passage to Oregon

After a layover day in Port Angeles, got underway at 0630 on Saturday, with Jon and Caroline from Victoria as crew. Thick fog, with viz sometimes down to 1/8 mile, kept us glued to the radar all the way out the Strait. We rounded Duntze Rock Buoy about 4 PM, and within a few hours we were in the clear. Conditions on the outside were very mild, and we had an uneventful night under the waxing moon and a starry sky.
Soon after sunrise on Sunday, we were able to kill the engine, and we sailed wing and wing most of the rest of the distance to the Columbia River Bar. The air was very clear, and the Olympics were clearly visible most of the way. The wind picked up as we neared Cape Disappointment, and especially after we rounded up to a port reach, but we kept sailing across the Bar on a gentle flood tide. Spent the night at Astoria. John on Fairanne was just a few hours behind us.
Monday we got underway about 0730, but unfortunately an offshore breeze kept the motor running all the way to Longview. At least we had a lot of shipping and scenery to occupy our attention. After turning the corner, we had the usual N wind and ran under the genoa to Martin Slough, where we anchored for the night. The depth sounder showed as little as 2 feet under the keel near the entrance to the basin. After watching the sun go down, we realized that we should check the tide for morning. Uh-oh! The tide program showed a 6ft drop by the next morning! I knew that couldn't be true, and occasional glances at the sounder confirmed there was little fluctuation. All the same, we decided to get underway at first light. The depth hadn't dropped even a foot since the night before, and we made it back out without touching bottom. Sailed to St Helens, where we filled the fuel tank, then tied up to the Sand Island dock and made breakfast. The last few hours to Portland were a mix of sailing and motoring. The railroad bridge obligingly opened before we had a chance to sound the horn, and we tied up in Tomahawk by 3 PM.