Oregon

This week I was lucky enough to be sent to the coastal town of Newport, Oregon along with a co-worker to learn more about how Garmin's Marine products work on the ocean. It was a dream come true for me.  I've never gotten to use the maps that I help make and ever since I was a kid I have always loved being on boats so I was VERY eager to experience this.  Boating on the ocean though was going to be a completely new experience.  We were told "bring your Dramamine" because on each two man crew before us someone had always gotten sea sick.  The training was spread over three days so we could simulate the different types of things our customers experience.  Exciting!!!

We departed Sunday afternoon, then drove the 2.5hrs to Newport after flying in to Portland.  How do you know you are in Oregon?  Mt. Hood reaches up to greet you out of the clouds.

Day 1: 55 degrees and FOGGY

First order of business was to do the survival suit drill.  You are supposed to have it on and zipped up in 1 minute...

We were close to 1 minute.  That's Chris, my co-worker, next to me.  I'm not sure what's up with my right foot.  And even though you can't see it one of my hands is completely turned around backwards.  :)  We were both so giddy to get out on the ocean.  Something we have both been looking forward to for a long time.

Here is our boat, the "Kansas."  Named after the state where Garmin HQ is located.  I'm sure that when you call people on the radio in Oregon and say, "this is Kansas..." it really messes with them.  :)

Off we go with me driving.  Heading out though the narrow breakwaters of "the bar" into the PACIFIC OCEAN.

This is a good picture of ALL the electronics we have at our disposal.  WAY more than a typical customer but freaking awesome nonetheless.  We had a dedicated screen for charts, radar, sonar, and whatever else you might want to pull up (XM Radio, night vision camera, gauges, etc).  

We went 30 miles offshore that first day, in visibility less than half a mile.  The seas were choppy with a mild swell, which to us felt like we were getting beat to death (like speeding across the main channel at the lake x 10) but for the guys training us it was "a nice day."  :)

Returning to port after a 30 mile BEAT DOWN.  Chris and I were both physically sore and mentally exhausted from the intensity of it all.  It's kind of like flying.  You have to constantly be scanning for other boats, crab pot buoys, and the instruments.   

Newport has a BEAUTIFUL bridge.

Sea Lions were everywhere.  They really like hanging out on the buoys.

A very pretty trans-oceanic sailboat.

Dinner that night was at a "fresh seafood" restaurant right next to where the fishing vessels anchor.  I had the tuna steak.  It was made from tuna that was just caught and it was OFF THE HOOK!  SO tender and delicious.  You just can't get that sort of thing in Kansas.

These guys are protected so the city has set aside a little old dock just for them. 

Part of the fishing fleet

The second day we attempted to fish but with no luck.  We set up shop about a mile off "the lighthouse."  It was beautiful.  The boating skill we learned was how to use the sonar to see fish under the water, what sort of bottom conditions the fish like, and how to troll the boat over the area you want.

We didn't catch any fish but we saw a Gray Whale!!!

I couldn't get the camera up fast enough, but we got to see him cresting (leaping out of the water and landing on his back).  According to the locals, we were very fortunate to have seen that.  According to one of the guys on the boat with us, you don't want to get too close because "whale breath STINKS SO BAD."

Not pictured was our "night mission" that happened on the 2nd night.  After dinner we went out AT NIGHT!  Boats don't have headlights like cars so picture driving with the headlights off.  And then add to it waves, other boat traffic, rocks, lit buoys that help show you where to go, etc.  It was one of the most intense things I've ever done.  Even though we had a teacher with us, one screw up and we might end up in the rocks or in the path of another boat.  This is where we learned the value of radar and the night vision camera.  Chris manned the radar and I drove on the way out of port.  He called out traffic and I made sure we stayed in the channel.  As we approached the end of the jetty the ocean waves picked up and started rocking the boat.  It was so crazy because in the dark you can't see the waves coming and can't brace for them.  We drove about 3mi up the coast, then switched places and came back.  On the way back in we had to navigate our way around the dredge that was about to enter the channel.  Fun stuff...  We were both so full of adrenalin when we got off the boat that we decided we needed to go have a beer.  It is something I will never forget.

This is a NOAA survey vessel.  It surveys the ocean floor, that data goes into NOAA nautical charts, and then my group at work acquires those charts and puts them into our product...hence the reason I took the picture. :)

One of the coolest boat drills that we did happened on the 3rd day.  We were tasked with nosing the boat up as close as possible to this Coast Guard mooring buoy without actually hitting it.  Sounds easy, right?  But the tide was going out of the bay so there was a current and wind, so holding the boat on position took finesse of the throttles. 

There is a river that flows into the bay.  We went a little ways up that river.  Way different banging around out on the ocean because it is more confined, more like navigating on a lake.

The name of that dark blue ship "Kiska Sea" and that rang a bell with me so I Googled it.  Turns out it was on Deadliest Catch!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1oULbc3GMYI 

With our training done, and the afternoon to drive back to Portland, we headed up to see the lighthouse (the one from my previous pictures).  These pictures are of it and the surrounding cliffs, breakers, beach, etc.  Absolutely STUNNING!

Oregon was great.  The boating experience was a once in a lifetime thing (hopefully not, but you never know).  The scenery on the coast was great.  The food was delicious and so different than what we gravitate to around here.  And the beer selection was incredible!  There are craft beers and microbrews EVERYWHERE.  One of my favorites is the Rogue Brewery which as it just so happened was right next to the marina.  Every time we came in from the ocean the entire marina smelled like a homebrew operation.  It just made you kind of thirsty, you know?  :)  We had lunch there one day and I got a sampler of beers.  It was too hard to choose just one.

Here's to Oregon!

Ryan