Just Bought My First Sailboat in Portland, OR

[alex37]

My wife and I have just purchased our first sailboat. It's a 1979 Pearson 28. It's in reasonably good shape. We are looking forward to learning to sail on the Columbia river and spending a week at the Portland Blues Festival on the Willamette river in downtown Portland this summer.

We will have questions for this forum. I will reseach my issues before posting. I don't want to waste your time, but I will ask questions. So, I appologize in advance if they seem ignorant. They will be.

We have crazy, lofty, semi-realistic goals of sailing to far away, exotic ports someday. Where there's will...

Gotta go read some more sailing books. Talk to you all later.

[BWB75]

Wow congratulations on your new boat! That's exciting!

[s/v Beth]

If you are a true dreamer, then you have good company here. I have thought about bringing my boat down from the Puget Sound and sailing around your neck of the woods, so it will be good to hear your impressions of the Columbia river area.

[Solitude]

Looks like you have made a good choice. A reasonable boat, reasonable goals and some great dreams.

Welcome! And you will find some great help and interesting discussions......
and of course there are no dumb questions.

[skipmac]

Welcome from another Pearson owner. Maybe I'm prejudiced but I think you made a good choice.

Skip

[alex37]

Thanks BWB75. We are thrilled.

Hey newt, we have talked about someday heading up there too.

Thank you Solitude, I hope the questions don't become annoying.

Well, skipmac, she seems like a solid boat. There is a little water getting into the salon somehow, but I am looking forward to learning how to fix her up as well as sail her.

[skipmac]

Hi Alex,

Water in the salon you might check the ports. Old Pearsons the gaskets around the opening ports get hard and no longer seal well.

Another spot to check is the mast boot.

Glad you're looking forward to the fix up part. I think it's part of the enjoyment (well up to a point anyway) and the best way to learn all about your boat.

Have fun.

Skip

[Solitude]

Water in salon.

Is it fresh or salt? Taste it.

[SkiprJohn]

Aloha and welcome aboard!
Hope you enjoy the Columbia River sailing and congratulations. I grew up on the Willamette 47 miles south of you.
regards,

[scotte]

Originally Posted by Solitude

Is it fresh or salt? Taste it.

Smell it first!

[San Juan Sailor]

Salt? He's 90 miles from salt water.

Welcome alex37. I put in a lot of hours on the Columbia. I moved from Portland to the San Juans about 7 years ago. I anchored my boat by the blues festival the first year they had it and there was maybe 5 or 6 boats there. Now you can't see the river for the boats and you have to get a spot days in advance.

[speakeasy]

Originally Posted by alex37

My wife and I have just purchased our first sailboat. It's a 1979 Pearson 28. It's in reasonably good shape. We are looking forward to learning to sail on the Columbia river and spending a week at the Portland Blues Festival on the Willamette river in downtown Portland this summer.

We will have questions for this forum. I will reseach my issues before posting. I don't want to waste your time, but I will ask questions. So, I appologize in advance if they seem ignorant. They will be.

We have crazy, lofty, semi-realistic goals of sailing to far away, exotic ports someday. Where there's will...

Gotta go read some more sailing books. Talk to you all later.

Welcome aboard. And congrats on the boat and your taste for the blues. As for your questions, ask away. There's a virtual encyclopaedia of sailing knowledge here. I've never sailed the mighty Columbia but have hiked along it for over a year. If I might suggest a list of possible early investigations for you before you launch out:

- sailing in 5 knot river currents with a 6 knot boat;
- tidal ranges on the Columbia;
- crossing the Columbia bar;
- sailing among the floating logs after a rain;
- alcohol bars on the rivers with docks.

And tho' I have no suggestion for a name for your boat, I would discourage the old standby "Go With the Flow, Crash with the Trash".

[San Juan Sailor]

Speakeasy, you forgot to mention dodging barges.

[speakeasy]

True dat, San Juan. And the big ship traffic. I used to enjoy walking the dog in Kelly Point Park, which is right at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia. Always saw a number of ships arriving with autos and others leaving with grain.

[speakeasy]

Alex, I had an urge to correct a nagging feeling that I had been a bit glib and negative in response to your happy news. mea culpa. I was thinking to myself how challenging it might be for me with no river sailing time. I used to think about it when walking along the rivers or eating at the marina.

Portland and environs are some of the loveliest locales on the continent and I pulled up some of my pics to remember. Here's a shot of Kelly Point with driftwood and a view of the confluence, and a view also of the tidal range along the beach waterline.



The park itself is a meandering series of trails through 120' tall well-watered cottonwoods that cover the ground with 4" of fleece for the summer. Beaches on both rivers and a sunny common (the sun in Portland and here in LA are two different gods, and yours is the better worshiped by far) just back from the point. But you probably already know it.



Just upstream on the Columbia is the port where all the car carriers offload their asian makes for the US market, and round the point up the Willamette is one of the grain ports, where trains haul in and dump into granaries thousands of tons to be loaded on dry bulk carriers (40k tons or so) from around the world. I used to walk there 3 or 4 times a week with my daughter's dog. Here they sit, two at a time, with their holds being filled with grain from giant augers, throwing up a dust cloud over the ships. Also a good view of the tidal range on the beach.



I will be looking forward to hearing about sailing on those rivers if you would share what you know and learn on the way to the Blues Festival.