treacherous stretch of water. Seamen, sailors and fishermen have all told me this. The lights to the immediate right of that point are the lights of the village of Ilwaco. The ship in the harbor is the Regatta, waiting out the Covid pandemic here in our harbor where mooring rates are low. The ship opposite is the Oregon Responder, an oil remediation ship which no longer moors here. The foreground is the buildings associated with the West Mooring Basin of Astoria harbor. It is shot again with the Leica M8.2 and I am betting the Canon LTM 28mm f/2.8 at f/2.8. It is a nice combination.

L5010423 by West Phalia, on Flickr​
 
Last edited:
This is a typical night view off my back porch. In the far distance a line of hills goes from right to left and ends in about the middle. That point is the northern bank of the Columbia River where the Columbia Bar begins, a very, very treacherous stretch of water. Seamen, sailors and fishermen have all told me this. The lights to the immediate right of that point are the lights of the village of Ilwaco. The ship in the harbor is the Regatta, waiting out the Covid pandemic here in our harbor where mooring rates are low. The ship opposite is the Oregon Responder, an oil remediation ship which no longer moors here. The foreground is the buildings associated with the West Mooring Basin of Astoria harbor. It is shot again with the Leica M8.2 and I am betting the Canon LTM 28mm f/2.8 at f/2.8. It is a nice combination.

L5010423 by West Phalia, on Flickr​
There are scary videos online of boats and large vessels crossing the Columbia River Bar. It’s called the Graveyard of the Pacific for good reason... I read that over 2000 vessels have been lost on the bar since the late 1700s.
 
There are scary videos online of boats and large vessels crossing the Columbia River Bar. It’s called the Graveyard of the Pacific for good reason... I read that over 2000 vessels have been lost on the bar since the late 1700s.

I had a friend in the US Merchant Marine who told me of loitering three days outside the Bar on his ship before it was safe to cross. When they did cross they hit a trough and the bow struck bottom. They took on water all cross the deck that carried away the catwalk and had to get refitted and repaired down in SF after unloading cargo in Portland. His words to me about the Bar were, exactly, "Stay off the fucking Bar." I have followed this advice. There are videos on YT about the Bar and the Bar Pilots and the USCG that make you very glad you are home in front of the computer, warm and dry.

The USCG maintains a training school in Ilwaco on the north side of the Columbia just inside of the Bar. They train folks from all over the world on crossing the Bar. The Coasties (USCG) are a tough, dedicated bunch, the "git 'er done" crowd. They do not get much press but the folks who work out on the water just love the Coasties, the ones who will save you ass when you are clawing off the lee shore, the only ones who will do that. Astoria, where I live, has a lot of folks working on the water and associated with those who do. We have a USCG station here in town with ships and helicopters and those crazy USCG rescue swimmers who will jump into the stormiest seas to save you. The USCG is a great bunch of folks, ones you can count on. Think kindly of them.
 
Back
Top Bottom