December 19^th 2009

 

Margie and I finally got a day off, well four to be accurate. We were celebrating our 25^th

wedding anniversary and guess where we went, our favorite place, Astoria, Oregon. We spent our honeymoon in Astoria and further down the coast but we did not have enough time to do all that this time. We stayed in the Cannery Pier Hotel which was rebuilt out of a salmon cannery and it is right next to the bridge between Washington & Oregon and the main ship channel is about 400 feet from our front porch.

 

 

 

 

Margie got us the room next to the bridge, the NE corner, and we almost got sea sick – it was blowing about 30 from the east with about a 4 ft chop running and about 20 degrees so the frost was on the pumpkin. We went to the Columbia River Maritime Museum first and if you have never been there just stop whatever you are doing and go. I understand almost everything that I see there from the 75 HP Atlas Imperial Diesel at the front door to the 44 foot Coast Guard Motor Lifeboat that they have tilted up on top of a big superimposed wave. There is a Coast Guard 36 foot Motor Lifeboat on display, a sister to the 36469 that I used to run at Grays Harbor.  I found an Intervox portable direction finder on display just like the one I bought and used at Westport. The Coast Guard small boats did not have direction finders when I started running boats for them so I bought one from Gordy at G&L Radio in Seattle. I had been tuna fishing out of Westport when I was 16 and Jack made me Navigator so I was well aware how handy these sets were for finding your way home.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Anyway, we went thru the marina and checked all the boats in the water and out of water on the hard.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We found one of Margie’s old tugs tied up in the marina. She was one of Pacific Towboat’s tugs, the LEA MOE, about 65 feet long. Margie renamed it the Katherine H and she is now called the PATRICA ANN. She had an 8V-71 when Margie had her and before that she had a 343 Cat and before that she had a heavy duty. She had the biggest tunnel stern that I had ever seen; of course she was a wood boat. She laid in La Conner for years and then was sold real cheap and how she got to Astoria I will never know. I always admired her – a really good looking boat and nice house design and carpentry work.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We like all the back roads and there are 100’s of miles of them. The first day we went to Warrenton, Pt Adams, Fort Stevens and found the pilot boat moorings.

 

 

 

 

Then out to the South Jetty past the wreck of the PETER IREDALE. A very low ocean swell because it was blowing Easterly. We saw the remains of a lot of blow downs, trees that had fallen across roads etc.  We got to asking questions and we got two answers a westerly blow at 140 mph and a westerly blow at 100 mph I could believe either one.  When I was at Grays Harbor Life Boat Station it blew 100 mph in the boat haven breaking off docks and it was just awful. If I remember that night it blew 120 mph at the Naselle Radar Station.

 

 

 

The next day we shot across the bridge to the Washington side and went to the North Head Lighthouse, Ilwaco and the Fort Canby store don’t miss the store it is just above the lifeboat station at Cape Disappointment and has lots of models and neat stuff – even a model of the Virginia V. Later that day we drove to Altoona and did see a big herd of elk right along the highway! We took the windey road to Altoona but the cannery building is gone; it was a beautiful barn-red building on piling.

 

 

 

 

 

The next day, we went east on the Washington side until the road turned off at Skamokawa to steam boat island. It was low tide and all iced in and beautiful we saw the same tug go by with a dusty headed up the back channel for the mill at Wauna as we had seen going by our hotel that morning, I think it was the LIBERTY.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Before Puget Island, we went up to Cathlamet  and found Jay Peterson’s RANGER 10 tied up in the marina and a look-see at some Brusco tugs then across the bridge to Puget Island and the small ferry to Westport on the Oregon side.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was just clear as a bell really good picture taking weather but you sure wanted your long underwear on.  Traveling on, we went out the back road to the John Day River where the Houseboat moorage creates a charming spot.

 

 

 

 

Last but not the least are the back roads that lead North to the Columbia River from Knappa. You can find the Aldridge Point Road that you think just goes nowhere but they have an exotic animal ranch back there and you can really get surprised by lamas and giant peacocks etc. Great back roads.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Astoria is only three and one half hours from home and I am (oops, we are) going to go more often.

 

MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM MARK & MARGIE FREEMAN, ERIK FREEMAN & TOM BULSON & THE ENTIRE CREW – INCLUDING THE THREE CATS: INDY, RAZZ AND BATMAN.

 

 

RENTAL PROPERTIES & SERVICES WE OFFER.

 

·       Quiet, protected open boat moorage to 70 feet at FREMONT BOAT COMPANY at 206-632-0152.

 

·       Great office space at the O.H. Doc Freeman office building. Water views over our marina on Lake Union. Only one individual office available; also a nice 4-6 person suite now on the market. Kitchen, sun deck and conference room included. Call Margie at 206-632-0152.

 

 

·       Tugboat service & barge rentals call Erik or Tom at 206-632-0151 and

 

·        Dog walking, Petsitting and Lodging – call Heidi Freeman at Happy Camper Pet Service, 206-784-5291.

 

·       Single family homes for lease in the North Seattle area call Margie at 206-632-0152 or Erik at 206-632-0151.

 

·       Covered & open boat moorage plus brokerage situation available at DOC’S DOCK on Lake Union. Call Dayle at 206-697-4552.

 

·       New book for sale “TUGBOATS ON PUGET SOUND”. Call 206-632-0152 to buy your signed copy; or pick one up from Fremont Boat Co. at 1059 N Northlake Way, Seattle, WA 98103.