Cape Disappointment, the US Coast Guard

September, 2020

Before we get into this blog post, I want to let you know there’s a new comment on the Salmon Fishing blog post from my fly fishing friend Mark. If you’re interested in reading it, please take a look, then come back here for more camping fun at Cape Disappointment. 🙂

And now back to camping at Cape Disappointment …

The other day I mentioned that this area of the coast along Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia is especially treacherous to boats and ships of all sizes. This is especially true around the mouth of the Columbia River, where the river empties into the Pacific Ocean. The “bar” across the mouth of this river is a shoal that protrudes from the mouth of the Columbia then out into the Pacific Ocean. The bar/shoal spans the full distance between the north jetty and the south jetty (one jetty on the north edge of the river, one jetty on the south edge of the river, each of them jutting out into the Pacific Ocean). The shoal/bar outside those jettys, in the Pacific Ocean is wider than the mouth, wider than the width between the two jettys, so you can’t enter or leave the river without crossing over the bar/shoal. The bar is plenty deep enough for the largest of ships, but still the bar is much more shallow than the ocean floor is and more shallow than the river is. There’s no danger of running aground on that shoal, but the difference in depth creates huge waves, back eddies, over falls, whirlpools, and other nasty things when the wind and the tide are right (or wrong!). Even large ocean-going commercial ships have sunk in this area because they are swamped by huge waves that come at them from two or three different directions at the same time, or they are forced off course by wind and waves and ocean and river currents such that then they do run aground. The Columbia River “bar” is considered one of the most treacherous in the world. And yet, we have women and men who choose to head out any day, any night, in any weather, to rescue us.

Hence, the US Coast Guard has several boats stationed here, just inside the mouth of the river. The women and men who operate those boats head out in all manner of weather to save boats and ships and lives. I’ll tell you and show you more about this further along, below, in this blog post. But for now, let me go back to my drive into this state park yesterday … oh, it was so pretty!

Not only does this land have a state park on it, but it is also home to the Lewis and Clark National Park, a federal park. There’s lots of stuff to see and do here.

I checked in at the state park office at the entrance yesterday when I arrived, and then I drove into the state park to find my campsite.

What a pleasant drive. What a gorgeous day! As mentioned, I found the campsite easily and got set up, then walked with my friends for a quick look at the beach and the ocean. Then I had dinner and an excellent, peaceful night’s sleep.

Now … this morning … I’m off to explore. I’ve never been here before so everything is brand new to me. Let’s see what I can discover.

Yesterday as I drove into the campground and turned right to head to the campground, I noticed a public boat launch area off to the left. So that’s where I headed this morning.

The RED star is my campsite. The YELLOW arrow points to the public boat launch area, just a very short drive away.

Again, the Columbia River runs along the bottom of the photo above, below the islands that are on the right side of the photo above. The Pacific Ocean is on the left side of the photo. You can see the north jetty poking out into the Pacific Ocean at the bottom left of the photo. The jetty is more than a mile long, keep that in mind.

In the photo/closeup below, the YELLOW arrow points to the public boat launch ramp that I was exploring, and the RED arrow points to a surprise for me. It’s the US Coast Guard Station that houses the boats and the personnel who operate those boats. Right here, right HERE, this is where the people and the boats are that perform search and rescue missions on the Columbia, along the coast, and out into the Pacific Ocean including on and through and over that treacherous bar.

Unfortunately, there is no public access to this US Coast Guard Station. I was hoping for a tour. But I’m not surprised they don’t offer tours here. Even in calm weather, if a boat or a ship is in trouble on the river or out on the ocean, these folks stop at nothing to head out and assist. People taking a tour would simply be in the way.

But I can show you the public boat ramp at the YELLOW arrow. It was interesting.

There are actually three single-lane ramps here that you can use to back your trailerable boat down into the water. And there are two floating docks attached to pilings in between those ramps. Then, on the left, there is a very sturdy windbreak or breakwater that protects the launch ramp in nasty weather, and protects the launch ramp from wakes caused by boats that are coming from or heading back to the marina in Ilwaco. Today was not at all nasty … it was exceptionally calm and lovely.

Just to the right of the boat launch ramps is where vehicles and trailers park while they’re getting their parking pass and setting up their boats for launching. Two small fishing boats were preparing to launch while I was there.

Right next to the Pay Station for parking was the sign below. When those lights are flashing, you don’t go!

But, like I said and as you can see, the water was like glass today. A great day for a boat ride and a great day to do a little fishing either on the river or out on the ocean.

Hmmm, you know what … those large buildings across the water, straight across this bay from me … hmmm, I wonder if they might be some of the US Coast Guard buildings. Let me walk out to the end of this floating dock and see if I can get a better look.

Hey, I think they are Coast Guard buildings. I think I see a US Coast Guard boat in that shed, don’t you? Inside the shed on the left? Let me zoom in with my camera.

Yes! It sure is a US Coast Guard boat with its distinctive wide RED vertical stripe on the bow. And it looks like there are other boats back in there too, on the right. Obviously there would be several Coast Guard boats stationed here.

The boat we can see is numbered 52314. Let me go look on the internet and see what I can learn about this boat.

Here’s one photo from the internet of this boat and her crew on the job. That long white line off the back of this boat is a tow line. In the photo below, 52314 is towing another boat, although the boat being towed is out of the photo to the left.

Oh my gosh, here’s another photo … yikes.

Here’s a quote from the webpage that has the photo above: “Crewmembers of the 52-foot motor lifeboat perform surf drills on the Columbia River Entrance on Feb. 08, 2011. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Coast Guard Station Cape Disappointment.”

Not surprisingly, they purposefully go out in the worst of weather to practice. In the photo above, that day was at least sunny and bright … there wasn’t a driving gale force wind and icy rain or snow to contend with, nor was it the dead of night with no moon and no visibility. In fact, this US Coast Guard station is the one and only US Coast Guard National Motor Lifeboat School. The Columbia River “bar” is considered one of the most treacherous in the world which makes it great for training purposes.

Here’s a wikipedia website that talks about this Life Boat Station. The folks at US Coast Guard Station Cape Disappointment even have a Facebook page. On that Facebook page, click on POSTS on the left side of the page, and then find the post dated February 16. Click on the video to start it playing. And HERE is a really super video about the current commanding officer of the Cape Disappointment Station. Always be sure to turn your sound system on first … and then you may also have to turn the sound on in the video itself after you get to each of these websites … do that by looking at the bottom right side of the video and if there is an X next to the speaker icon, then click on that icon to turn the sound on, but be sure YOUR sound is on first.

Take a look at this webpage for some eye-opening facts about this station and this area of the coast. One fact listed is that this Station conducts an average of 450-500 search and rescue cases a year. These folks risk their lives for us.

Here’s a video from 2013 made by some of the crew at Station Cape Disappointment during a training session. Again, note that this exercise was completed on a relatively calm day, in bright sunshine with great visibility (where the people in the water can see the waves that are coming at them), and there’s a rescue boat and other crew members right along side. Still … I wouldn’t want to be in that water!

And … lest we forget … let’s remember the boat that does this dangerous work for us, that carries those women and men out there and then brings them (and us) back in. Here’s a bit of information about the 52-foot steel hulled life boat 52314. Her name is Triumph II. She was named after her predecessor, the 52-foot wooden hulled life boat, Triumph, that is no longer in service. Triumph II and her three sister ships were built in Maryland at the Coast Guard shipyard there. Triumph II was launched and commissioned in April 1961. All four of these 52-footers operate in the Pacific Northwest in Oregon and Washington on the Pacific Ocean coast.

Earlier this morning, when I first drove away from my campsite looking for adventure, I thought I was just going to see an interesting public boat ramp (it was interesting) and maybe get to talk with a few fisher-folk (I did). But I was thrilled to catch that glimpse of this exceptionally important Coast Guard Station and of Triumph II across the bay. If you want to learn more about the US Coast Guard, please check out their website.