I remember talking to a Columbia River ship captain who said he once tied his boat/ship to his own house along the river near The Dalles when the river froze to a depth of 5-6 feet in 1949! It remained until the wind switched around from N/NE to the usual warmer SW winds. I believe this has never happened since.
Also in winter at the Canadian bend of the river from NW to SW, snow in the 1940s covered construction equipment so deeply that a small aircraft had to fly over and identify where it was. It seems unlikely today to believe these stories of the river before many dams and climate variations.
My book on the Columbia River tells the stories of real people and life, as does the book San Juan Islands: Into the 21st Century, both published in the last few years. Just today in the San Juans, the much loved Christmas Ship had to cancel its voyage through the San Juans and some of the Canadian Gulf Islands because of strong winds. It is not only the winds that cause trouble sometimes, but the combination of winds and currents.
Usually both locations are tranquil places to enjoy cruising along in river boats or Salish Sea boats. Salish Sea is the newest name for the waters of Puget Sound and north of the Washington-BC border.
MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL WHO ARE SAFE IN THEIR HOMES OR CABINS DURING OCCASIONAL RUGGED WINTER WEATHER.
