PODCAST · news
The Ship Report
by The Ship Report
Ship Report podcasts take you to a special corner of the world, the mighty Columbia River in the Pacific Northwest. Nautical lore, news and info, mariner interviews, daily international ship traffic, and the inside scoop on the upper left edge of Oregon and beyond. The Ship Report is proud to celebrate 20+ years on the air! More at shipreport.net
Episodes
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The Ship Report: Widger update - a look at the team who is helping him fulfill his dream
The Ship Report, Thursday, October 15, 2026 Oliver Widger is the Oregon man who is currently sailing south off Mexico, intending to sail alone, on a sailboat named after his cat, around the world. His story is inspiring, an "everyman" dream. It's also important to note that he has had, and...
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The Ship Report: Our weather shows signs of more fall "seesawing," with more rain on the way
The Ship Report, Wednesday, October 14, 2026 Our typical fall pattern this week, of more rain inserting itself into the forecast, alternating with sunshine. Sea heights will rise next week. Autumn continues as planned.
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The Ship Report: A look at this year's "Super" El Nino and its opposite sibling, La Nina
The Ship Report, Tuesday, October 13, 2026 Scientists are saying we are in for an intense El Nino period this winter. But what does that mean - what is El Nino, and its close relative, La Nina? And how will it affect conditions in the Pacific Northwest, in particular? Today we'll take a look at...
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The Ship Report: A look at this week's weather and today's ships
The Ship Report, Monday, October 12, 2026 Let's take a look at who is on the river today and what kind of weather they'll be dealing with.
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The Ship Report: A look at weather and ship traffic
The Ship Report, Thursday, October 8, 2026 What's in store for the weekend with marine weather? We'll take a look, and check out ships coming and going on the river.
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The Ship Report: "Heavy weather season is upon us" - a cautionary note from the PNW US Coast Guard
The Ship Report, Wednesday, October 7, 2026 Today I'll share some advice from our Coast Guard personnel here locally, about the approaching PNW heavy weather season, and what you should look out for if you are boating and on the seashore.
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The Ship Report: Update on USNS Mercy, ships today, and Oliver fixes a leak
The Ship Report, Tuesday, October 6, 2026 Today's show is a bit of a potpourri, a little of this and that: I'll be answering a question about the hospital ship USNS Mercy (yes, she's still in Portland), a look at our ship schedule, and solo circumnavigator Oliver Widger is making his way down the...
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The Ship Report: Why do we care about Oliver Widger?
The Ship Report: Monday, October 5, 2026 I’ve been on a bit of a tear about solo sailor Oliver Widger the past few days, and have been sharing a lot of info on Facebook, as he departed from Neah Bay headed around the world alone. He plans to sail nonstop, and end his voyage where he started…
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The Ship Report: Oliver Widger sets off to sail the world - alone, unassisted, without stopping
The Ship Report, Thursday, October 1, 2026 You may have heard of Oliver Widger. He's the intrepid Portland man who, after getting a life-changing medical diagnosis, sold most everything, bought a boat, and sailed to Hawaii with his cat. This week he's beginning another adventure: sailing around…
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The Ship Report: A look at gantry cranes and other interesting gear on our anchored ships
The Ship Report, Wednesday, September 30, 2026 This week we've seen some interesting ships in our Astoria anchorage, with gear we don't normally see on an average day. We'll talk about that and also take a look at ship traffic and our marine weather. Spoiler alert: the weather's looking awfully...
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The Ship Report: Racing around the world, Part 6 - injuries are always a risk at sea
The Ship Report, Tuesday, September 29, 2026 In this final segment of my interview series featuring round-the-world racing sailor Heidi Brown, we learn about how injuries are handled aboard a racing yacht, when a crew member was seriously injured as they raced through the notoriously stormy Bay…
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The Ship Report: Racing Around the World, Part 5: the terrifying experience of sailing in hurricane force winds
The Ship Report, Monday, September 28, 2026 Today we'll hear more from my interview with Heidi Brown, the Astoria woman who returned this summer from sailing in the Clipper Round the World Race. She spent almost a year at sea on a boat with a crew of about 20 people, going from port to port on...
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The Ship Report: Racing around the world with Heidi Brown, Part 4
The Ship Report, Thursday, September 24, 2026 This week I've been talking with sailor Heidi Brown about her 40,000 mile round the world experience as a crew member in the Clipper Round the World race. Today is Part 4.
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The Ship Report: Sailing around the world with Heidi Brown, Part 3
The Ship Report, Wednesday, September 23, 2026 Astoria resident Heidi Brown recently completed a 40,000 mile round the world race on a 70 foot yacht with about 20 crewmates. This week I'm talking with her about that. Today is Part 3.
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The Ship Report: Sailing around the world - a chat with Heidi Brown, Part 2
The Ship Report, Tuesday, September 22, 2026 Astoria resident Heidi Brown recently sailed 40,000 miles in the Clipper Round the World Race. This week I talk with her about it. Today is Part 2.
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The Ship Report: Racing around the world - a chat with Heidi Brown, Part 1
The Ship Report, Monday, September 21, 2026 Astoria resident Heidi Brown recently returned from participating in the Clipper Round the World Race, sailing for almost a year on a 70 foot yacht, with about 20 people she'd never met before the race. This week we'll talk with her about that…
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The Ship Report: A listener question about dew point
The Ship Report, Thursday, September 17, 2026 A listener asked me about what dew point is, and in the process of checking into it, I also learned about relative humidity. These two terms, which appear in most weather reports, have to do with water vapor in the air and are actually quite important...
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The Ship Report: More ships! Let's talk about them
The Ship Report, Wednesday, September 16, 2026 Our ship schedule continues to be robust, so let's take a look.
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The Ship Report: A busy day on the river - let's look at who's coming and going!
The Ship Report, Tuesday, September 15, 2026 After months of relatively small ship schedules, this week we're seeing an abundance of ships. Let's take a look!
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The Ship Report: The Ship Report's roots in community radio: KMUN in Astoria
The Ship Report, Monday, September 14, 2026 As KMUN begins its fall pledge drive tomorrow, a little about how the Ship Report started there, and why I'm so grateful for this community station in Astoria, Oregon.
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The Ship Report: Boatlift: a heroic maritime response to 9/11
The Ship Report, Thursday, September 10, 2026 Today we remember a tragic day in US history: September 11, 2001, when terrorists flew planes into the World Trade Center in New York City, and the Pentagon in Washington DC. A third hijacked plane crashed in a field in Pennsylvania, commandeered by...
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The Ship Report: The Pacific Collector missile tracking ship passes by today
The Ship Report, Wednesday, September 9, 2026 The Pacific Collector, a US military missile defense tracking ship, will head outbound from Portland Wednesday around 9 am, passing Astoria around 3. She's one of a pair of ships with a similar mission: to gather data about missile defense testing....
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The Ship Report: T he 2026 Golden Globe solo race has begun
The Ship Report, Tuesday, September 8, 2026 Sixteen sailboats left Les Sables D'Olonne, France, over the weekend to compete in a unique race called the Golden Globe. Participants sail solo in boats equipped only with technology available when the race was first run in 1968. That means no GPS, no...
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The Ship Report: Current, physics and big outboards
The Ship Report, Thursday, September 3, 2026 While I've talked about the need to understand and work with current on the river, it seems that some vessels go out there any old time and do well. Let's talk today about why that's the case. It has to do with vessel design, physics, friction and...
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The Ship Report: As our first storm of the season arrives, it brings with it the potential for interruption to ship traffic
The Ship Report, Wednesday, September 2, 2026 We're having our first fall storm of the season today, and that brings the potential for interruptions to ship traffic as sea heights increase. Even if that's not what happens today, most assuredly sometime soon it will.
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The Ship Report: Meteorological fall begins
The Ship Report, Tuesday, September 1, 2026 It's September 1st, and that means the end of meteorological summer and the beginning of meteorological fall. A slightly different designation than standard fall later in the month, it's used by weather scientists to keep track of weather patterns. And...
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The Ship Report: A look at research vessels
The Ship Report, Monday, August 31, 2026 Another kind of ship we see fairly often here on the river is the research vessel. It's cargo is live people: scientists whose mission is the study the oceanographic environment. As it turns out, the Columbia River is an ideal option for ships who are in…
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The Ship Report: A change in the weather as fall approaches
The Ship Report, Thursday, August 27, 2026 We'll talk about a recent blog post from UW meteorologist Cliff Mass, talking about the cooling trend we are entering in our weather, as fall makes its presence known. It will be cool on the coast and cooler inland.
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The Ship Report: the lights you see at night, Part 2
The Ship Report, Wednesday, August 26, 2026 Today we'll hear the second of a two-part interview on ship lights from the Ship Report archives, from an interview I did years ago with Columbia River Bar Pilot Captain Robert Johnson. Light colors and placement are not random, and their patterns hold...
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The Ship Report: The lights you see at night on ships - they hold great meaning, especially for other vessels
The Ship Report, Tuesday, August 25, 2026 Today we'll hear the first of a two-part interview on ship lights from the Ship Report archives, from an interview I did years ago with Columbia River Bar Pilot Captain Robert Johnson. Light colors and placement are not random, and their patterns hold…
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The Ship Report: Understanding marine weather forecasts: significant wave height
The Ship Report, Monday, August 24, 2026 Today we'll talk about an important term in marine weather: the concept of "significant wave height." Understanding the meaning of this term can give you a more realistic expectation of what the weather may be like at sea when you go out in a vessel.
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The Ship Report: Some seasonal and navigational astronomy as the days get shorter
The Ship Report, Thursday, August 20, 2026 Today we'll talk about the approach of autumn, shorter days and the different kinds of twilight we experience as the sun rises and sets.
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The Ship Report: Unusual cruise comes to Astoria
The Ship Report: Wednesday, August 19, 2026 Today we'll take a look at the Crystal Symphony, a luxury cruise ship that will be in Astoria on Wednesday. She's just begun a 39 day cruise that started earlier this week in Vancouver, BC, that will take her down the West Coast, to Mexico, through the...
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The Ship Report: A look at today's ships, and a bit about our two Vancouvers
The Ship Report, Tuesday, August 18, 2026 Today, a look at who's coming and going on the river, and since we frequently see ships arriving from Vancouver. BC, going to Vancouver, WA, I thought it would be fun to talk about how these namesake cities got their names. Plus, in our weather, "Fogust"...
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The Ship Report: Answering the question: So what's the big deal about the Columbia River Bar? It looks pretty calm to me...
The Ship Report, Monday, August 1 7, 2026 Today I'd like to answer this question from another angle, after seeing someone post a photo of a calm Columbia River Bar on a recent day, from the perspective of being out there on the water in that area in a small boat. And essentially posing the...
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The Ship Report: More on tides and our daily lives
The Ship Report, Thursday, August 13, 2026 Today we'll talk more about how tides change all the time here, and affect us on both the river and ocean beaches. And how this information is practical to know as we go about our daily lives, even if we never go near the water.
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The Ship Report: A look at why lines "part" and why it's so dangerous
The Ship Report, Wednesday, August 12, 2026 Today, we take a look at the strain vessels are under in the work they do. And how weather can push things to the breaking point, causing lines and wires to "part" or break, with sometimes catastrophic results.
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The Ship Report: The Rule of 12ths, a way to gauge tidal dangers on the Columbia
The Ship Report, Tuesday, August 11, 2026 Today we’ll talk about a useful guideline for navigating in heavily tidal waters like the Columbia. It’s called the Rule of 12ths. The Rule of 12ths divides the tidal cycle into segments, and shows when the most active times are happening. It offers a...
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The Ship Report: A look at today's ship schedule and tides in the river
The Ship Report, Monday, August 10, 2026 Today we'll look at today's abundant ship schedule, and also take a look at this week's tides, which feature pretty big tidal swings between high and low tide. This can be an issue for people on the river in boats, as many people are during this month's…
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The Ship Report: The busy inland Columbia River
The Ship Report, Thursday, August 6, 2026. While ship traffic may seem slow some days on the lower river near the Columbia's mouth, there's plenty happening upriver near busy ports, and inland as far as Idaho. We'll talk about upriver traffic on this busy marine highway, which includes the Snake...
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The Ship Report: Listener question about pilot boats and ships
The Ship Report, Wednesday, August 5, 2026 A listener sent me an interesting question this week: asking why pilot transfers happen while ships are moving, because the process seems unsafe. Today I'll talk about why this practice remains the best and safest way to handle that pilot boat maneuver...
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The Ship Report: Smoky wildfire haze makes its way to the coast
The Ship Report, Tuesday, August 4, 2026 The National Weather Service warns us this week to expect wildfire smoke on the coast, thanks to a change in wind direction. We'll talk about current air quality readings around the region, and what to expect. Image: A smoky haze hung over Astoria on…
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The Ship Report: Buoy 10 fishing is in full swing on the lower Columbia
The Ship Report, Monday, August 3, 2026 The Buoy 10 fishing season is in full swing here on the lower Columbia, and I thought I would share my happy observations on our local docks yesterday afternoon. Also a few things to think about if you are going out here in a small boat to fish on the...
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The Ship Report: Buoy 10 fishery opens this weekend
The Ship Report, Thursday, July 30, 2026 On Saturday, August 1, we'll see a big influx of small fishing boats on the Columbia River off Astoria, Warrenton and Hammond. The beginning of August marks the start of an annual ritual, when the Buoy 10 fishery opens. The fishery area extends from Buoy…
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The Ship Report: A look at today's ship schedule
The Ship Report, Wednesday, July 29, 2026 We haven't looked at ship schedules lately, so let's see who's coming and going on the river today.
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The Ship Report: The icebreaker USCGC Healy has mechanical issues during sea trials
The Ship Report: Tuesday, July 28, 2026 Today we'll take a look at a ship that was recently in the Columbia River at the Portland shipyard: the USCGC Healy, a Coast Guard icebreaker. She ran into serious mechanical issues during sea trials in the Strait of Juan De Fuca, and was towed to Seattle…
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The Ship Report: answering a listener question about maritime pilots
The Ship Report, Monday, July 27, 2026 Glad to be back from last week off, with the answer to a listener question, and a little about "how I spent my summer vacation" with a bit about my beloved boat.
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The Ship Report: From the Ship Report archives: an in-depth look at Bulk Carriers, Part 4
The Ship Report, Thursday, July 23, 2026 This week I'm taking a little much needed time off, so we'll be hearing a bit from the Ship Report archives, a really interesting interview i did with Columbia River Bar Pilot Captain Robert Johnson, sometime in the early 2000s, all about the often-seen…
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The Ship Report: From the Ship Report archives: an in-depth look at Bulk Carriers, Part 3
The Ship Report, Wednesday, July 22, 2026 This week I'm taking a little much needed time off, so we'll be hearing a bit from the Ship Report archives, a really interesting interview i did with Columbia River Bar Pilot Captain Robert Johnson, sometime in the early 2000s, all about the often-seen...
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The Ship Report: From the Ship Report archives: an in-depth look at Bulk Carriers, Part 2
The Ship Report: Monday, July 21, 2026 This week I'm taking a little much needed time off, so we'll be hearing a bit from the Ship Report archives, a really interesting interview i did with Columbia River Bar Pilot Captain Robert Johnson, sometime in the early 2000s, all about the often-seen bulk...
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
Ship Report podcasts take you to a special corner of the world, the mighty Columbia River in the Pacific Northwest. Nautical lore, news and info, mariner interviews, daily international ship traffic, and the inside scoop on the upper left edge of Oregon and beyond. The Ship Report is proud to celebrate 20+ years on the air! More at shipreport.net
HOSTED BY
The Ship Report
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does The Ship Report have?
The Ship Report currently has 635 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is The Ship Report about?
Ship Report podcasts take you to a special corner of the world, the mighty Columbia River in the Pacific Northwest. Nautical lore, news and info, mariner interviews, daily international ship traffic, and the inside scoop on the upper left edge of Oregon and beyond. The Ship Report is proud to...
How often does The Ship Report release new episodes?
The Ship Report releases new episodes frequently with a large back catalog of 635 episodes. Check the episode list for recent publication dates.
Where can I listen to The Ship Report?
You can listen to The Ship Report on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts The Ship Report?
The Ship Report is created and hosted by The Ship Report.
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