C fltA N T J e
The Local
eNtsexvouft
Ed Dooney
copyright 1999
By Bob Rice
1 would go down to Newport town
to see the tourists feeding
and watch them swill their microbrews
and stroll about unheeding.
finely selected
womens (Q/clotfnnq
6
Portland
(503) 239-4605
I'd start my hunt on the old bayfront
and hear their merry laughter
and smile upon their gay costumes,
but that’s not what I'm alter.
work hard dress easy
Shanghied From Astoria
I've noticed a penchant among writers for the Upper
Left Edge to define significant words and terms they use to
illuminate ideas and thus our lives. My well worn copy o f The
American College Dictionary, a faithful servant since I was in
the fifth grade, defines endeavor so: "to exert oneself to do or
effect something... a strenuous effort". I'm here to tell you that
in the case o f H.M. Bark Endeavour the emphasis is definitely
on the strenuous side. For clarity’s sake I'll mention that H.M.
stands for His Majesty and a Bark is a three-masted sailing
ship fore-and-aft-rigged on the mizzenmast and square-rigged on
the two other masts. The Endeavour stretches a graceful 108
feet from stem to stem and is laced with a dizzy matrix o f lines
and rigging with which to set and manipulate the vast array of
sails. The H.M. preface and the British spelling of the name
"Endeavour" derive from the fact that the original ship sailed
under the eighteenth century English flag. The skipper was the
intrepid Captain James Cook who endeavored to sail the ship
around the world and in the process "discovered" Australia,
Hawaii and the Society Islands. Like that other white guy,
Columbus, who proceeded him by nearly three centuries. Cook
had an uncanny knack for stumbling upon various land masses
which had already been inhabited for eons by brown skinned
folks who weren't particularly excited about being
"discovered".
This said, and in lieu of any further technical
definitions or history lessons. I'll jump to the chase and relate
how I came to dance on the deck of this magnificent vessel.
The Endeavour Replica set sail from Australia in 1996 and
after sailing east to west two-thirds of the way around the
world it crossed (lie Columbia River bar and approached
Astoria on Friday morning, July 2 3 .1 happened to be listening
to radio station KMUN that morning and heard station
manager Doug Sweet doing a live cell phone interview with a
programmer named John Hunt who crewed on the Coos Bay to
Astoria leg o f the voyage. John was saying that they would be
docking at the Maritime Museum in about forty-five minutes.
I dropped whatever it was I was doing and steered my car north,
arriving just in time to witness the ship's cannons blast a
resounding salute.
After watching tlie docking and mooring procedure
carried out by an apparently seasoned crew I spoke with a few
hands on deck and learned that all but a few were volunteers
who had only been on board for five days. Most of these folks
had applied to sail with the ship as much as three to six
months prior to actually being accepted as crew. Finally, I met
Dominique, the manager of the shore support crew that travels
by land from port to port to facilitate the ship’s harbor visits.
Boldly, I asked him how I could circumvent the application
process and get signed on for the next leg o f the voyage. He
said I must speak with the first mate, Geoff, who acts as the
administrative officer on board. A couple of hours later when
G eoff got word that a total stranger was waiting by the gang
plank to have a word with him he came on deck and greeted me
warmly with apologies for the long wait. I sought to assure
him that I didn't intend to disrupt his busy routine, but he
waved o ff these comments and invited me to join him below
decks in the chart room. There, I told him of my previous
sailing and travel experiences and also noted that I'm a licensed
acupuncturist with the not too subde implication that I might
fill a special "position" on board. He immediately made it clear
that if I were to be signed on as crew that I must demonstrate
an ability to perform the rigorous, heavy work and that that
would be my only "position". When I told him that I'd be
interested in going all the way to New Zealand we came to the
agreement that once I had proven to myself as well as to him
that I could handle the required work load I would be considered
for the longer voyages to Hawaii and New Zealand.
That evening I got acquainted with several of the
fourteen permanent crew members as they got acquainted with
copious amounts o f beer at the Wet Dog Cafe. The following
Sunday at two in the afternoon myself and thirty-one other
volunteer voyage crew members met the captain and officers
under more sobering conditions. We had been assembled to
receive a briefing on safety issues and general operating
practices on board. We were each assigned to one o f the three
“captains of the tops” who would be our watch commanders -
for 10 to 12 crew members - and direct officers for our
handling of the sails and rigging for one of the three masts. I
was assigned to the foremast under the direction of Helen who
hails from England, is a seasoned sailor, a fiddle player, a civil
engineer by profession, a patient instructor and an all around
great person. Most o f the permanent crew are from Australia
and the volunteers come from all over North America and
Canada. My assigned watch buddy, Sarah, is a delightful
twenty-year old biology major at Cal Poly. Her trim athletic
body and sharp mind make her especially suited for the crew
and a fine companion for me.
Following dinner on board those of us on the
foremast watch who aren't assigned to one of the first three
two-hour watches on deck are granted shore leave until 11 p.m.
Sarah and I are assigned the 6-8 a.m. deck watch, so I join
some of the older salts for a nightcap at the Wet Dog. I limit
myself to one beer, but some of the permanent crew will
likely be sailing with hangovers come morning. Our rough
canvas hammocks are strung up cheek to jowl and the snoring
and various other bodily sounds and odors are contained by the
low ceiling, making sleep nearly impossible. Sarah’s
h a m m o c k is close to mine and we are awakened at 5:45 a m.
by a person from the previous watch. Nevertheless, when I
ascend the companionway to a hesitant dawn Sarah is lagging
behind, so I relieve the earlier watch and have a few quiet
moments to myself before she joins me. It is barely light and
a bright moon hangs just above the Astor Column. When a
sleepy Sarah finally comes on deck I inform her that the
penalty for arriving late for watch duty is to dance with her
watch mate. With a youthful zeal she embraces me and we
waltz about the deck by moonlight until the sun lightens the
eastern horizon far up the wide Columbia. Nothing strenuous
about (hat.
'
Cannon Beach
(503) 436-1572
Budweiser
K IN G O F B E E R S
Clatsop Distributing has been proudly serving and supporting
Clatsop County for over 27 years. Please drink responsibly and
enjoy your Summer. Are you ready for a Bud tonight?
(chorus)
Life, for the host on the middle coast
is harsh, cold and uncertain.
The pay is low. The jobs are few,
and the rain falls down in curtains.
On a dull day in the middle of May
a watery Sun peeps through.
The streets are cleared. The merchants smile.
The tourists are in view.
Handicrafts drawn from old Taiwan,
kites and sticky sweets
stock the shelves of the old bayfront,
and neon lights the streets.
(chorus)
But I miss the squeal of wood against steel
and the chuff of the great steam boilers,
the tang of hemp and the Herring fish,
and the tarry smell of the oilers.
The fisherman, smiling tied up to this piling,
unloaded the Salmon here.
If the weather was nice they took on ice
and maybe some cases of beer.
(chorus)
Now the end of the land's an espresso stand.
The old timers? They have all gone,
and the tourist stares at the schlocky wares,
slurps his ice cream and moves on.
u*’«*
4, •
• *' ***■•
(chorus)
6"' Annual TO LED O ART W ALK
& HOP
Septem ber 411* and 5“1 11:00 thru 5:00
You can’t use tact with a congressman. A congressman is like a hog.
You must take a stick and hit him on the snout.
Henry Adams
Refreshment! w ill be served at each gallery/studio with at least five
gallcry/studios opened and also many participating restaurants, who w ill ba
exhibiting a minimum o f 15 invitational artists' works. Participating nationally
known gallcry/studios include Gallery Michael Oibbons, Ivan Kelly o f Kelly
Fine Art Sludiu/Gallcry, Doug I lags o f llaga Studio/Gallery, and more Guests
artists include: Sculpturcr M arlin Eichinger from Portland; Watercolor Painter
B ill Kucha from Otter Rock; and many others. There w ill also be a glass blower
artist Chuck W illoughby exhibiting at Larry Sommer's Glass Blower studio
with possible glass blower demonstrations and also other art slide presentations
I he Art W alk in galleries/studios w ill be followed by A rt Video presentations at
Toledo City H a ll and later on the 2 5 * o f September an awards reception
followed by an outdoor concert.
Please call Gallery Michael Gibbons (541) 356- 2797 or
Ivan Kelly Fine A rt at (541)336-1124 www.ivaakelly.com for
more information.
Locattaa:
Date A Tims
of Evealt
Event:
September 4 A 5
I I 0 0 thru 5 00
G a lle ry/S tu d io w alk
September 4 A J
4 0 0 both days
1 video/day
A rt V id e o Preaantalion
- G uy R <*e Impression# o f C alifo rn ia
12 lo catio n #-
mapa w ill ba «vallata#
C ity C ouncil Chombers
oa Toiado M a ta Street
A n d rew W yeth, Tha B eig e P ktu raa
The A rt C e le b ra ti« .
G a lle ry . A Gatbertag o f
September 1 I a
“ V ie w From T o iad o " w ith Invitational
thru September
Artists
Sept 17a *
O pen M ik a
IK a Art Celebratioa
G a lle ry , A Oetbertag o f
A rtis ti, 192 S M a ta St.
Reception fr A w ard * announced from
T o led o Public Library
173 N W 7 * Si.
A rtis ti, 192 S M a ta Si
J 00
open
Sept 25
1 0 0 2 .0 0
“ V ie w Fro m T o led o " A rt Show
Sept 25a
Concert - A n d rew C d h n n a n i N o w V o r t
T o ledo Potate lib ra ry
Cowrtyard
2 0 0 - 3 .3 0
(o u ittd e i l notstbie)
173 N W 7 * S t
Please call above phone numberi for more Information anti
copy of map.
The NYE BEACH WRITERS SERIES presents
JUDITH ARCANA and ANDRÉS BERGER-KISS
SATURDAY NIGHT, SEPTEMBER 18,8 PM
at the Performing Arts Center Studio Theatre,
777 SW Olive Street, Newport, OR
Admission is $5
Defensively the Red Sox area lot like Stonehedge. They
are old, they don’t move and no one is certain why they
are positioned the way they are.
Dan Saughnessy
S am A bsher
V Cons/>
C
O
M
A dditions
'"'O .X .
G eneral C ontracting
QUALITY C onstruction
CA
R emodel
L evel - S tabilize
Cell: 440-0278
p x P.O.Box 2577
Fax: 717-0389 O
Gearhart. OR 97138 O
7 3 8 -7 5 6 3
Bob Rice's Grande Endeavour w ill continue next month.
I
ccb # ii4«o7
Casual D ining
O verlooking the Hestucca River
Spirits • Hot Sandwiches
fresh Seafood Dinners • Home Baked Desserts
(5 0 3 )9 6 9 -6 7 2 2
pacihc city , orcqoh
UrrtR. Ì.E.FT £t)6E SEPTEMBER W ?