Looking south-southwest from under the Depoe Bay Bridge, you can see the narrow notch the fleet must navigate to get into and out of the harbor. As hair-raising a prospect as that sounds to me, the lack of major currents- even those of tides, due to the restricted size of the basin- means that it's probably a less complicated and risky proposition than in larger estuaries. I'm pretty much guessing here, but I've heard stories about "crossing the bar" from several other Oregon locations, especially the Columbia River Bar, and I'd bet for an experienced operator, Depoe Bay presents minimal risk. The basalt forming the sides of the channel are Columbia River Basalt, formerly referred to as the "
Basalt of Depoe Bay" (PDF). I guess my concern arises from the fact there's not a lot of room for error, and it doesn't look as if it would be very forgiving to any ship foolish enough to run into it.
Photo unmodified. July 10, 2012.
FlashEarth location.
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