A much better trip this time.

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GFC

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We finally got started on our trip to Portland, OR today. We’re going down to get all new canvas made for the fly bridge. It needs it desperately.

We tried to make the trip about 3 weeks ago then I found out all the locks were going to be closed for annual maintenance. Bummer. Then we started out two weeks ago and ran into some strong winds so we turned back. We were looking at starting yesterday but, given our prior luck I didn’t think it wise to start on Friday the 13th.

So we pulled out of the slip about 10:30 this morning with light winds and the forecast was for them to lessen as the day went on. After a short wait for the railroad bridge to lift we got underway. The first leg of the trip was a 36 mile leg to McNary Lock and things looked good for us to make that without any issues. Winds were light, waves only 1’-2’ and the sun was trying to peek through a high overcast.

We were cruising along at about 11kts-12kts when we came up behind a tug with two barges of wood chips when we were about 15 miles from the lock. I knew the lockmaster would not let us go down then have to raise the lock for the tug so we had no choice but to fall in behind and follow him at 7.5kts for two hours to the lock. Bummer.

He went in first and took a stbd tie. We had been rigged for a stbd tie so we had to re-rig all the lines and fenders. Bummer. The good side of it was we took the forward most bollard and when we got the green light we left before he did. We got into the locks about 1:30 (we had planned on being there around noonish) and got out around 2:00.

From then on it was a pretty uneventful cruise all the way to Arlington, OR and we arrived a bit after 5:00. This is a nice marina and in the last year or two they have installed power at most of the docks. Their slips are short, about 25’, so we took a side tie. No problem. The power pedestal was right across the dock from us. They only had 30A 120V power so I used my “two into one” adapter. That gives me 240V and the boat makes the adjustments necessary to convert it to 120V.

No sooner did we tie up than my Admiral handed me a cold beer. Bless her little pea picking heart! We paid the $30 fee for the night and we’re set.

My track recorder on the GPS showed we cruised 73.6nm in 7:52. We would have gotten here sooner had it not been for the tug. Oh well, stuff happens. Tomorrow we will travel about 75 miles if we go to Hood River, 55 if we stop at The Dalles. We have two locks to pass through tomorrow so that will slow us down a bit even if we don’t have to wait for any slow moving tugs. I took some photos today but will wait until we get back home Monday night to upload them.

We’re having grilled pork tenderloin, sauerkraut and peas for dinner. And more beer.
 
Safe cruising please share some visuals when you get a chance
 
GFC said:
We were looking at starting yesterday but, given our prior luck I didn’t think it wise to start on Friday the 13th.
Click to expand...

Wifey B: For real? Please don't tell me you delayed because of the numbers on the calendar? :eek:

If you'd started yesterday, you'd be a day further along and no slow wood chips boat. :rofl:
 
Sounds like a good trip. Somewhat surprising you were able to arrange marina docking at such a late time. Jealous also because our marina is closed on the weekends.
 
Mike, glad to hear you were able to get under way. Hope you won't have to dodge too many nets down river in the middle of the channel. Have a safe trip.
 
markpierce said:
Sounds like a good trip. Somewhat surprising you were able to arrange marina docking at such a late time. Jealous also because our marina is closed on the weekends.
Click to expand...

Got to be one of the most illogical things possible to operate a marina five days a week, but close on weekend.
 
BandB said:
Got to be one of the most illogical things possible to operate a marina five days a week, but close on weekend.
Click to expand...

It's a municipal marina run by a bankrupt city and not really geared to cater to the traveler or transient cruiser. Not all marinas are open to visitors.
 
FlyWright said:
It's a municipal marina run by a bankrupt city and not really geared to cater to the traveler or transient cruiser. Not all marinas are open to visitors.
Click to expand...

Still illogical, even to serve the local boater. I understand they're just operating on city hours. It's not just travelers and transients who boat on weekends. I'm sure there's some policy that would require them to pay employees more, but I would be surprised if a different schedule wouldn't produce more revenue.
 
Mike,

Where you and Tina docking at here in Portland? We are in Salpare would like to get together if time permits.
Maybe even get Tom and Kay to come back up. We had lunch with them yesterday.
 
BandB said:
Still illogical, even to serve the local boater. I understand they're just operating on city hours. It's not just travelers and transients who boat on weekends. I'm sure there's some policy that would require them to pay employees more, but I would be surprised if a different schedule wouldn't produce more revenue.
Click to expand...

I don't disagree with you, but obviously you don't know Vallejo gov't. It ain't pretty.
 
Crusty Chief said:
Mike,

Where you and Tina docking at here in Portland? We are in Salpare would like to get together if time permits.
Maybe even get Tom and Kay to come back up. We had lunch with them yesterday.
Click to expand...

We will attend and bring Klondikes....:eek:
 
First, a followup for today. We're sitting in a restaurant waiting for dinner so I'll post some responses later......




Well today was a much better day. We pulled out of Arlington at 8:30 on deadcalm seas with hardly a riffle on the water. Light, thin clouds with the sun trying to peek through. A nice leisurely cruise to John Day Dam andonly a short wait while they turned the lock around. What that means is that we needed the lock tobe filled because we were going downstream, and the lock was at the downstreamlevel. I called the lockmaster on theVHF about 20 minutes out and told him we needed to lock through and he saidthere would be about a 20 minute wait. No problem. We got into the lockjust about 10:15.


We got the green light to enter the lock and went inwithout any issues. The ride down as thewater level was dropped took about 25 minutes, dropping us about 85’. Then we took off for the next lock at TheDalles, OR. We got there about 1:15 andwere able to go right in. Again, theydropped us about 80’ and the ride down took about 25 minutes. When the lockmaster opened the gate for us toleave I saw there was a tug and 4 barges waiting to get it. He was crowding the entry a bit but we gotpast him without any trouble.





It rained off and on as we cruised toward The Dalles Lockand that made seeing out through the old strataglass windows difficult. Fortunately there were zero other boattraffic on the river.





This stretch of river from Arlington to Hood River is ourfavorite. The countryside makes a transitionfrom hills covered with desert-brown to hills covered with green, then a fewsmall trees as we get closer and closer to the Columbia Gorge. Coming from our desert area in the SE cornerof WA, it’s nice to see the hills covered in green.





After we left The Dalles lock it was a nice, easy cruiseto Hood River, OR, our destination for the night. We pulled in there about 4:30 or so and tiedup to the guest dock. Then we foundthere was no power to the pedestals, and that began the adventure fromHell. We finally got ahold of someonefrom the Port of Hood River who called someone from the fuel company whosupposedly had the key to the power box. He came and then left without ever doing anything or coming down to theboat.








Then Bryan, a maintenance worker from the Port came downbut he knew nothing about the docks or about power and how it all was supposedto work. He made a few phone calls tosupervisors and finally got one who suggested we move the boat to a dock acrosstheir small harbor where the cruise boats dock. He knew they had 50A power there. So we did that, only to find out that our 50’ power cord was about 4’too short to reach the power pedestal used by the cruise boats.





Now all this time I’d been suggesting to Bryan that maybewe could just move the boat to one of the open slips in the Port’s marina. Bryan didn’t have the authority to grant thatwish so more calls to more supervisors and we finally got one who did and hegave his OK.





So Bryan and I drove over to the secure gate to the marinaand walked the docks until we found a side tie that I could get into and hadthe requisite power. So we went back tothe boat that was still tied to the cruise boat dock, and spooled in the entire50’ of the 50A cord before untying and leaving that dock.





I got to the area I where I was going to side tie and hadto back the boat down a fairly narrow fairway that was about 150’ long. I did that OK, and we tied up to the side tieand hooked up our power cord to the pedestal. We got that hooked up but as soon as I flipped the breakers on the boatto turn them on it tripped the main breaker to the whole dock.





By this time it was getting close to 6:30, we both weretired of fooling around with the power situation so we decided to bag it andstay in a hotel. There is a nice BestWestern Plus across the road from the marina so after packing up a few clothesand things for the night and schlepping the bags about ¾ mile to the hotel weare now sitting here in our room. Nowhere’s another odd quirk…two of the plugs in the room have no power. Go figure.





So we’re having a drink andgoing to head for a restaurant for some dinner. At this point I don’t know if the initial attempt at hooking to shorepower here buggered up something on the boat or if we’re just having a helluvatime getting power. I have to thinkmaybe their power setup (Oh, did I mention it was just put in and we were thefirst people to hook up to it??) was screwed up and did something to screw upthe power on the boat. It worked justfine last night in Arlington (geesh, that seems like it was days ago!) but nowdoesn’t work.


I’m going to jump in theshower; trust me, it’s desperately needed! Then we’ll head out for a bit to eat. Another great adventure!


Well these power problems stillare working against me. I tried to loginto the hotel’s wifi to post this and I couldn’t get in. I ended up taking my laptop to the front deskand, as luck would have it, the desk manager used to work in tech support. Bingo. That’s all it took. We are nowin the bar, my drink has yet to arrive but I’m sooooo ready. Nighty Nite!

 
Better luck tomorrow my friend. So I take it there are no places to anchor?
 
GFC said:
First, a followup for today. We're sitting in a restaurant waiting for dinner so I'll post some responses later......




Well today was a much better day. We pulled out of Arlington at 8:30 on deadcalm seas with hardly a riffle on the water. Light, thin clouds with the sun trying to peek through. A nice leisurely cruise to John Day Dam andonly a short wait while they turned the lock around. What that means is that we needed the lock tobe filled because we were going downstream, and the lock was at the downstreamlevel. I called the lockmaster on theVHF about 20 minutes out and told him we needed to lock through and he saidthere would be about a 20 minute wait. No problem. We got into the lockjust about 10:15.


We got the green light to enter the lock and went inwithout any issues. The ride down as thewater level was dropped took about 25 minutes, dropping us about 85’. Then we took off for the next lock at TheDalles, OR. We got there about 1:15 andwere able to go right in. Again, theydropped us about 80’ and the ride down took about 25 minutes. When the lockmaster opened the gate for us toleave I saw there was a tug and 4 barges waiting to get it. He was crowding the entry a bit but we gotpast him without any trouble.





It rained off and on as we cruised toward The Dalles Lockand that made seeing out through the old strataglass windows difficult. Fortunately there were zero other boattraffic on the river.





This stretch of river from Arlington to Hood River is ourfavorite. The countryside makes a transitionfrom hills covered with desert-brown to hills covered with green, then a fewsmall trees as we get closer and closer to the Columbia Gorge. Coming from our desert area in the SE cornerof WA, it’s nice to see the hills covered in green.





After we left The Dalles lock it was a nice, easy cruiseto Hood River, OR, our destination for the night. We pulled in there about 4:30 or so and tiedup to the guest dock. Then we foundthere was no power to the pedestals, and that began the adventure fromHell. We finally got ahold of someonefrom the Port of Hood River who called someone from the fuel company whosupposedly had the key to the power box. He came and then left without ever doing anything or coming down to theboat.








Then Bryan, a maintenance worker from the Port came downbut he knew nothing about the docks or about power and how it all was supposedto work. He made a few phone calls tosupervisors and finally got one who suggested we move the boat to a dock acrosstheir small harbor where the cruise boats dock. He knew they had 50A power there. So we did that, only to find out that our 50’ power cord was about 4’too short to reach the power pedestal used by the cruise boats.





Now all this time I’d been suggesting to Bryan that maybewe could just move the boat to one of the open slips in the Port’s marina. Bryan didn’t have the authority to grant thatwish so more calls to more supervisors and we finally got one who did and hegave his OK.





So Bryan and I drove over to the secure gate to the marinaand walked the docks until we found a side tie that I could get into and hadthe requisite power. So we went back tothe boat that was still tied to the cruise boat dock, and spooled in the entire50’ of the 50A cord before untying and leaving that dock.





I got to the area I where I was going to side tie and hadto back the boat down a fairly narrow fairway that was about 150’ long. I did that OK, and we tied up to the side tieand hooked up our power cord to the pedestal. We got that hooked up but as soon as I flipped the breakers on the boatto turn them on it tripped the main breaker to the whole dock.





By this time it was getting close to 6:30, we both weretired of fooling around with the power situation so we decided to bag it andstay in a hotel. There is a nice BestWestern Plus across the road from the marina so after packing up a few clothesand things for the night and schlepping the bags about ¾ mile to the hotel weare now sitting here in our room. Nowhere’s another odd quirk…two of the plugs in the room have no power. Go figure.





So we’re having a drink andgoing to head for a restaurant for some dinner. At this point I don’t know if the initial attempt at hooking to shorepower here buggered up something on the boat or if we’re just having a helluvatime getting power. I have to thinkmaybe their power setup (Oh, did I mention it was just put in and we were thefirst people to hook up to it??) was screwed up and did something to screw upthe power on the boat. It worked justfine last night in Arlington (geesh, that seems like it was days ago!) but nowdoesn’t work.


I’m going to jump in theshower; trust me, it’s desperately needed! Then we’ll head out for a bit to eat. Another great adventure!


Well these power problems stillare working against me. I tried to loginto the hotel’s wifi to post this and I couldn’t get in. I ended up taking my laptop to the front deskand, as luck would have it, the desk manager used to work in tech support. Bingo. That’s all it took. We are nowin the bar, my drink has yet to arrive but I’m sooooo ready. Nighty Nite!
Click to expand...

Wifey B: You need to work on your serious, sad, frustrating, somber writing style as it comes across in such a way as to make me laugh with you. :) Not looking to you for power though. We have power where we're docked tonight, but it's about 3000 miles or so from you.
 
"Wifey B: For real? Please don't tell me you delayed because of the numbers on the calendar? " No, it was at Tina's request. You know the saying: Happy wife, happy life.


"Better luck tomorrow my friend. So I take it there are no places to anchor? " I suspect there might be one or two, but with the current flowing toward the west and the wind always blowing from the west it could make some interesting times.


"Sounds like a good trip. Somewhat surprising you were able to arrange marina docking at such a late time. Jealous also because our marina is closed on the weekends. " This one is too. They operate on the honor system. Prices are posted and there's a drop box. $30 for our boat and that included power.


"Mike, glad to hear you were able to get under way. Hope you won't have to dodge too many nets down river in the middle of the channel. Have a safe trip."
There were a million of them and the marker buoys were hard to see, especially through the rain.


"Where you and Tina docking at here in Portland? We are in Salpare would like to get together if time permits.
Maybe even get Tom and Kay to come back up. We had lunch with them yesterday." John, I think I'm going to have to pass. By the time we get to Tyee YC and get settled in there, then meet with the guy who is doing the canvas work, then getting a rental car it will be time to head for home. But, don't forget my offer to buy the first round when you and ASD head my direction in May.


"LOL, going to the Liquor store in the morning, what’s your poison Mike? " You're a man after my own heart. Tanqueray and tonic is my favorite poison but a good sipping tequila is also hard to beat.


As far as photos go, I took some and Tina took some but right now I don't have the time or inclination to screw around with uploading them so I can post them on here. Sorry, but after today that will have to wait until we get home.
 
"Wifey B: You need to work on your serious, sad, frustrating, somber writing style as it comes across in such a way as to make me laugh with you." I'll be sure to work on that. I made a note on my calendar for the 32nd of February to take care of it.
 
Mike,
If you need anything, let me know. Even if its just a ride.

Cheers
 
GFC said:
"Wifey B: You need to work on your serious, sad, frustrating, somber writing style as it comes across in such a way as to make me laugh with you." I'll be sure to work on that. I made a note on my calendar for the 32nd of February to take care of it.
Click to expand...

Wifey B: I demand you make it higher priority. The 30th of February. :rofl:
 
Hope the drinks were good!!!
 
Well, today was…..a day. It started off with a great breakfast at thehotel. Then we schlepped our bags backto the boat. I called Bryan and he cameto the boat to get his access key card back. Now, a word about Bryan. Onreading back through what I wrote yesterday I may have treated him undulyharshly. He was a guy stuck in aposition he hadn’t been trained to handle. He came out on a Sunday when he could have been spending it with his girlfriend. He spent the better part of 4 hours with metrying to get things to work and the fact that we were unsuccessful was not hisfault. So, my hat’s tipped to Bryan forhis services and a job well done. ThanksBryan,
When we pulled out this morningthere was a stout wind of about 20mph blowing straight up the river. The waves were about 2’ and close togetherso a bit of spray to start the day. We got a ways down river headed towardBonneville dam, the last dam of the trip. The further we got down the river the higher the winds blew. At one point the river narrows as it passes betweenthe steep hills on both sides, creating a choke point. It was probably kicking up to gusts of 40 orbetter in one short stretch and the waves picked up to about 6’ to 8’. Waves weremaking spray that was blowing up over the boat and it was a helluva ride. Tina grabbed a very short video which shewill email to me and I’ll post it.
That only lasted for about 2miles then it calmed back down a bit to waves of about 2’-3’ and the closer wegot to Bonneville the calmer it got. Wehad to wait about 20 minutes while the lockmaster turned the lock around butthen we got in, down and out without any delay.
The last stretch of theColumbia between Bonneville and Portland consists of narrow channels andfrequent turns. I made that last 20miles without the aid of autopilot to give it a rest. BTW, I won’t ever own a cruising boat thatdoes not have autopilot. It truly is agod send on lengthy trips like this one.
We finally got to Tyee YachtClub and I had to back down another long fairway, about 680’ and had to make a90* turn at the end to side tie to their dock. I’d been told that there was power at the dock but when I got there Ifound it was only 20A. Bummer.
The guy from Tyee gave me a rideto the Portland airport to pick up our rental car, which was very nice ofhim. When I asked the guy at the rentalcar counter for a map so I could find my way back to Tyee, he didn’t even knowwhere we were at his office. I had leftmy phone on the boat so no way to contact Tina, no map program to find my wayback to Tyee, and it took me over and houru to drive the 5 miles or so back toTyee.
I had tried calling the guy whois going to do the canvas/eisenglass work but they’re closed Mondays and thephone message box was full so no way to leave him a message. Bummer. That kind of detailed work isn’t something I’d be comfortable withdiscussing with him on the phone so we were stuck getting a motel room for thenight and I’ll strangle him, errr, I mean talk to him tomorrow morning.
By that time it was about 5:00so we drove to the nearest bar, had a drink and an appetizer and we’re nowsafely tucked in the motel room. We mayleave for dinner, but we’ll probably find a place we can just walk to.
So I’m still not home, don’t havemy photos organized so I apologize but it will be another day for any ofthose.
Tired and weary Mike
 
Keep the log coming and looking forward to the pictures
 
How long are you staying. Dinner tomorrow with Crusty and ASD?
 
Damn, Tom, I got so screwed up by the canvas guy and I miscommunicating and the misinformation I got from the guy at the car rental place. I completely forgot about you and John wanting to get together for dinner. I apologize because I would like to have done that.


I'm going to meet with the canvas guy in the early morning then we're heading east.


Now I'm probably on the hook for the first two rounds!
 
Last edited:
FlyWright said:
It's a municipal marina run by a bankrupt city and not really geared to cater to the traveler or transient cruiser. Not all marinas are open to visitors.
Click to expand...

Vallejo Municipal Marina: The weekend office manager retired and the city did not want to replace the position. Not long after, weekend fuel service ended, probably due to further reduced marina staff. This happened some years after the city's bankruptcy. It creates some inconvenience for berthers to do marina business, but not so much if one is retired and is available on weekdays. If the marina was a business, it would remain open on the weekend and close a couple of days mid-week if finances were weak. Berther access is 24/7.

It's not unusual for seasonal transients to berth here (typically at F dock while FlyWright is at A). And there are lots of vacancies for those wanting to explore the San Francisco estuary. But the weekend visitor is luckless.

Adjacent is a private club's marina which offers reciprocity.
 
Last edited:
. It's not unusual for seasonal transients to berth here (typically at F dock while FlyWright is at A). And there are lots of vacancies for those wanting to explore the San Francisco estuary. But the weekend visitor is luckless. Adjacent is a private club's marina which offers reciprocity.[/QUOTE said:
Sounds like a mess
Click to expand...
 
I too have encountered steep 6-8 foot standing waves downstream from Hood River. Wind against current. I guess you can always get wind in the Columbia Gorge but it is famous for windy conditions in the summer. It is one of the best windsurfing spots in the world. It was a strange experience, I had water over the fly-bridge and one of my sister's kids got sea sick and half a mile away cars are cruising on the highway in beautiful sunshine.

Regarding lack of power, I'm surprised you did not just run the generator.
 
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