Sturgeon Moon

The Toledo, Oregon Wooden Boat Show 2010


Last night, while observing the moon's diurnal libration, Doryman rowed his new Valgerda nine miles from the Toledo Slough to the docks at Sawyer's Landing. The ebb tide ran from a high of eight feet out to a low of two-tenths below mean.

In the late summer months, the warm air inland draws cooler air off the ocean so the afternoon winds almost always blow inland at high velocity. To travel west, it is best to catch an ebb tide after dark or around sunrise if your vessel is human powered.





The fearing Saga no longer has a motor, but still weighs about seven hundred pounds. Two knots is about top cruising speed, using a pair of twelve foot spruce sweeps.
The semidiurnal range of oscillating tidal streams can easily double that speed.


With a light sea breeze on the bow, the fearing ran the nine miles down river in three hours. The GPS screen was visible by the light of the moon. No one else was on the water but the seals and birds.



Saga and I were leaving the sixth annual 2010 Toledo Wooden Boat Show in Toledo, Oregon; heading back to the haul-out sling at Sawyers Landing under oars alone with the pull of the moon before us and the tidal river beneath.
From moon rise to sunrise.



Toledo is a very small town with a love of it's waterfront and a memory of when business and commerce centered on the waterway. The boat show is a celebration of that heritage.

It's also the culmination of a years work here in Doryman's Boatyard, since it's Mistral's home port.

This year four boats from the Yard found their way into the show and I was pleased to find a few other boats in attendance that have come from my Yard as well.



The weather here on the coast this summer has been cool and cloudy, but last weekend the curtain came up on a show with no complaints.

During the slide show, be sure to note the family boat building projects. The kids joy in their new creations is priceless.



A fitting celebration of the last full moon of summer. A sturgeon moon.
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