Ray Was First Man to Water Ski 1,000 Miles Non-Stop! Ray DeFir, an active and well-known figure in the Portland, Oregon boating scene for over 50 years, died in 2011 at the age of 81. Ray had a lifetime love of water sports and was well-known as a record-breaking water-skier, designer and builder of high-performance… Continue reading Ray DeFir–Portland Water Ski Racer and Boat Builder (1930-2011)
Author: seamarsh
WWII Merlin Engine Set US Speedboat Records
Loss of the Quicksilver and its driver in 1951 at Seafair In the years after World War II, as the US economy prospered, veterans settled down and soon began to look around for new forms of leisure. Many took to boating, but some wanted more than a pleasant day on the water, they wanted speed… Continue reading WWII Merlin Engine Set US Speedboat Records
2015: Visit the Hanthorn Cannery Museum in Astoria
Preserving the History of the Canneries and the Workers The Hanthorn Cannery Museum in Astoria is a place like no other on the west coast: a collection of old fishing and fish-canning equipment and boats housed in the oldest cannery on the Columbia River, dating from 1875. There is no charge to enter the museum… Continue reading 2015: Visit the Hanthorn Cannery Museum in Astoria
1996: Sailing Back In Time by Maria Coffey
Cruising the B.C. Coast with the Farrells on China Cloud by P.M. In a literary market awash with regional memoirs and local biographies, Maria Coffey has produced a work so unique it overflows these categories. Ostensibly, it is about “yachting,” a subject which is thoroughly over-subscribed. But this book rises far beyond the typical formula… Continue reading 1996: Sailing Back In Time by Maria Coffey
2011: The Nomadic Nautical Life of Allen and Sharie Farrell
Introduction: Allen Farrell spent 69 years building over 40 wooden boats on the coast of British Columbia, Canada. With his wife Sharie, he lived for almost 50 years aboard many of their handmade vessels or homesteading on the coast, continually building wooden boats and sailing up and down North America and across the Pacific. The… Continue reading 2011: The Nomadic Nautical Life of Allen and Sharie Farrell
Built in 1947, Portland’s Sternwheel Tug Steamed into the 21st Century but Ran onto the Rocks in the Pandemic!
The sternwheel steamboat was an everyday sight on the Portland, Oregon, waterfront until the 1920s. And although those ferryboats disappeared long ago, steam power lived on until 1981 in the shape of the port-owned, “ship-assist sternwheeler” Portland. A group of volunteers formed the Oregon Maritime Center Museum and took on the preservation of this remarkable… Continue reading Built in 1947, Portland’s Sternwheel Tug Steamed into the 21st Century but Ran onto the Rocks in the Pandemic!
1899: Horse Pulls Columbia Lightship to Safety
How the Columbia Lightship Went for a Walk… Forty years after a lighthouse was built on Cape Disappointment in 1852, wrecks were still a common occurrence off the mouth of the mighty Columbia River. After years of complaints and petitions, the federal government was finally persuaded to find the funds to order a… Continue reading 1899: Horse Pulls Columbia Lightship to Safety
2015: Florence Arthaud Dies in Helicopter Collision
She Held Both Solo Trans-Atlantic Records Copyright P.Marsh French yachting star Florence Arthaud, who broke into solo ocean racing in the 1980’s and became a sailing legend by winning the 1990 Route dy Rhum, died recently in a collision between two helicopters in Argentina during the filming of a wilderness survival TV series. She was… Continue reading 2015: Florence Arthaud Dies in Helicopter Collision
2013: A Pilgrim’s Progress along the Camino de Santiago
A Secular Pilgrim Rides the “Camino de Velo” Copyright P. Marsh After witnessing the arrival of the 10th-placed sailor in the Vendee Globe Round the World Yacht Race in February, I continued my N-S bike journey along France’s Atlantic coast. In icy weather, I passed through historic ports, oyster farms and ditches that drain… Continue reading 2013: A Pilgrim’s Progress along the Camino de Santiago
Cycling Across the Yucatan–Cancun to Celestun
Cancun-Celestun–Touring With the Wind at Your Back There is one direct route across the Yucatan, shared by a wide, modern toll road and the narrow old road connecting all the towns and villages. The previous year I had ridden this road on the last leg back to Cancun on a short tour down the Caribbean… Continue reading Cycling Across the Yucatan–Cancun to Celestun