The Lightship COLUMBIA sailed into Arizona today from my dealer. Appropriate too because the Columbia is shown beached.

This one caught my eye at the Rosemont Show last June and I'm just as enthusiastic about it now as then.

Harry Hine told me the story of how this sail-powered lightship broke loose in a terrible storm. To save the ship, the captain took the ship some 25 miles out to sea rather than have it settle on the sand bars or worse on rocks along the Columbia River mouth.

But 'twas not to be. While being towed back to station, the ship broke loose and to save it from certain demise on the rocks the captain took it to the beach. To sail out between the rocks was too dangerous, so they built a railway track to move the ship across the narrow land strip to the bay. Columbia was rebuilt and refitted and sent back on station. But three years later, it was on the beach again, the victim of another storm.



This shot shows it from the 'water side', but the beach side of the Anchor Bay ship is more interesting with 3 workmen, a foreman and naval architect (I presume - holding the plans) and a woman with a small boy amazed at the sight of this great ship on the beach.

[For those waiting for Coquille River GLOW, there are a couple of VERY nice logs on the beach.]

The water on the beach side of the boat is VERY realistic - almost looks translucent. Kudos to the origination painter who did the work on the Lightship Columbia.

This was the first lightship to serve at the Columbia station, serving from 1892 until 1999 and again from 1902 until 1909 with a crew of eight.

Three more vessels served on the Columbia station. The last, WAL604, is on display at the Columbia River Maritim Museum in Astoria Oregon.



I photographed this Lightship Columbia in January 1996.


[This message has been edited by JChidester (edited 12-07-98).]