By GARRET JAROS/YachatsNews
A rising wind piggybacks on an incoming tide and howls through the riggings of fishing boats docked on Yaquina Bay.
Below the wind a gaggle of kayaks skitter across the water’s unruffled surface as they embark on a two-hour tour of Newport’s bayfront.
“Besides kayaking being super fun, it’s a great way to explore Newport — see it from a different perspective,” said Oregon Boating Foundation guide Lillibelle Bassingthwaite. “Out on the water you see a lot of marine life, all the happenings around the docks and all the commercial fishermen.”
With summer in full swing, adventure awaits on waters across Lincoln County for both first-time and seasoned paddlers looking to explore some of the lesser-known and off-the-beaten-path natural wonders of Oregon’s central coast.
And one of the easiest ways to dip a paddle into discovery is with a guided tour which more often than not serves as a gateway to further destinations and opportunities. Locally, that includes kayak-crabbing, single-seat pontoon-boat river paddles and even free kayaking, stand-up paddle boarding and sailing.
On Yaquina Bay, the tour’s four participants windmill their double-bladed paddles in-and-out of the water as Bassingthwaite points out the oldest boat in port, the 100-year-old Phoenix III – “which is still a working boat.”
Then it’s on past an assortment of working boats whose designs Bassingthwaite explains, belie their purpose – trollers that fish for halibut, salmon and tuna, the slightly larger trawlers whose nets haul in cod and other bottomfish, and the Chelsea Rose, a fishing vessel built in 1907 that now serves as a dockside fresh-fish market.
“We actually have one boat here called the Sea Wolf that fishes for hag fish or slime eel and a couple of years ago we had a semi traveling down (U.S. Highway) 101 carrying a bunch of them and it flipped over,” she said. “And slime eels, their slime is activated by water, and some genius decided to just spray them all off the highway and it made a big stinky mess.”
Noticeably absent from a recent tour was the riotous barking of sea lions jockeying for position on the docks behind the Clearwater Restaurant, which Bassingthwaite explains is because most have gone south to mate, leaving only a few bachelors behind to ply the dockside waters.
Before the tour is finished, the two young girls sharing tandem kayaks with their mom and aunt have seen pelicans up close, paddled beyond the Yaquina Bay Bridge and watched tuna get unloaded from the Teresa Lee in tightly-packed oversized pails, their long bodies sticking up like silver French fries.
And prevailing throughout the tour – from the first rush of being launched into the water from a jet-ski ramp, to the behind-the-scenes look at the bustling fish-processing plants to the final momentum-led charge back up the ramp – has been the fun reflected in the ladies’ smiling faces.
“That was really awesome,” mom Cal Solheim said as the group sheds lifejackets and water-proof jackets and pants. “Lilli(belle) did a fantastic job and we saw a good amount of wildlife and a good explanation of all of the things in the harbor.”
Her sister, Carolyn Callaghan, said she stumbled across the Oregon Boating Foundation while planning a “girls’ trip” from her Seattle-area home.
“We have all kayaked before in Hawaii, but this was more tidal, way more engaging, which is fun,” Callaghan said. “I’m going to feel it tomorrow.”
For the 19-year-old Bassingthwaite, who grew up in Newport and attends Lewis and Clark College in Portland, nothing beats spending summers on the water while meeting new people.
“It’s cool getting to watch people experience the Oregon coast for the first time, especially from the water,” she said. “And I meet so many people from so many different backgrounds. On the morning tour I had visitors from England.”
She also loves the Oregon Boating Foundation, a non-profit that grew out of youth kayak camps she grew up attending. It was the kids who went through the camps that came up with the idea of starting the tours on the bay as a way of supporting the camps, explained foundation manager Brian Getting.
In addition to the tours and camps, which encompass kayaking, paddle-boarding and sailing, the foundation provides staff and equipment for the Port of Toledo’s free family boating program which operates from 3-6 p.m. Thursdays and noon to 4 p.m. Sundays. There are also tours aboard the Yaquina Queen.
The whole idea behind the free family boating program is to make boating accessible to everyone, Getting said.
“Most people are really intimidated by boating because it seems like there’s a whole bunch of stuff you’ve gotta learn, a bunch of equipment you’ve gotta buy,” he said. “It’s really the barrier between I want to go do this and actually doing it. So our goal is just to remove that barrier.”
Kayak tours and rentals
Here’s a partial list of water tours and rentals, which may not be all inclusive. Only operators that could be reached are listed. Rentals and tour prices can vary greatly among different operators.
- Newport: Oregon Boating Foundation; 800-806-4882; Boathouse located at Port Dock 7. Tours only. Go to the website here;
- Toledo: Port of Toledo free family boating program in conjunction with Oregon Boating Foundation. Free kayaks, row boats, stand-up paddle boards, small sail boats. Also offers tours aboard the Yaquina Queen. Go to the website here;
- Newport: Oregon Coast Kayak Connection; 503-358-8301; Tours and rentals available. Drop off and pick up services available. Kayaks, peddle kayaks and kayaks outfitted with electric motors available. Go to the website here;
- Newport: Ossies Surf Shop; 541-574-4634; Tours and rentals available. Go to the website here;
- Waldport: Coastal River Adventures; 541-272-4075; Tours and rentals available. Drop off and pick up services available. Rafting floats, individual pontoon boats and guided fishing trips. Go to the website here;
- Lincoln City: Safari Town Surf Shop/Oregon Coast Kayak Adventures; 541-996-6335; Tours and rentals available; Go to the website here.
- Lincoln City: Siletz Crabbing & Kayak Rentals; 541-765-2109; Rentals and specially-made kayak crabbing rings. Go to the website here;
- Otis: Salmon River Estuary Wooden Kayak Tours; 541-921-7127; Tours only. Go to the website here.
- Garret Jaros is YachatsNews’ full-time reporter and can be reached at GJaros@YachatsNews.com
