Sailing the Gorge

July 2021

On my trip to Oregon this summer, we stayed in a place called Mount Hood. While my family and I were here, I had some cool adventures, such as when we went to the Columbia River Gorge for a day on our way into Portland. The Columbia River Gorge is about a mile wide, and as much as 2000 feet deep with mountains on either side.This makes for a massive wind funnel that creates a place full of kiteboarding and sailing.

Along the way, we stopped at fruit farms on the “Fruit Loop” and visited a Lavender Farm (lots of bees). This was actually quite fun because of the tag we played between the bushes. After this we went to a fruit picking farm that was known for having great blueberries and raspberries. While at the farm, we picked buckets of berries that we took back to the rental house where we were staying. Then, we eventually made a delicious cobbler out of them. 

Later on in the trip, we went to the Gorge, and we found a picnic spot where we could view kite boarders. This was super exciting to watch because there was so much wind; they were getting 10+ feet of air and could jump up massive floating ramps. When it was time for my lesson on the gorge*, I met my coach from the Gorge Junior Sailing Program. 

Earlier in the week, I had decided to sail an O’pen Skiff, and so I got all rigged** and ready. Then, shortly after, the instructor asked me if I wanted to stay in the harbor or go out into the river. I said that I wanted to stay in the harbor until I was comfortable facing the bigger challenge of the river.

I sailed in the harbor for about an hour. During that time I flipped once, but then I was ready to go out into the river. The wind picked up substantially once I was out onto the river, so sailing became more fun because of the fact that I could have tons of wind. However, since there was only a mile for the waves to build up, they were very small and allowed me to fly across the water. My coach told me that I should not go up the river too much because there was a massive sand bar, and that I would run into the bottom of the river if I hit it. I went out to the point where I was actually in Washington State. This means that I was past the halfway point across the river where Oregon and Washington meet. There were massive barges that went through the river under the bridge. Instead of the wake from the barges flowing out towards land, they just went with the current. This is different from sailing in Galveston Bay where the waves come all the way onto the shore.

On the way back, I actually ran into the sand bar. It was in about a foot of water and I pulled up my dagger board so that I was able to move along. Once the lesson was over, we regrouped with my family and headed to Portland.

*gorge- a narrow valley between hills or mountains, typically with steep rocky walls and a stream running through it.

**rigged- to get a boat ready for sailing