On the morning of July 2nd, 1995, I set off to meet friends for a rendezvous at Blake Island. My trusty Tercel was pulling Columbia Coyote, my Hobie 18. But it was raining relentlessly and the thought of spending the night in the rain aboard an open boat did not appeal to me. Plan B sounded more inviting. I decided to sail another leg of my trip down the Columbia River. A trip that started at the Canadian border and will eventually take me into the Pacific Ocean. My jump off point this time was Fort Spokane, 44 miles above Grand Coulee Dam, my destination for this leg.
After arriving at Fort Spokane I assembled and stocked the boat, dressed warmly, and locked up the car. Shoving off in late afternoon I paddled Columbia Coyote out into the Spokane arm of the Columbia. I paddled hard to get to the far side of the Highway 22 bridge, so the 30 foot mast would clear. It was close, but it cleared, just barely. Finally out into the river proper, I sailed south down the great canyon through which the river flows. The canyon here is massive. The eastern wall rises 800 feet from the river. Darkness fell, the stars appeared.
The night was warm and clear, the breeze light yet steady, so I sailed on. The river gradually wound it’s way westward around a big bend. The wind lightened so I started looking for a place to pull in for the night. Finding a protected inlet that driftwood had collected in, I pulled the boat up onto the beached driftwood. I tied up to shore. It was midnight. I had packed a tent, but find sleeping on the trampoline more comfortable. I spread my sleeping bag on the tramp, crawled in and slept soundly.
I awoke early; an open boat does not lend itself to sleeping in. Breakfast consisted of a homemade sandwich, diet soda and an apple. Sailing off westward again, the wind was light. I needed to cover some distance that day as the next boat ramp was 25 miles away. After sailing 5 miles a Hunter 30 passed, motoring towards the dam. It was the only other sailboat I saw on the 44 mile trip.
Around 1100 the light wind turned into no wind. I paddled, paddled and paddled some more, while high powered motorboats zoomed by. Finally, peace and quiet. Alone but not lonely. The river formed a giant mirror reflecting the high cliffs, beautiful. By 1500 having covered only 10 miles to this point, thankfully the wind began to come in again. After getting going again, the boat was making about 3 knots into the wind. After another hour of this the wind strengthened to about 10 knots true.
Now the boat was becoming vibrant, but it was decision time; do I stop at Keller’s Ferry for the night or press on the additional 15 miles to the dam? As the wind seemed steady and strong I decided to press on. At 1700 I passed Keller’s Ferry. Soon the wind was blowing at 15 knots, then 20. I was hiking out and the boat was really moving. Columbia Coyote was in full stride now. The wind strengthened again, to 25 knots! The cat was moving so quickly that, between the wind over the water and the boat’s rooster tail, for a split second I believed it had caught fire! A smoke like mist was streaming from the stern. At that moment I understood the term ‘seasmoke’! Columbia Coyote covered the next 10 miles to the National Park’s Spring Canyon campground very rapidly, even into the wind. I arrived tired but thrilled to have covered over 40 miles in less than 24 hours, as usually I can only cover about 15 in a day.
First I called my wife to let her know I was OK. As I had no chase vehicle, I tried to line up a ride back to my car. Failing to do that before dark, I untied Columbia Coyote from the dock, sailed 200 yards, beached the boat and promptly fell asleep.
After sailing back to the park the next morning, I packed a backpack, and hiked into the town of Grand Coulee to try again to hitch a ride back to my vehicle. The first person I talked to gave me a ride, 50 miles directly to my vehicle! What luck! I hope it holds; I still have 600 miles of river to go!
Kris Engvall, Columbia CoyoteIf this has inspired you to think about cruising in your open boat, a SSSS Cruise may be just the place to try it.