The Columbia River Bar: "the most dangerous river bar in the world," says Lloyds of London. Where shifting sands reveal the bones of ships lost in two hundred years of yesterdays and old sailors' ghosts ride on the changing currents. We complete our westward journey near this wild mixing of river and sea.

There are but a handful qualified to bring ships across the treacherous stretch of seventeen miles of shoals and breakers. A mere twenty people are called "Pilot." The Columbia River Bar Pilot, respected and revered in these waters. Of these twenty, there is but one woman, Captain Debbie Dempsey. After a visit to the Sea Bird she poses, flanked by our officers, Captain George Doherty and First Officer Marci Branniff.

We cruise out to view this fabled graveyard of the Pacific. In the distance the sea breaks its back in a flurry of foam and spindrift; we watch from a comfortable distance. It is a mild day but the ebb runs strong and we feel the heft of the long Pacific swells. The sun drops with a hiss; we turn back for the calmer water, leaving the Columbia River Bar Pilots to their work.