Charleston Harbor and Cape Arago

 Near Coos Bay, is the harbor of Charleston which is a beautiful boat basin and harbor facility. Orinda was impressed with the many boats in the harbor -- quite a few are commercial fishing boats, while pleasure craft are also well represented.

 This is one of the commercial fishing boats that brought in its catch to the many seafood outlets in the area. The Coos Bay area is one of the best harbors within several hundred miles, so it is not a surprise to see the concentration of boats here.

 Salmon are very popular here with Coho (on the left) and King (next to Orinda) in this display. This exhibit helps fishermen differentiate between the two since the fishing seasons for each differ.

 We saw a lady who had just come in with a nice catch of Dungeness  Crabs. She let Rick check one out up close and he thought it was a nice catch for sure. I think we will have to invite one of these fellows over for dinner!

 After passing through Charleston, we drove to Cape Arago which is at the mouth of the bay. This is a very interesting area, with mountains that go right into the sea. At some areas, there is a nice, sandy beach like this.

 Other areas feature rocks, shallows and deep channels. This point is apparently a favorite with orca whales (according to the volunteer spotters at the overlook, they were there yesterday!).

 This is a beautiful sight, but one that probably gave early mariners fits. If an early sailing ship was trying to enter Coos Bay and missed the entrance in a fog by just a small amount, these rocks were lying in wait.

 Here we are at the point of the Cape. While it was a bit cool (even though it is mid July), we really enjoyed the scenery.

 Next to the entrance jetty to the bay, we saw these huge sea caves that must flood at the high tide.

Rick checked out the huge rocks that make up the jetty and keep the drifting sand out of the channel. Large ships of several hundred feet use the bay and channel which is dredged to a minimum depth of 35'.

Whoa! Rick was delighted to actually see one of these big ships ease into the river. You can just see the tug on the far side as she helps the ship into a mooring berth.