Snake thru Columbia to Seattle

[Lostmt]

Hi all,
A friend has a nice 28' that we can afford. She is located on the Snake river near Lewistown, Idaho.

Now not being a sailor (just a dump cowboy) I could use some advice on taking her down the Snake, down the Columbia to Seattle. Ok I know I need to learn something about sailing first. This I will do. Plans are to get my ASA bareboat first in the San Juan's. At least I got that part figured out. LOL

We plan on living aboard for at least a year and see how my wife likes it. Got the money end worked out. SS (2 months off) and hard labor on the way down.

Any tips would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
David

[SkiprJohn]

Aloha David,

Isn't there a few really big dams on the Columbia like Bonneville, John Day and McNary? Do they have navigable locks? If you can get around the dams I suppose it is doable but I don't know about the locks available. Plan your trip for August/September and the weather should be good. I think radar is a must for the coast due to folg but others might have different opinion about that.
Once you get over the Columbia bar there is a pretty long stretch of ocean to the Straits of Juan de Fuca that can at times get pretty nasty so it would be good to know that your boat is built to take it.
If you cannot go around the dams that I mentioned earlier and decide to put your boat on a trailer then just truck it up to the Puget Sound. If the boat is already on a trailer then going up the highway is much easier and safer than sailing a boat that you have not tried on the ocean.
Certainly a lot of considerations isn't there?
What kind of boat is it?
Good luck on this endeavor.
Kind Regards,

JohnL

[Charlie]

Hey Lost MT:

I lived in a MT for about ten years. If you call Missoula part of Montana LOL. Be sure that the boat that you are looking at is a seaworthey boat before taking it on such a trip. 28' is small for two people. I would try something in the 30 to 35' range. Perhaps you could tell us what type of boat it is and then if someone knows anything about those boats they will give you their opinions.

[Lostmt]

Thanks guys for the reply. My friend is out fighting the Derby fire right now so I'll have to wait until he returns to get the make of her. I do have some pictures and can put them on my web site and post the link here. She is a tall mast and came from the Bay area a couple of years ago. Outboard not a inboard, tiller, roller furling, not sure what else. I do plan on taking a good look at her before I lay out my little funds.

Yes a 30' - 35' would be a whole lot nicer but hard to find at what we can afford unless we go to ebay and buy a sinker. We have been looking for owner financing on a larger boat. That's even harder to find. Paid cash all my life so getting a loan is impossible. At least we are debt free.

I have some information on the Snake and Columbia from Don that use to guide whitewater on the Snake. He's a log furniture builder that I built a web site for. He did tell me about the locks but had no information on things like the cost to use them and other requirements.

I think it would be hard to call any part of Montana Montana now days.

Thanks again,
David

[Lostmt]

Hi,
Here is a link to the photos I have of her. Any information would be appreciated. Click on photo to enlarge.

http://www.agriusadesign.com/wd/sail.html

Take care
David

[SkiprJohn]

Aloha David,
I'd be very interested in the Lock information if you can find a link or share that would be great. My draft is 6 foot.
Kind Regards, JohnL

[Lostmt]

Hi JohnL,
I will surely share any information that I can come up with. When we go down I will keep a log on our progress and problems to post on the forum.

Take care
David

[Charlie]

Hey MT:

Nice to hear the old cash and carry line. If you look over the monohull section there are alot of nice 30' boats for sale at reasonable prices. One of my favorites is the Yanke 30. Here are a couple of links http://yachtworld.com/core/listing/b...ick&searchtype=


http://yachtworld.com/core/listing/c...&toPrice=&cint=

They can be had for under $30k. Don't know your budget but the one in San Diego seems like a reasonable deal. Of course you'd have to look at alot more thoroughly before buying making an offer.

Don't know anything about the boat in the pictures.

[Lostmt]

Thanks Charlie,
My budget is a lot less than the 30 grand. I have contacted a few thru Yachtworld but it turns out that most are dealers. Found a beautiful 32' in Texas online but the dealer wouldn't even let me contact the owner about anything. I have one small business for sale and if I can sale it thing will look up on the buget some.

Take care
David

[Lostmt]

I found this site and it seems to have a lot of information. There are 8 locks coming down from Lewiston.

http://w3.gorge.net/casiera/columbia.htm#locks



David

[SkiprJohn]

Aloha David,
Thanks for the information. I didn't even know you could get there from here.
Kind Regards,
JohnL

[Charlie]

Hi Montana:

The first one I linked to was for $18500 asking price. I'd be interested in checking out the locks in Lewiston ID some time. Sounds like an interesting trip. Probably not much sailing though.

[Lostmt]

Hi guys,
Even if there wasn't much sailing down or up the Columbia I would think it would be a nice trip. Nice change from all the smoke here from the 200,000 plus arces on fire.

Charlie, I did check out the one for $18,500. Nice sailboat. Maybe I could get my son in Calif to check it out for me.

Unless business picks up soon I'll have to go with a sinker from eBay.

[Charlie]

Hi MT:

Fires haven't hit the news here yet. Didn't know they were that bad. Spoke with a friend in Missoula today and he didn't say anything about them. I know they can be nasty. Shut some businesses down. I heard that alot of rivers were closed to all fishing -- even catch and release b/c the rivers were so low.

I've sailed on the Yankee 30 and must say it is a solid boat. You can probably get something cheaper but I really like the yankee's. Look under the monohull thread for peoples opinions on types of inexpensive boats.

[Lostmt]

Hi Charlie,
Seems like the national news doesn't care much about Montana. The Derby Mountain fire near Big Timber has consumed 192,000 arces, 26 homes, 20 buildings. Headed into the Horse Whisper movie country. When it starts burning the million dollar homes the news will cover it then.

I'll check on the Yankee 30 a little more. Hope you don't mind sending you a pm in a few.

Take care
David