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  • Level 2 Paddle -Pixie Park to Warrior Rock and Lighted Ships!

Level 2 Paddle -Pixie Park to Warrior Rock and Lighted Ships!

  • December 09, 2017
  • 1:45 PM - 5:30 PM
  • Pixie Point Park, Columbia City, OR
  • 1

Registration

  • Active club members, including kayaking professional and lifetime. Provisional acceptance, pending approval by the trip organizer

Registration is closed
This trip is limited to members with a wet exit certification.  To successfully register you will need to sign into your OOPS member account, and your account will need to be a member of the "Wet Exit Certified" group.


Narrative:
 The combined Willamette and Columbia River fleets of Christmas Ships will parade along the St. Helens and Columbia City water fronts   Saturday at 6 p.m. We’ll head out in our non-motorized craft well ahead of them and catch their parade from the safety of Pixie Park just after we load up our kayaks after our trip. We’ll be on the water after sunset! Please bring a REQUIRED headlamp, flashlight, or other boat-lighting illumination (see below). Additionally, if you have battery-operated holiday lights that can handle at least splashing water, here is an opportunity to indulge in some holiday spirit and light up your boat with those (in addition to the required illumination noted above). Bring along your air horn, too, if you have one (see below). Safety will be our #1 concern, making it easy for us to achieve goal #2, FUN!

We’ll have our safety chat and launch from Pixie Point Park at 2:30 p.m., then head upriver between Sand Island and St. Helens. I expect that we’ll see a fair number of boats there already. Our goal is the Warrior Rock Lighthouse on the end of Sauvie Island (three miles upriver and across the Multnomah Channel). We can take a break there, then head back and make another stop at Sand Island. This will be a great vantage point to watch the sunset and watch the ships begin to get ready for their parade. Back in our boats, we’ll proceed from Sand Island to Pixie Point Park, arriving around 5:30. Because we’ll be on the Columbia River after dark, and there will be power boats in the water with us, we’ll paddle in a very tight formation when leaving Sand Island and heading back to Pixie Park. After loading our boats, we should be able to watch the Christmas Ships parade. They head even farther downstream, then head back, so we might see them again if we stick around and have dinner in Columbia City or St. Helens.

This trip is suitable for intermediate and advanced SUPers, canoes with flotation devices, and kayaks 12 ft. and longer. This is a Level 2 trip. You must be wet-exit certified and you must wear a Sprayskirt. Drysuits absolutely required!

You can read more about the Christmas Ships here: 
http://www.christmasships.org/schedule/willamette-river/6-st-helens-combined?date=2017-12-09-18-00

St. Helens Tides:
2017/12/09 Sat 09:27 AM 2.50 H
2017/12/09 Sat 4:16 PM 0.56 L
2017/12/09 Sat 9:05 PM 2.63 H

Oregon State Marine Board / Boater Info / Required Equipment: “A manually propelled boat less than 23 feet may have ready at hand a flashlight or lighted lantern showing a white light to display in sufficient time to prevent a collision.”

“Keep a compressed air horn in a clear plastic bag on the deck. Most compressed air horns—even those which claim to be for ‘marine’ use—do not function properly if water gets inside the horn, but if you keep it in a clear Ziploc freezer bag, it will stay dry and still be ready for use at a moment's notice. You can activate the horn without even removing it from the bag!” ~source unknown, but it makes sense to me

Meeting Time: 1:45:00 PM
Launch Time: 2:30:00 PM
Type of activity: Level 2 Paddle Trip
Put in: Pixie Point Park, Columbia City, OR
Take out: Pixie Point Park, Columbia City, OR
Route Alternative for bad weather: None.
Required equipment: Headlamp, Flashlight or Boat-lighting illumination
Minimum Immersion protection: Drysuit
Primary Organizer: Chris Mayou
Assistant Organizer(s): Marty Martinez, Steve Pruett
Has organizer paddled here before? Yes
Has organizer led an OOPS paddle here before? No
Organizer's first aid and CPR current? Yes
First Aid /CPR Person: 
Maximum number of paddlers: 18
I certify that I understand and will conduct this activity in accordance with the OOPS Activity Policy: Yes
Estimated Air Temperature: 45
Estimated Water Temperature: 45
Estimated Water Time: 3 hours
Tide times & heights: St. Helens Tides:
2017/12/09 Sat 09:27 AM 2.50 H
2017/12/09 Sat 4:16 PM 0.56 L
2017/12/09 Sat 9:05 PM 2.63 H
Current information: Approx. 2 knots
Hazards: Night paddling, Shipping traffic
Wind strength: Level 1: 0-7 knots (8 mph)
Swell/Surf size: Level 1: Under 1' waves, no breaking waves
Sea state: Level 1: Waves up to the deck seam; water glassy to rippled, no whitecaps
Landing types: Level 1: Frequent easy landing opportunities including gently sloping, sand, gravel or grass
Currents: Level 2: Mild currents (up to 2 knots): current increases / decreases group speed by half
Total distance: Level 1: Up to 6 miles
Open crossing: Level 1: No open crossing
Paddling Environment: 
Overall rating: Level 2
Rating Comments: Rating this a Level 2 for current, night paddling and boat traffic.
Location (Optional): 1816-, 
1998 The Strand, Columbia City, OR 97018


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