On a cold day in March, the pilot boat Astoria appeared as a streak of yellow, piercing a thick gray mist shrouding the mouth of the Columbia River.
Named for the port city on the inland side of the Columbia Bar, Astoria is a self-righting, 74-foot aluminum speedster designed and built to handle the formidable storms and crashing waves that often batter the region.
Astoria’s mission is to rush pilots safely over the 20 miles from the pilot boathouse to the boarding grounds, including six miles over the bar, dubbed the “Graveyard of the Pacific.” The boat serves inbound and outbound ships calling at river ports from Astoria to Portland, Ore.
“We switched from a slower station boat to the fast-run boat system in conjunction with the incorporation of helicopter boarding and disembarking,” said Capt. Chris Farrell of the Columbia River Bar Pilots. About two-thirds of CRBP’s pilot transfers are by helicopter.
This story is from the December/January 2018 edition of Professional Mariner.
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This story is from the December/January 2018 edition of Professional Mariner.
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