Sea Kayak - Columbia River: Sandy Island

We launched on time in the wind and rain, having decided to stick with the original planned route. We gambled on the forecast being accurate, giving us a downwind, down current run in the morning and hoping for the wind to die down and shift for the afternoon paddle back to the launch.

We made good time crossing the river, heading further downstream on the crossing to avoid an active tug astern of the cargo ship anchored across from the launch. From the northern tip of Sandy Island we crossed to the Oregon shore and paddled north past Coffin Rock and along the beautiful rocky cliffs of the old Trojan power plant site. We took our first break at the north end of Prescott Beach Park in the mouth of a little inlet to get some shelter from the wind. It was interesting that the river current here was not any help and may have even been against us a bit with the flooding tide.

After break we continued northward along the Oregon shore looking for Laurel Beach Park. We never found it (later found out that the park had closed over 5 years ago), but stopped at 11:15 for lunch at a small beach just south of a large grouping of pilings near Owl Creek. The beach was small and not protected from the south wind, but we made do for our lunch stop. From Google Earth views, it appears that the beach behind the pilings at Owl Creek just to the north of where we stopped would have been much better for a stop - bigger beach and well protected from the south wind.

We set off back to the south at 11:45 and found that the wind had died to only a light breeze and the incoming tide provided a current boost for us. We made good time back along the shore stopping for a final 1/2 hour break at the beach behind Coffin Rock at about 12:45pm.Continuing south after our break, we crossed to the west shore of Sandy Island from the town of Goble and explored the two quiet sloughs along this shoreline. The entrance to the northern slough is well masked by vegetation, but a sinuous channel allows paddling deep into this pretty spot. The southern slough has a hidden exit from its end at higher water, and we were able to navigate this through some brush.

From the southern end of Sandy Island, we found a tight gap in the wing dam pilings and crossed the river back to Ahles Point with a rainbow appearing as we started the crossing. We arrived back at the cars at about 2:30pm. After packing up, we adjourned to the Ahles Point cabin for refreshments out on the deck. 

In spite of a wet and windy start, it turned out to be a very fine day on the water!

Thanks to Matt Levin for the photos.