Thinking of the soon to come winter we decided to spend a relaxing weekend on the boat. We started it off right on Friday night by grilling up some steaks on our trusty Magma grill![]()
. Of course, we had potatoes on the side as well as some fresh leek that we had purchased at the farmers market.
After a leisurely morning dockside, we set sail. The clouds made way for a warm October sun and a light breeze pulled us downriver along Sauvie Island. Our destination for the evening was the town of Saint Helens, OR.
We made it to St. Helens in time to do some quick chores before an evening out. The St. Helens Marina has a fuel dock where we topped off the tanks before strolling into town for a few things at the store which is about a 15-minute walk. We tied up at the free town dock for easy town access but there is also a free dock just across the channel on Sand Island.
Town dock with San Island in the background
This time of year the quaint town of St Helens turns into Halloween Town and you will find decorations and costumed employees at every shop.
After a great dinner at the Dockside Restaurant, we were still a little restless and it was a clear, calm night. So rather than staying near town, we decided to be a little adventurous and go for a cruise up Multnomah Channel. We ended up at the free dock at J.J. Collins Memorial Park on Coon Island.
After a great night’s sleep in the total quiet of a windless night, we had an early breakfast and then went for a nice walk around the island on the 1.5-mile trail. There are free docks on both the North and South side of the island with limited facilities.
Much of Multnomah Channel is tree-lined and reminiscent of the ICW but there are long sections that almost feel like driving down a neighborhood street in Portland. Marinas and floating homes in all states of repair grace the river’s edge and on a Sunday afternoon, one can see a number of industrious people working on their homes and boats…
In the afternoon we stopped along the channel to grab a quick beer and take in the Halloween decorations at Krueger’s Farm on Sauvie Island. Anchoring Webfoot along the channel was a breeze, but getting up the embankment was a little dicey.
The sun broke out a briefly on our way home and we were snug in our slip well before sundown.
View Multnomah Channel to St Helens in a larger map
On the Multnomah Channel the Sauvie Island Bridge has a charted clearance of 78 feet. There are also some overhead wires at 100 feet. Most of the channel is plenty deep but can get down to 6 feet. We noticed that a lot of the pilings along the shoreline are not charted so we had to be pretty careful. We weren’t too worried about running aground since we draw less than a foot. 🙂
Nice trip, just curious, what were the draft and bridge restrictions.