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Trip Report    

Sea Kayak - Columbia River: Skamokawa to Harrington Point

A fine sunny day with a cold morning and stronger than forecast east winds to provide more of a challenge for this beautiful paddle.

Will Greenough Will Greenough
January 25, 2026
  • Road suitable for all vehicles

  • Very cold in the morning - below 30 degrees at the launch.
    East winds developed around mid morning and persisted through mid afternoon - stronger than forecast. Died down to nothing by 4pm.
    Ebb tide provided significant push, along with the wind at our backs in the morning all the way down river to Harrington Point. 
    Moderate to strong east wind provided a challenge and slowed us significantly on the return. We chose to remain on the Washington shore rather than cross to the islands to get more shelter from the wind.
    At the request of the park management, we parked cars at the lot for the boat ramp and paid the $5 fee before launching from the beach at the east end of the park. Low tides can make the ramp very muddy, so we wanted to avoid this for the launch. We were able to return to the ramp at the end of the trip.Screenshot 2026-01-25 105314.jpg

A good group gathered at sunrise to launch from the beach at Vista Park in Skamokawa. We got on the water about 1/2 hour behind schedule and paddled west along the shoreline towards Brookfield Point. Before stopping at the beautiful sand beach just west of the point, we paddled a ways up Harlows Creek.
After break we continued west, popping out to Pillar Rock along the way. The current was quite strong in this leg and we were mostly paddling along at 5-6kt. The  points and rock provided some fun swirlies along the way. Approaching Harrington Point, we decide to stop a bit short on a rocky beach in the sunshine just before an old set of pilings with an old steam piston/flywheel installed. We decided that we would not cross to the islands as planned because there would be no shelter from the relatively strong east winds out there.
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After lunch we started back along the shore, only able to average about 2kt against the wind and the last of the ebb current. We stopped for a break just west of Pillar Rock and again at Three Tree Point on our way back. By the time we reached Three Tree Point, the wind was dying down and was mostly calm for the last leg into Vista Park. We arrived at the ramp at 4:50pm - about an hour later than planned. We packed up as the sun set over the river to the east.

Lots of sea lions, eagles and seals along the way.

Total distance: 18.87nm
Average moving speed: 3.2kt (with significant current assist in the morning)