sailing in/around portland oregon?

[dan-marques]

hello all.

my girlfriend is applying to a job in Portland Oregon.

before i decided to take a stand either way (I would like to head to the NW), I need to know if there is any sailing nearby.

a map of the coast shows no major bays or sounds like we have in the east, and i've seen the travel channel shows on cape dissapointment, so i'm a little worried about what i'd do out there.

thanks.

dan

[Concordia..41]

I'll let a local chime in with real info, but I've seen a few sailboats (few being the operative word) around the downtown / riverfront area. There was the typical restaurant row with a marina or two mixed in. For sailing, head North young man (Olympia, Seattle, Orcas Island)....

The Christmas Ships Parade (http://www.christmasships.org/) looks interesting.

[ 12-20-2005, 07:31 PM: Message edited by: Concordia..41 ]

[John Bell]

I used to travel to the area quite a lot. Never sailed there, but want to someday. There appears to be quite an active summer afternoon racing series on the Columbia between the I-5 and 205 bridges.

[Paul Silverman]

I spent a year there in the early 90's and brought my sailboat out. (1) it was wet during winter- be prepared to sail in cold rain. (2) you can sail on the Willamette and the Columbia (they merge in Portland), but you will have to dodge commercial traffic.

[dan-marques]

Originally posted by Concordia..41:
For sailing, head North young man (Olympia, Seattle, Orcas Island)....
this i know. but i need to go where the jobs are. plus her career seems to be the most promising of either of ours. smile.gif

[dan-marques]

Originally posted by Paul Silverman:
it was wet during winter- be prepared to sail in cold rain.thats ok. where i was before (upstate ny) the water gets pretty hard for 5 months...

[Ian McColgin]

Portland has actually grown more wonderful since I lived there a while in the '70's. There's great sailing up and down the Clumbia - lots of cool places to stop for a night ranging from sloughs to towns, usually good winds especially down stream towards Astoria, and other sailors.

I used to enjoy a race called the "Six Pack" that was three up wind day races and a cruising by-day to Astoria, one race out in the Bay and weather willing over the bar, and two down wind day races all the way back. The prevailing wind was such that it was far faster down-wind-up-current than the other way. The by-day was to cruise the Praire Channels opposite a choke point on the Washington side we called Cape Horn due to the strong westerly winds causing really high standup seas in the contrary current.

Generally less breezy as you head upstream from Portland but still quite worthy. If you sail up to the Hood River area you'll see.

You'll have plenty for day and weekend sailing and even a week's cruise here and there.

Really long cruising is constrained by the fact that once you're over the bar, there is no all weather port for a long way either north or south.

Go. You'll love it. The Pacific Northwest is a most felicitous climate once you understand and enjoy wet.

G'luck

Edited to add: Portland's cultural scene is also quite marvelous. All of it - food, theater, music, crafts, literature, political clatches. Only town in the world with Skinheads Against Racism.

[ 12-21-2005, 11:55 AM: Message edited by: Ian McColgin ]

[dan-marques]

From all your responses, it appears that there is a pretty active sailing scene on the Portland area rivers. That's cool, as it isn't so apparent from the maps. (Well, of course a map couldn't show that, but you know what I mean smile.gif )

Doing some googling, there appear to be a large number of yacht and sailing clubs there, etc. Anyone have any info/insite regarding any of them?

Thanks.

Dan

[Willin']

Stop in and visit Steve and Nancy Randers at Schooner Creek Boat Works while your there. They build incredible wooden boats but tend to lean towards modern composite construction rather than traditional plank on frame.

Steve's a hard core ocean racer, but they say they really enjoy the Cal 20 racing locally.

Tom Robbins once said something to the effect that while most people scurry and skulk while walking in the rain, Northwesterners exalt in it.

Gives you an idea of the mindset.

edited to add: Hey, I just got the latest WB & there's a mention of Steve in there! Cool!

[ 12-22-2005, 09:08 AM: Message edited by: Willin' ]

[Tom Jackson]

I sailed out of Astoria for years, and some of the best sailing I have ever done was right there. Not exactly a yachting capital, but to my mind that was a positive, not a negative. There are some excellent sailors there who are used to sailing in all kinds of weather.

My experience of the upriver sailing is that the winds can often be fluky and light, and you do have the current to contend with, whether you're on the Willamette or the Columbia. To the east, however, out near The Dalles, the Columbia River Gorge has some spectacular winds, which is why it is such a mecca for windsurfers. It's upriver of the dams, so the reservoirs offer lake-like settings and spectacular scenery. Closer to the city, the Willamette Sailing Club has a pretty active small boat fleet, and there are marinas in numerous locations. The Legendary Yachts people are in Washougal, on the Washington side, upriver from Vancouver by a half hour or so. For small-craft interest, RiversWest in the Jantzen Beach area on the Willamette has a facility for boatbuilding classes and such, with a TSCA chapter associated with it, I believe. I went to college at the University of Oregon, and we had a very active C-Lark and Laser fleet on lakes and reservoirs near there years ago.

Cathlamet has a pretty decent wooden boat festival, which I think is still going. From there downstream is some very interesting gunkholing territory, often with thin water, silt and mud bottom, very remote and unpopulated by Northwest standards. Skamakawa, to my mind, marks a change in the river; more exposed, windier, a little heavier seas. And once you get west of Tongue Point, things change again, and it's not an area to be taken lightly. West of the Astoria Bridge always seems to be even rougher than upstream. There is a lot of local PHRF racing there, and some ocean racing too; I did the Bridge to Bridge, Astoria to Newport, several years running. The bar is...well, it's the Columbia River Bar, and you don't mess with it without a sound boat and a very experienced skipper and crew. Same for the Pacific.

The river commercial traffic, mainly tug-and-barge combinations, log ships, and car ships, is really pretty interesting. I never found it a bother, nor was it difficult to stay out of their way.

If it were me, I'd choose a seaworthy small boat capable of handling some of the more challenging areas, but one pretty easily trailered so you could readily get to some lakes and different areas, or for the odd weekend trip up to Puget Sound. Some sort of auxiliary power would be helpful to fight the currents in light air.

When I lived in Astoria, I was building an 18' double-ender very stout for the lower Columbia (which I've been trying to finish, along with my damned old house, in Maine for years now). If you are mostly eager to race, I'd try to tie into some local beer can races first, or, find out what small-craft fleets are active these days and tie into them.

I lived all over the Northwest. Portland is a great city, with a wonderful downtown life. In my view, its suburbs are something of a wasteland.

[dan-marques]

Tom.

Thanks for all the info!

Two really good friends of mine went to U. of Oregon (grad about 8 years ago), and have been trying to sell me on the NW, Oregon, and Portland.

RiversWest looks interesting, as I a small boat/ WB fan. Willamette Sailing Club also looks really interesting, as I'd a racing novice, but would love some friendly competiton with a cheap dinghy.

If we do end up out there, it appears that I'd have a great time.

Thanks.

[ 12-21-2005, 06:40 PM: Message edited by: dan-marques ]

[Meerkat]

Coastal cruising on the west coast of the US is pretty much a non-event. There are few refuges in case of trouble, and those that do exist generally have tricky conditions to navigate on entry/exit (like bars for example).

There ARE marinas all up and down the coast, but they primarily service a day sailing and local fishing crowd.

The best sailing is probably the major bays: San Diego (Coronado Bay), San Francisco (San Francisco Bay, etc.) and Seattle (Puget Sound). Of the three, I've sailed San Francisco and Seattle, and SF is by far the most challenging!

FWIW, Olympia, at the south end of Puget Sound, is about 2.5-3 hours by car from Portland - if you obey the speed limit ;) .

[dan-marques]

Follow up.

My girlfriend decided not to take the offer in Portland.

It was a beautiful (and very livable) city, and maybe we'll end up there in the future, but for the time-being, we're staying in NYC.

I did just join a sailing club, though.

Thanks for all your advice.

Dan