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While we're still basking in the excitement of yesterday's Alder Lake event, it's time to start getting serious about the next great Northwest Classic Boat Club rendezvous, the Saturday, July 11 "Islands of the Columbia Adventure," which should be one of our more memorable 2009 outings.
The main idea will be to explore some beautiful backwaters in one of Washington State's best-kept secrets--Wahkiakum County, on the lower Columbia River. Included will be back channels of Puget Island, near Cathlamet, along with nearby Steamboat Slough and the historic fishing town of Skamokawa.
Cathlamet will be our primary launch point, using facilities at the town's nice marina. Here's a link:
http://www.cathlametmarina.org/index.html
While we'll be boating on the Columbia River, this section of the river should be calmer than what some of us have experienced in the past when cruising from Sand Island to Portland and back...and there will be several quiet back channels to use. Our guide for this lower Columbia exploration will be Tom Horn of Portland, veteran of many of our Slough Run events, who has taken his runabout through many of the quiet backwaters of Puget Island, Cathlamet and Skamokawa.
While the event is officially scheduled for one day, many of us from the Puget Sound area will head down sometime on Friday, overnighting within striking distance of the Cathlamet launch ramp. (In the past, when doing Sand Island or other Columbia-Willamette events, several of us have stayed at motels in Castle Rock, which has plenty of accommodations, a big Safeway and other amenities. The drive from there to Cathlamet should take about an hour...and we'll plan to launch at roughly 10:30-11 a.m. on Saturday.
(Personally, we plan to take Friday the 10th off altogether and drive straight to the Cathlamet area, staying on a farm with guest cabin on Puget Island. There are lots of accommodations in the general area between Kelso and Skamokawa, and campgrounds if you're bringing an RV or like tent-camping.)
Besides our boating adventure, other attractions in the area include a Friday afternoon farmer's market on Puget Island (3-6 p.m.); the historic covered bridge at Gray's River, where I've always wanted to photograph a classic boat, and of course the picturesque and historical towns of Cathlamet and Skamokawa.
While we can all drive home Saturday night following the event, I think we'll make a weekend of it and overnight in the general area, doing some boating on nearby Willapa Bay Sunday morning before heading home.
So, this will be a "must" event for members in Oregon and Southwestern Washington...and a "near-must" event for folks who live in the Puget Sound area. If you have any doubts, just ask any member who's participated in past Sand Island cruises, or last year's Willamette River Cruise. It's very easy to get hooked on boating in the Columbia-Willamette region!
Several members said they would participate in the Columbia River Adventure when we discussed the event earlier. Maybe we could get another show of hands, and an indication of whether you'll head down Friday, stay the whole weekend, or whatever...? In a few days we'll post links to more accommodation options, but in the meantime you can Google "Wahkiakum County, WA" and get a list of B&B's, campgrounds, etc. that are available in the immediate Cathlamet-to-Skamokawa area.
Below are a few shots from last year's Columbia-Willamette trip, up the Willamette from Portland to the falls. This year's adventure will be farther downstream, in an area never-before-explored by our club or its predecessor groups.
Hope to see a nice turnout for this event...
- Marty
The main idea will be to explore some beautiful backwaters in one of Washington State's best-kept secrets--Wahkiakum County, on the lower Columbia River. Included will be back channels of Puget Island, near Cathlamet, along with nearby Steamboat Slough and the historic fishing town of Skamokawa.
Cathlamet will be our primary launch point, using facilities at the town's nice marina. Here's a link:
http://www.cathlametmarina.org/index.html
While we'll be boating on the Columbia River, this section of the river should be calmer than what some of us have experienced in the past when cruising from Sand Island to Portland and back...and there will be several quiet back channels to use. Our guide for this lower Columbia exploration will be Tom Horn of Portland, veteran of many of our Slough Run events, who has taken his runabout through many of the quiet backwaters of Puget Island, Cathlamet and Skamokawa.
While the event is officially scheduled for one day, many of us from the Puget Sound area will head down sometime on Friday, overnighting within striking distance of the Cathlamet launch ramp. (In the past, when doing Sand Island or other Columbia-Willamette events, several of us have stayed at motels in Castle Rock, which has plenty of accommodations, a big Safeway and other amenities. The drive from there to Cathlamet should take about an hour...and we'll plan to launch at roughly 10:30-11 a.m. on Saturday.
(Personally, we plan to take Friday the 10th off altogether and drive straight to the Cathlamet area, staying on a farm with guest cabin on Puget Island. There are lots of accommodations in the general area between Kelso and Skamokawa, and campgrounds if you're bringing an RV or like tent-camping.)
Besides our boating adventure, other attractions in the area include a Friday afternoon farmer's market on Puget Island (3-6 p.m.); the historic covered bridge at Gray's River, where I've always wanted to photograph a classic boat, and of course the picturesque and historical towns of Cathlamet and Skamokawa.
While we can all drive home Saturday night following the event, I think we'll make a weekend of it and overnight in the general area, doing some boating on nearby Willapa Bay Sunday morning before heading home.
So, this will be a "must" event for members in Oregon and Southwestern Washington...and a "near-must" event for folks who live in the Puget Sound area. If you have any doubts, just ask any member who's participated in past Sand Island cruises, or last year's Willamette River Cruise. It's very easy to get hooked on boating in the Columbia-Willamette region!
Several members said they would participate in the Columbia River Adventure when we discussed the event earlier. Maybe we could get another show of hands, and an indication of whether you'll head down Friday, stay the whole weekend, or whatever...? In a few days we'll post links to more accommodation options, but in the meantime you can Google "Wahkiakum County, WA" and get a list of B&B's, campgrounds, etc. that are available in the immediate Cathlamet-to-Skamokawa area.
Below are a few shots from last year's Columbia-Willamette trip, up the Willamette from Portland to the falls. This year's adventure will be farther downstream, in an area never-before-explored by our club or its predecessor groups.
Hope to see a nice turnout for this event...
- Marty
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