Cruising Rob's Blog: Following the Grand on her Drydock Journey

3/4/19 - 8:25pm PT update - The Grand cleared the Astoria Megler Bridge - unfortunately since it is night time, it was hard to see from the camera on the Astoria Column.

3/4/19 - 7:30 am PT update - The Grand is approximately 260 nautical miles from Astoria and 340 from Portland. At the current speed of 20.3 knots, she should enter the Columbia River around 7 to 8pm this evening, local time (Pacific time zone). Once in the Columbia River, she will likely have to reduce her speed to an average of 12 knots which would put her close to the Vigor drydock in NW Portland around 2 or 3am, local time.

3/3/19 - 2:40 pm PT update - The Grand should be departing soon.

I anticipate the Grand departing SF on March 3rd in the early afternoon and sailing to her drydock at Vigor Shipyards in Portland, OR shortly thereafter. It's about 31 hours at 18 knots from SF to Astoria, at the mouth of the Columbia River which would put the Grand sailing by Astoria in the evening of the 4th. She should then arrive at the shipyard just NW of Portland by midnight. The weather on the Pacific Coast looks reasonably peaceful for her transit. For those that are curious about Astoria and the Columbia river, the interface with the river and the Pacific is very treacherous due to geography, river current, and ocean tides. I go over my recent experience on the Eurodam on this page. I also highly recommend this book which talks in detail about Astoria and the challenges facing sailors, even to this day.