August 30-September 4, 2000
We decided it would be fun to meet up with our RVing friends the Jenkins one
more time before they headed east for the winter, so arranged to meet them at a
marvelous RV spot along the Oregon coast just south of Reedsport, called
Winchester Bay.
It’s a small spot on the map, featuring great crabbing, fishing, and ATV riding
in the nearby National Dunes Recreation area. There’s also a nifty lighthouse (Umpquia)
to take pictures of and you can tour the old coast guard station.
Probably the best thing about Winchester Bay (besides the easy availability of crabbing) is the RV parking. The marina/harbor area (Salmon Harbor to be exact) stretches for quite a distance and provides hundreds of spaces for RVs, ranging from parking lot style with no hookups (water, dump, & showers provided) at $10/night or $165/month, to the much more elaborate full hookup area. This area boasts showers, full hookups including sewer, and spacious lawn and concrete pad areas. Current rates run $20/night or $120/week (no monthly rate posted).
We chose the dry camp area with a spot right on the harbor. It was a treat to look right outside our RV window to a beautiful water view not 10 foot away. It also proved quite a convenience for “docking” the aluminum fishing boat, which we just tied off directly to our RV’s back bumper!
The primary purpose of this trip, besides the camaraderie of old friends and some “R & R” was to see just how many tasty sea creatures we could legally end up with. We were not disappointed, and checking our crab pots several times a day in the boat proved an interesting distraction. Others were doing extremely well with ocean perch fishing, but you needed to know “THE SPOT” which these long time fisherman were not disclosing!
Actually, many people catch plenty of crab and fish right off the docks. Certain ones have been designated as crabbing docks and there was usually a crowd lowering their bait filled pots into the water’s depths all day long. Since the harbor sits inland off an estuary, the water remains safe at all times for small boats. Our RV friends even used an eight-foot Porta-Bote, one of those ultra-lightweight folding boats.
The weather generally held decent with the typical morning fog/drizzle and some
afternoon clearing. The gulls provided a constant musical accompaniment to our
activities as we feasted on Marc’s great crab chioppino and relaxed on a perfect
late summer’s evening.
We finally managed to get a group photo of everyone & sadly watched our full timing friends pull away on their quest for adventure as we headed only for home.
