Oregon Coast

We left Newport at 0600 hr on Wed Aug 27. We were approximately into about the second hour when we were wondering if we had made the right call on the weather. We decided to continue on which we were glad we had as the day only got better. It would be the first cruising day where we had no fog. We stayed offshore only about 3 miles and saw the sand dunes that are the northern coast of Oregon. Beautiful white sandy beaches.
We arrived in Coo’s Bay – Charleston at 1830 hr. When we arrived several other boaters that we had met along the way were already here.
We met a new boater on his way north. Jim has spent the last 4 years in Mexico and is now headed back to the Seattle area. He burnt us a CD with the charts we will need for Mexico and also went through our route giving us very valuable information about where to stop and what to expect.
Our trip so far has been go a day and wait several. This stop has been no exception. It looks like we could be here until Wed. Sept 03. The weather has been ugly. Very strong winds. The fish boats are all waiting to go out. Sooooo. It means we get to explore the area, which is what this trip is all about. Meeting the locals and experiencing true local life not just yachties.
The marina we are staying at is in Charleston, Oregon.
This is where people seem to do their crabbing and clamming. To anyone not familiar with Charleston it is located just south of Coos Bay. The town is one of the largest marinas located on the coast. The town is rich in history and is a very popular tourist destination. The city offers quite a number of fishing charter companies and a number of restaurants, gift shops, and processing plants for the abundant sea life which is brought into the port to be cleaned, packed, and shipped all over the country. The piers offer great crabbing using simple equipment. The docks are loaded with families in their chairs spending the day crabbing. So far I haven’t seen a crab we would keep. Very small. The sea lions like to steal the bait from the traps. I actually watched a Sea Lion jump on the dock to get at the tuna head that a person had waiting to put in his trap. They are not afraid of the humans. During low tides the area behind the Portside restaurant is perhaps one of the best places to go clamming. I don’t understand why there is no red tide warnings. There would be in Canada in all populated areas.
We decided to take a taxi to Coo’s Bay to visit the Farmers Market on the Sunday, however a gentleman by the name of Frank that we met Fri night happened by the boat and took us into town. The farmers market contained 2 tents and not much else. Like so many coastal towns or cities the hard times are noticeable. We were told that at one time there were 25 lumber mills. They are now down to 5. 30 boats a week from around the world came to pick up lumber. Now, there are about 6 a month. The fishermen are becoming an endangered species. They have closed most fishing with the exception of tuna. Halibut was open for 1 day Aug 29. They didn’t bother.
Boats are heading north out of the marina but southbound boats are still waiting out the bad weather.
We have been invited to Frank’s for a BBQ dinner this evening. His house overlooks the bay area. He was a singer in Nevada for years. His band was a back up band for such bands as The Ealges, Beach Boys and many others. They never became important but as he put it they made good money and didn’t seem to have the problems the big bands had. It is these people that we find interesting, and it is very nice that they welcome us into their homes.

Our next stop puts us in Crescent City California............

We are in no hurry...............................