Welcome!

Special note March 3, 2010: Email change under way. If your message bounces back please call 503-252-6755 with inquiries. Thanks. Now back to our regularly scheduled program: Welcome to Messenger Sailing Adventures, the local cruising arm of Portland Sailing Center. We offer large boat and salt water experience for new sailors, not-so-new sailors, might-be sailors, and sometimes just people of venturesome and curious spirit. Most of our clients are new or non-sailors--you need not be experienced to have a great time and learn a ton! Our adventures fuse learning with doing, but without texts, tests, or syllabi. The tasks at hand provide the outlines and our captains provide guidance, as much as individuals want or circumstances require to have a safe and fun experience. Every trip is as different as the season, tide, weather, seas and crew, and each is shaped by the particular gifts of our maritime geography which is unlike any other in the world:

• Piloting the lower Columbia River — "Piloting" is the term for close-quarter navigation where accuracy is measured in feet and your peace of mind can change in seconds. Piloting is not technically difficult but requires unflinching attention to charts (nautical maps), aids to navigation (buoys and such) and the progress of your vessel. Running the river at night is especially challenging, and great fun when done well. There are about a hundred miles of winding river between Portland and the Columbia River bar, and every one can surprise you with navigational challenges, ship and barge traffic, and diverse scenery.
   
• Crossing the Columbia River bar — This speck of Earth where Columbia River meets Pacific Ocean has been called the “graveyard of the Pacific.” Perhaps an apt moniker as recently as fifty years ago, ”graveyard” is due for retirement as being unfair and onerous. We will show you how to cross the bar safely. Captain Vancouver and others managed to cross without benefit of engines, radar, jettys, or dredging, so we count our chances as fair indeed. Rest assured, however, that we do not cross if weather or seas are prohibitive.
   
• Sailing on the Pacific Ocean — Nothing beats the feel of a powerful sailing vessel working a lively sea. The rhythmic play of waves, wind, and sails has captivated sailors for thousands of years. We've mastered longitude and invented stainless steel, but--aargh!--we are still cursed with motion sickness. Ocean sailing will surprise, challenge, elate, and disappoint. Try it in small doses with us.
   
• Bonneville Locks and the Columbia River Gorge — Our trip called Bonneville provides a new perspective on a familiar section of the Columbia River, from Portland to Cascade Locks. We go through Bonneville Locks twice and sail on the broad waters above the dam where windsurfers generally outnumber all other vessels. It is a sailor's paradise, and the trip to and from is flush with scenery. We also offer day-sailing by the hour from Cascade Locks.
   
• ASA Certification — Through our affiliation with Portland Sailing Center and the American Sailing Association we offer ASA Bareboat and Advanced Coastal Cruising certification as adjuncts to our Sea Trials and Off Shore adventures. See the Adventures and FAQ pages for more information.
   

  Sailing with strangers — Queasy about committing to an extended boat trip with strangers? Look for a comment on the subject on our FAQ page.

  Though licensed for six passengers, Messenger Adventures Sea Trials and Off Shore are limited to three or four people per boat, plus the captain, except by special arrangement. This makes for more participation and more elbow room for everyone. For Bonneville, a much shorter trip, we sometimes take up to six passengers provided that people are coupled up so that no one need bunk with a stranger. Messenger has two heads, one of which is always offered for ladies only. For more information contact Cliff Mason at cliffatmessengersailingdotcom or 503-252-6755 or 503-519-9612.