Looking for America.

“Raise your hand when you are from California”, the tourist guide said through her mic inside the historic 1913 Astoria Riverfront Trolley. When nobody did, she added. “Right, I wouldn’t raise my hand either if I was from down there.” And everybody laughed. In the meantime, the incessant boisterous barking of the massive sea lions lounging on the pier could be heard through the open windows of the trolley. “These guys are Californian, too.” she continued, “The hotels will offer you earplugs and you will need them. These sea lions always migrate back from California after the mating is done. And they are too greedy for our fish.” 

Our local boat neighbor on Astoria ‘s dock wasn’t too keen on Californians either. When we praised the pleasant small-town vibe of Astoria with its friendly locals offering us freshly caught chinook salmon for free, he nodded his head and said: “Yes, the locals are alright. But with all those Californians moving in, it is no longer the nice place it used to be. I even don’t want to go into town anymore. It’s full of bums (we did see some homeless people) and there’s graffiti everywhere. (we didn’t notice really) Also, The Californians overfished their own waters and now they come here to steal our fish. And surely you must’ve heard about the riots in Portland two years ago? (We had, but it seemed a bit of a stretch to put the blame on Californians for that as well) “It looks like we Americans have lost our way.” He mused. “We can no longer talk to or disagree with each other in a civil manner. But hey, that’s a nice boat you’ve got there.” And we continued the conversation in a civil manner, using the universal language of sea-farers when they entertain each other with tall tales about the blessings and horrors of life on the water. 

Speaking of horrors, we learned all about that when we paid the excellent Columbia River Maritime Museum a visit. Only then did we fully grasp the significance of the moniker “The Legendary Columbia River Bar.” The “bar” in question does not refer to a famous mariners’ watering hole but to the sandbar that always forms at river mouths. And here in Astoria, “the forces of the Pacific Ocean and the mighty Columbia River meet to create one of the most dangerous bar crossings on the planet.” When weather conditions are rough that is. But when they are, the sandbar turns into “the Graveyard of the Pacific”. Since 1792 It has caused over 2000 vessels to sink.

O2 crossed that bar with a benevolent ocean at her stern, minimal river chop at her bow, a nervous Captain at her helm and an oblivious crew member enjoying the view. I confess, seeing the first pelicans dive-bombing again after two seasons in the higher latitudes was an unexpected treat which kept my mind from focusing on possible dangers. But only a few moments after we had entered the port up the river, a voice came over the VHF radio advising his friends to stay away from the bar. “It’s like a washing machine out here now.” , he warned. 

With O2 safely docked and hooked up to the shore power (our batteries are still an issue, but help is on the way) we took our rental car to roll over the bridge from Oregon into Washington State for a family visit and a Vincent Van Gogh Immersive Experience. It was great to feel the bond with our American family members again and to reconnect with good old Vincent. The latter was just as much a nature lover as we are now, judging from his paintings and from one of his quotes:“If you truly love nature, you will find beauty everywhere.” We truly do and we truly have.

We are back on O2 in Astoria now. My Captain has just riveted the custom-made stainless steel block to the top of the mast. It is there to keep the spinnaker or parasail in position. The one we had put up in Hawaii after it had been ripped off with a bang during our Pacific passage from Mexico, got ripped off again while on our way to Astoria. We hope this new spinnaker block will hold. My Captain did modify the original design and gave it an upgrade. So, fingers crossed.

Also, tomorrow, there is a favourable weather window opening up and we don’t want to miss it. The plan is to have an ocean dash of 2 days and 2 nights to Crescent City, California. There we will have a stopover to visit the 5% that is left of the spectacular old-growth redwoods before we continue for another 2,5 days and nights to San Francisco. All of it will be on a downwind run, so that block’d better be good.