Northwest Sea Disasters

Northwest waters off Oregon and Washington pose unique dangers to boaters. All of the navigable bars that a boater must cross to reach the ocean, such as the Tillamook Bay Bar, the Columbia River and Depoe Bay are hazardous. When a boat is in danger or actually sinks, the Coast Guard comes to the rescue. Search and rescue itself poses hazards, often times compounded by delayed or inaccurate distress calls from the captain. In addition the captain may fail to provide timely communication and leadership to crew and passengers during the crises. This book reviews the sinking of five charter boats. Four of them, the Pearl-C, Cougar, Gambler, and the Taki-Tooo accounted for the greatest loss of life in the charter boat industry in Oregon and Washington. Survivors of these charter boats provide vivid and dramatic accounts of the sinkings and search and rescue. We also review the sinking with the loss of life of the Aleutian Enterprise in the Bering Sea, crab boats off the Oregon and Washington coast, as well as the loss of the Sea King during a storm as it was being towed across the Columbia River bar. We focus on the human element in decision making during emergencies at sea, and provide guidelines for boaters to consider their own experiences at sea with respect to safety. An understanding of the hazards on our Northwest waters are important to recreational boaters who go on their private boats to fish off shore.

Leif Terdal: Leif is a lifelong boater. He fished commercially for salmon off the Oregon and Washington coast for 14 years and published Fishing Beyond the Buoys, as well as Small Boat Cruising to Alaska. As owner and operator of a salmon troller, he has crossed the Columbia River bar and the Garibaldi bar over 700 times. He remains interested in safety at sea and conservation efforts to preserve habitat for salmon and all wildlife. He retired from the Oregon Health Sciences University after 30 years as a clinical psychologist. Upon his retirement, he named his new boat Second Effort, as a metaphor for his new phase of exploration.

John Keiter: John was born in Portland, Oregon and has had a love for the ocean all his life. He is a teacher and educational researcher. Learning about boats and the ocean has led him to desire that individuals come to know more about boat safety.