Shipwrecked

stranded on the sand barMarvin and I sailing buddys

Well here we sit aboard Le Perle Bleue stranded for the last fifteen hours on a sand bar in the Columbia river.Yesterday, after a promising start coming out of the bay in West port marina things were looking quite different.We caught a nice wind at 8:00a.m. and cruised out into the Pacific ocean in no time at all.We only had 40 miles to sail into the mouth of the Columbia river and strong northwest winds were forecast for the day.No sooner did we get into the ocean and the wind just died.Surrounded by fog with about 100 yards visibility we were dead in the water.We used the GPS right from the dock because the fog was as thick as pea soup right from the marina.So we turned on the motor and began a slow crawl south.We never saw land all day and the fog stayed thick.My highlight of the day was a giant blue whale about 20 yards off the starboard side.It surfaced twice and spouted as well.I screamed for Marvin but he was too late to witness the massive mammal.I on the other hand was overjoyed to see her so close to the boat. From what I could see she was at least twice as big as the boat.
We ended up motoring for most of the day, but the wind finally picked up about 26 miles from our destination and we sailed right into the mouth of the Columbia river.It was 10:30 p.m. when we arrived at the jetty's.Now we had to sail another five miles up the river to our destination,the Astoria boat dock.After finding the course on the GPS I handed it off to Marvin and went down below for a little rest.It was dark and foggy but the wind was blowing and visibility was better than we had all day and I was confident Marvin would get us well up river.About an hour after I laid down I suddenly felt some jolts and ran up top to see what was happening.We had run a ground.Feverishly, Marvin tried to put the engine in reverse and back us off, but it didn't work,in fact it blew up the engine.As I looked around to survey the situation I could clearly see the buoys marking the channel and we were nowhere near them.We had just run a ground on the most infamous sand bar on the west coast the Des demona.We were now a statistic. One of 2000 vessels who have at one time or another come to this same fate.In the next few hours that followed, the tide proceeded to go out and the boat began to lean further and further on the boards until it was completely on it's side.Things started falling of the walls, out of the cabinets,off shelves, and water began to seep in.We could barely walk around in the cabin now and every couple of steps was hard for me, and almost impossible for Marvin.The waves were beating the boat around pretty good as well.All we could do is try to get some sleep and wait for the 10 a.m. high tide in the morning.To make matters worse water started running out of the sink faucet because the water tank was on the high side of the boat and gravity was taking over.Every half hour I had to bail water out of the sink and into a bucket to throw overboard and with the boat on it's side this became a major task.On top of that all I wanted to do was get some sleep.
I got up and crawled out of the boat at 5:00 a.m. and couldn't believe the predicament we were in.When Marvin awoke he began calling towing company's to see if someone could help us out. At 11:00 a.m. when it was high tide and the boat would right itself, hopefully...but no towing company came. The Coast Guard did show up but could not get past the sand bar to assist us.When high tide came in at 11:00 a.m. the water level was 6 ft. 9 inch's but our keel sticks down 7ft. below the water level and she was in at least a foot of sand.We had some decent wind and raised the main sail and the jib and for an hour we tried to break free under sail power as the Coast Guard looked helplessly on from a safe distance.She was inching forward but just didn't have enough depth.It is now 4:30 in the afternoon and once again low tide and we are getting battered and beaten by the waves crashing in the sand bar and the boat is once again on her side.It's not pretty.Now we are waiting for 11:00 p.m. when the tide will once again be high, and actually 3 feet higher than the last high tide and hoping we can break free.Of coarse we wont have the ease of daylight to navigate, and or, the power of the motor to break us free.The Coast Guard is coming back to assist and hopefully give us a tow to the marina.For now, it's just weight and sea.

We're checked into a Youth Hostel in Astoria Oregon.It's 12:20 a.m. The Coast Guard could not pull us off the sand bar and we had to abandon ship.Marvin has been living on his boat for the last two years. If you could have seen the look on his face as the Coast Guard motored us away without her it would have broke your heart.We could only take necessary items with, so my bike is still on the boat,as with most of Marvin's possessions.Tomorrow we'll see if we can find a salvation company to tow the boat off the sand bar, and figure out what's next.For now, it's good to be on solid ground.