Columbia River Sailing

[Traveler7]

Hi all,

My confession is that I did not respect the Columbia River enough and it almost cost me everything.

I am a new owner of a very nice 1975 C&C 33 MK1 with a Thunderstruck electric motor conversion installed by the PO. The boat was kept in a slough in WA about 25 miles upriver from the Pacific. My goal was to move the boat upriver 62 miles to Portland, OR over 2 days. The slough was only navigable within a window of 4 hours considering the draft of the boat. High tide was at 3 am so we waited until 3 hours after low tide (around noon) to move the boat into the river.

We started slowly out and this was our first time moving the boat or getting sails out. Everything went reasonably well as we came out of the slough, but we were concerned about grounding. My brother, who has 25 years Hawaiian sailing experience was with me and I made the decision to first raise the jib to get a feel for the boat under sail. This went well as she breezed up on a starboard tack nicely and really powered up! She responded sweetly to the tiller and was not hard to hold in spite of having almost 3 years of bottom crud and we quickly prepared to tack to port. I called the tack and rounded her up as Mark pulled the jib to port and the boat decided not to answer the helm and rounded down backwinded. Mark thought I had blown the tack and we sailed in a circle and set up again: same result, she would not point up for love or money.

At this point I decided we should drop the jib and try to get the main up figuring we had some kind of lee helm situation the main would solve. When we dropped the jib I turned on the motor and could hear it spin, but we had no power from it. Upon inspection I saw that the transmission belt on the gear reduction system had broken so no power to the driveshaft. This left us unable to get into irons to raise the main.

I flagged down an 18 foot NOAA research vessel and asked if they could tow us into irons so we could get the sails out. They agreed so we tried raising the main. The main had not been slot locked into the track so Mark had to slot and raise and I tried to assist while still controlling the tiller which left me with a pinched nerve or strained muscle in my left lower back. I should mention that the weather forecast had predicted 6-8 knots from the SSE, but we had been seeing more like 10-14 consistently. As we struggled with the main a squall hit and we found ourselves with gusts over 25 knots and the main spitting slides out of the track. Our vessel was starting to spin and drag the NOAA boat with us. We quickly doused the main which was then spread all over the boat. While Mark struggled to somewhat flake and tie the sail down again I decided to abandon this day's attempt and asked the NOAA Captain if they could tow us to a marina. He was headed to the NOAA base and there was a free community dock on the way which he graciously assisted us to. I want to stress how helpful and competent the NOAA crew was. We tied up without incident to lick our wounds.

It was still office hours for Thunderstruck motors, the electric motor manufacturers and I was able to contact them and send pictures to get their advice on how to put a new belt on. Fortunately they send two belts with their kits so there was a spare. We did not have a good idea why the first belt had failed, but the PO who installed had confirmed to me that he had not followed proper procedure for alignment with the motor drive shaft and the boat prop shaft...also Thunderstruck told me the belts from 2019 when the kit had been purchased were not as robust as their new belts and that is why they sent two to begin with. I affected repairs and we settled in for the night at a very beautiful and calm marina which I am also grateful for. It was almost brand new by boating terms, made in 2021. No services, but it had nice restrooms.

The next day we were filled with confidence. The only glum side was when we had pulled the main we had noted there were no reefing lines and couldn't find any suitable lines on the boat. We figured we would figure out something as we intended to take the first reef initially even though we still had an 8 knot forecast since we had seen what had developed the previous day.

As we motored out I felt the keel drag and felt we were heading into shoal water I (the boat does not have a working depth gauge). I reversed the motor to back and move more to port towards what I knew was deep water and the motor responded then ran without any power to the prop again. We back away from the shoal, but began drifting again away from the deep water. I tried to "row" with the rudder but it was not enough to keep us from drifting into mud and as the tide withdrew we settled and were stuck. I inspected the motor and found that the belt was fine, but the prop shaft had disconnected from the motor reduction driveshaft.

This left us in a bad space. There was a ferry crossing 100 feet from us and we raised out main to try to rock and heel to get the 5.5 foot keel off the mud. There was a little movement, but not enough to dislodge us. The ferry hailed us on 16 and suggested we drop sail because it would only move us into more shoal water so we did that. The ferry also contacted the Columbia River District Coast Guard that we were aground in the channel. The Coasties called us and I identified the boat, the situation, souls on board, food and water situation and health situation. They advised that they would see if any vessel in the area could lend assistance. A WA State Fish and Wildlife 20 footer soon responded and came to our aid. They had two 250 Hp Honda outboards, but could not pull us out. They estimated we were 2-3 feet of water so very stuck. They advised the Coast Guard that they could not aid us and the Coast Guard gave me a number of a tow agent who was covered by my insurance company to contact. As this went on conditions were deteriorating again with heavy wind and rain and the Coast Guard reminded us to set the anchor which was very good advice I had not thought of sadly.

I contacted the tow agent and he was on a mission and it would take him several hours to respond, also he needed to be dispatched by another agent so my insurer would pay so he gave me their number.

During this whole time the Coast Guard had taken my phone number and of course we had moved to 22 on the radio when all this started. They maintained a contact every 20 minutes. The main Coast Guard station near Astoria also called me; I believe they have the rescue helicopters. I contacted my insurance and they contacted the tow agent and approved the tow. I contacted a marina nearby and made arrangements to put the boat up there.

By now the boat had floated free and was hard on the hook in 20-25 knots and 3 knots of current trying to push us downriver. Unfortunately directly downriver from us about 70 feet away was a two story Range Light that would have probably destroyed us. There was cold slanted rain pelting us and the boat kept riding over the rode trying to take us off the hook. We maintained an anchor watch in shifts- 30 minutes above then 30 minutes blow to warm up. The winds increased over 30 knots and gusting higher; we were told later that water spouts were sighted on the river.

We did not have submergent suits so even brief exposure to the water would probably be fatal even with the life vests. I had the tiller lashed amidships and a sharp knife in my pocket to cut it free if we came off the hook and headed for the Range light (which I had nicknamed Godzilla). The plan was to free the helm and try tom steer us using the current to avoid the light. Always had a plan.

After two hours in these conditions I spotted the tow boat making good speed from upriver and waved him to us. It took 30 minutes to rope up and brace and then we moved upriver 5 more miles to a very nice little marina and small town. Tied up, thanked the tow driver and went for a beer.

I want to express my admiration and thanks to the Columbia River District Coast Guard and the Astoria Station for their concern and professionalism- they were fantastic! Thanks to the NOAA personnel who assisted me without reservation, they were the best! Also great big thanks to Columbia Assistance for coming to get me out of trouble so quickly in bad conditions.

My mistakes here were several:

1) I tried to move this boat at a dangerous time of year with no local knowledge of the effects of wind and tide in the river.

2) I relied on the motor and was let down and I had never had the sails up before now so I was surprised that we had no reefing lines and were not slotted. I also did not study the sailing characteristics so I was surprised by the Lee Helm condition that puzzled us the first day when conditions were actually decent.

3) I did not have submergence suits on board in spite of the unsurvivable conditions of the river.

4) I forgot to deploy the rudder until the Coast Guard reminded me.

5) I did not have spare line and did not know what the inventory on the boat was.

The good things I did were;

1) I brought a 3500 watt generator so we had electric power for a kettle I brought to have coffee and hot soup. Also to keep the batteries charged while we motored if that had worked out.

2) I signalled for assistance and tried all possible options to continue the trip.

3) I used my radio experience as a private pilot to work with the Gov't agencies professionally and gave precise and necessary information promptly and accurately.

4) I bought tow insurance!

Thanks for allowing a space to share this story!

Mike Veine
'SV Yellowtail'

[Ryban]

I mean it seems like you realize what your mistakes were and hopefully will use that information next time to mitigate some of these risks.

I'm generally one of those people that says "just get out there and do it!" as opposed to all those folks that just sit on the docks for years trying to make the boat perfect and understand every nook and cranny, but I think maybe my point of balance is a little more in-between those extremes than where yours is.

I would have at least hoisted the sails on dock to understand how they're configured, where the reef points are, and how all the lines run. I also would have taken the boat out for some short jaunts to understand its characteristics and find its weakness before embarking on a trip to relocate the boat.

You're fortunate you're in a part of the world with so many resources at your disposal to get yourself out of trouble, and this could have had a much different outcome in other places. But I do think you should think about that part carefully. The things you chose not to do to prepare yourself for this trip at best inconvenienced other people, and at worst, put other people in danger.

Glad everyone is safe though, and enjoy that beer.

[kayakerChuck]

Wow!

Thanks for the write up. I'm glad it had a happy ending.

The Columbia sure keeps things interesting.

[Mickeyrouse]

I have on more than one occasion left the dock “ hoping something will work out.” It rarely does. Remember Mr. Murphy and his law and corollary:”..and at the worst possible time.” And he most obviously was a sailor.
Many sailors in similar situations would let pride keep them from calling for help. I surrendered that many years ago. My towing insurance has saved me thousands of dollars in long assistance tows several times. Tow insurance is just too cheap to walk away from.

[Mare Nostrum]

Totally agree with Ryban...and glad that you guys are safe.

Murphy, indeed, was a sailor. Figuring on figuring out something AFTER leaving the dock is a true invitation to Murphy arriving with a big bag of tricks...if not worse. Also, a sailboat depending on its engine for anything is another invitation to unpleasant & unforgettable experiences...

I am a blue water guy, so am not familiar with river navigation...and especially the mighty & famous Columbia. I personally would take even more precautions in such confined quarters.

The important thing is to learn from our experiences and mistakes...Neptune often can be a strict master.