A Story from the Harbor

When we came into Newport there were a few boats already holed up awaiting what was rumored to be an incoming storm. One of the boats was one that had come down from the same marina in Portland (Tomahawk Bay) and had been parked behind us most of the summer. It was Norm on Ya Shure, and we had seen him briefly in Astoria as well. Trent was with him and they had preceded us by a day and had a good sail down. Sandy had called them at their expected arrival time to see how it had gone. With a good report she was more confident about leaving the dock so we left in the wee hours to cross the bar. The trip down is chronicled elsewhere so I will leave it to those other authors to tell that tale.

When I was headed into a local restaurant for a meal on arriving I bumped into Norm and he related a small tale of his arrival in Newport. He had known of another boat from the home marina to have come down just before all of us. The name of the boat is Lungta. Lungta is a large ferro-cement pilot house ketch. Later all the Faiths went over for a tour… but I need to get back on track here so will come back to that tour later. So, the scene is the Ya Shure coming into Newport, which has a long entrance jetty to weather and Norm wanting give a call to Lungta to see where they are and see if he can find room on a guest dock somewhere. Norm picks up the microphone and says, “Lungta, Lungta, Lungta; Ya Shure” and with the release of the push-to-talk button no response. Norm waited a bit and repeats, “Lungta, Lungta, Lungta; Ya Shure”. Again there is no response.

A few minutes later Norm decided to give it another try.

Norm: “Lungta, Lungta, Lungta; Ya Shure”

Coast Guard: “This is United States Coast Guard station, Yaquina Bay, vessel calling, what is your status? “

Norm: “On approach to Newport harbor, Ya Shure, over.”

Coast Guard: “Please switch to working channel 22.”

Norm: “Switching two-two.”

Then on channel 22 the following occurred.

Coast Guard: “Vessel on approach to Newport, do I understand your vessel name is Ya Shure?”

Norm: “Yes, this is Ya Shure, go ahead.”

Coast Guard (with the slightest of mirth in his voice): “Were you calling a boat, sir?”

Norm: “Yes sir, I was calling friends on the sailing vessel Lungta. Over.”

Coast Guard: “Yes sir, we thought perhaps you were a Norwegian boat in distress. Have a good day.”

Norm (now smiling and starting to laugh): “Roger Coast Guard, thank you for your concern. Ya Shure back to one-six.”

Sometimes it’s all about how we perceive what we hear. As it turns out Lungta is a Tibetan word meaning Wind Horse. In this case the boat is a huge deviation from what you might envision at first thought. With a 12 foot bow sprit and at 60 tons this floating rock can take a lot of sea. Below is comfort you cannot imagine, really. There is a bath tub for the master suite, a full sized desk forward in the crew quarters, lots of skylights, a freezer the size of a queen sized bed and so much more. She carries 800 gallons of water and a large amount of diesel fuel. The motor is a three thousand pound Rolls Royce locomotive diesel with a huge amount of room around it. When you stop to consider the implications of the systems on the boat and the capacity to go just about anywhere you are awash in visions of sugar plums. Truly a beautiful boat. Dan and Kathy had helped us dock in Newport by each grabbing a line and it was clear they knew how to handle a boat with confidence and ability. The wheel/pilot house has instrumentation but what I saw right away was a large monitor screen for a computer that was used for charts and the like. The detail of the doors and other daily use parts was very impressive. A great boat to travel in with systems that were comprehensible and accessible. The only issue was docking this behemoth… as they left the dock I joked with them by ducking to allow the bow sprit to pass several feet over my head.

The funny thing is, for me at least, that on our way to the Hidden Bay Café back on Tomahawk Island in the dinghy we used to go around Lungta every time. I had thought that I would like to see the interior sometime but never had a chance to go over to that dock during our stay there. Problem solved, go sailing and find them at the furthest port visited so far. One other small note about this; the morning after our arrival Dan came over with a plate full of freshly baked brownies for us… he was also carrying a plate for every other boat at the dock!