The Calm before the Storm



Umpqua River Bar



Umpqua River Bar

After a quick “pit stop” at Brookings for fuel, we continued northward in 2-foot chop and gentle 5 foot ocean swells.  We were making good time cruising most of the way at 8 knots.  Around 8pm that evening, Leonard noted that the starboard sea strainer needed to be cleaned out.  While the seas were still relatively calm, we shut down the starboard engine.  I motored along using the port engine while Leonard went below and cleaned out the strainer – a quick 20 minute job and we were up and running again with two engines.  We passed Cape Blanco at 11pm in the fog and by 4am we had passed Coos Bay.  Suddenly, the seas became choppy; it was now 6am and we noticed two huge blobs on our radar screen - rain squalls were passing through the area!  The squall kicked up the sea something fierce so we headed for Salmon Bay Harbor where we would first need to get safely across the Umpqua River Bar.  We radioed for bar conditions and were told it was still open.  Then we heard on the radio that it had been closed so we changed course and headed for Coos Bay.  Shortly thereafter, more information about bar conditions and restrictions were reported over the radio and we learned that vessels over 40 feet could still come across the Umpqua River bar, reported to have 8-10 foot breaking waves.  Once again, we changed course while negotiating the steep seas.  Other boats were also trying to make their way into a safe harbor – we heard a sailboat asking for help to negotiate the bar at Coos Bay while we were making our approach to the Umpqua River Bar.  Typically the steeper waves at the Umpqua Bar are on the left side as you are coming in, so boat traffic tends to stay on one side of the channel, both coming and going.  As we entered over the bar there were several small fishing boats hanging out in the traffic lane and one very large fishing boat was coming out intersecting our path – oh great, that’s all we need, I murmured.  We made our way over the breakers and through the maze of boats just as the Coast Guard Tower contacted us by radio.  They wanted to know which port we had last visited and when we were last boarded.  Sure enough, as we came into the transient guest dock to tie up, there were two Coast Guard boys ready and waiting to inspect our boat – oh brother, I just want to sleep!  After reviewing our safety equipment and paperwork, we received a copy of the inspection form which is good for one year with no more inspections!  By then it was 10:30am, time for bed!