By Leslee Jaquette
Before breakfast I strolled the docks at the Embarcadero Resort Hotel & Marina in Newport, Oregon. Enjoying a streak of unusually calm, sunny weather on the Pacific Coast, a burly, friendly guy gave me a conspiratorial smile as he stepped off his 23-foot Seaswirl, Wake My Day.
His name was Dave Strom and he owns a company in Portland that rebuilds marine engines. This was the second day of a month he planned to keep the Seaswirl at the 238-slip marina. The day before, Strom caught two nice silvers off the South Jetty. The concierge at the Embarcadero orchestrated getting Strom’s salmon smoked.
“I’ve fished Astoria (Oregon) for six years and made 50 crossings,” said Strom, who looks like a kid in a candy story. “But I’m quitting while I’m ahead. In contrast, it’s so easy here in Newport; it’s like cruising out of Marina del Rey!”
Strom is representative of a growing number of boaters who feel like they have discovered Newport. It is the easiest, deep-water port to navigate on the Oregon Coast and offers trailer boaters and coastal cruisers a safe, dynamic haven with ample transient moorage as well as excellent launch and marine facilities. Boaters, who opt to visit Newport by automobile, will also be delighted with the area’s elegant beaches, fishing and crabbing, accommodations, shopping and marine-related activities.
Easy come, easy go
Cruisers and sportscraft entering Yaquina Bay from the Pacific, find it totally straightforward. The Yaquina Bay Lighthouse stands sentinel at Yaquina Head at the base of the North Jetty, which was started by the locals in 1871. The broad channel runs under the handsome 1936-built,Yaquina Bay Bridge into the heart-shaped Yaquina Bay. The channel is dredged every year to a depth of 35-40 feet. This effort assures the bay is ranked as an international port that can harbor vessels up to 400 feet in length.
The day my son, Adam Jaquette, and I travel under the bridge and out the channel as guests on a Marine Discovery Tours naturalist cruise, the ocean is pacific. However, according to tour naturalist Kevin Almas, the opposite conditions are much more typical. The first recorded shipwreck off the point occurred in 1852. During winter storms, 15 to 30-foot waves can hurl jetty rocks around like marbles and, devastating tsunamis waves can strike the Oregon Coast almost any time.
Later during our visit, when walking the new guest dock at the Port of Newport Marina at South Beach, I learned why boaters choose to stop in Newport. Ron Post, a professional captain based in Southern California, was en route delivering a 53-foot Navigator from San Diego to Seattle. He had come in at dusk to refuel and to overnight.
“It’s very quick in and out,” said Post. “I’ve probably been here 75 times and I can always get what I need. I can get out of the weather, get fuel, repairs and maintenance.”
Post added a few tips to mariners. “Be careful of the reef to the south, watch the bar and always call the Coast Guard for bar conditions!”
Port of Newport Marina & RV Park: (541) 867-3321 Fax: (541) 867-3352; www.portofnewport.com/
Greater Newport Chamber of Commerce: (800) 262-7844 or (541) 265-8801; www.newportchamber.org
