Balmy & quiet 4th

I wouldn’t say that we were stealthy, we just wanted to be off on our own. So we threw a  few things together on Friday morning & made it out of the marina before noon. The favorable current gave us an extra knot or knot & a half all the way downriver. There were  several boats at the PYC Outstation & we figured that would turn into quite a party. Martin Slough, a little further on–known as Martini Slough–didn’t seem like quite the right place, either.  We checked out Sandy Island, near Goble, OR,  west of Kalama. The mainland shore featured a trailer park and several private marinas. Nope.

We chugged onward–and I mean that literally. With a little ebb current plus the standard downstream flow,  we barely made 8 knots. The inlet behind Cottonwood Island on the WA side wasn’t good because the big I5 freeway runs right alongside. By mid-afternoon, we were thinking this wasn’t such a good idea after all.

But 15 or 20 miles downstream, we checked behind another island we’d found on the chart: Lord Island, on the OR side, barely west of Longview, WA. A couple of ‘ghost boats’, a derelict LST and fishing boat gathered vegetation and wildlife on the mainland side. A sailboat was anchored at the west end of the inlet. We anchored in the lee of the island, at a depth of about 11 feet.

A few ski boats and jet skis zoomed by during the next two days. but we heard and saw more osprey than fast boats. I think we even saw a couple of Bald Eagles, singularly appropriate for the holiday.

High tension power lines spanned the river just west of our anchorage. We noted flashing white strobe lights on the towers when we arrived and were gratified to see the lights change to flashing red after dark.

To our surprise, we’d found just what we were looking for. Not only was it quiet and sunny, it had natural air-conditioning:  balmy ocean breezes. Not chilly, just perfect.

Since my hard drive crashed in February, I really haven’t had time to get back to my notes and think about what I’m trying to do with this novel I’m foolishly trying to write . Finally, on Saturday and a good portion of Sunday, I was able to delve into my notes and start thinking about what what comes next. It was idyllic.

Looking for a little more info on the Old Stone Barracks at Plattsburgh, NY, I found a You-Tube site with “The Greatest American Marches.” What else do you need on July 4? Independence Day: a functioning laptop, John Philip Sousa, the American flag, watermelon, sunshine…