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Port Orford Headland

How could I forget to blog about the Port Orford Headland, thank you Astrid for reminding me. If you have limited time while travelling along the Oregon coast, I recommend 3 stops: 1) Cape Perpetua, 2) Heceta Lighthouse and 3) the Port Orford Headland. Originally a coast guard station, today there are walking trails, a coast guard museum, sea lions and beautiful vistas.

The Coast Guard Station operated from 1934 to 1970. Lookouts manned a 37ft tower on the headland point watching the ocean for distress signals. When one was seen, the ‘surfmen’ would run down 532 slippery steps to the boathouse where they would launch their 36ft boat into the often raging waters. Their motto was, “You have to go out…you don’t have to come back”.

Drawing from a display board showing the boathouse and sea wall in Nellie’s Cove, 300ft, or more than 530 steps, below the crew’s quarters and operation headquarters.
Nellie’s Cove today.
One of the 36ft boats used by the ‘surfmen’. It looks too small for a calm ocean, imagine going out during a raging storm?
The Port Orford Harbor is right around the corner.
The view is spectacular.

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Port Orford, Oregon

Port Orford is an eclectic, artsy, sleepy little lost village on the Oregon coast…just the kind of place we like:) It is also home to the only dry dock or “dolly dock” on the west coast. Originally a deep water port, deep enough for a Japanese submarine to hide in during WWII, it was perfect for the large ships of the lumber industry. The only problem was the old south wind which made the port too turbulent to be used about 3 months of the year. Today, a jetty makes the port a safe shallow harbor for the commercial fishing industry. There isn’t a bar to cross which makes for more fishing days, but there isn’t safe mooring so the boats must be hoisted out of the harbor and put on trailers.

The Port Orford Harbor has 2 large cranes to lift the boats in and out of the water.
The first stop for a fishing boat upon returning to the harbor is at the smaller crane to unload their catch. The gray bin is lowered, filled with fish, weighed and then lifted out of the boat.
The boats then move to the big cranes to be hoisted out of the water. Sorry for the jiggle in the middle, the water was trying to soak my boats and the wind was howling.
The boat is carefully placed on its trailer or dolly.
Moved into its place on the dock.
And it is all tucked in for the night along with the other boats.