Get the Ricochet app

Ricochet will work fine in a browser on your mobile devices, but for the best experience please download our app.

Download on the App StoreGet it on Google Play

Become a member.

Tired of the toxicity of social media? Why not join Ricochet for just $5/month? Think of it as an online bar. Come in, have a drink, hang out, say whatever you want. But don’t badger, bully, or berate the other drinkers. That's our only rule.

A Guide to Crossing the Columbia River Bar

Doug Watt
@DougWatt
Join to bookmark19likesJoin to like17comments

After WWII my late dad went back to the boats as an officer in the Submarine Service after earning a university degree. He earned his enlisted Silver Dolphins in combat during WWII. He earned his officer's Gold Dolphins after the war.

He was the Senior Watch Officer, and he was topside with a Columbia River Bar pilot to relay the pilot's course directions to cross the Columbia River Bar.

He said getting a 311-foot-long submarine through the bar was an interesting experience. He was a good boat handler and was called topside when his sub had to nest with a sub tender or tying up to a dock.

The following video is a 5-minute guide to crossing the Columbia River Bar.

This post was promoted to the Main Feed at the recommendation of Ricochet's members.

Discussion (17)

  • cdor@cdor

    Let me guess...it wouldn't be a good idea for some novice to rent a boat and try to make that crossing. My goodness, that looked pretty scary. But for the experienced operator, I am sure that your father's work in putting that instruction film together is most appreciated.

  • Doug Watt@DougWatt
    Replyingtocdor

    cdor (View Comment):

    Let me guess…it wouldn’t be a good idea for some novice to rent a boat and try to make that crossing. My goodness, that looked pretty scary. But for the experienced operator, I am sure that your father’s work in putting that instruction film together is most appreciated.

    He didn't put the video together, but he did offer his experience to his son's. I made a change in a sentence to clarify that the bar pilot is making the navigation decisions.

    He purchased a 30-foot sailboat after the war. He taught us how to read a chart and how to use a ruler to measure our position using landmarks on the chart. He also taught us that if your bow position isn't changing when lined up with another vessel you were on a collision course.

    He could use a sextant to determine longitude and latitude because there was no GPS available when he was in the Navy.

  • Mark Camp@MarkCamp

    Neat video, thanks.

    For the R>physicists: Why are waves flatter at flood tide? The question’s not relevant to the post, so please forgive the hijacking, but the advice aroused my curiosity.

  • CarolJoy, Not So Easy To Kill@CarolJoy

    @Stad

    For days now, I thought this post was a Stad-like scoop on how to get across the notorious "Columbia River Bar" -- that treacherous place where if the waitress or bus boy don't trip ya, the overly lubricated crowd will.

    But the post is quite interesting in the form that it is in. I can imagine it being a dangerous place, and the video makes that clear.

  • kedavis@kedavis
    ReplyingtoCarolJoy, Not So Easy To Kill

    CarolJoy, Not So Easy To Kill (View Comment):

    @ stad

    For days now, I thought this post was a Stad-like scoop on how to get across the notorious “Columbia River Bar” — that treacherous place where if the waitress or bus boy don’t trip ya, the overly lubricated crowd will.

    But the post is quite interesting in the form that it is in. I can imagine it being a dangerous place, and the video makes that clear.

    This post? It's only an hour old.

Scroll for later comments
+12 more comments
Join the conversation

You're seeing five of 17 comments. Sign in, or join for just $5 per month, to read them all and add your own.