Adagio Cruising: September 19, 2014

We spent several days in Coos Bay, Oregon. It's not a marina setup for cruisers at all. It is a commercial fishing marina, period. There are virtually no facilities even remotely close to the marina. The only things here are a bait and tackle store, a restroom with showers, and a tavern with pool tables. The only restaurant was out of business. There is no laundry, there are no restaurants, there isn't even a grocery store or mini-mart within a mile. The pizza place in town (6 miles away) won't even deliver to the marina. The nearest marine store is more than a mile away, over a bridge. The nearest grocery store is several miles away.

The transient/guest is dock is home to people crabbing from the pier. So, we had people camped out 5 feet from our boat day after day tending their crab pots. We could hear their voices and smell cigarette smoke during most daylight hours. Many commercial boats around us left their generators running 24/7 for days on end, so there was a constant diesel engine background noise, and the associated smell. We had to keep our windows closed most of the time.

Can you tell we weren't thrilled with Coos Bay as a cruiser's stop? Actually the town of Coos Bay is further up the river, but the marina is close to the ocean in Charleston. So, technically we were in Charleston Oregon, but everyone refers to this as Coos Bay.

We spent our mornings with home school, and even some afternoons, getting caught up. We worked on some boat projects too. I finally got our water heater hooked to the electrical system so we can make hot water when plugged into dock water, or when the generator is running. Previously we only had hot water after motoring for a few hours. With 30 gallons of hot water in a well insulated tank that would last a couple of days. But, we have ended up in a few locations longer than the hot water would last.

Rob at the bait and tackle shop (Basin Tackle) was GREAT!!! He set us up with some Tuna gear than we can drag behind the boat as we motor down the coast. We motor at about the ideal tuna trolling speed. Tuna are biting out there and we hope to catch a meal or two :-)

Coos Bay was an escape from some weather. It was also a comfortable distance from Florence for a day's cruise. It was not a stop we were eagerly anticipating like some of other previous stops. So, as soon as we got a break in the weather we left Coos Bay and headed to Crescent City, California. It was an overnight trip, and the conditions were quite favorable.

Here are some pictures from Coos Bay.