Messenger Sailing Adventures

 

Sea Trials • Two nights, three days, $449 per person, plus food (each person brings one or two meals for all). • Ten percent discount for groups of four. • Prerequisite: Venturesome spirit. • ASA Bareboat Certification available. Sea Trials combines two hundred miles of intense river piloting with a dose of ocean sailing in the middle and, of course, crossing the famous Columbia River Bar. These are about fifty very busy hours, eating and sleeping on the boat, stopping only for rest and tide schedules. Night operation is a must and introduces a particular set of skills, tactics, and understanding of aids to navigation. Day one is all about river piloting: one crew at the helm, one or more on the charts, and all watching for ships and other hazards. As darkness falls methods adjust, but objectives are the same: know your location at every instant, stay in the deep water, and identify hazards. Day two's objective is to cross the bar and sail on the Pacific Ocean. Favorable weather and seas are required. If conditions are contrary (just three times in our first five years) we don't go out. Either way this should be a day to remember, and day's end should find us back on the river logging miles--sometimes with following wind and tide!-- to set up a good run for home. Day three is river piloting again, but now with a desire to avoid the swiftest currents and hasten our home leg. This is an amazing adventure that never fails to impress. It is fun, educational, challenging, and beautiful. The Lower Columbia River is especially nice because it is hidden from any highway. We'll see landmarks noted by Lewis and Clark, ruins of century-old fish processors, and the back sides of river towns such as Cathlamet and Skomakawa. Sea Trials is limited to three or four participants, plus the captain. ASA 104, Bareboat Certification, is available with Sea Trials to candidates having the ASA prerequisites. Add $175 to the base cost (total $624). This includes a follow-up day to fulfill the on-water requirements for certification.

 

Off Shore • Four to six days, $699 per person, plus food (each person brings a share of the meals for all). • Prerequisite: Sea Trials. • ASA 104 or 106 certification available. Off Shore has all the intensity of Sea Trials and more. Where Sea Trials turns around, this boat keeps going, depending upon the wind, south perhaps to Garibaldi or Newport, or north to Grays Harbor. Newport is an especially long haul, and requires sailing through the night, watch on watch. Round trip from Portland is four to six days. This is a challenging voyage. Motion sickness is to be expected, disappointing winds are common, and cancellation or delay due to unfavorable conditions is possible. Off Shore is limited to three or four participants, plus two captains. ASA 104, Bareboat Certification, or 106, Advanced Coastal Cruising, is available with Off Shore to candidates having the ASA prerequisites. Add $175 to the base cost. In any case, Sea Trials is a prerequisite for Off Shore.

 

Bonneville • $199 per person, overnight round-trip. • Prerequisite: Interest in sailing. This is a scenic adventure and introduction to river piloting and sailing aboard Messenger. And though we can take casual passengers, our emphasis is on having you participate in driving, navigating, and sailing the vessel. We'll leave Messenger's home port at Columbia Corinthian Marina on a Saturday morning, make Boneville Locks in six or seven hours, lock through, pass under Bridge of the Gods and tie up at the Port of Cascade Locks Marine Park before dark. Walk to town for supper, or eat your own meal on the boat. Sleep on the boat. With favorable conditions on Saturday and/or Sunday we'll sail the famous waters above Bonneville Dam--there is hardly a better place for a sailboat. But we do have to get back to Portland on Sunday, so through the locks again and home we go, swiftly now, with the current. Arrival time varies seasonally. This is a low stress adventure with plenty of "wow!" moments. See video of a trip to Bonneville in 2009 by clicking here, or simply search YouTube.com for "Messenger Sailing Adventures." Bonneville is limited to four or five participants, plus the captain.

Though licensed for six passengers, we limit Sea Trials and Off Shore to three or four participants per boat, plus the captain, unless special arrangements are made for a particular excursion. For Bonneville, four or five participants works very well. No one need bunk with a stranger. Contact Cliff Mason at 503-252-6755 or cliffatmessengersailingdotcom. Please include your phone number.