Well folks, its all over now except for the memories, and what memories they are. It was a glorious weekend with great sailing and even better company. The wind blew all three days, and the weather was warm and sunny. Here is my experience in a nutshell:

Friday, Sept 12. Got to my boat by 9:00am in order to make the earlier departure time of 10:00am for the down river jaunt. We had wanted to get an earlier start due to the long distance we would be covering on the trip down the Multnomah Channel. Called Jim Ferguson and Larry Yake on their respective cell phones, and confirmed that everyone was at the ramp getting ready to launch. Tullamore and Esmerelda met Hamada out on the water, as I had sailed up to the ramp in the nice 6-8 knot breeze. The three of us then proceeded to tack down river under partly sunny skies and consistent wind. Once down to Tomahawk Bay, Second Wind joined up and we sailed down to the I-5 bridge before admitting that if we wanted to make St. Helens before nightfall, we'd have to buck up and motor! Motored down thru the large ship port on the Vancouver side where numerous hulking container ships were moored. Our little craft felt puny next to these behemoths, their life rafts dwarfing our boats.

Turning the corner at Kelly Point, we headed up into the Willamette River, and proceeded on to the entrance to the Multnomah Channel. Once in the Channel, we were met by John Purdy on his P19 Wild Goose. The armada of 4 Potters and a Monty then spent most of the day motoring down the thin channel. The surprise for me was the number of large ocean going yachts moored along this thin un-sailable channel.

Lunch stop came late, as it took until about 3pm to reach Coon Island. We stopped for a good 45 minutes, relaxing and checking out the environs. Shortly after departing the state park, we met up with Jim Mask on Basilisk as he sailed up the channel from St. Helens. Now numbering 6 boats, the armada proceeded on down to St. Helens. Once out of the channel, all raised sail only to find the winds light and the dock calling us. A couple of tacks later we were down at the St Helens City dock, where Sherry Lynne and Seaweed, Portland P19's, and TwoForJuan, a Washington SJ21 had staked out space for us on the inner pier of the fine public facility. St. Helens City Dock sports both free moorage and free showers! Try that in the San Juan Islands!

Many of the folks headed over to a St. Helens restaurant who's name escapes me for some fine home-style cookin' and great conversation. Returning to the dock, the group assembled for some great entertainment by NWP resident musicians Lloyd Jones and Rick (last name unknown) of Sherry Lynne. Nice pickin', fellas. Rick treated us to a medley of Johnny Cash tunes as a tribute to the fallen county hero.

Saturday dawned bright and sunny, with a stiff wind blowing up the river. Boats headed out for some spirited sailing, dodging copious numbers of salmon fisherman on the way. Jim Mask managed to hook one of the floating anchor lines of the fisherman, but freed himself without too much trouble. Hamada was overpowered with her large lapper, so I ended up tucking a reef in to keep her on her lines.

Saturday Nights moorage moved back to the City Dock, due to the rolly conditions over at the Sand Island Moorage. Free showers and access to the St. Helens downtown didn't hurt either! Jim and Sherri Sinclair cooked up some wonderful Salmon BBQ on the dock and I was lucky enough to help them polish off what I could ... thanks guys! Since our musicians had headed off into the sunset on Saturday, we were forced to resort to my MP3 player for entertainment, which was better than nothing. The group had a good gam, and hit the hay after much revelry.

Sunday Morning the River Run group hit the "road" early, heading up wind in light winds by 8:00am. A full thermos of coffee helped shake the cobwebs out of this captains head, and the sailing was pleasant and warm. 5 nautical miles rolled by in about 1.5 hours or so, and the group decided that the mounting ebb was beginning to turn the river back down toward the ocean with increasing speed, so we dropped sail and motored for the rest of the trip up the river. We rafted to Second Winds anchor off Reeders Beach and had a nice lunch, but then headed into the strong current for the rest of the trip. The boats zigged and zagged behind the wing damns to take advantage of the still water behind them. Wild Goose separated from the flock at the confluence of the Willamette, as he needed to head up thru downtown Portland to the ramp at the sailing club. The rest of us began to drift apart as our respective moorages appeared on the horizon.

Hamada headed into Tomahawk Bay to meet up with my friend on his livaboard, and as we chatted, the wind picked up to a strong 15-20 knots, and the water got rough and wild. Hope Tullamore and Esmerelda had fun in that! Near sunset my friend and I sailed Hamada up to Harbor 1 in record time, having the river to ourselves and while being treated to an amazing sunset! My motor died 15 ft. from my slip and would not restart, so I skipped her into her resting spot by hanging off the shrouds and kicking each finger pier we neared! Snug and battened up, I said goodbye to her once again.

Derek Jensen p-15 #694 "El Nino" HMS-18 #11 "Hamada" Portland, OR