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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, JUNE 9, 2017
CONTACT US
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IN ONE EAR • ELLEDA WILSON
NO, NO AND NO
nless you were up pretty early on Saturday, you missed the
departure of 131 avid bicyclists from the Columbia River
Maritime Museum. They are racing 4,300 miles across the coun-
try in the fourth Trans Am Bike Race. A group of them are pic-
tured from the group’s Facebook page.
This race is like no other, done literally at “break neck speed”
with little respite. And, there are lot of rules. Rule No 1: “No
complaining about the rules.”
Bikers have to complete the route under their own power,
self-supported, with “no outside assistance, no support cars.”
They are allowed to rent rooms, do laundry, etc. along the way,
but “no private resupply, no private lodging.” If you were plan-
ning to stop off and see a few pals along the way, they can’t help
you, feed you or let you crash on the couch.
Want to watch their progress? Check out the Trans Am Bike
Race 2017 website at https://transambikerace.com. Last year’s
winner made it in 18 days and 10 minutes. And what does the
winner receive? The rules say there’s “nothing to win or lose but
honor.”
U
EGGSACTLY
KON-TIKI DRIFTER
RFK VISITS ASTORIA
few years ago, a Russian immigrant in his 60s with
iffy sailing/navigational skills, Rimas Meleshyus (pic-
tured), stopped in Astoria on his way to complete what
appeared to be a suicidal solo sail around the world in a
small 24-foot San Juan sailboat.
He hasn’t made it yet, but he’s been back and forth across
the Pacific several times now, even if he didn’t always wind
up where he expected. In the process, he has become a mas-
ter at Kon-Tiki drifting (named after Thor Heyerdahl’s raft
and its historic expedition), if not sailing.
On his last around-the-world attempt he drifted past
Hawaii, and was towed in to American Samoa. After a
pleasant stay, he sold the San Juan there to buy airfare back
to the U.S., arriving all but penniless. He stayed with friends
in the Astoria area for a while, then headed to California,
where, miraculously, someone gave him a 30-foot sailboat.
Then one day, Rimas and the boat disappeared from the
marina. He had sailed off into the sunset, without warning
and unprepared. His many Facebook (www.facebook.com/
rimas.meleshyus) followers worried and scolded him, to no
avail.
After 46 days at sea, and no food or water for three days,
he was rescued off the coast of Hawaii, and towed to Hilo.
He’s been in Hawaii ever since, getting ready to sail again —
to Alaska, he posted recently on his Facebook page.
But sometime at the end of May, he set off alone from
Hilo and disappeared again. He’s heading south, not north,
toward the remote island of Kiribati. You can track him here:
http://tinyurl.com/findRimas. Where’s he going? Alaska via
Samoa? Cape Horn? His Facebook page is unusually silent.
Wherever he’s headed, Rimas is unstoppable in the pur-
suit of his dream to sail (or drift) around the world, and one
can’t help but admire his determination and fortitude. Fair
winds and following seas, Rimas.
A
CAPT. CORNO’S LAST CHANCE
ell, Portland doesn’t isn’t the only city in the Pacific North-
west city that’s keeping it weird. According to a story in
the Kitsap Sun, restaurant owner and chef Ross McCurdy and
his daughter, Mira, of Silverdale, Washington, will go up against
TV chef Gordon Ramsay and his daughter, Tillie, for a new
Guinness world record for the most eggs cracked one-handed,
in one minute, by a team of two (http://tinyurl.com/eggscrack).
The competition takes place live at 6 p.m. Sunday, June 18
(Father’s Day), on Ramsay’s new show, “The F Word.” The
McCurdys are pictured in a screen shot from a Kitsap Sun video
(http://tinyurl.com/eggscrack1)
It would be safe to bet on McCurdy, though, since he has
already been declared the fastest one-handed egg-cracker in the
world by Guinness in 2009. “My career is cracking eggs one-
handed,” McCurdy told the Kitsap Sun. “His career is yelling at
kids. I think we have the advantage here.”
W
BIGGER AND BETTER?
ust when you think cruise ships couldn’t possibly get bigger:
Royal Caribbean International’s Harmony of the Seas car-
ries a whopping 6,780 guests, and MSC Cruises plans to top it
with its new line of four World Class mega-cruise ships, which
can accommodate 6,850 guests each. Note: The cruise ships that
come into Astoria carry only from 500 to 3,000 passengers An
image of a World Class ship is shown, courtesy of MSC Cruises.
According to the MSC Cruises website (www.msccruisesusa.
com), the first World Class ships are expected to roll out in 2022,
equipped with LNG-powered engines. At 1,082 feet long, the
ships have a “Y” shape structure to create panoramic views and
increase the number of balcony cabins. The bow is at a 90-degree
vertical position, designed to improve stability and passenger
comfort.
The World Class experience also includes family-friendly
villages (yes, thats a plural), a panoramic aft, and a glass pool
lounge. Better start saving your pennies now.
J
orty-nine years ago, on June 5, 1968, Sen. Robert F. Ken-
nedy Jr. was assassinated in Los Angeles. But less than two
weeks before, on May 24, he landed at the Astoria Airport —
a stump stop on his Democratic presidential primary bid — and
took a walk on the beach near the Iredale shipwreck at Fort Ste-
vens State Park with his wife, Ethel, dog Freckles, and Oregon
State Treasurer Bob Straub.
Sure, there are a lot of still shots from his visit, but thankfully,
there is also a video, which is available to watch online at http://
tinyurl.com/rfk-beach. There is no sound, and the video is only 2
minutes long, but it’s a unique and poignant bit of local history.
F
NO HARM, NO FOWL
he bizarre headline of the week, “Do not snuggle your back-
yard chickens,” comes courtesy of the Alaska News Dis-
patch, which actually took the story from the Washington Post
(http://tinyurl.com/hugachicken). And yes, they’re serious.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said there
were eight salmonella outbreaks linked contact with pet chick-
ens. More that 370 people in 47 states got sick, and 71 were hos-
pitalized. In the grand scheme of things, the Ear suspects that
these figures do not an epidemic make.
So, it is not poultry panic time. On the other hand, maybe you
might want to think twice before chicken cuddling.
T
BACK TO BASICS
he city of Portland has approved
the construction of the first 12-story
wood high-rise in the U.S., which will
be built in the Pearl District, starting this
fall, GeekWire reports (http://tinyurl.
com/woodframe12). An artist’s render-
ing of the building is shown, courtesy of
LEVER Architecture.
The wood-core project, called Frame-
work, will use cross-laminated timber,
and The Architects Newspaper reports
that the design has passed “rigorous fire,
seismic, and other safety tests to prove its durability compared
to typical steel and concrete construction.” Time will tell if they
are right.
T
rom the Tuesday, June 11, 1889, edition of The Daily
Morning Astorian: “Many years ago a British vessel
called the (W.B.) Scranton was wrecked on Sand Island.
Her hull has now come to the surface, and some of the men
employed there are burning the old timbers.”
The “History of the Columbia River Valley From The
Dalles to the Sea, Vol. III” (http://tinyurl.com/wbscranton),
published in 1928, contains a narrative of the wreck of the
Scranton by Clara C. Munson (pictured), who was elected
the first woman mayor of Warrenton in 1913, and was the
first female mayor in Oregon.
Her father, Capt. Joel W. Munson (also pictured), was
appointed the lighthouse keeper at Cape Disappointment
(Fort Canby) in 1865. Shortly after he was appointed, the
Industry, a ship owned by Capt. Paul Corno, wrecked on
the Columbia River bar. Seventeen drowned, partly because
Munson didn’t have a lifeboat to help save them, nor the
money to obtain one.
The problem was solved when he fortuitously found a
“stove in” longboat on the beach. A well-known and accom-
plished fiddler, he had the boat completely restored and refit-
ted as a lifeboat — and even built a boathouse for it — with
money he raised playing the violin at two dances he orga-
nized in Astoria.
So, when the Scranton ran aground on Sand Island in
1866, he was ready. He and his crew took out the rebuilt
lifeboat and were able to rescue Capt. Corno’s wife and
Miss Mary Ann Brown of Astoria. (She later married W.
H. Twilight, who became sheriff of Clatsop County.)
At first, the crew stayed aboard the Scranton to watch
over the freight, worth $200,000 (about $5 million now).
But a few hours later it became apparent the ship could not
be saved, so Capt. Munson and crew returned a few hours
later and retrieved everyone aboard.
There were no human casualties, but the destruction of
the Scranton was a financial disaster. “Capt. Corno had spent
$6,000 (about $149,000 now) in fixing up the vessel just
before leaving San Francisco,” Clara Munson recalled. “He
had become well-to-do from the brig Susan Abigail during
the 50s, but the loss of the Industry and the Scranton broke
him up, and he was never able to get back on his feet.”
F
LAND OF THE FLOATING SUN
he world’s largest floating solar power plant went online in
China in May, according to DigitalTrends.com (http://tinyurl.
com/float-solar). As an extra bonus, aside from saving money, the
floating devices free up land and reduce water evaporation. Some
are pictured, courtesy of Digital Trends.
Despite China’s nasty reputation for pollution, the country’s
current agenda is to take the lead in the renewal energy game
— especially now that the cost of solar power is falling. Indeed,
China already has several solar installations, including a 20
megawatt solar floating facility, and a 10-square-mile land-based
solar park, proclaimed to be the world’s largest solar power plant.
And, several more non-fissile fuel sources are in the works.
T
COMMUNITY NOTES
SATURDAY
Lower Columbia R/C Society — 8:30
a.m., back room at Uptown Cafe, 1639 S.E.
Ensign Lane, Warrenton. Local Academy
of Model Aeronautics (AMA) chartered ra-
dio control model aircraft club meets for
breakfast and business. All model aircraft
enthusiasts are welcome. For information,
call 503-458-5196 or 503-325-0608.
Angora Hiking Club — 9 a.m., Sixth
Street parking lot. Elk Flat/Devil’s Cauldron
to Short Sands hike. For information, call
June Baumler at 503-368-4323 or Tami
Christner at 503-805-8458.
Sit & Stitch — 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., Home-
spun Quilts & Yarn, 108 10th St. Bring knit-
ting, crochet or other needlework projects to
this community stitching time. All skill levels
welcome.
Clatsop County Genealogical So-
ciety — noon, Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints, 350 Niagara Ave. Park
in rear of church. Group has joined forces
with the LDS Family History Center. All are
welcome. For questions, call Carol Wam-
sher at 503-298-8917 or Sali Diamond at
503-325-1963.
Pug Socializing Club — 1 p.m., Car-
ruthers Park, Warrenton. For pugs and their
owners. For information, call Dave Kinney
at 415-827-5190. Join online at http://tinyurl.
com/socialpugs
Columbia Northwestern Model Rail-
roading Club — 1 p.m., in Hammond.
Group runs trains on HO-scale layout. For
information, call Don Carter at 503-325-
0757.
Spinning Circle — 1 to 3 p.m., Astoria
Fiber Arts Academy, 1296 Duane St. Bring
a spinning wheel. For information, call 503-
325-5598 or go to http://astoriafiberarts.com
SUNDAY
Blacksmith Enthusiasts Meet — 10
a.m. to 3 p.m., Camp 18 Blacksmith Shop,
42362 U.S. Highway 26, Seaside. Partici-
pants welcome to bring their own forge and
anvil setup. Metal available to experiment
with; coal is provided. No charge, but do-
nations to the Camp 18 Loggers Memorial
Museum welcome. For information, contact
Mark Standley at 503-434-0148 or Herman
Doty at 971-306-1043 or ringinganvilde-
sign@gmail.com
National Alliance on Mental Illness
(NAMI) Support Group — 2 to 3:30 p.m.,
Seaside Public Library, 1131 Broadway.
Family to Family Support Group, for anyone
with friend or loved one suffering from a
serious brain (mental) illness. For informa-
tion, contact Myra Kero at 503-738-6165, or
k7erowood@q.com, or go to www.nami.org
See NOTES, Page 2B