A Fall Float Down the Yaquina River

Saturday last was the date set for the annual fall Yaquina River float. For Doryman, this been a Halloween tradition for eight years, on this beautiful coastal Oregon river. For others, (all comers welcome) it depends on the weather.

This year, the prognosticators said a big Pacific front was coming in and there would be rain, wind and more rain. Those of us who live on the coast tend to take the forecasts with a grain of salt. The most reliable prediction method is to look out the window.

The crowd was small and dedicated. As you can see in the photos, everyone was dressed for the worst. Which, of course meant that we were over dressed for a delightfully warm and mostly sunny day. Sorry those slackers less dedicated missed it.

This was the first time on the water for the completed Doryman Melonseed. I've christened her Aria. We left the sailing gear at home and loaded up the oars for the trial run. My good friend Jim Ballou dropped by the Doryman boatyard early Saturday with a smart little skiff needing some attention so, for the river run, he didn't have a ride of his own.

It was an excellent opportunity to see how the melonseed performed with a payload. Jim and I shifted our weight around to test for stability and I'm happy to say the melonseed is a wonderful little boat. She rows like a dream, can't wait to set up a sail rig and see how she flies.....

,

Bob, deep in conversation with Chuck and Shalline:

Jim taking it easy while Michael does all the work. (Just teasing you, Jim.)


Thanks to Shalline for the photos of Aria.





And a short video of Jim R, with Lucy the Dog, in the Lazy Duck skiff. Commentary by Jim B.


Fall 2013 on the Yaquina River from doryman on Vimeo.

If you haven't had enough, here's the rest of the pictures.