Oregon camping, the Maritime Museum

June, 2021

There are some really great comments to the last blog post. If you haven’t already, you might want to head back there and read them. And THEN come back here and see what I do next. 🙂

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This was my last full day of camping at Fort Stevens State Park near Astoria, Oregon. This morning had been grey and overcast but no rain, so I investigated the local airport and found that Coast Guard AIR facility and the helicopter that took off! … but this afternoon promised a bit of rain. And so this afternoon I headed indoors to the Columbia River Maritime Museum located on Astoria’s downtown waterfront docks to see what I could see. Museums used to be boring for me. Nowadays, they are fascinating, and that’s exactly what this one proved to be as well.

The Maritime Museum here has so much stuff in in it! Fishing, sailboating, ocean surfing (and upriver wind surfing), commercial cargo ship info, pleasure craft, kayaking, information about the Columbia River and its currents which can be wildly different from the ocean currents (hence the danger of the “bar”), information about old wood fishing boats and old wood recreational boats. I could have spent all day, or many days, at this Maritime Museum and not seen it all. So I had to choose. Boy, that was a tough choice.

In the end, I chose to focus again on the US Coast Guard, since that seemed to be what I’ve been drawn to all this week. I love boats, I love the water, and I so admire and appreciate the US Coast Guard.

So … let’s take a peek at the Columbia River Maritime Museum.

Take a close look at the photo below. The Maritime Museum building is exceptionally large. That entire huge glassed exhibit (below) can be seen from the street about a block away. It houses just one 44-foot! US Coast Guard boat, inside that window … one boat positioned at an angle that the ocean commonly requires these boats (and people) to work on. I hadn’t even gotten in the front door, and already I was impressed.

Immediately inside the front door of the museum was this old diesel engine (below). The bottom of the engine was less than 2 feet off the floor, but the top of the engine was much taller than I am (I’m 5′ 8″).

It’s a 1928 three-cylinder Atlas diesel engine, 75 hp, originally installed in a fishing boat here named Argo. That fishing boat was owned and operated for more than 30 years by the original owner, then sold to another fellow. Eventually, the engine was replaced in 1977 after it had seen 49 years of service across the “bar” and on the ocean. The engine weighs 11 tons, even just the flywheel (the large green wheel on the right) weighs in at more than 2 tons (2 tons! that’s 4,000 pounds just for that green wheel). As a retired diesel mechanic, I was fascinated and couldn’t hardly tear myself away. Eventually, a “docent” stopped by and told me lots more about this engine including the fact that once or twice a year they hook up a battery to it, and a bucket of coolant water, and a small can of fuel, and they run the engine … it still runs! But 🙂 it stinks up the place he said, so they run it after hours.

By and by, I tore my self away from that engine and moved on into the museum’s displays.

 

 

 

 

Above and below, one of the old 36-foot Coast Guard lifeboats that, at the time, was all they had to head out across the “bar” and into the Pacific Ocean. And yet, these were fine, sturdy, and reliable vessels.

 

These boats had enclosed, sealed cabins so the boats were self-righting, and the crew were always physically attached to the boat with straps and clamps. These boats were 36 feet long, about 8 feet wide, had only one engine, a 6-cylinder gas engine that produced about 85 horsepower so their speed was about 8 knots or a little over 9 miles per hour.

In contrast, the old wood boat I owned for 18 years was 40 feet long, 11 feet wide, and had two engines (and two propellers), each engine was 8 cylinders and each produced about 135 HP. The top speed of my boat was around 14 knots, about 16 mph. My boat was up in Puget Sound, not down here on the Columbia, but I surely would not have ventured out across the bar and out into the Pacific Ocean with my boat. And yet these “Coasties” did just that. The dedication of the men and women of the Coast Guard, back in the late 1700’s and through the 1800’s and still today was and is exceptional.

The boat above had seen many long years of service. Her hull looked almost identical to the shape of the hull of the Matthews-built boat that I owned. No wonder she and other Coast Guard boats like her have survived. They were exceptionally well built boats. And yet …

Here below are some of the postings in the museum about the training required to become a member of the US Coast Guard.

 

 

 

 

 

I was stunned by the physical training required (above), but I was also very appreciative, since I too could have needed the assistance of the US Coast Guard. Thank heavens I never needed it, but one never knows.

Also inside this building, I then went to the exhibit of that 44-foot Coast Guard boat that can be seen through those windows … the boat that is in the glass enclosure at the very top of this blog post. Go take another look at that photo up above and then come back here.

The museum has positioned the boat as if it is fighting 18-20 foot waves in order to rescue someone. The exhibit is very realistic! Look at the details, look at the faces. Imagine the horrible howling wind, the violent motion of the boat, and the desperation and panic on the face of the person in the water.

 

 

 

 

Every crew person was securely fastened to the boat with double-clamps and with straps sewn on multiple positions and angles.

Notice the TWO clamps at the lower left in the photo below, and notice that the strap on the right has TWO places that it is sewn onto the wide strap that goes around the crew member’s waist. This crew person will be the one who leans out as far over the water as possible with both arms outstretched in order to grab the person in the water and bring them into the boat.

The pilot and co-pilot of the boat are also well fastened to the boat.

The many exhibits in this museum, especially the one above, really brought home to me how dangerous this job is, how these folks risk their lives even with exceptional safety equipment. As well, helicopter crews drop swimmers into the ocean to rescue people … those swimmers sometimes remain attached to the helicopter but most times they disengage in order to save the people in the water. If they were tethered to the helicopter, the tether itself could cause drowning.

This will be the last blog post about the US Coast Guard for awhile. I’ll be camping more inland during the rest of 2021, with more photos of birds and trees and sunshine and other such sweetness. 🙂 But please don’t forget these heroes of the US Coast Guard.

Ah, there is just one more thing from this HUGE museum that I want to share with you, and it’s a really sweet thing.

The small boat above is special. It’s not from Astoria, not even from the State of Washington. It’s from Japan. It’s an abalone and sea urchin fishing boat that was swept out to sea during the massive 2011 tsunami in Japan. Notice the hole in the side of the boat. It took two years, but eventually, after a two-year journey all by itself across the Pacific Ocean, it washed ashore here. Mr. Katuo Saito, 72 years old, the boat’s owner, was contacted. He was very pleased to hear that his boat was found, but he chose not to have it returned. The museum asked to display the boat, with honor, and Mr. Saito agreed. The boat, after all, had a life of her own.

The mouth of the Columbia River is a special place. It’s so beautiful here. Please come and visit.