Found on YouTube. Created by "What do you wanna cook?". Recorded on 2026-05-18. Originally published on 2026-06-11.
At the mouth of the Columbia River lies "The Graveyard of the Pacific"—the deadliest river bar crossing on earth. To get a massive cargo ship safely through these crushing waves, an elite Bar Pilot has to board a moving ship by climbing a rope ladder and get's hoisted off the ship by helicopter 10 miles off shore in the Pacific Ocean.
In this episode of What do you Wanna Cook?: PORTS UNKNOWN, we get you as close to the action as humanly possible. We take you inside the cockpit for an intense Agusta helicopter ride, meet the flight crew, and track the insane precision it takes to execute a maritime pick-up in the Pacific Ocean, just outside of the Columbia River Bar.
Along the way, we dive into the history of the river, highlighting trailblazers like Captain Deborah Dempsey, the first female Columbia River bar Pilot and Samantha Steerman (the Bar Pilots' first female Vessel Traffic Coordinator). Finally, we head ashore to wind down with incredible Bun Cha, a story about Captain Tolley receiving a personal letter from President Barack Obama for rescuing 241 refugees in the Mediterranean, cold beer, and raw conversations about what it truly takes to survive a life at sea.
Hold fast, embrace the tide.
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Astoria
