Not a whole heck of a lot happened yesterday, other than rain that is, which is why I never got around to actually writing anything down. For the most part I stayed in the trailer all morning and most of the afternoon just reading and listening to the rain drumming on the roof. It sounds soothing for the most part, but after too long it just gets on ones nerves.
   So it wasn’t surprising when I finally had to bust out for a little bit and go do something even if it just meant going into Newport and wandering around the local Wally World there.
   I did end up going over to Burger King for an hour or so and grabbing a small bite to eat. I haven’t actually been to one of those for a long, long time and I just wanted to see what they had to offer that was any different than McDonalds. Turns out that it is pretty much the same menu, other than BK having quite a few more items on their dollar menu than Mickey D’s does. That was a pleasant find as I have started to grow tired of McChicken sandwiches all the time, the only real thing they have for a buck any more.  
   They also have in store WiFi, just as McDonalds does, but this particular store, just like the McDonalds in the area don’t have any electrical outlets to plug into. So it is just a matter of how long your battery lasts as to how long you can sit. Mine will usually last for a little more than an hour if I’m checking email or watching the news, so I am always in a hurry to get as much done as I can in those situations.
    One nice thing about stopping in there this evening was that they had a local paper that listed all the entertainment that is going on for the next couple of days. I may be able to find some local music to go listen to one of these evenings and I did read about a play taking place this weekend in Lincoln City that sounds pretty fun. I’ll just have to run up there either tomorrow or Friday and see about picking up a ticket for it.
   Other than that there wasn’t much else to do so I just headed back to the trailer and read some more and watched a movie on the computer. I dug my old Harry Potter movies out again and started in on the first one of those. I’m not sure how many times I’ve watched them all now, 5 or 6 times at least, but I still get a big kick out of them every time. I guess this means I’ll have something to do at least if the weather remains cold and damp at night.

Astoria Maritime Museum at the mouth of the Columbia River

Oct 21, 2014

A nice reproduction of a pilot skiff. These oar powered boats would of been used to 'put on' and 'take off' river and bar pilots from large ships that were entering or leaving the Columbia River. A pilot was someone with intimate knowledge of wind, wave and current conditions of the local area and were required to be onboard and in charge of navigating large ships in and out of the harbor.

This is one of the last real life wooden motor life boats that the U.S. Coast Guard used. I actually had the honor of serving and being 'qualified' to run the last one of these the Coast Guard had when I was stationed in Depoe Bay back in the late 70's. Quite frankly, even though I was certified to run the one 'we' had, and actually used it on a few sorties we had, I really wasn't that good at it. It's one thing to dock or maneuver a single screw boat by itself, it's a whole nother thing to try and dock when you have another boat, sometimes bigger than yours, tied on along side you. But I'm still glad I had a chance to run this wonderful little boat.

Looking at the stern of a 36 footer. The working crew on a boat out on a mission was two, the coxswain/boat driver, and an engineer/crewmen. But most of the time there was at least one other person to do the actual crewman job.

This is one of the last 44 foot motor life boats used at the 'world famous' heavy weather and surf school at Cape Disappointment at the mouth of the Columbia River. I actually got to train and run this boat when I went to the crewman, and later the coxswain schools there at Cape D in the late 70's. I was really sorry to see these boats all go years later, but the new 47 foot MLB seems to be a great replacement.  

The museum actual staged this boat where it is when they got it, built all the support members and laid the framework for the final staging... then they built the new museum addition around it. I like this view because it is so realistic as far as the size of the waves and the angles the boat is in. Sometimes I still miss this stuff.

Within the Coast Guard display area... a small Fresnel lens that was once used in an area lighthouse.

The old Columbia Lightship. This boat use to be permanently anchored off the Columbia River bar, several miles out from the river entrance. It had a large Fresnel light that functioned very much like a lighthouse, as well as a fog signal and bell. It was essentially an entrance buoy and showed the way into the river.

A view of the large 'mushroom' style anchor, one of two, that would hold the ship in position. I remember making a run out to the lightship when I was up at Cape D for coxswain school. We took their mail out to them and brought back the stuff they wanted to send out.

They replaced the lightship with a large entrance buoy many years ago. I am sure all the guys who had duty on this ship are rather relieved that no one else will have to spend two weeks on and two weeks off for several years of duty. Although I did hear that some guys actually liked that duty.

One last view.

Two newer Coast Guard cutters, though new is a bit of a misnomer because both of these ships are probably 15-25 years old, but the Coast Guard has always had to settle for waiting until something actually broke before they could get something new. Or they would just get hand-me-downs from some sister service and then have to deal with keeping it working.

I think the smaller ship is a newer 110' cutter while the larger one is somewhat longer than 200'. No idea what the actual names of them are.

A last view of the docks around Astoria. In the distance are a few large ships that are anchored until either the tide turns or a river pilot is available for their trip up river to Portland or other ports along the way.

brk*