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Old 05-29-2020, 11:35 AM   #16
Alaskan Sea-Duction
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City: Inside Passage Summer/Columbia River Winter
Vessel Name: Alaskan Sea-Duction
Vessel Model: 1988 M/Y Camargue YachtFisher
Join Date: Jul 2012
Posts: 8,050
Quote:
Originally Posted by Portage_Bay View Post
I've got many dozens of Columbia River bar crossing under my keel.

First get familiar with your boat and how to handle her in rough water before you even think about it. The pilots can be a good source of information but their business is running ocean going ships across the bar.

Best to call Cape Disappointment Coast Guard for bar status.

Make your first crossings in broad daylight and calm weather with a low swell off shore. Go out when the flood tide is running and come back in on that same tide. Do that several times until you gain experience before you plan to stay out to return on another flood.

Learn the difference between tide height times and tide current times. You need to know current times.

Avoid times when the current direction and the wind direction oppose each other. The seas can become big, close together and breaking on those conditions. This will often happen on the CR bar on the ebb current.

Make sure your boat is prepared. Everything stowed and secured. Everyone seated, best if all are wearing PFDs.

Make sure your fuel system is clean, you have spare filters and know how to change them. In rough water. In a dark engine room by flashlight.

Stay away from Clatsop spit and Peacock Spit. They'll kick up with no warning very quickly.

What I've outlined are the basics. Others here will offer their advice as well.

Lots of boats your size cross the bar. If all of this seems foreign to you then you are by no means ready. Best in that case to ride along with someone with more experience and watch them and ask questions.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pdxstriper View Post
Hi,

As have others here, I've made the run from Portland north and back around 15 times. The brochure at the link below gives a good overview of crossing the bar.

re: bar pilots, they are for commercial freighters and such which are required by their insurance to use bar pilots.

Study the bar a whole lot before attempting it. There are just too many details to pass on here. Take classes if they are available in your area. There is lots of info on the web. The information is overwhelming but make no mistake: the Columbia River Bar is serious stuff. I believe there have been more lives lost and more tonnage lost here than on any other Bar in the world.

What I did was join a yacht club, ask around and found many seasoned guys who would ride up with me and show me the ropes. Over time I became one of them. Another tip: Run the ocean with other boats. It's more fun and if something goes wrong, you have a buddy to help. I had a friend with a well maintained Hatteras that mysteriously caught fire and sunk off Grey's Harbor. A buddy running with him picked him, his wife, daughter and dog off the boat.
Then they all watched it go up in a blaze and sink. Shit happens, be careful out there.

https://www.oregon.gov/OSMB/forms-li...olumbiaBar.pdf

Pete
Quote:
Originally Posted by BandB View Post
What all the others have said. People cross regularly in various boats, but must be respected. I'd add one thing. Astoria is your friend. No one is forcing you to proceed on out and a few days in Astoria can be a nice wait. When coming in, The ocean is your friend and the previous stop is. You check things out before proceeding there and then again before entering. The available current information from the CG along the coast there is superlative. Best of any inlets I'm aware of.

Also, your first time it can be helpful to follow an experienced professional, often a fisherman. Keep your distance but observe how they go and handle things. Observe when they go. Great if you can talk to one before crossing and hear their plans and how they approach crossing.

Hale's Bar was our first west coast inlet. We watched the day before from the point. Then that morning we watched the parade of charter fishing boats crossing as there were 10'+ swells that day but little wind. Very long periods. All the fishing captains took basically the same approach and we found out it worked quite well. We later followed a couple in as well. And we never went in or out of any inlet along the coast there without getting a CG update.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lepke View Post
Slack water, high tide and watch ocean conditions.


The Columbia bar got it's fearful reputation from bad weather and idiots crossing at the wrong times. Commercial fishermen cross almost daily. So do pilots.

If the ocean is calm, you can cross anytime. I've crossed at low tide, end of the ebb without problems or a bad ride. What is bad is the current coming out and high winds coming in. It makes big, steep, rollers.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Crusty Chief View Post
On nice weather days its hard to even realize your “at the bar”. Slack Flood or just a bit early. Its a big bar and takes a couple hours to get away from the “Influence”. Going North, we make our turn between first and second Green bouy and try to head NW aiming for deeper water. Going south we stayed in the channel until 4th or fifth red bouy as you will be in a SW direction. Again aim for deeper water, our you will fight ground swell. Deeper water is a long ways out 12-15 miles or so. This also gets you away from the Crab Pots, they are everywhere. I always picked the right weather window and paid close attention to Swell, duration and direction.
The first time we crossed the bar, the wife asked me when we would cross the bar, I told her we did that about 5 miles back.
Best of luck.
Sorry I am so late on this. Didn't see it.

Planning is EVERYTHING! We make the run from Astoria to Neah Bay in 12 hours. We don't cross on an ebb, unless it is dead smooth which is rare. Wait for the flood.

For us it starts like this:

1. Start looking at weather a week or so in advance.
2. Time your crossing when the weather is good and seas are reasonable. So we not only look at the bar but the weather up the coast to Strait of Juan De Fuca. (or the other way).
3. Look at Windy, listen and look at the USCG reports. Doesn't do you any good if you travel from Neah Bay to the bar, just to find the bar is closed due to weather or a heavy ebb.
4. Marine Traffic. Who is crossing the bar?

So with what every one has stated what is the common denominator?
WEATHER! WEATHER!! WEATHER!

Get use to looking at it. As stated above stay in Astoria a few days if weather is not favorable. If you have a schedule, that schedule will kill you. The Bar is not a big thing if you have patience and do it right. Below are a few links I use:

https://www.windy.com/?50.717,-127.500,5

https://www.weather.gov/pqr/barcams

https://www.wrh.noaa.gov/pqr/marine/BarObs.php
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