Today we took some friends sailing on the Columbia River. In the early morning our Pastor, Rev. Marilyn Allen joined us at the boat in the early morning to beat the predicted 100 degree heat. We had lovely winds and the temperature was delightful at about 65 degrees. We motored out into the center of the channel and popped out the sails. We first sailed up wind and down river about three miles. Marilyn did a good job steering the boat. You must remember that steering a boat with a tiller is backward to steering a car. If you push the tiller to the left the boat turns right. The wind was kicking up a little stiffer by the time we got to Columbia City. We turned back toward St. Helens after three quarters of an hour of sailing. Now we were going down wind, but we had a stiff current to face going back up river. We sailed past Sand Island on the Washington State side and then crossed back over to the St. Helens Oregon side. We then dropped the sails and motored back into our mooring.

We had an appointment with the Daly’s at 11:00 and Marilyn still had some polishing to do on her Sunday sermon. In fact we had it timed perfectly, Daly’s were able to take over Marilyn’s parking place in the marina. We soon welcomed JP, Gretchen, Sean and Jennifer on board. After a review of the procedures we motored back out into the channel and set sail for Columbia City again. This time JP and Gretchen alternated on the helm and Sean and Jennifer cheered us on from the back of the cockpit. We completed the same circuit as with Marilyn, but the winds were stronger so it took us a little less time to complete the course.

We then moored on Sand Island and ate our picnic lunch. The children played in the water until they got cold. However it only took a few minutes in the 90 degree sunshine to warm them back up and back in the water they would go. Dave and Adrienne Shilling joined us with their Ski Doo and after lunch we did more sailing. However the children abandoned the sailors and joined Aunt Adrienne and Uncle Dave for some high speed water sports. I thought I had lost them totally, but at supper Sean drew a sailboat on the table paper.  I think you will agree it is not bad for a seven year old.

The weatherman promises an end to this heat wave. It wasn’t too bad on the water, but it was really hot on the island.

We wish you all fair winds and smooth waters from Oregon.