it is peacful!

why am i seeing this light now?

what is this light?

tressle bridges, hand built in the 1930's through this un-yeilding terain, testify to the strength of the generation that built these things.

and the flat frieght train roar of the falls landing in the same place for the last century

complete with a perfect little cave to sit in, the entrace to which is covered in a veil of falling water

two hour hike to the upermost falls, and the scenery becomes that of a fairy tale!

oregon is one beautiful place after another

we continued along the historic columbia river highway to lataurell falls

and that is a fact!

I am the wealthiest man I know

no parking fees, not to many people... just a great time

on a hot bright sunny afternoon the three of us went to a river that runs from mount hood. the swiming is perfect, and relaxing

Isis has been very helpful to me, causing me to think in a less stressful way...

Caitlyn's friend Isis is visiting, sadly she hurt her hand and is having a hard time having fun because of it.

the whole experience has given me a huge ammount of respect for the water, and the wind!

the next minute you are being swept down a mighty river

pensive... i think the thought that we all shared was that this, is how death finds you... when you least expect it. one minute you are laughing and drinkng beer.

thankfull to be alive

each of us thinking about what had hapened

there was a sober tone as we sailed home

we stayed ancored and had a barbque for a while, we all took turns ropping ourselves to the boat and jumping in to test the river current. none of us could stay with the boat swimming as hard as we could.

then Keith throughs me the life preserver from the end of the boat. and i safe again, i realise that i will not be dying today.

then i see the sails being raised on the boat, they heard, they are comming there is a rescue at hand. Keith the master sailor and in fact the man who saved my life sailed that boat up past the point were we where in the water and let the current bring us to the boat. at that point sean threw me a rope, unfortunately it wasn't attatched to anything, so here i am getting tangled up in a rope while trying to tred water with the last of my energy.

the process of yelling for help is exhausting me, i start to think that this is how it is going to happen. a tradgedy, tears shed by those who loved me, Caitlyn who said good bye to me today expecting that i was having the time of my life would get a call from somebody telling her that i along woth two others had dis-appeared in the columbia river. who would that person be, sean? yes he was about to jump in, but didn't as soon as he saw how far away we were being carried.

i then realise just how far away i am from the boat or the shore, and it hits me... I am in real trouble here! so i start yelling at the guys on the boat to come get me... that i can't make it back to the boat, or the shore. and I am stricken with the terror that they either don't here me, or they think i am fooling around.

while we manuvered to ancor, someone accidently knocked the barbaque cover into the drink, nate jumped into the river to go after it. while the rest of us where paying attention to other things nate was swept far awy by the strong river current. without noticing the severity of the situation, Joe and I also jumped in to recieve the cover. within minutes we are struggling to get to the boat swimming as hard as we can, and hopelessly loosing ground.

the current that day was strong, about three miles an hour

I spend several minutes below decks trying to get a feel for what it would be like to be on a long cruising voyage rather than a lazy summer afternoon turn and burn. the view i recieve through the window is really relaxing

Keith who has all the sailing experience is a friend and sailing partner to Nate who owns the boat. Keith's presents proves later to be life saving

Joe, a fella that sean and i know from Sprocket Squadron..."the bike tag game" he was our in to the sailing expedition. it is co-worker who owns the boat.

the winds are pretty light so the beginning of the trip has all of us relaxing as we run out to the columbia river

the sailbaot in question has a malfunctioning engine, so all of the sailing that we are to do this day will be done without engine

sean and I were invited to go sailing on a friend of a friends 35 foot sloop