Travel Newport Winter 2013

Lighted Boat Parade Sylvia Beach Hotel Maritime & Heritage Center Newport Symphony Orchestra Oyster Cloyster Candy on the Coast Beaches and so much more!

TravelNewportOregon.com

Location Location Location Portland 99W

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Lincoln City

Salem

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Newport

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art of being in the right place at the right time. At

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99W

Good luck is the

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99

Eugene

Chinook Winds, we certainly have

enough of the “right”places. And since our Las Vegas-style casino is open 24 hours a day, the right time is up to you.

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Publisher James Rand Advertising Contacts Barbara Moore Teresa Barnes John Anderson Editor Nancy Steinberg Contributors Nancy Steinberg Jo Wienert Dennis Anstine Rick Beasley Fran Mathews Catherine Rickbone, OCCA DiscoverNewport.com Newport Chamber of Commerce Cover Photo Jo Wienert | www.jofotos.com Design | eongdi.com A Publication of the

Travel Newport is published twice a year by the News-Times. All rights reserved, material may not be reprinted without written consent from the publisher.

The News-Times made every effort to maintain the accuracy of information presented in the magazine, but assumes no responsibility for errors, changes or omissions.

Photos by: Jo Wienert

Contact Us 831 NE Avery St. Newport, OR 97365 541-265-8571 newportnewstimes.com 3

w w w .Tr a v e l N e w p o r t O r e g o n . c o m

EXPERIENCE

LIVE

LEARN

PLAY

Lighted Boat Parade Beaches Maritime & Heritage Center Storm Watching Sylvia Beach Hotel Candy on the Coast Seafood & Wine Festival Oyster Cloyster OCCA Newport Symphony Aquarium NOAA Marine Discovery Tours HMSC Surfing Crabbing

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NEWPORT Photos by: Jo Wienert

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37 th Annual

Presented by

– February 20-23, 2014 – ince 1978 the Newport Seafood & Wine Festival has attracted visitors from around the world to the central Oregon coast. The 2014 festival will be packed with all of the fun, food and wine you've come to know and love at the Newport Seafood & Wine Festival!

S

The Original and Still the Best ™ –NEW THIS YEAR– Check out our website for latest ticketing and gate information.

TICKET SALES

E-tickets will be available for purchase DECEMBER 1, 2013.

You must be 21 years or older to attend this event and must have valid ID (no exceptions).

– w w w . s e Photos a f oby JooWienert d a –njofotos.com dwine.com –

spectacular oceanfront

Tranquility on on Yaquina YaquinaBay Bay Tranquility

Recreational Marina With laundry rooms, bathWith alaunch launch ramp, ramp, laundry rooms, bathrooms. rooms/showers, free WiFi,Tables, Fish Cleaning showers, WiFi, Fish Cleaning Fuel Dock, Tables, Fuel Dock, Restaurant, Picnic Restaurant, Public Fishing Pier, Brewery, and Marina Store Area, Public Fishing Pier, Brewery + Marina Store

Reservations: And RV Park

BeautifullyLandscaped LandscapedBay BayFront FrontPark Park Beautifully 144 Full Full Hookup HookupsSites SitesWith: With: 144 Water,Sewer,30+50 Cable TV, TV. Sites Sites Water, Sewer, 30+50amp amppower,+ power, Cable include HUGE Big Pull-thru Rig Pull-Thru include HUGE Big Rig sites. sites.

Laundry Laundry Rooms, Bathrooms/Free Showers, Free Rooms, Bathrooms, Free Showers, Free WiFi, WiFi,Stations, Dump Stations, Activity/Club Room For Dump Acrivity/Club Room For Groups, Groups/Reunions, Restaurant, Picnic Area, Restaurant, and Marina Store + Marina Store

Visit Us Soon! fireplaces • balconies kitchens • spas • pets

Walk to the Aquarium & Marine Science Center

Breakfast • Lunch • Dinner

Resort & Restaurant 744 SW Elizabeth St. Newport

www.hallmarkinns.com

Www.portofnewport.com (541) 867 867 3321 www.portofnewport.com *• (541) 3321

Play safe... ... but when you need us, visit the Samaritan Walk-In Clinic nearest you for urgent care.

Depoe Bay

Samaritan Depoe Bay Clinic a department of Samaritan Pacific Communities Hospital 531 NW Hwy. 101, Suite A 541-765-3265

Open weekdays

Newport

Samaritan Pacific Walk-In Clinic a department of Samaritan Pacific Communities Hospital 930 SW Abbey St., Suite F 541-574-4860

Open weekdays and Saturdays

EXPERIENCE

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Lighted Boat Parade

12. Beaches 16. Maritime & Heritage Center 18. Storm Watching

Photos by: Jo Wienert

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Red Light! Green Light!

(And Every Other Color of the Rainbow)

The Annual Lighted Boat Parade Sets Yaquina Bay Aglow

by Nancy Steinberg

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t’s human nature to light a candle, or a bonfire, or a string of LED lights, against the darkness in the depths of winter. Here in Newport, we have literally boatloads of winter lights. On the first Saturday of December, Yaquina Bay is transformed into a sparkling sea of lights at dusk, as the annual Lighted Boat Parade gets underway, kicking off the season of illumination and celebration.

Originally conceived as a way to both jumpstart the winter holiday season and bring business to the Bayfront at a rather sleepy coastal time of year, the parade has become a signature event, beloved by locals and visitors alike. About 15 boats participate, decking out their decks (and rails and masts and every other boat part) with thousands of lights. As dusk falls at 5 pm, the colorful boats make a grand sweep of the lower bay, circling from

Photos by: Jo Wienert

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the Coast Guard station to the Embarcadero resort. Participants include every type of vessel, from kayaks to sailboats to fishing boats to Coast Guard vessels.

Boat owners are strictly volunteers who spend their own time and money decorating their boats with thousands of lights. With the advent of LED lights that don’t use much energy, the sky’s the limit. One boat owner counted 3,500 lights on his sailboat last year, and one year he used more than 10,000, so the total bulb count for the entire flotilla is likely to be in the tens of thousands.

Stephanie Brown, one of the event organizers for the Yaquina Bay Yacht Club, explains that participating is a point of pride among many boat owners, whose entries are evaluated by a panel of special guest judges. The winning vessel receives a prize, usually a hunting rifle

valued at $500 provided by sponsor Oregon Coast Bank.

Spectators can either find an indoor or outdoor spot on the Bayfront from which to ooh and aah, or can make a reservation on one of many charter boats that will take passengers that evening to get up close to the action. Restaurants along the Bayfront often book up for that evening far in advance (see sidebar), so be sure to reserve early if you want to sip cocktails and eat while you watch the parade. Good outdoor viewing can be found anywhere along the Bayfront with a view of the water.

One of the best views of the action is aboard the Marine Discovery Tours boat, which will sell passenger tickets but also be part of the parade. Many years, Santa himself catches a ride with Marine Discovery Tours before

heading over to the Sea of Lights event at the Oregon Coast Aquarium in South Beach, which kicks off later the same evening. All paying passengers on this and other charter boats will be treated to cocoa and cookies, courtesy of some of the event sponsors.

It was the owners of Marine Discovery Tours, Fran and Don Mathews, who started the event twenty years ago. Brown says they are still the biggest cheerleaders for the event, trash-talking with their many friends in the Newport maritime community to encourage bigger and better displays every year. The evening of the parade, Don captains their boat while Fran holds down the fort with the event judges at the Anchor Pier Lodgings, vacation rental apartments above the MDT storefront, narrating the event with her enthusiastic humor.

Boat Parade continued on page 10

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Warm-and-Dry Places to Watch the Lighted Boat Parade There are plenty of excellent outdoor vantage points from which to watch the parade, and you can even get very close to the action by purchasing a ticket for one of the commercial passenger boats. But if you’d rather be guaranteed of a spot out of the weather, or you’d like to sip a hot toddy or a cold beer while you watch, here are some great options.

Make sure to reserve a seat plenty early.

Port Dock One

One of the best parade-watching spots in Newport, with the added bonus of sea lionwatching (they haul out right in front of the restaurant’s bayside windows). Casual dress and casual food rule here. The upstairs lounge is for those 21 and older.

325 SW Bay Blvd., (541) 265-2911

Saffron Salmon

Experience fine dining overlooking the bay at this exceptional restaurant any time of year, but a window seat here is a coveted prize the night of the parade. The menu focuses on Northwest cuisine and wines, including salmon, crab, mushrooms, local beef, and other delicacies. Don’t miss the desserts!

859 SW Bay Blvd., (541) 265-8921

Bay 839

Another million-dollar view can be had from this restaurant, along with creative, casual food and excellent cocktails. Try the tapas plates here, particularly the stuffed dates and salmon pate. Reserve early, as not all tables have the bay view.

839 SW Bay Blvd., (541) 265-2839

Noodle Café Boat Parade continued from page 9

Proceeds from the event, including all passenger boat ticket sales and boat entry fees, are donated to a local cause. In the past, the beneficiary has been the Festival of Trees of the Pacific Communities Health Foundation for support of the local hospital and health programs; because that event is on hiatus this year, organizers are in the process of choosing a new beneficiary.

The event takes place no matter the weather; even sideways rain doesn’t deter either the skippers or the crowds. “In winter here it’s easy to hibernate and not go out and do anything,” said Brown. “With this event we make a point of saying, ‘put on your raincoat and let’s go – Santa’s here!’”

For more information about passenger ticket sales for the parade, contact Marine Discovery Tours at (541) 265-6200 or (800) 903-BOAT or Newport Tradewinds at (541) 265-2101. To enter a vessel in the parade or for other information, contact the Yaquina Bay Yacht Club at (541) 265-9206 or ybyc.email@gmail.com.

Photo by: Jo Wienert

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A range of types of Asian food is served up at this spot. The food is amazing; the pho is particularly perfect for a cold night. Because this is a small place, only a couple of tables are right at the window, so again, reserve early.

837 SW Bay Blvd., (541) 574-6688

Embarcadero

You can either reserve a spot in this resort’s restaurant, or stay in one of its comfortable suites – every room has a gorgeous view of the bay, so you could relax and watch the parade right out your own window. Their Bridges Restaurant and Lounge serves bistrostyle food and features happy hour appetizer and drink specials every night.

1000 SE Bay Blvd., (541) 265-8521 or (800) 547-4779

Beachy Keen:

A guide to Newport’s magnificent beaches, north to south

by Nancy Steinberg

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isitors come to Newport for all kinds of reasons – restaurants, attractions like the Oregon Coast Aquarium, fishing opportunities, the shops of the Bayfront and Nye Beach – but everyone knows that the main attraction is the beach. Locals love it. Visitors love it. We all walk and surf and fly kites and romp and picnic and dig and beachcomb and escape there. But which beach to choose for a given outing? Here’s an insider’s guide to the beaches of Newport, each a bit different from the next, and each absolutely stunning.

BEVERLY BEACH Access: from the Beverly Beach State Park Day Use Area, easy access over mostly level ground and a few rocks Amenities: Campground, bathrooms, picnic tables, water fountain, nature center (at state park) Don’t Miss: Fossils!

At the northern end of Newport is Beverly Beach, accessed easily at the day use area of Beverly Beach State Park at 123rd Street. The entrance to the beach is right next to Spencer Creek, which winds through the state park and empties onto the sand here. If you don’t mind getting your feet wet, you can cross the creek and walk to the north for about a mile (the surfers tend to head in this direction), but easier creek crossings make for a longer walk if you turn south. Some of Beverly Beach can disappear at high tide, depending on the time of year and tidal height, so check your tide tables and be aware of the ocean’s location as you walk.

MOOLACK BEACH Access: Multiple fairly steep trails from the official parking area can be slippery – take care scrambling down Amenities: None Don’t Miss: The opportunity for a long walk with a view to Yaquina Head Just south of Beverly Beach and north of Yaquina Head is Moolack Beach, although the two beaches tend to blend into each other with no hard and fast divider between them.

Moolack is also a good place for fossil- and agate-hunting, and a surfing destination. The best thing about Moolack is that it is typically uncrowded, yet provides a wide, flat beach for kite flying, sand castle building, Frisbee tossing, and other typical beach activities.

The creek south of the beach access is a good place to look for agates and other geologic souvenirs, and even further south are some good rocks to climb on. One more unique feature of this beach is that occasionally in the winter when bigger waves scour sand off the beach, a very old forest emerges from the sand, perhaps an indicator of the location of the shoreline hundreds of years ago.

What really sets Beverly Beach apart is its rich trove of fossils that erodes out of the cliffs lining the beach. Winter storms eat away at the cliffs and then deposit these ancient treasures on the beach. You can find clams and other shellfish from the Astoria formation, about 18 million years old, as well as rarer finds like whale vertebrae, crabs, and shark teeth. Be aware that Oregon regulations prohibit removal of fossils from the cliffs, but collecting from the beach is OK as long as the fossils are for your personal collection and not to be sold.

There is a lovely, wooded campground at the state park, with a nature trail, visitor center, and playground.

Photos by: Jo Wienert

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Moolack Beach

COBBLE BEACH AT YAQUINA HEAD Access: Stairs, stairs, stairs Amenities: Bathrooms at the Visitor Center and near the lighthouse, interpretive displays and small gift shop at the Visitor Center Don’t Miss: Tide pools Among the treasures of the Yaquina Head Outstanding Natural Area is Cobble Beach, where the beach consists of largish volcanic black stones rather than sand. This substrate can be tough to walk on, so those with limited agility should use caution. Past the cobbles are some of the best tide pools in the area, accessible at low tide and home to a nearinfinite variety of sea anemones, sea stars, urchins, nudibranchs, crabs, mussels, and other critters. Tread carefully here too: not only can the edges of the pools be slippery, but some animals are delicate and will be crushed if you walk on them.

The towering offshore rocks here provide habitat for nesting birds in the summer time, and seals frequently haul out and rest on the smaller offshore rocks and also on the shore at the north end of the beach. Make sure to keep

Agate Beach

a safe distance from these marine mammals and obey posted closure signs.

AGATE BEACH Access: Three access points along the length of the beach: the Agate Beach Wayside on Oceanview Drive, the Lucky Gap trail with parking at the south end of the Roby’s Furniture parking lot, and down a very steep and sometimes-slippery trail near the north end of the beach – park in the small lot across from the Lighthouse Diner or on the road and walk down toward the beach. At all access points a creek usually needs to be crossed to get to the surf line – usually at the Wayside it’s either small enough to jump across or someone has laid wood across it.

Amenities: Bathrooms and picnic tables at the Agate Beach Wayside; none at other access points Don’t Miss: Surfers near Yaquina Head While it’s actually not easy to find an agate on Agate Beach these days, the delights of this beach are innumerable. When the wind comes from the north, as it typically does in the summertime here, Yaquina Head provides a wind break at the north end of the beach, allowing it to really heat up at that spot even when people are shivering in their fleeces a short distance to the south. One of the most popular activities at this beach is surfing, particularly at the north end of the beach.

Surfing is great in the fall when the summer fog is gone, water temperatures actually warm up, and the swell starts to pick up as well, a hint of the winter storms to come. The creek that empties onto the beach provides a great place for littler kids to romp. The rocks near

the headland, exposed at low tide, hide crabs and other animals seemingly placed there just to delight children with buckets.

Clamming is also a popular activity at Agate Beach. The quarry here is razor clams, which are unbelievably fast and wily for an invertebrate. If you want to try your luck, you’ll need a clam shovel or a clam gun (no background check necessary: a clam gun is basically a tube with a handle that is used to collect a column of sediment containing a razor clam), a shellfish collection license, a lot of patience, and a stash of butter and garlic waiting at home.

Most spots on Agate Beach are graced with a view of the Yaquina Head Lighthouse. Every lighthouse has a unique light pattern; for this lighthouse, the signature is two seconds on, two seconds off, two on, fourteen off.

NYE BEACH Access: The main access to Nye Beach is at the Nye Beach Turnaround in the neighborhood of Nye Beach. Access is very easy – just a very short ramp from the parking lot and you’re on the sand.

Amenities: Bathrooms and picnic tables at the Turnaround, as well as a foot wash.

Don’t Miss: Jumpoff Joe Nye Beach is probably the most visited beach in Newport, as it is easily accessible, adjacent to the funky neighborhood of Nye Beach, and wide and lovely. Like other sandy beaches in the area, the topography of the beach changes frequently in the winter, depending on the strength and direction of winds and the Beaches continued on page 14

Nye Beach

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Yaquina Bay State Park

To Look for at Newport’s Beaches Whales

Beaches continued from page 13

occurrence of storms. Sometimes the beach is flat right down to the water, perfect for long-distance games of catch and kite-flying.

Sometimes the beach grows humps, making for good exercise and fun jumping games among the temporary sand piles. To the north of the turnaround is the remains of Jumpoff Joe, what used to be a sandstone sea stack that has eroded away.

One great thing about Nye Beach is its proximity to the shops and restaurants of Nye Beach. Coffee, pastries, ice cream, and more can all be purchased and snacked on at the beach.

YAQUINA BAY STATE PARK Access: Stairs, some paved walkway, and trails through the dunes Amenities: Bathrooms and picnic area near the parking lot, Yaquina Bay Lighthouse, Fishermen’s Memorial Sanctuary Don’t Miss: Walking through the dunes The next beach access as you head south is at Yaquina Bay State Park, home of the Yaquina Bay Lighthouse. From the main parking area you can look down on the entrance to Yaquina Bay and watch the boats come and go, and get a great view of the Yaquina Bay Bridge as well. The beach itself, an extension of Nye Beach to the north, is wide, sandy, and gorgeous (sound familiar?). Unique to this beach is the walk through the dunes behind the beach that you can take in order to access the shore. You can also walk part of the way out onto the rock jetty on the north side of the bay entrance. The bay entrance itself is a constant source of entertainment, with boats coming and going, seals and sea lions foraging, and a wide array of marine birds diving, swimming, and swooping.

SOUTH BEACH Access: Easy access over a dune trail at the day use area of South Beach State Park south of the bridge Amenities: Bathrooms and picnic tables, campground, paved and unpaved nature trails behind the dunes Don’t Miss: Walking and biking trails Photos by: Jo Wienert

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South Beach is perfect for walking, surfing, boogie boarding, and just about any other beach activity you like. People tend to congregate near the beach access points, but just a short walk south will bring you to a usually-desolate stretch of coast, the start of a miles-long walk if you’re so inclined. To the north of the beach access is the south jetty at the entrance to Yaquina Bay. The special bonus at South Beach is the set of trails, both paved and unpaved, that parallels the shore just behind the dunes. These trails, which include a great paved path perfect for family bike rides and the Cooper Ridge hiking trail, connect South Beach State Park with the South Jetty recreation area, as well as with the campground within the park. One side trail is an ADA-accessible interpretive boardwalk that provides information about the natural history of the area. Visitors to this trail will be rewarded with sweeping views of the beach, lighthouses, jetties, dunes, and the Yaquina Bay Bridge.

ONA BEACH Access: Eight miles south of Newport. Short walk from parking lot Amenities: Bathrooms and picnic tables near the parking area, boat launch across Rte. 101 Don’t Miss: Beaver Creek Ona Beach State Park is the gateway to activities of both salt and freshwater. From the park’s beach access you can walk far to the south. When winter storms scour sand off the beach, gorgeous rock formations are revealed.

Beaver Creek spills out onto the beach here, flowing under a picturesque bridge and over rocks to empty into the ocean. Slightly further upstream the creek provides excellent opportunities for canoeing and kayaking through productive and spectacular wetlands teeming with life.

In addition to having so many beaches to choose from, each beach changes drastically depending on the season, the tide, the winds, and the time of day, so repeat visits are encouraged. Bring a kite, a blanket, a shovel, a football, a surf board, or just bring yourself – the beach is always here waiting.

Grey whales migrate past our beaches in the spring and fall, but resident grey whales can be seen year-round not far offshore.

Other whales also make occasional appearances close enough to shore to be seen from the beach. The only time I’ve seen orcas in Oregon was from Agate Beach. Look for spouts or lumpy dark backs in the water from a high vantage point.

Bald Eagles

Our national bird is thriving on the Oregon coast. They are commonly spotted at Agate Beach (particularly when they feast on murres nesting offshore of Yaquina Head in the summertime) and Ona Beach.

Tsunami Debris

Debris ripped from Japan’s shores by the devastating 2011 tsunami has already been found on Oregon’s beaches. If you find small items of Japanese origin, they can be placed in the trash or recycling, or kept as souvenirs. Larger flotsam, especially pieces that could pose a hazard to navigation, should be reported by calling 2-1-1, or send an e-mail to beach.debris@state. or.us.

Glass Floats

Here is a more benign kind of beach debris from Japan: Japanese fishermen in eras past used these glass globes to float their fishing nets. Many are still out there in the Pacific, waiting to come ashore.

They are most commonly found after winter storms.

Agates

Winter storms often uncover agates buried in the sand, and erode them out of the cliffs that line many of our beaches. Agates are translucent stones that are often banded; they come in a range of colors and sizes, and are particularly striking when tumbled or polished.

Nye Beach

Pacific Maritime & Heritage Center:

A new home for local history opens to great acclaim

by Nancy Steinberg

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t is fitting that a building housing a history museum should have a colorful history itself.

Such is the case for the newly-opened Pacific Maritime & Heritage Center on the Bayfront in Newport. The stately green-grey building overlooking the fishing fleet has been a private estate, a nightclub, a restaurant, a decidedly unofficial hangout for local teens, and even the home of an off-track betting facility and Chippendale’s dancers.

When the Lincoln County Historical Society acquired the old Smuggler’s Cove nightclub, the property was, in a word, a mess. Steve Wyatt, Executive Director of the Historical Society, explained, “At that point, it could have gone either way. We could have bulldozed it, or we could have fixed it up. It was pretty nasty.”

Luckily for locals and visitors alike, the Historical Society made the risky decision to forge ahead and fix it up. After more than eight years of slow fund-raising and countless hours of volunteer time to keep the restoration going through the recession, the Pacific Maritime & Heritage Center opened at the end of June. It is stunningly gorgeous inside, open and light, a fitting home in which to house and explore Lincoln County’s maritime history.

The first thing Wyatt wants you to know Photos by: Jo Wienert

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about the mission of the center is that the concept of “maritime history” has been interpreted very broadly here. “We’re not a commercial fishing museum, although commercial fishing is a huge part of the Lincoln County story. We include surfing, tourism, maritime art, the oyster beds – all of these are central to the history of the area.”

The renovation of the building took so much time and energy that by the time it was nearly complete and the opening date set, Wyatt and his staff had not had time to decide on what the exhibits would actually look like, and they had very little in the way of artifacts to display. “Even three months before we opened we had no idea what it was going to look like,” said Wyatt. So he sent word out to the community: we need local maritime artifacts. The community was only too happy to help, and donations came from throughout the county.

The result is a somewhat eclectic but beautifully curated and displayed set of items that span Lincoln County’s fishing, surfing, shipping, and tourism heritage. Only a few items come from the Historical Society’s permanent collection. “We wanted to make sure to tell the story of the Native Americans here, so those items are ours,” including a massive canoe from the Siletz tribe, Wyatt explained. Most of what is on display will be returned to the owners in about a year.

Every item on display comes with a fascinating story. One compelling local maritime story told through artifacts on display is of the wreck of the Blue Magpie, a 321-foot cargo ship that ran aground against the jetty at the entrance to Yaquina Bay and sank. A local diver contributed artifacts from the wreck that he retrieved, including a massive binnacle containing the ship’s compass.

Fluttering above one gallery is a series of colorful Japanese fishing flags, called “tairyouki,” that are traditionally flown by the Japanese fleet to express wishes for safety and a bountiful harvest. The flags were a gift from fishermen and a fishing company in Mombetsu, Japan, Newport’s sister city.

Below the flags is a guide to their symbolism.

Wyatt wants to be sure that there’s always something new for repeat visitors to see, so displays and exhibits at the museum will rotate, and some traveling exhibits will come through as well. In the late fall, the museum will host a traveling exhibit about the role the Newport fishing fleet played in the Cold War. One of the best treasures of the center is the view from its enormous bay windows and outdoor deck. Visitors will be mesmerized by the expansive vista encompassing the bustling bayfront, the fishing fleet, and the bridge.

At each vantage point, historical photos of similar views are displayed so visitors can see

Great Features of the Pacific Maritime & Heritage Center Hands-on History Children’s Area

As Steve Wyatt, Director of the Historical Society, points out, it’s hard to get young kids interested in history because they don’t have much of a history yet themselves.

But it’s also important, and the museum does a terrific job by including a hands-on area that includes sea captain costumes, samples of different kinds of netting used in local fisheries, a stereopticon, and a “make your own exhibit” activity.

Outdoor Deck

While winter won’t necessarily be the best time to enjoy it, the outdoor deck overlooking the bustling Bayfront and fishing fleet is spectacular.

Gift Shop

The small gift shop includes items of interest to maritime history buffs, gorgeous posters of the view from the museum, and an excellent selection of books on local and maritime history.

Video about the Building’s History

There are hundreds of stories embedded in the walls of the museum’s building itself. Locals can tell you lots of them. A video running on a loop inside the museum which provides a short history of the building can whet your appetite.

Art Gallery how that particular view has changed. Stormwatching from the building will be amazing this winter.

The building and the heritage center is not yet complete. The building is much bigger than it appears from the street, with nooks and crannies and sections that seem to go on forever. Current exhibits are limited to the central floor of the three-story building, but the Historical Society won’t stop there.

The next step will be installation of a theater and event and conference center on the lower level of the building. As resources come in, they will add more gallery space downstairs and upstairs.

And so the history of the building continues to be made, one artifact at a time.

When you Go: Pacific Maritime & Heritage Center 333 SE Bay Blvd (541) 265-7509 www.oregoncoasthistory.org

Hours: 11 am – 4 pm Thurs – Sun Admission: $5 for adults, $3 for children ages 3-12

One room of the heritage center serves as an art gallery, now housing an inaugural exhibit of maritime art with local subjects curated by local (but internationally renowned) artist Michael Gibbons. Most of the pieces are for sale, with a portion of the proceeds benefitting the museum itself. The current exhibit is stunning, but equally impressive is the amount of work that went into renovating what used to be a commercial kitchen, complete with ducts, vents, and grease-covered walls, into a serene, well-lit space for displaying fine art.

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Cozy and warm in the eye of the storm!

The blustery romance of storm-watching starts in Newport

by Rick Beasley

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ust five miles north of town is giant rocky headland whose name says it all: Cape Foulweather.

From a number of pullouts along this forested volcanic boil, storm-watchers can see why the ancient mariners feared its vertical cliffs and gloomy caves. Many get out of their cars and stare, awestruck, into the maw of the storms like sailors on the forecastle. With every explosive breaker, the ground beneath their feet shudders.

Some people are drawn to Newport with visions of scenic sunsets and the gentle lapping of the surf, a post card setting that makes it a top summer destination.

But others come for the horizontal sheets of rain, waves that spray foam a hundred feet in the air and wind that will snatch away a poorly-secured hat and reduce an umbrella to shreds. It’s all part of the awesome fun of storm-watching, a romantic pastime best with an oceanfront room, a crackling fire, a glass of wine and a good friend.

Born 3,000 miles away in raging midocean typhoons, the big Pacific storms that seethe from November until April usher in some great benefits for storm-watchers, including the ease of booking a room without a reservation for a discount winter rate. While many smaller burgs are shuttered against the onslaught, motels and restaurants in Newport open their doors to this deluge of foulweather travelers.

Some lodges Photos by: Jo Wienert

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promote

storm-watching

aggressively. Newport’s Elizabeth Street Inn, for example, is one of many perfect spots for a winter storm-watching getaway. For $99, visitors last year got a spacious room with a large oceanfront window, sleeping quarters and a sitting area with gas fireplace. The price included salmon chowder served at 5 p.m., fresh hot cookies in the evening and a hot breakfast in the morning. In the guest book, one couple recorded their experience: “We sat by glass patio doors after dinner sharing ice cream while we watched lightning, 72 mph winds & drenching rains batter the little balcony outside — great fun! Location was great, too, near Newport’s trendy Nye Beach area.”

Any visitor to the Pacific Coast in spring, winter or fall should be prepared for storms.

Bring clothes for any weather, especially warm layers and rain gear, and be ready to call it a day and stay indoors if the storm gets severe. Being driven indoors to a good book, DVD or board game is part of the fun.

The best storm-watching is from headlands, high enough to be safe from crashing waves but close enough to feel the storm’s fury.

Always avoid the jetties.

A storm’s aftermath is when to venture outside. Here are some excellent places to see Mother Nature in all her fury: Boiler Bay: Fifteen miles north of Newport at the edge of Depoe Bay, this wayside offers views of spouting horns and flying foam from the safety of the parking lot.

Depoe Bay: This quaint fishing village has

a seawall promenade along U.S. 101 and is

home of the Whale Watching Center, with an elevated and enclosed rotunda.

Rocky Creek: A state park wayside two miles south of Depoe Bay, it yields an impressive courtside view of storms from the base of Cape Foulweather. Farther south, from perches along the Otter Crest Loop, waves that disappear into giant lava tube are exhaled like flames from a rocket booster.

Devils Punch Bowl: Here, at a place called Otter Rock, the ocean gushes into a sandstone bowl — the remnant of a collapsed sea cave — in an explosive cacophony.

Yaquina Head: Views from headlands

around the 93-ft. tall offer a 180-degree panorama of waves crashing into cliffs and offshore rocks.

Yachats: The basalt shelf that lines the ocean

on the north side of town yields giant wave action. A storm’s aftermath is when to venture outside, after extreme conditions have passed.

Breaks in the morning clouds let sunshine sparkle on the froth-churned ocean, but the visual impact of crashing waves was lessened by the motel’s airy perch.

Now, imagine watching frothy waves and horizontal rain as you sip hot chocolate by a wood fire in a cozy cabin, perched high on a bluff. Throw in some board games and a good book, and you’ve got yourself a quintessential Pacific Northwest storm watching weekend!

For information on lodging and winter specials, go to newportchamber.org, or call 1-800-COAST44.

Stormwear Whenever you visit the coast, be sure you’ve got the goods to waterproof yourself and your loved ones from head to toe.

Jacket: Invest the most into

your rain jacket. Get one that fits well over layers, has a hood, and cinches at the wrists to keep rain from getting up into your arms.

Here’s a tip – opt for a bright color like red, orange or bright green that will pop out against the dreary, stormy landscape in your trip photos.

Pants: Rain comes in windswept sheets at the coast, so if you’re out exploring, you’ll want rain pants. If you plan on a lot of hiking, you’re going to be much more comfortable in a breathable waterproof fabric.

Boots: High rain boots with

good traction are a must for exploring on a wet, sandy beach/ The insulated lining will keep your feet and lower legs warm, and the traction is as good on wet beach rocks as it is on wet city pavement.

Flashlight: Coast storms can

result in power outages, so pack a flashlight. It’s also a great idea to have a bright battery lantern that you can set on a table or hang from the ceiling if your motel room goes dark.

Tide Guide: Use the tide chart

from the Newport News-Times or pick up a tide table at most retail stores so that you know when the tide will be out and you can safely explore. You can also find tidal information online and track incoming storms at weather.gov.

19

LIVE

Photo by Jo Wienert

22. Sylvia Beach Hotel 25. Candy on the Coast 30. Seafood & Wine Festival 33. Oyster Cloyster 36. The Arts 37. Newport Symphony Orchestra

Photo by Jo Wienert

20

Photo by Jo Wienert

Photo Courtesy N.S.O.

Photo by Jo Wienert

Photo Courtesy N.S.O.

Photo Courtesy N.S.O.

Photo by Jo Wienert

21

Curl Up with a Good Book at the Sylvia Beach Hotel:

This unique and historic hotel provides a respite from the modern world

by Nancy Steinberg

I

n a town with an abundance of marvelous beaches, the Sylvia Beach really stands out. Although it’s next to the ocean, the only sand here is what you bring in on your shoes. While there are no dunes or tides, you could find here Frank Herbert’s “Dune” novels or Jim Lynch’s book “The Highest Tide.”

The iconic Sylvia Beach Hotel is, in its own words, a hotel for book lovers. The grande dame of Nye Beach, the hotel overlooks the Pacific at the end of Cliff Street. She (how can one not refer to the hotel as a “she?”) is named after Sylvia Beach, the founder and owner of the Parisian bookstore Shakespeare & Company from 1919 to 1941. The bookstore was a central gathering place for the literary and intellectual set at the time, and the namesake hotel is no different.

You will not find telephones, televisions, radios, or wifi at the hotel.

You will find multiple gathering places to chat with friends old and new; comfy chairs and couches throughout if you’d rather curl up and read, write, or just think; gorgeous views for those that glance up from their book; coffee and tea; and an endless supply of books. The hotel tends to attract writers, thinkers, and, most of all, readers.

The guest rooms on all three floors are each named after authors, and are individually and lovingly decorated in ways reminiscent of that author’s works and time. The Amy Tan room is draped in Asian fabrics and its décor includes an abacus, a fan, and silks galore. You’ll J. K. Rowling room

find wands and a Gryffindor scarf in the J. K. Rowling room. Whimsy abounds in the Dr. Seuss room, including a toilet tank in the bathroom that appears to double as a fish tank. If Elizabethan grandeur is your style, try the Shakespeare room; aspiring sea captains might like the Melville room. Other options include Ken Kesey, Colette, J. R. R. Tolkein, Ernest Hemingway, and John Steinbeck.

Rooms are divided into three categories: Classics, Best Sellers, and Novels. Classics (Colette, Mark Twain, Agatha Christie) have fireplaces and decks overlooking the surf of Nye Beach. The Best Sellers (F. Scott Fitzgerald, Shakespeare, and Virginia Woolf, among others) are mid-priced rooms with a north-facing view of the beach and Yaquina Head. The Novels (including Oscar Wilde, Gertrude Stein, and J. R. R. Tolkien) are the least expensive, without an ocean view. In the winter, rates range from $85 to $220 per night. For more details about any of the rooms, go the hotel’s web site (www.sylviabeachhotel.com) or give them a call at (541) 265-5428 or (888) 795-8422.

Even the most obsessive reader has got to put down the book and eat from time to time. Luckily, the Sylvia Beach Hotel also houses the award-winning Tables of Content restaurant with some of the best food, best views, and best conversation in Newport. After the restaurant’s first chef retired last winter after 25 years, co-chefs Rowan Lehrman and Nanci Courtney took over, and have been garnering rave reviews ever since. Breakfast is included with your room rate. The fixed-price dinner is served at one seating (6 pm in the winter months, with

Photos by: Jo Wienert

22

To Do in Sylvia’s Neighborhood

The Nook

reservations taken no later than 4 pm); most seating is family-style with a few private tables available. The menu varies daily but includes courses from appetizer to dessert plus coffee or tea for $25. Recent dishes have included shrimp ceviche with avocado and hijiki, lamb with coriander and mint, buttermilk fried chicken, and unbelievable desserts like dark chocolate bread pudding and ricotta ice cream with candied citrus, pistachios and dark chocolate.

While the hotel recently celebrated its 25th birthday, the building itself is over 100 years old. The New Cliff House was built as a boarding house over a century ago (there is some evidence that it was built on the site of an even older boarding house), and has been run as a lodging house of one kind or another ever since. It had become fairly run-down when it was purchased in 1984 by Sally Ford and Goody Cable, lifelong best friends from Portland who still own the hotel today.

So bring your walking shoes, your appetite, and a good book – the Sylvia Beach Hotel awaits your reservation.

When you Go: Sylvia Beach Hotel

267 NW Cliff St. (541) 265-5428 (888) 795-8422 www.sylviabeachhotel.com

Ken Kesey room

Sure, you could spend your entire stay at the Sylvia Beach in the hotel itself, curled up with a book or a sketchpad and a cup of tea, watching the ocean (and the other guests). But if you feel like taking a walk, there is a lot to see and do right around the hotel.

Restaurants and shops abound, and here are some additional suggestions.

Newport Visual Arts Center

Just across the parking lot from the Sylvia Beach is the bright yellow Visual Arts Center. This city facility is a lovely art gallery and studio space, with two gallery spaces for temporary exhibits. Art openings, classes, lectures, and other special events are frequently held here. One to watch for is the Nye Beach Banner Auction, to be held Sunday, November 12, 5-8 pm.

This benefit for the Oregon Coast Council for the Arts offers for sale the individually-designed banners that fly from Nye Beach’s lamp posts over the summer and fall months. Food and music will be part of the fun as well.

Yaquina Art Association

The gallery and gift shop run by the YAA is just to the ocean side of the VAC. The gallery exhibits and sells the work of the Yaquina Art Association members and donates a portion of the proceeds to fund a scholarship program and tuition-free art classes for the community. All of the work exhibited in the gallery is by local artists.

Newport Performing Arts Center

A short walk to the north out of the Sylvia Beach’s front door will take you to the PAC, where there is something happening on stage every weekend, from theater performances to symphony concerts to film screenings to live broadcasts from the Metropolitan Opera. Call (541) 265-2787 or check out www. coastarts.org for schedules.

Don Davis Park and Vietnam Veterans Memorial

This lovely city park includes an enclosed gazebo, an oceanfront walkway with beach access, multiple sculptures, and a Vietnam War memorial with a wall listing locals who gave their lives in the war. Take a right out of the front door of the hotel and follow the cobble road to the cross street, and then head right again toward the ocean to access the park.

Nye Beach Itself

There are multiple ways to access the beach in this neighborhood. Hotel guests can simply walk out the back door of the hotel and get that sand between their toes. This popular beach enjoys views of the Yaquina Head Lighthouse and allows for long walks in either direction (if you don’t mind getting a little damp at creek crossings).

23

h yeah!

Whether you’re coming on business, pleasure or just to play in the sand. The Holiday Inn Express & Suites is the perfect place to relax.

Come and enjoy our complimentary “Express Start” Hot Breakfast Buffet featuring our signature warm cinnamon rolls, free high speed internet, indoor heated pool & hot tub, business center, fitness center and guest laundry.

Included are: • Free high speed wireless internet • Complimentary full hot breakfast buffet daily • Coin operated guest laundry • Indoor heated pool & hot tub •All guest rooms include microwave, • Well equipped fitness center refrigerator coffee maker, iron, ironing board, • 24 hour business center hair dryer & in-room safe.

135 SE 32nd Street Newport, Or 97365 Phone: 541.867.3377 Fax: 541.867.3378

www.hiexpress.com/newportcoast • www.newportcoasthotel.com

How Sweet It Is!

Candy Shops in Newport Satisfy Cravings

by Nancy Steinberg

T

he sweets season is upon us – here comes Halloween, followed quickly by Christmas and then Valentine’s Day (not to mention this writer’s birthday), all occasions where candy is not only dandy but a necessity. For those with an affection for confections, we have lots of choices beyond lollipops and Snickers bars at Newport’s local candy shops, many of which produce their own handmade treats. Check out the wares at these establishments.

Newport Candy Shoppe In South Beach just south of the bridge and on the east side of the highway is a sprawling, low white building with red trim. Despite the “candy” sign outside, you might drive by it without a second thought, but don’t. This is the mother ship of Newport Candy Shoppe, the factory that feeds the multiple other outlets of this family-owned business. It’s also a retail outlet and it’s worth stopping by even if you’ve hit their other locations, because some items are available only here.

The shop produces everything from truffles to filled chocolates to toffee to their signature peanut butter patties available only at the South Beach factory. A recent sampling included a soft caramel, English toffee, and the aforementioned peanut butter patty – all absolute perfection.

You can also pick up a variety of commercial candies in bulk here, including jellybeans. They do special orders as well.

Newport Candy Shoppe’s delicious treats are available at three other locations in town, each with a different combination of specialties that will mean you’ll have to visit them all. Their Bayfront location offers a great selection of the company’s chocolate confections and commercial candy in bulk (check out the jawbreakers for jaws ranging in size from mouse to lion!). Saltwater taffy, made with egg whites rather than coconut oil, is made here, sometimes pulled right in the front window by a mesmerizing machine. Their specialty flavors include root beer, chocolate pecan, butter popcorn, and strawberry orange banana.

Caramel corn is also made at this location.

A few blocks away is Doodlebugs, which includes a subset of chocolates, other candies, and taffy, but adds ice cream (Dreyer’s and Tillamook) and espresso into the mix. This shop also has a selection of Photos by: Jo Wienert

plush animals, beach shovels and buckets, and other toys.

Finally, Newport Candy Shoppe also operates an ice cream parlor at the corner of Rte. 101 and Rte. 20 near J.C. Market. Here the focus is more on the ice cream – they carry 40 flavors of Dreyer’s and Tillamook, as well as shakes, malts, and other ice cream desserts. Another unique treat here is salted sea foam, a chocolate-covered honeycombed molasses treat made in South Beach but not sold there. Check out the extensive Pop Rocks selection among their other candy offerings!

Aunt Belinda’s Candies Another Bayfront option is Aunt Belinda’s, which carries Candy Basket chocolates and Shorthill taffy, both made in Portland since 1914. Among the chocolate offerings are milk chocolate peanut butter crunch, caramel marshmallow bars, and a range of types of nut clusters.

Extensive sugar-free varieties are available here. Taffy lovers can choose from more than 100 flavors, from traditional to adventurous, including strawberry champagne and jalapeno. They also offer caramel corn and a range of commercial candies in bulk, including Jelly Belly jelly beans.

A unique offering here is an impressive array of more than 40 kinds of licorice. Aunt Belinda’s carries a range of specialty packaging and will help you put together gift baskets (did I mention a certain writer’s upcoming birthday?).

Republic of Candy At the west end of the Bayfront is the newest candy kid in the block: Republic of Candy. You can’t miss the giant lollypop dangling over the street out front. Here they carry up to 50 varieties of saltwater taffy made by Ainslee’s Taffy in Depoe Bay, where they have used the same recipe since 1947. Republic of Candy makes their own fudge and chocolate haystacks here (coconut and chocolate confections); the other chocolates are Asher’s, the oldest continuously family-owned confection company in the United States. Another house specialty at this shop is flavored popcorn in three varieties: caramel, cheese, and riptide, an absolutely addictive sweet-salty combination of the two.

Republic of Candy also serves Tillamook ice cream and espresso drinks. Look for caramel apples in the fall.

Candy continued on page 26

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Candy continued from page 25

Nye Beach Sweets To satisfy your sweet tooth in Nye Beach, make sure to stop by Nye Beach Sweets, right next to Nye Beach Market. Here you can sample candies from a variety of small local confectioners, including fudge and chocolates from Topper’s in Yachats, peanut brittle from Mark’s Caramel in Waldport (don’t miss the chipotle and habanero flavors!), and cookies and brownies from Bojomama’s in South Beach. Some of their chocolates and their caramel corn come from Candy Basket in Portland and the taffy is from Shorthill Taffy. They also stock commercial candies with an emphasis on old-fashioned varieties. The local/regional trend continues with their coffee and espresso offerings (Pirate Coffee in Depoe Bay) and ice cream (Tillamook and Umpqua, two Oregon brands). The most popular items here are the dark salted caramels and immense peanut butter cups.

La Maison This European-style bistro is best known for its fabulous breakfast and lunch offerings, including lovely buttery house-made pastries and rich cakes. But another treat awaits in the restaurant’s dessert case: chocolate bon-bons. Bridging the gap between cake and candy, these heavenly triple-chocolate globes consist of a thick fudge cake dipped in chocolate ganache. They come in two sizes (small: $1.00, large: $2.50).

They are usually available, but can always be special-ordered.

Nye Beach Wine Cellar If you like to pair your chocolate with a fine wine (or even a cheap yet delicious wine), head to the Nye Beach Wine Cellar, where you can pick up both at the same time. Recent specials from around the globe include Vosges Smoke and Stout made with Newport’s own Rogue Ales (Chicago), Francois Pralus Melissa and Ghana (France), Amadei Gianduja (Italy), and Madecasse Sea Salt and Nibs (Madagascar).

Proprietor Zach Wahl will help you pair any of these amazing varieties with wine from the shop.

It’s a good thing that these shops are scattered throughout Newport’s neighborhoods – you can burn some calories walking from one to the next so you can hit them all. Enjoy!

When you Go: Newport Candy Shoppe:

South Beach: 3211 S Coast Hwy, (541) 867-4580 Bayfront: 440 SW Bay Blvd., (541) 265-2580 Ice Cream Parlor: 19 N Coast Hwy, (541) 265-2256 Doodlebugs: 334 SW Bay Blvd., (541) 574-1990

Aunt Belinda’s: 628 SW Bay Blvd, (541) 265-2075 Republic of Candy: 855 SW Bay Blvd., (541) 574-4369 Nye Beach Sweets: 526 NW Coast St., (541) 574-1963 La Maison: 315 SW 9th St., (541) 265-8812 Nye Beach Wine Cellar: 255 NW Coast St., (541) 265-3292 Photos by: Jo Wienert

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Perfect Souvenir Candies For those unlucky friends, family members, neighbors, or co-workers who didn’t get to accompany you on your Oregon beach vacation, you might bring them back a sweet souvenir of the beach at one of these shops. Here are some ideas for uniquely Oregon, or Oregon coast, treats.

Saltwater Taffy

You probably don’t want to know this, but salt water taffy contains no seawater, and in fact, no salt water at all. The sticky treat originated in Atlantic City, NJ, after a candy shop was flooded by a major storm and the owner, as a joke, sold his sodden taffy as “salt water taffy.” Ever since, this confection has been associated with the beach.

Seafoam

Usually chocolate-coated, this honeycombed and airy oldfashioned candy is made from molasses or brown sugar.

It has a texture of divinity fudge, and is less sweet than some candies. If you can’t bring the ocean home to your friends, bring them some seafoam – covered in milk or dark chocolate – instead.

Haystacks

On the Oregon coast there are two Haystack Rocks, one in Cannon Beach and one in Pacific City. Meanwhile, many of Newport’s candy shops sell delicious miniature versions.

Haystacks are made of chocolate and coconut, and can be found in milk, dark, and white chocolate versions. You need to provide your own miniature seabirds and ocean waves.

Beaver Paws

While you can find chocolate-pecan turtles just about anywhere, only in Oregon will you find chocolate-pecan beaver paws, a salute to the mascot of Oregon State University in nearby Corvallis. Yes, it’s the same basic candy as a turtle, but it’s better, because you got it here!

Hazelnut Anything

Oregon produces 99% of the U.S. hazelnut crop, so a purchase of anything containing the sweet nuts (also called filberts) is an Oregon souvenir, if not a coastal one.

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The Newport Seafood and Wine Festival Come Join Newport’s Biggest Party

by Nancy Steinberg

Bobbie and Burt Lippman

T

he population of Newport is not quite 10,000, but on the last full weekend in February every year it can swell to triple that number.

What brings people from far and wide to the coast in the throes of winter’s darkest days and sometimes roughest weather? The promise of great food and drink, and the biggest party Newport throws.

The annual Newport Seafood and Wine Festival is a four-day signature event with a festival atmosphere where more than 150 vendors, including purveyors of seafood, craftspeople, and some 80 Northwest wineries offer their goods in a gigantic tent in South Beach adjacent to the Rogue brewery. The event, this year to be held Feb. 20-23, is a fundraiser for the Greater Newport Chamber of Commerce.

The theme of the 2014 festival is “Seafood and Wine XL,” an homage to local icon and long-time Chamber of Commerce member Burt Lippman, a large-hearted, community-minded man who passed away this year (Burt’s license plate was BURTXL; while he was large in stature, those that knew him considered the XL to refer to his great big heart).

For most visitors, the heart of the weekend is the opportunity to sample and purchase a wide range of top-notch Northwest wines.

Associated with the event is the longest continuous wine competition in the Northwest, judged by a panel of five regional wine experts.

As the Northwest has grown as a wine-producing region, so has the competition. Each Seafood & Wine Festival wine vendor may enter up to three wines in the prestigious commercial competition, judging of which happens before the festival so the winners can be announced and sold at the event. In 2013, 182 entries were received, and 100 medals were awarded (25 gold, 45 silver, and 30 bronze). One outstanding wine is given the prestigious Best in Show award. In 2013, that honor went to a 2008 pinot gris from Ponzi Vineyards in Sherwood, OR. An amateur competition is also held.

Joseph Swafford, a recently-retired local wine shop and restaurant owner, coordinates the judging. He has observed a dramatic increase in quality of wines in the competition, and in the Northwest generally, over the decades. “I’ve watched Oregon winemakers struggle with the vagaries of the weather, learn what varieties of grapes do best in specific soil locations, and witnessed the successes that have brought worldwide attention to the resulting exquisite wines. We have much to be proud of from our Oregon and Northwest wines!” he reflected.

Thomas “Mac” McLaren, a local sommelier who has judged the competition from its inception, agrees. He noted, “We’ve seen a particular improvement in the white wines entered in the competition, and we’re seeing some unusual white varietals as well.”

At the festival itself, attendees can purchase tastes, glasses, bottles, and cases of most wines, including the medal-winners. Visitors can also sample a few of the winners in a more rarified environment with a tour guide of sorts by buying separate tickets to the associated Wine Tasting Seminar. Held at a local restaurant, participants eat a sumptuous meal prepared by a range of local chefs, paired with medal-winning wines.

The entire meal is curated and guided by a local wine expert. While details for the 2014 dinner are being firmed up, those interested can contact the Newport Chamber of Commerce ((541) 265-8801) or watch the event’s web site (www.seafoodandwine.com) for details.

Paired with the excellent festival wines will be unparalleled seafood offerings. Newport is proud to be able to showcase the bounty of the Pacific that comes through its port every year. You’ll find crab, bay shrimp, oysters, salmon, albacore, and other local delicacies in abundance, as well as other types of food.

While festival stalwarts will find that the 2014 event is similar in most ways to past years, there are a few innovations to be implemented this year. The peak time for the entire event is Saturday from 10 am to 2 pm, so to help with traffic flow, no tickets will be sold at the gate that day – all Saturday tickets must be purchased online, and numbers will be limited. Increased personnel and two entrances to the festival tent will also assist in moving people through at peak times. Festival organizers warn that you’ll still have to expect waits on Saturday, though. To avoid the lines, try coming at a different time (see sidebar).

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Parking at the event costs $5 and is somewhat limited. A better option is to take the free shuttle, which will be running frequently all over town throughout the event.

Even outside of the festival’s 50,000 square foot tent there is plenty of fun to be found that weekend in Newport. The festival atmosphere spreads throughout the community, as many local businesses and organizations plan special events on the same weekend to take advantage of the crowds. Restaurants often have special menus and live music, shops will have wine sales featuring medal winners, and the local running club sponsors a 5K road race.

Davis credits the event’s popularity to a confluence of factors. “Of course people flock to the festival for the top-notch food and wine,” she said, “but part of it is the time of year. Everyone’s done a little bit of skiing, they’ve endured the Northwest weather for four or five months, and then they’re ready for a little getaway and to have a little fun.

“And what better place to have fun than in Newport?”

Ticket Info:

The most current ticket information, and ticket sales, can be accessed on the festival’s web site, www.seafoodandwine.com. E-tickets will go on sale for the 2014 event on December 1, 2013.

Such a massive event requires the work of the entire Chamber of Commerce staff, a volunteer committee and hundreds, and as a team of generous sponsors. For the third year in a row, the festival’s presenting sponsor for 2014 will be the Chinook Winds Casino Resort.

Insider Tips to Enjoying the Newport Seafood & Wine Festival Come Thursday night

In recent years the festival has opened quietly on Thursday evening, informally referred to as “Locals’ Night.” This is the least crowded and most laid-back time to attend, and all vendors will be set up and ready to go.

Come After 2 pm on Saturday

Peak hours for the entire festival are 10-2 on Saturday. If you can wait a bit, you’ll find the crowds a little thinner on Saturday later in the afternoon (and maybe your wine palate, like mine, isn’t at its best at 10 am anyway!). Why not come at 2 and then go out to dinner afterwards?

Sunday is Deal Day Lorna Davis, Director of the Newport Chamber of Commerce, can’t say enough good things about the volunteer corps that keeps the event going. “You couldn’t possibly pay someone to do some of things they do,” she said. “They deserve massive credit.” Many of the 300 volunteers perform their duties in exchange for a three-day pass to the event. A four-hour shift is all that is required, and out-of-towners are welcome.

Check the event web site for details and to sign up.

While revenues from festival admissions support the Chamber of Commerce, local organizations benefit as well. Davis explained, “One of the community twists of this event is that more than 20 local nonprofit organizations participate to earn much-needed revenues. For some, this is their major fundraising activity. Some provide services like monitoring parking and cleaning up, and some have a booth that features one of the festival’s wineries and they ‘pour for proceeds.’”

Vendors would love not to carry their wares home with them, so great deals can often be struck toward the end of the festival on Sunday.

Use the Shuttle

Parking near the event, especially at peak times, can be a hassle, and it could cramp your wine-tasting style (please don’t drink and drive!). A free shuttle will run throughout town for the duration of the festival; see the festival’s web site for maps.

Volunteer

If you volunteer just four hours of your time during the festival, you will receive a free three-day pass to the event.

Free! Only four hours! Such a deal! Sign up to volunteer on the festival’s web site.

Photos by: Jo Wienert

31

Shellfish Pleasure:

The Oyster Cloyster provides gourmet treats and supports good causes

by Nancy Steinberg

F

orget the pearl: the real treasure is the oyster itself, a briny, creamy morsel that instantly evokes the sea for those that consume it. At the annual Oyster Cloyster at the Oregon Coast Aquarium, to be held this year on Saturday, November 2, attendees can sample the best creations of celebrated regional chefs using the delectable bivalve and support important local programs at the same time.

This premier event is a fundraiser, for the first time this year with two beneficiaries. In the past, proceeds supported the Aquarium Science Program at Oregon Coast Community College, a unique academic program that trains students for jobs caring for aquatic animals in aquaria and research institutions. This year, the event will benefit both the Aquarium Science program and the Oregon Coast Aquarium itself.

Event co-chair Wayne Tapp, a past-president of the Oregon Coast Community College Foundation, couldn’t be more pleased with the partnership.

“It’s a struggle to put on such a complex event with our volunteer crew,” he said. “When the aquarium came to the table with their marketing experience and huge membership base, plus their unbelievable facility, we knew it was the natural next step for the event.”

Aquarium Vice President of Development Caryl Zenker added, “The aquarium has been exceedingly pleased to be the host venue for the Oyster Cloyster, and we’re happy to step up into our new role, bringing the horsepower of our membership and our marketing team.”

The heart of the Oyster Cloyster is a cooking competition among the cream of the crop of local and regional chefs, typically 15 of them.

They prepare the oysters however they’d like, raw or cooked, fresh or smoked, in appetizers, main dishes, or desserts (yes, really!). While chefs are encouraged to use local oysters from Oregon Oyster Farms in Newport (who donates proceeds from oysters purchased for use in the competition to the event), it is not a requirement.

For visitors who don’t have time to visit every top restaurant in the

area, the Oyster Cloyster offers the opportunity to sample the styles and creations of many of them at once. Past dishes have included Smoked Oyster, Wild Mushroom & White Cheddar Empanada with Tomato Gravy (from the Starfish Grill), Raw Oyster with Horseradish Sour Cream Vinaigrette (Rogue Ales), and Silverspot Ale Smoked Oysters (Pelican Pub).

The dishes are evaluated by professional judges, as well as by event attendees who sample the offerings and vote on a People’s Choice Award. This year’s panel of judges will be chaired by Rob Pounding of Lincoln City’s Blackfish Cafe, a decorated chef in his own right (he was chosen, for example, as one of the top ten chefs in the Pacific Northwest by Northwest Magazine). The Edge Art Gallery, a glass studio nearby the aquarium in South Beach, provides the unique blown-glass award trophies for the winners.

But the real prize for these chefs is bragging rights – they take the competition very seriously and they all bring their A games.

While the oyster is front and center, there will be plenty of food for those that don’t care for the briny bivalve. Mike Downing, a popular local chef who is now operating the in-house Ferry Slip Café at the aquarium, will cater the event with a range of hearty and delicious non-oyster fare.

Liquid refreshments will be equally well-curated. Rogue Ales will be on hand to sell a range of their excellent (and locally-brewed) craft beers.

The wines offered for sale will be chosen by Thomas “Mac” McLaren, sommelier at the Bay House restaurant in Lincoln City, which has been recognized by Wine Spectator with its Award of Excellence every year since 1993. McLaren’s discerning palate and knowledge of regional wineries will ensure an outstanding wine list. “I’ll be focusing on Northwest wineries that produce environmentally-responsible products,” he explained. “That depends on the kind of farming they do, for example, and whether their runoff impacts rivers nearby and ultimately the ocean.” Wine tastes and full glasses will be available, as well as bottle sales.

The fabulous food and drinks will be consumed in an equally fabulous Oysters continued on page 34

Photo by: Jo Wienert

33

Oysters continued from page 33

venue. The entire aquarium will be open during the event, and even if it rains (which you may have heard happens sometimes in the fall on the Oregon coast) there are plenty of inside spaces in which to keep dry and gaze at lovely marine animals. One must-see exhibit is the newly refurbished pinniped (seal and sea lion) habitat, which now has spectacular lighting for night-time viewing. Attendees will get to see even more of the aquarium than most visitors, as behind-the-scenes tours will be offered.

Rounding out the evening will be live music provided by five local ensembles stationed throughout the aquarium, as well as an educational station at which microscopes will be set up for attendees to observe the various life stages of oysters.

While the Oyster Cloyster is one of the premier annual events in Newport, the feel of the event is fun and laid-back. What’s the dress code? “Anything goes!” said Zenker, although she does recommend comfortable shoes for walking throughout the venue, including on the gravel paths that wend between buildings.

Tickets are expected to sell out, so purchase them early. Tickets are $75 each, and this year event organizers are selling Pearl Level tickets: a pair of tickets for $350 which comes with four free drink tickets, your name listed in the program, and a thank-you souvenir gift. Tickets are available via the event’s web site, www.oystercloyster.org.

Ways To Cook (or Not Cook!) Oysters The chefs of the Oyster Cloyster keep their recipes under wraps until the dishes are unveiled at the event. But if you want to prepare oysters to practice your taste-testing skills, here are some excellent approaches. You can buy oysters directly from Oregon Oyster Farm at milepost 8 on the Bay Road (6878 Yaquina Bay Road); call them at (541) 265-5078. They also offer recipes at http://www. oregonoyster.com/Recipes.htm.

Cooking? What Cooking?

For many oyster aficionados, raw is the only way to go.

The salty, mineral goodness of the oyster can best be experienced by just tipping up the shell and slurping down the animal. A little squeeze of lemon or hot sauce can enhance the experience.

Grilled

You can shuck the oysters (removing just half the shell) or leave them in the whole shell (easier!) to grill them. After a minute or two, whole closed oysters will open and the top shell can then be more easily removed. Baste them with a sauce of butter, garlic, and parsley as they cook, and let it pool in the shell on top of the oyster meat.

Fried

Why should oyster po’ boys be limited to New Orleans?

Fry up small or medium oysters on the stove top in your choice of batter, line them up on a roll, add a little lettuce and tartar sauce, and heaven is right there.

Smoked

It’s a little easier to purchase this delicacy than to make it yourself, but if you have a smoker, why not try it? Smoked oysters are great in pasta dishes, dips and spreads, and just by themselves.

Oyster Stew

Most oyster stew recipes are basically oysters, butter, and cream or half-and-half. What’s not to love?

Photos by: Jo Wienert

34

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Embrace the Arts

Music, Dance, Theater, and Art Thrive in Newport

L

by Catherine Rickbone, OCCA

overs of the arts will never find a dull moment in Newport.

Performing and visual arts thrive here in two fantastic municipal venues, as well as in galleries, studios, and performance spaces all over the city. Here are some highlights of upcoming events at the Performing Arts Center and the Visual Arts Center.

Performing Arts

The Venue: The Newport Performing Arts Center (PAC) at 777

W. Olive Street in historic Nye Beach is the premiere performing arts venue on the central Oregon coast, which hosts over 180 performances per year.

Hear the music. Do you like classical, pops, jazz, opera, and everything in between? Hear it at the PAC. Experience the drama. From musicals, to comedy, to serious drama you can experience it all at the PAC. Enjoy the dance. From tap to ballet to modern you will find it here.

Thrill to the HD events. View the films. The PAC is home to the Met Opera Live simulcasts in high definition (HD), National Theatre London Live in HD, Broadway plays in HD, Great Art on Screen and a film series.

Upcoming events, all at the Newport Performing Arts Center, include: • National Theatre Live in HD – “Macbeth” November 1, 7:00 pm • Newport Symphony Orchestra – “Tragedy and Triumph” November 2, 7:30 pm and November 3, 2:00 pm • Met Opera Live in HD – “Tosca” November 9, 10:00 am • By Experience: Exhibition – “Vermeer and Music: The Art of Love and Leisure” November 17, 2:30pm • Porthole Players presents the comedy “Christmas Belles,” November 15 – December 1 • Newport Symphony Orchestra Guest Performance – MezzoSoprano Erica Brookhyser in Concert December 7, 7:30 pm and December 8, 2:00 pm • Met Opera Live in HD – “Falstaff ” December 14, 10:00 am December 14 • National Theatre Live in HD – “50 Years on Stage” December 27, 7:00 pm • Newport Symphony Orchestra – “Exotic, Sacred and Profane” January 25, 7:30 pm and January 26, 2:00 pm Johannes Vermeer, “A Young Woman Standing at a Virginal,” about 1670-2. © The National Gallery, London.

Photos courtesy: OCCA

36

• Met Opera Live in HD – “Rusalka” February 8, 10:00 am • Met Opera Live in HD – “Prince Igor” March 1, 9:00 am

• Met Opera Live in HD – “Werther” March 22, 10:00 am • Porthole Players presents “I Love You Because,” Spring 2014.

• Red Octopus Theater Company presents “Anton in Show Business,” Spring 2014 • Newport Symphony Orchestra – “Strauss and Strauss!” March 29, 7:30 pm and March 30, 2:00 pm • Met Opera Live in HD – “La Bohème” April 5, 10:00 am • Met Opera Live in HD – “Cosi fan Tutte” April 26, 10:00 am • Met Opera Live in HD – “La Cenerentola” May 10, 10:00 am Visit the OCCA website, coastarts. org for a calendar of events.

Call 541-265ARTS (2787) for information and tickets. Box office hours: 9 am -5 pm and one hour before performance.

Susanna Phillips as Musetta, photo by Cory Weaver

Visual Arts The Newport Visual Arts Center, (VAC) at 777N Beach Drive at the Nye Beach Turnaround, has a breathtaking view overlooking the Pacific Ocean on the central Oregon coast in historic Nye Beach. The VAC is home to three galleries: the Runyan on the main floor, the Coastal Oregon Visual Artists Showcase (COVAS) with Video Archive on the second, and the Upstairs Gallery on third. No matter what level you enter the building, a variety of artistic visions await you. Exhibits feature local, regional and national artists. Friendly docents will answer your questions, and admission is free.

The VAC is always a feast for the eyes, and there is always something special happening in this bright yellow building. Monthly Artist Receptions to welcome new exhibits take place on the first Friday of each month from 5 to 7 pm. Classes are available five days a week through the Yaquina Art Association. Drop in for free classes in watercolor, oil, acrylic, hand building with clay, china painting, colored pencil or pastel.

Classes for children are given periodically as well – check with the VAC for a schedule. The annual Newport Paper Arts Festival, a perennial favorite, is slated for April 11-13, 2014. Make sure to check the web site, coastarts.org, for a more complete calendar of events.

The Runyan Gallery is open 11 am - 5 pm (October – March). The COVAS and Upstairs galleries are open noon - 4 pm, Tuesday through Saturday.

Visit the OCCA website, coastarts.org for a calendar of events and to get information about workshops. You can also call the VAC Director at 541-265-6569 for more details.

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Books on Beach Bridie's Irish Faire Charisma Gifts Coastal Breeze Illingworth's By The Sea JOVI Linda & Michael's Gifts, Graphics, & Printing Nye Beach Book House Nye Cottage Beads The Peerless Puffin Queen of Hearts Raindance at Nye Beach Things Rich and Strange The Tea Party Toujours Boutique Tu Tu Tu Kitchenware Cottage

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Symphony by the Sea:

The Newport Symphony Orchestra Celebrates Its Silver Anniversary

by Nancy Steinberg

N

o matter where they live, amateur musicians tend to find each other. They play chamber music or jazz in small groups, coalesce into small ensembles to play just for fun, or accompany each other in informal recitals. That’s how they roll – move to town, find some fellow musicians, set up a gig.

The roots of the Newport Symphony Orchestra, celebrating its twenty-fifth anniversary this season, reflect this DIY approach. Musicians in Newport were casually playing chamber music together and serving as pit orchestras for local musical productions long before ground was broken on the Newport Performing Arts Center. But they wanted more – they wanted to play in an orchestra, so in true coastal fashion they simply started one themselves.

That fledgling group was called the Yaquina Chamber Orchestra, but it expanded so quickly that it quickly outgrew the “Chamber” part of its name and became the Yaquina Orchestra. In 2004 the ensemble changed its name to the Newport Symphony Orchestra in order to clarify where it calls home (and make it easier to pronounce).

But more than the name has changed. Over twenty-five years, the ensemble, the only professional full-season symphony on the Oregon coast, has grown and evolved into one of the premiere performing ensembles in the region. It has more than doubled in size from its earliest days, and is playing to sold-out audiences regularly. While larger orchestras throughout the country have struggled financially in recent years, the NSO marches (or perhaps waltzes?) on, more popular with the home-town crowd than ever.

NSO Conductor Adam Flatt Photos courtesy: NSO

38

Sioux Boston, a local cellist who was instrumental (no pun intended) in establishing the symphony 25 years ago, still plays with the ensemble. She says the orchestra has aged very well. “We’ve gotten more and more professional,” she says. “We all need to practice hard to be there.” But, she adds, it’s a labor of love, and the NSO musicians all love being in the group. “Musicians are dying to get into the NSO. It’s an unpretentious group

includes presenting compelling and beautiful programs, as well as providing educational opportunities for local students.”

with a lovely sound. It’s a healthy mix of really hard work laughter. Plus it’s in a beautiful place.”

For the past six years, Music Director Adam Flatt has been at the helm of the ensemble.

In that time, the orchestra has undergone tremendous artistic growth, taking on increasingly complex pieces and more diverse programs. Last season the ensemble performed Carl Orff ’s masterwork “Carmina

Burana” complete with full chorus, vocal soloists, and children’s choir. Another recent triumph was Beethoven’s ninth symphony, with three choral groups joined just for that dramatic work.

“Newport is a tremendous place to conduct a symphony orchestra,” Flatt says. “The community support here is crucial to what we do, and in turn, we strive to provide what the community wants and needs artistically. That

Flatt is also the Music Director of the Tuscaloosa Symphony in Alabama and the Colorado Ballet Orchestra in Denver, and is in demand as a guest conductor of ensembles around the country. Flatt has a special fondness for Oregon, as he began his career as apprentice conductor for the Oregon Symphony in Portland. He lives in Denver and travels to Newport for rehearsals and performances.

The NSO’s Associate Conductor is renowned actor David Ogden Stiers, a long-time resident of Lincoln County and huge classical music fan. While best-known for his roles in MASH, Oh God!, and The Dead Zone, he has an active secondary career as a conductor, and takes great pleasure in wielding the baton in Newport.

Symphony continued on page 40

Photos courtesy: NSO

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Symphony continued from page 40

For each performance, the ensemble rehearses just four times: three times during the weekend preceding a performance and once on Saturday morning before the performance that evening. Because many of the musicians are not from the coast, hailing from Portland, Eugene, Salem, Vancouver, WA, and beyond, they often stay with local community members when they’re in town, forging long friendships.

The silver anniversary season is packed with musical treats. September’s concerts (September 28 and 29) will feature soloist Wendy Warner, one of the world’s leading cellists. Warner and the symphony will perform Schelomo, one of the most belovedworks of Ernest Bloch, a world-renowned twentieth-century composer who lived in Agate Beach at the end of his life.

November’s concerts (November 2 and 3) are not to be missed, as they will include probably the best-known symphony ever written: Beethoven’s fifth. December’s guest artist (December 8 and 9) is no stranger to Newport, having grown up here. Erica Brookhyser graduated from Newport High School and went on to become a celebrated operatic mezzo-soprano, now wowing audiences from New York to L.A. to Europe.

She is currently the principal mezzo soloist at Staatstheater Darmstadt in Germany.

Flatt and the full symphony return for concerts on January 25 and 26 with a varied and surprising program of music by Takemitsu and the dances of Debussy, and featuring special guest, Martha Griffith, on the harp. The NSO’s final performance of the season, March 29 and 30, will be a concert of all Strauss, both Johann and Richard, with delightful waltzes and orchestral suites.

The music continues after the regular season with the symphony’s Summerfest, the centerpiece of which is a free Fourth of July pops concert held at Newport High School.

Tickets to all NSO concerts are available at the Newport Performing Arts Center, by calling 541-265-2787, or on the Oregon Coast Council for the Arts web site at www. coastarts.org.

Photos courtesy: NSO

40

The NSO’s Holiday Home Tour: Decoration Inspiration If you’d like to see some of Newport’s nicest homes decorated to the nines for the holidays, get your tickets for the symphony’s Holiday Home Tour, a benefit for the NSO. Local decorators and interior designers work with homeowners to put on a spectacular display at each home. Each of the four homes overlooks Yaquina Bay; they range from a 1949 cinder block house to brandnew construction. The tour will also include the Pacific Maritime & Heritage Center, where baked goods will be for sale and music will ring throughout the museum. The self-guided tour is Saturday, December 7, 11 am to 4 pm, and Sunday, December 8, noon to four pm. Tickets are $18 in advance and $20 on the days of the event. They can be purchased at the Newport Performing Arts Center and at Thriftway market in Newport. Call the NSO office at (541) 5740614 for details.

Performances not to be missed during the NSO’s 25th Season Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony

The opening measures of Beethoven’s fifth, with their familiar and dramatic eight-note theme, are probably the most famous in all of classical music. The piece has entered popular culture via Bugs Bunny cartoons, movies, and even a disco remix, but even in its day it was considered a game-changer for classical music. The November concerts will mark the very first time the NSO has played this iconic piece.

Clara Schumann’s Lorelei, performed

by Erica Brookhyser

Clara Schumann was one of the most distinguished pianists of the Romantic era, as well as a highly-accomplished composer.

She was also the wife, true love, and muse of famed Romantic composer Robert Schumann. Her art song, or lied, Lorelei, will be performed on a program of works about the sea presented by guest artist Erica Brookhyser in December. The Lorelei is a rock on a narrow stretch of the Rhine River, and also the name given to a female water spirit who is said to dwell there, the subject of folklore and legends. The dramatic and lush song will give you chills.

Toru Takemitsu’s Tree Line

One of Japan’s most important composers, Takemitsu’s influences ranged from traditional Japanese instruments to jazz to John Cage to Debussy. His inspiration for this piece was a line of acacia trees near his studio. Expand your musical horizons with the performance of this amazing modern work to be performed on the January program.

Claude Debussy’s Danses sacrée et profane for harp and strings

The NSO warmly welcomes its brilliant harp player, Martha Griffith, to the front of the stage as a soloist in January. These two dances, connected as one piece, employ Spanish-sounding themes throughout.

Johann Strauss’s Emperor Waltz

Strauss, known as the Waltz King, is at his best in this piece, part of the NSO’s allStrauss (Richard and Johann) program in March. You just might feel like you are in Austria on New Year’s Eve as you listen – try to refrain from dancing!

Photo courtesy: NSO

41

LEARN

43. Aquarium 44. N.O.A.A. 46. Marine Discovery Tours 48. Hatfield Marine Science Center Photos by: Jo Wienert

42

Oregon Coast Aquarium Immerse Yourself in the Underwater World

Courtesy Oregon Coast Aquarium

N

o visit to the coastal city of Newport is complete without a stop at the Oregon Coast Aquarium. This world-class marine attraction overlooks scenic Yaquina Bay just south of the Yaquina Bay Bridge. The Aquarium strives to be a center of excellence for ocean literacy and plays an active role in conservation, education and animal rehabilitation efforts.

Visitors can immerse themselves in the Aquarium with a wander through Passages of the Deep, named “The coolest 50 yards on the Oregon Coast!” by Spirit Magazine.

The 1.32 million-gallon exhibit displays a diverse array of marine animals including sharks up to 10 feet long. The series of tunnels feature a 360 degree view of three different kinds of underwater landscapes that are characteristic of ocean off the Oregon Coast.

The Sea & Me, an interactive exhibit designed for children ages 4-10, offers entertainment for everyone. Kids will enjoy the half a dozen interactive play areas while teens and adults will see seahorses, cichlids, and a wide array of colorful tropical fish.

Meet the Aquarium’s seals and sea lions through the submerged and above water viewing windows that let visitors peer into these animals’ world. The daily feeding presentations at 11:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. are a favorite of guests who delight in viewing the California sea lions’ athleticism at work. For an unforgettable behind the scenes experience, book a whiskery kiss delivered by one of the Aquarium’s resident seals or sea lions! Encounters can be booked online or over the phone.

The Aquarium also boasts one of the largest outdoor seabird aviaries in the United States. Tufted puffins, common murres, rhinoceros auklets, pigeon guillemots and black oystercatchers all call the craggy cliffs and clear ponds home. Daily feedings at 2:30 p.m. delight visitors of all ages as each bird larks about to get the fishes of their choice. In addition to the seabird aviary, the Aquarium has an additional aviary that is home to two turkey vultures. Guests are often surprised by the size of the brother and sister pair, Ichabod and Olive, who busy themselves with toys and other enrichment items.

A nearby underwater cave is inhabited by a Giant Pacific Octopus. Viewers sometimes need to stretch their powers of observation to spot the creature, which can camouflage with its environment and squeeze its soft body into dark crags. Researchers now believe that octopuses are as smart as house cats, capable of navigating mazes, using simple tools and recognizing individuals. Guests can book an octopus encounter to feed and shake hands with one of these intelligent, seemingly alien animals.

The Aquarium’s sea otter exhibit is home to the largest population of sea otters in Oregon today. The all-male raft is comprised of rescued otters from the California and Alaska coasts. Judge, Mojoe and Schuster’s playful antics make them a popular attraction at the Aquarium. Guests can view daily feedings at 10:30 a.m., 1:00 p.m. and 3:30 p.m.

The Oregon Coast Aquarium opened its doors in 1992 to inspire the public to better understand, cherish and conserve marine and coastal ecosystems. The 39-acre facility features indoor and outdoor exhibits that repeatedly earned the Aquarium a ranking as one of the top ten aquariums in the nation. Built on an abandoned industrial site, the Aquarium did a lot of work to transform the grounds into an expansive naturescape for guests to explore. The north end of the property is dedicated to a nature trail that skirts an estuary – a unique feature for an aquarium.

This wild exhibit features over one hundred native plant species, many of them labeled to continue the Aquarium’s education program for guests.

As one of Oregon’s most popular attractions, the Aquarium hosts an estimated 450,000 visitors annually. The 501c3 non-profit is funded through ticket sales, grants and the support of Aquarium members.

The Aquarium is open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. during the summer travel season and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the winter months. To check for discounts, purchase tickets and learn more, visit www.aquarium.org.

Holidays at the Oregon Coast Aquarium

There is always a lot to celebrate at the Oregon Coast Aquarium, but they have special treats in store for particularly special times of year. Make sure to plan a visit during these events.

Creatures of the Night:

Saturday, October 26th from 6:30pm – 8:30pm Get your annual fill of goblins as the Oregon Coast Aquarium transforms into a massive haunted house for one night!

Not recommended for children under 8 No strollers allowed at this event Admission: OCAq members are free, but encouraged to donate nonperishable food.

All others $2.00 + 2 cans of nonperishable food (per person) for Food Share or pet food for the Lincoln County Animal Shelter $5.00 without food donation.

Sea of Lights:

Join us in kicking off the holiday season with the annual Sea of Lights at the Oregon Coast Aquarium!

Kickoff weekend is Friday and Saturday nights, December 6th and 7th, from 6:30pm – 9:00pm. Come get your picture with Santa, stroll the Aquarium grounds and view thousands of holiday lights.

Admission: OCAq members are free, but encouraged to donate nonperishable food.

Admission on Friday and Saturday the 6th and 7th is just $2.00 + 2 cans of nonperishable food (per person) for Food Share, pet food for the Lincoln County Animal Shelter or a new unwrapped toy to be distributed by Newport Fire Department.

As a bonus, this year’s Sea of Lights will also be open on Saturdays and Sundays throughout the month of December!

Admission is $8.00 for all additional nights (December 8, 14, 15, 21, 22, 28, 29). Hours for these additional dates will be 5:00pm – 8:00pm and yes, Santa will be here for pictures every night!

43

NOAA in Newport

A Federal Agency Takes Pride in Joining the Local Community

By Dennis Anstine

T

he primary focus for the officers and their families of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) hasn’t changed as the Pacific research fleet enters its third year based in Newport, but its involvement in the Lincoln County community continues to strengthen.

By all accounts, it will take many more years before NOAA’s scientific, economic and communal contributions to Lincoln County and Oregon reach their high-water mark, but early returns indicate the relationship has the promise of growing into a healthy, positive bond.

Most importantly, the community has welcomed the federal agency and its 20-year commitment with open arms, and the newcomers from Seattle, the East Coast and elsewhere are adjusting to the central coast’s blustery weather and lifestyle just fine, thank you.

“All over it has been a positive move for most people,” said Tracey Brennan, co-president of NOAA Officer’s Family Association (NOFA), a support group for the agency’s families. She and her husband, NOAA Ship Rainier Capt. Richard Brennan, and their two sons moved here from Norfolk, Virginia.

“There’s always an adjustment when you relocate,” she said, “but overall we love the raw beauty of the coast – it’s very majestic.

We appreciate the quality of life here, that it’s more relaxed with not as much tension and hassle. There is a different lifestyle here than in Seattle, for example, but most are enjoying the change.”

Brennan said as NOFA and others volunteer at schools and events, “it has been very positive with the community accepting us and enjoying us being here.

The more we have become involved, the more we appreciate this community.”

Capt. Wade Blake, commanding officer of NOAA’s Marine Operations Center-Pacific (MOC-P), cautions that any involvement in the community needs to be secondary to the NOAA’s fisheries, hydrographic, ecosystem and ecosystem survey projects. But it is a responsibility he and others take seriously.

“First of all,” he said recently, “we’re very pleased with this facility (40,852 square feet of office and warehouse space and a 1,300-foot-long pier, all leased from the port) and grateful to the city for its support, which we appreciate. We see it as the beginning of a great relationship.”

NOAA, its officers and their families have begun to become more involved in the community through outreach by doing more volunteering. For its part, Capt. Blake said, the base has gotten involved in a variety of community events and has held guided tours to more than 3,000 visitors to the base and its ships during the last two years.

Blake said he meets with city and county officials often to let them know what’s going on on the base “so they can let other groups know what we do and how we fit into the community,” he said.

“We’ve been getting more involved as a group but a lot of our community involvement is self-generated from a group like NOFA or officers on a ship,” he said. “As a group, some helped clean up a park in Photos courtesy: NOAA

44

Toledo and helped put flags out on the highway during holidays. When things like that pop up we will get involved.”

For example, when St. Baldrick’s Foundation for childhood cancer research held one of its head-shaving fundraisers this past May in Newport, Piper Berkowitz, the 9-year-old daughter of Capt. Eric Berkowitz, who is director of marine operations at the local base, shaved her head along with other family members.

Piper and her team, which included NOFA members, raised more than $6,000 as Newport and NOAA supporters became involved, which included three crew members of the Rainier shaving their heads while docked at Petersburg, Alaska.

NOFA has been involved in several other community events, including the Newport Food Pantry’s “snacks packs” programs for children, Christmas and holiday events, and a silent auction.

NOFA is also sponsoring a photo contest for its employees, especially those who are traveling aboard ships in the Pacific Ocean, which will provide the photographs for a 2014 calendar. As with its other events, a portion of the proceeds will go to local charities and groups, Tracey Brennan said.

“We’re now canvassing local businesses and we hope to have all photographs submitted by Sept. 15 with the goal of having the calendars ready to be sold in October,” she said. “We hope the proceeds will help fund some of our local events, too.”

Business as usual Community involvement will likely become increasingly important for NOAA because its impact on small, isolated Newport and Lincoln County promises to be immense during the next 18 years or longer.

At this point, however, Capt. Blake and other NOAA Corps officers remain focused on their mission, which is to have “our ships continue doing what they are designed to do.” That involves about 110 crew members and about 55 office and warehouse employees at the base to support the vessels’ sea-going missions.

The ships include: -Bell M. Shimada and Oscar Dyson, both fishery survey vessels that primarily work the waters of the West Coast, including off Alaska’s Aleutian and Kodiak islands. They survey for the density of population of a variety of fish, including sardines and hake off the mainland and pollock, salmon and cod in Alaska waters.

NOAA also does a killer whale survey along the coast during the summer months, “which is important because they have a significant impact to the salmon population,” Black said. The results of all the surveys assist the Northwest Fisheries Science Center in keeping its management programs up to date.

-The Rainier and Fairweather do hydrographic surveys mostly in Alaska and the Arctic Ocean, updating and creating new nautical charts of the ocean’s floor. Blake said many charts are too old to be useful, and other areas have no mapping at all.

Overall, eight vessels are under Blake’s command, down one recently

with the decommissioning of the Miller Freeman, which will be replaced by a new vessel called the Rueben Lasker. There are three ships stationed in Hawaii and a fourth, the McArthur II, is currently undergoing maintenance in a Seattle shipyard.

While there is more to grow since NOAA moved from Seattle to Newport, federal funding for its missions has decreased during the last year as the government has been forced to “sequester” its spending in a variety of ways.

“Nothing has really changed as far as our missions are concerned,” said Blake, “but we have had to adjust what we do with our funding.

The cost of diesel fuel, for example, has doubled from $2 to $4 in the last few years. Our operating costs have gone up, so we’ve had to cut back on our days at sea.”

While there has been an operating reduction, he said, there has been no cutting back on personnel because the vessels need to be maintained and properly manned when they do their missions.

The NOAA Corps consists of only commissioned officers, but its “civilian masters” and wage marine employees work for hourly wages and are represented by unions. The fleet, Blake said, consists of five different personnel systems between ship and shore, “so it can get confusing.”

NOAA’s silver lining The promise of jobs and contracts with local vendors was an important part of the attraction for the local and regional economy after a 2010 survey was done by the Economic Development Alliance of Lincoln County (ecdev@orcoast.com or 541-961-3837).

The report estimated that NOAA’s presence could mean a $32 million annual influx – equivalent to 800 fulltime jobs in the county – after 10 years. Even without factoring in the value of attracting additional marine science research, the impact estimates about $20 million annually in the local economy.

While the amount of money that NOAA will circulate through the local economy is real, it’s unlikely that NOAA will ever be an important employer of local residents because its jobs are listed nationwide, it hires the most qualified candidates and rarely advertises locally. Blake said he recalls NOAA hiring only two people living here.

The report also placed the NOAA budget for products and service at

$8 million per year ($2 million per boat), though Caroline Bauman, the alliance’s executive director, cautioned that the local economy would capture only about half of that at the outset as companies take time to adapt to serve the need of the fleet.

For his part, Blake has given several talks at local economic development meetings about the ins and outs of smaller local companies doing business with the government.

Bauman said that during the last three years more than 200 separate businesses have been represented at such training workshops and that there are more than 90 Lincoln County companies on the eligibility list for government contracts, which includes jobs with Oregon State Parks and the U.S. Forest Service.

She said Blake’s seminars have been invaluable and have often been attended by statewide employment and economic development officials, “which has helped people from all over the state learn more about NOAA. That’s also good for our tourism.”

The bid process, Blake said, can be especially difficult. He said NOAA buys a lot of goods from local vendors, including contracting with Carson Oil Co. for its diesel fuel, but the bidding process get competitive when the contract is in excess of $25,000.

“We are focused now not to just construction trade contracts,” said Bauman. “We’re seeking more service providers such as Lazerquick and Lincoln Glass, small companies that are able to access NOAA with business for less than $25,000.”

The goal is to have companies in all five categories doing business with NOAA, including those that offer highly skilled marine trades service work, such as a ”large bilge pump repair service, for example,” she said.

Bauman, who expects to finish a research analysis soon on what it takes to do business with the government, said the county isn’t making as much money from NOAA and the Hatfield Marine Research Center as it can, but there has been growth.

“We knew it would take time because of the bid process,” she said, “but with more local companies working with NOAA our bids will become more competitive. During the next three to five years we should have bigger contracts than the smaller ones we’re getting now.”

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Newport’s Gentle Giants A True Newport Adventure

Story and Photos by: Fran Mathews Marine Discovery Tours - Newport

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rab some boat tickets to experience a true Newport adventure. Smell the salt brine that’s thick in the air. Watch a gentle ocean wave roll over a 45-foot body the size of a school bus. Hear the moisture laden blow of Newport’s largest summer & fall visitors - herds of feeding gray whales. The Oregon Coast, like an aquatic super-highway that’s full of sea life on the move, offers a spectacular opportunity to watch these gentle giants as they majestically follow their seasonal rhythms of spring and winter migration, then, settling in for the balmy summer and fall to feed, on average, a half mile offshore during the calmest ocean conditions of the year.

A robust population of 19,000 gray whales swims along our shoreline twice a year on one of the longest marine mammal migrations. They ply the near shore Pacific Ocean that laps along Newport’s beaches, following the sound of the surf that leads them south in the winter to their salty lagoons along the Baja Peninsula to mate and birth the next generation. The early spring finds them returning past Newport, as the majority head north, to abundant feeding grounds in the Bering Sea. Local marine operators love to share great news with visitors to Newport - there is a six-mile reef that runs close to shore along Oregon’s central coast from Cape Perpetua to Cascade Head - by road, an hour north and south of Newport’s whale watching fleet. This rich reef structure teems with life, including a gray whale’s favorite food - tiny swarming mycids and amphipods no bigger than the tip of your thumb! So, like giant whale picnic baskets, the reefs lure an average of 200 - 300 of the migrating Grays into stopping and feeding throughout the summer months of June through mid-October. They dive to the bottom and feed, on average, 40 times a day - providing amazing opportunities to observe and photograph. A number of these “resident feeders” return year after year, having been identified by some of the Newport excursions through photos, markings and barnacle patterns.

Photos Courtesy: Marinre Discovery Tours

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Whale Watching Tips:

Make reservations in advance - peak boating season is during the active visitor months with boat departures leaving daily from the Newport Bayfront.

Adult tickets range $30 $36, depending on whether you want a self-guided ride or an educational tour with a marine naturalist. Dress in layers - it’s sometimes cooler on the water. Eat something light and mellow - happy tummy. Take cameras of any kind - family snapshots to Facebook downloads!

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Mysteries of the Deep Revealed at the Hatfield Marine Science Center

by Nancy Steinberg

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ver watch an octopus devour a live crab? Want to try your hand at generating electricity with a wave? Have questions about invasive species, underwater earthquakes, deep-sea hydrothermal vents, or local fish species? You can do all this and more at the Visitor Center of the Mark O. Hatfield Marine Science Center in South Beach.

HMSC is a facility of Oregon State University, but its campus is home to scientists from a wide variety of institutions, including OSU, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, and others. All told, approximately 300 scientists, educators, and support staff work at the center, conducting research, outreach, and education programs focused on our watery world. The topics studied there are as diverse as the inhabitants of the sea themselves: salmon genetics, the environmental impacts of wave energy, whale migration patterns, eruptions at undersea volcanoes, effects of ocean acidification on fish, and much more.

“Our greatest strength is our focus on collaborative research,” explained HMSC Program Manager Maryann Bozza. “Because scientists from many different organizations are co-located here, there is a lot of interaction that might not happen if they were working at separate facilities.” For example, OSU Assistant Professor Jessica Miller and NOAA Fisheries Scientist Tom Hurst have collaborated on a string of projects focused on the effects of ocean acidification on young fishes. In another building, scientists analyze genetic samples taken from salmon caught by fishermen as part of Project CROOS (Collaborative Research on Oregon Ocean Salmon). “It’s inspiring to see ideas, data and equipment shared across disciplines and between agency and university programs. Through professional activities such as weekly seminars and even lunchtime soccer or dog-walking,

scientists here keep the lines of communication wide open,” Bozza said.

Some of the most high-profile, cutting edge marine science in the world is carried out at Hatfield and by Hatfield-associated researchers.

When an enormous dock ripped from its moorings by the March 2011 Japanese tsunami landed on a Newport beach in June 2012, Hatfield scientists Jessica Miller and John Chapman were the ones who took the lead on examining the potentially invasive species on the dock. A piece of that dock now stands as a sentinel and reminder outside the front door of the Visitor Center. Marine Mammal Institute Associate Director Scott Baker has made headlines with his genetics work demonstrating that endangered whale meat was being served in sushi restaurants in Seoul and Los Angeles. His pioneering work was featured in the eco-thriller/documentary “The Cove,” released to great acclaim in 2009.

Some of the center’s research is carried out on its two research vessels, which can occasionally be seen at the OSU Ship Operations dock nearby: the 54-foot Elakha (“Sea Otter” in the Chinook language),

Hatfield Marine Science Center By the Numbers Years in existence: 48 Number of employees: ~300 Operating Budget: $45 million Number of research vessels: 2 (also connected to HMSC is the R/V Pacific Storm operated by OSU’s Marine Mammal Institute) Scientific publications by HMSC authors in 2011: 160 Number of volunteer hours put in at the HMSC Visitor Center in 2011/12: 9600 Photos Courtesy: OSU Hatfield Marine Science Center

48

Science is Big Business in Newport

which stays relatively close to shore, and the oceangoing, 177-foot R/V Oceanus.

The Oceanus is getting long in the tooth, for a research vessel, and is slated to be replaced within the next ten years. Hatfield scientists don’t just ship out from Newport – they work all over the world, embarking from ports in the Gulf of Mexico, Antarctica, the South Pacific, the Bering Sea, and beyond.

The best way to learn about what goes on at HMSC is by checking out the Visitor Center, where most of the exhibits are related to HMSC faculty research.

One particularly hot topic is wave energy – how to extract it and what the environmental impacts of wave energy devices in the ocean might be. The wave energy exhibit at the Visitor Center covers these topics with hands-on activities.

Another exhibit covers the threat of invasive species, a very real problem for the local coastal ecosystems. The VC also features touch tanks where visitors can be embraced by a sea anemone or stroke a tide pool fish. And of course, there’s the octopus, the mascot of the center that greets visitors as they enter. Check the schedule for her feeding times – it’s quite a show.

HMSC doesn’t like to let any data escape, and so even the Visitor Center is a laboratory. Here a team of researchers focused on “free-choice learning,” education that takes place outside of a formal classroom setting and under the student’s own initiative, studies the behaviors and interactions of visitors with the exhibits and with each other. Cameras and other high-tech equipment installed throughout the center aid in those studies, and a cadre of researchers works behind the scenes to learn how we learn.

The Visitor Center (2030 SE Marine Science Drive) is open 10 am to 5 pm seven days a week from Memorial Day to Labor Day. Admission is by donation ($5 per person/$20 per family is suggested).

In addition to the Hatfield Marine Science Center, lots of other scientific entities are headquartered in Newport, making us a hub for ocean research and related activities in the Pacific Northwest. These include:

Marine Operations Center –

Pacific for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Home port to five federal research vessels that serve as platforms for ocean research and mapping activities all over the world.

National Science Foundation’s Ocean Observing Initiative

A cutting-edge array of buoys, cables, and free-swimming underwater vehicles that will record and observe every aspect of the ocean’s biology, physics, and chemistry.

Northwest National Marine Renewable Energy Center

This entity, consisting of faculty from Oregon State University and the University of Washington, operates two state-of-the-art wave energy testing facilities offshore of Newport (one is in operation, and one is currently under development).

Oregon Coast Aquarium

The Oregon Coast Aquarium is a world-class marine educational attraction nestled on beautiful Yaquina Bay, which attracts over 460,000 visitors each year.

Oregon Museum of Science and Industry

This leader in science education recently purchased property in South Beach where they will site a residential education facility focused on programming about the marine environment.

Coast Guard

Coast Guard Station Yaquina Bay’s mission includes search and rescue and maritime law enforcement.

Photo by: Jeff Basinger

49

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52. Surfing 54. Crabbing

Photos by: Jo Wienert

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Surf’s Up

Travel to Newport for year ‘round surfing

by Rick Beasley

Photo by: eongdi

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regon’s spectacular and beautiful surf is a magnet for camera buffs, artists and soulsearchers. For a growing number of people, however, the powerful elegance of an ocean wave is more than an art form that touches the psyche.

It’s a tube-monster, man, a surging mountain of fun that demands to be ridden in all its chilly bluster!

Some of the Pacific’s finest waves dissolve on the sandy, uncrowded beaches of Oregon, but it’s only been in the last 10 years that surfing has gained momentum as a year ‘round sport here.

Today, a 35-mile stretch of surf between Newport and Lincoln City is a relative hotbed of surfing action — relative, compared to Santa Cruz or Waimea Bay, where surfers bob elbow-to-elbow and fight each other to ride the waves.

Damon Fry moved to Oregon to take advantage of the excellent surfing waters around Lincoln City.

52

“I came here from California and the Oregon surf hasn’t let me down,” he said.

“The people are friendly and the water’s not polluted. There are three epic seasons here, but you have to want to surf bad. Sometimes, you have to hike through the brush to get to the surf, and you wear thick wet suits to deal with the cold water. But the surfing is so great you almost want to be quiet about it.”

To many, Oregon’s nippy surf has always loomed like a jewel behind glass — close, powerful and beckoning, but impossible to touch for all but the hardiest who could endure its cold edge. Long a bastion of hard-core surfers who braved its Endless Winter waters, surfing was considered more spectator sport than participant activity.

But that’s all changed, according to Mike Olsen, one of the local old-school surfers who knows all the breaks from South Beach to Roads End. The advent of new wet suit technology has opened the door to surfing waters that are reliably cold 12 months a year, he observed.

“In the early 80’s it was rare to see a car with a board on top cruising down Hwy. 101,” Olsen said. “Today, you may see a dozen cars jammed along a turnout, with surfers bobbing in the water and riding the waves. The reason for the growth is the development of really good-quality wet suits, and of course the rise in popularity overall of surfing.”

The release of the movies such as “Blue Crush,” “Point Break” and “Endless Summer II” create novel twists to the sport, as well.

“A lot of California surfers settled in Portland to follow their careers,” Olsen said.

“Their kids — who had grown up on Dad’s surfing tales of the 60s and 70s — saw those movies and told pop to teach them the sport.

Now, we’ve got whole families driving over for a weekend of surfing. It’s really become a family sport in the last couple of years.”

Surfing in Oregon started in the 50s and saw the formation of surf clubs in the 60s, but it wasn’t until the 80s when things really started to grow. Now it’s a family event, with

the parents and the kids discovering a sport they can all participate in and have fun.

The sport offers great exercise — like swimming, it uses most of the body’s muscles — and surfers agree it’s “major stress-reducer.”

The smooth moves of experienced surfers make the sport look easy, but even the best longboarders admit they never stop learning.

Surfing, like any sport, takes practice and commitment to master.

“Actually, surfing is real easy once you get to know it, and get past the part where you’re just getting bashed around,” said Albany surfer Ronnie Walls. “There’s a lot more surfing going on around here than people think.”

Surfing lessons available from the local Newport shops are inexpensive and fun and are crucial in teaching novice surfers how

to deal with hazardous surfing conditions, like rip tides. You can always go out and learn with someone who knows what they’re doing, but a two-hour lesson is the best way.

Otherwise, you may just end up struggling.

Beginners usually start out with a nine-foot rental board. Many first-time surfers “Jonesout” on the sport and return to buy brand new boards the same afternoon, which start at about $450.

Even more critical than the board is the wet suit — look for one that’s at least 5 mils thick, and is full-bodied with a hood and booties.

Good surfing can be found almost anywhere along dozens of beaches between around Newport. Shifting sands that play havoc with “the break” and seasonal changes in the currents make a call to a favorite surf shop a mandatory routine. You can waste a gallon or two of gas just looking for waves,

so give the local surf shops a call, first.

Surf Shops For more information on lessons and equipment sales and rentals, contact experts at the following local surf shops:

Ocean Pulse Surfboards:

429 SW Coast Hwy, Newport, 541-265-7745.

The Oregon Surf Shop:

4933 S. Hwy 101, Lincoln City (Taft area), 541-996-3957.

Ossie’s Surf Shop:

4860 North Coast Highway Newport, OR 97365 541-574-4634

Safari Town Surf Shop:

3026 NE Hwy 101, Lincoln City, 541-996-6335.

Photo by: Jo Wienert

53

Crabs ‘R’ us!

A True Newport Adventure

By Rick Beasley

C

rabbing is a favorite year-round pastime at the Central Coast, but it is at its best in months which contain an “R”!

There are two ways to fill your cooler with succulent Dungeness crab. The surefire method of sailing with a local charter operator on a crab-fish combo will deliver a limit of superior Dungies plus baskets of ocean-fresh rock fish.

Brave crabbers who strike out on their own will find rich and productive crabbing spots hidden along the bays, estuaries, beaches, tide pools, piers and jetties that dot the area’s coastline.

With these secret tips from old-timers, you can fill your kitchen sink with limit amounts of Dungeness and Red Rock crabs akmost anytime.

It’s a sport all can enjoy, whether from boat or dock. There are as many rules for crabbing as there are crabbers on how long to leave a crab ring in the water, what kind of bait to use and the type of trap which is most effective.

There is one rule, however, which is firm: you can only harvest male Dungies measuring at least 5-3/4 inches from inside the points on the crab’s back. The gender is established by checking the breast plate — check the ODFW regulations for an explanatory diagram Most who practice the sport check the bottom depth at low tide to see where the shoals and holes are in Yaquina bay. Others have boats equipped with depth finders to aid in finding the spots where their quarry is likely to hole up. Most of those with depth finders are friendly toward the novice and are happy to share their secrets. There’s plenty of crab down there to go around.

Bait shops such as Newport Marina Store & Charters Inc. in South Beach are helpful in advising the type of bait to use. In waters thick with seals and sea lions like Newport Bay, most old-timers recommend chicken. Some crabbers, however, feel that fish carcasses are more productive in spite of the seals stealing them nearly as fast as the ring can be rebaited.

Give a fish filleter a couple of bucks at the dock for some fish entrails.

Most crabbers are watchful of the tide and prefer starting out about two hours before high tide. But others make the case that an hour or so before low tide works best.

Photos by: Rick Beasley

54

Crab pots and boats can be rented at Newport Marina for $60 for four hours $80 for all day.

Crab rings are cheap and abundant at in the fisging sections of Walmart, Fred Meyer and Englund Marine, among other retailers. Most tackle shops have several ingenious set-ups for crabbing with a fishing pole. In fact, Red Rock crabs are often caught while rockfishing with hooks.

The Newport docks are usually productive.

But remember: the hardest places to get to are the best spots.

Where to Try Your Luck Dungeness crabs are found throughout the bay, and traps can be set from a boat or from shore. Peak harvest months are from June through November.

Large sandy flats in depths of 20-30 feet found outside the navigational channel are excellent habitat for Dungeness crab, with most legal crab in the lower bay. You can rent a boat locally, or bring your own. Boat rentals often include crab rings. Try the Newport Marine Store and Charters in South Beach ((541) 867-4470 and www.nmscharters.com), the Embarcadero Resort ((541) 265-8521 or www.embarcadero-resort.com), or Sawyer’s Landing Marina and RV Park (4098 Yaquina Bay Rd, (541) 265-3907) for rentals. If you’ve got your own boat, you can launch at the following locations:

Port of Newport Marina and RV Park,

located within the South Beach Marina complex, at 2301 SE Marine Science Drive (fee applies).

Toledo Boat Launch. the Port of Toledo maintains the Airport Boat Launch, just off of South Bay Road, located at 128 Ramp Road, approximately 13 miles upriver of the Newport Bay bridge (free).

Primary areas for dock crabbing in Newport are the public fishing pier in South Beach, as well as Abbey Street and Bay Street piers on the Newport Bayfront. Native red rock crabs, which prefer the complex habitats that docks offer, are a common catch in these areas. Gear may be set anywhere within public areas along these docks, but be sure not to interfere with boat traffic.

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