Shipwrecks on the Columbia River Bar
This morning the Sea Lion was near the mouth of the Great River of the West, the Columbia River Bar. This infamous stretch of water is called the graveyard of the Pacific. More than 2000 ships and the lives of some 700 sailors have been lost here. The river flow of the Columbia, the strong ocean currents, and the tides join forces to create shifting sand bars and breaking waves that reach 30 feet in storms. While the bar is well charted and maintained the difficult and changing conditions exist today and mariners have great respect for the pilots who guide ships into the river or out to sea. The ancient Greeks and Phoenicians drew the first charts. Many of their methods were forgotten but charts reappeared in Europe in the 13th-century. But it was not until 1569 that Mercator found a way to project the surface of the earth in a manner that allowed the charting of an accurate compass course. By the 18th-century many countries had established organizations that were charged with producing and publishing charts from hydrographic surveys. The Survey of the Coast was established in this country in 1807 and renamed the U. S. Coast Survey in 1836. With added responsibilities it was again renamed in 1876, the U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey Office. Today it is the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration that produces charts and other navigational publications. Our accurate charts allow the Sea Lion to safely cruise the 468 river miles between the Columbia River bar and Lewiston, Idaho.
This morning the Sea Lion was near the mouth of the Great River of the West, the Columbia River Bar. This infamous stretch of water is called the graveyard of the Pacific. More than 2000 ships and the lives of some 700 sailors have been lost here. The river flow of the Columbia, the strong ocean currents, and the tides join forces to create shifting sand bars and breaking waves that reach 30 feet in storms. While the bar is well charted and maintained the difficult and changing conditions exist today and mariners have great respect for the pilots who guide ships into the river or out to sea. The ancient Greeks and Phoenicians drew the first charts. Many of their methods were forgotten but charts reappeared in Europe in the 13th-century. But it was not until 1569 that Mercator found a way to project the surface of the earth in a manner that allowed the charting of an accurate compass course. By the 18th-century many countries had established organizations that were charged with producing and publishing charts from hydrographic surveys. The Survey of the Coast was established in this country in 1807 and renamed the U. S. Coast Survey in 1836. With added responsibilities it was again renamed in 1876, the U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey Office. Today it is the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration that produces charts and other navigational publications. Our accurate charts allow the Sea Lion to safely cruise the 468 river miles between the Columbia River bar and Lewiston, Idaho.
