Fetch; Another river.

Thursday and Friday. It was a bit hard to leave the cozy home of Michael and Mary. I didn’t know where I was heading, but South it was. It was raining and blowing. At the coast the waves were crashing against the rocks. In passing I saw a sign for sea lion caves and thought what the heck, lets check it out. I didn’t know it was possibly the largest sea cave in North America, well worth the visit. After paying entrée fee of $12 one goes down a 214’ elevator into the cave.  When the door opens one is greeted by a strong stench of animal poo and strange sounds. Low roars mixed with higher barking and the crashing of waves. It’s dark and very damp too. After walking down to the viewing area it all starts to make sense.  There is a huge cave with crashing waves and on top of the rocks are piles and piles of sea lions. They spend a lot of time fighting for a good spot and are constantly bothered by the next sea lion trying to take their place. Somewhere I read that a lot of them moved there from the San Francisco Bay area. Apparently one can often see Gray Wales migrating by as well.

 

 

 

 

I drove by some lakes and considered launching, but the rain dampened my enthusiasm. Driving by the Umpqua River at Gardiner I got all excited again. Here was a nice wide river bend in a beautiful setting. I drove through Reedsport and found a ramp at Winchester Bay right at the river mouth. There is a fancy RV resort and a few simpler ones, one of which I took. $15 per night without hookups on this county RV park was not bad. I walked over to the breakwaters and admired the power of breaking ocean swells. The watch-tower showed two flags, meaning dangerous conditions at the bar. Listening to the rain I fell asleep early.

 

Friday morning I got up late and hurried to the ramp after breakfast. I would have incoming tide till about one o’clock and I wanted to explore going upriver. I started late however and a truck was stuck on the ramp and on top of that I first peeked my head out near the breakwater so I ended up missing the incoming tide all together. There was a nice breeze and sunshine, so I didn’t care. I made it upriver rather slow, about 2 to 3 knots and in a calm I drifted backward. Lots to see though; Ospreys, Eagles, seals roosting on a sand bar, Cormorants fishing, Loons and more ducks then I know names for.

 

 

 

 

 

 

At Gardiner I turned around after deciding not to stay overnight somewhere upriver. It’s funny to have all that freedom. I could stay a whole week up there if I wanted and one just has to listen to ones gut feeling. Who knows what I missed by not staying. Hopefully it was for the better. On the way back the current was with me and I motored a while to get in more favorable wind. Motoring I did about 8 knots and sailing about 7, so the return trip went by a lot faster. I figured there must have been about 2 knots of current. This is an area with lots of dunes. Some of them seem to want to move right into the river. Sun and wind stayed with me all the way and it didn’t even rain at the ramp, imaging that!