North Bend, population 4,012 (1930 census), 41⁄2 miles above Empire, is located on the eastern side of North Point. It is a prosperous town with sawmills, factories, and a small shipyard. Considerable lumber is shipped from here.

Marshfield, population 5,287 (1930 census), on the western shore near the head of the bay, is the principal town. It is the port of entry for the collection district of southern Oregon, a deputy collector being stationed there. It is the distributing center for a considerable section of the country devoted to lumbering, coal mining, dairying, and agriculture.

There are ample wharfage facilities with depths of 9 to 18 feet (2.7 to 5.5 m).

Marshfield and North Bend now form practically one continuous settlement extending along the shore from North Point to the mouth of Coalbank Slough.

Prominent features.-Coos Head, Umpqua River Lighthouse, and Cape Arago Lighthouse are good guides in making the entrance to the bay; the sand dunes northward toward the Umpqua River are also a noticeable feature.

Guano Rock lies on the south side of the entrance channel, about 250 yards northwestward from Coos Head. This rock now shows only at extreme low water, the top having broken off. It is marked by a buoy placed in 28 feet (8.5 m) of water, 200 yards northwestward from the rock.

Anchorage may be had at almost any point inside the bay, dependent upon the draft. Outside the entrance vessels with local knowledge have ridden out southeast gales by anchoring close under Cape Arago in 5 to 6 fathoms (9.1 to 11 m), but this is dangerous if the wind shifts to the southwest. See page 183 (pinnacle rock). Pilots are available and can be arranged for by radio through the Portland station, or can be had by signal to the Coast Guard station. Pilot charges each way are $2.50 per foot (0.3 m) draft and 2 cents per net register ton. The following deductions are made. Vessels of 300 tons and under, 10 percent; vessels between 300 and 4,000 tons, 15 percent; vessels over 4,000 tons, 20 percent. This applies to vessels under registry. The pilot boat is a diesel towboat of 125 horsepower. A surfboat is maintained in back of Cape Arago Lighthouse for use when the bar is too rough to take out the towboat.

Towboats.-There are 2 or 3 private towboats, ranging from 100 to 165 horsepower, available.

Port Terminal.-Midway between North Bend and Marshfield the port of Coos Bay owns and operates a dock 1,005 feet long with cargo-handling gear and rail connections. Ample depths alongside are maintained for the vessels that can reach the dock. In 1933, 21 feet (6.4 m) was the usual maximum draft to which vessels were loaded at Marshfield. Full effect of the tide cannot be had, for vessels must leave their berths before high water in order to reach the bar on the tip of high water.

Marine hospital.-A relief station of the Public Health Service, in charge of a service officer, is located at Marshfield.

Quarantine.-Regulations of the Public Health Service are enforced by the service officer at Marshfield. Vessels with communicable disease on board should not pass Empire until boarded by

the quarantine officer. Facilities are available for fumigation by sulphur only.

Customs. Marshfield is the port of entry for southern Oregon, embracing the following ports: Umpqua, Šiuslaw, Bandon, Port Orford, and Gold Beach (Rogue River). Vessels subject to customs inspection are boarded in the upper harbor.

Storm warnings, day and night, are displayed by the United States Weather Bureau from a steel tower at Marshfield, and at the Coast Guard station at the entrance to Coos Bay.

Supplies.-Fuel oils, coal, water, provisions, and ship chandlers' stores can be obtained at Marshfield and North Bend. The city water is reported to be of poor quality, but is suitable for boilers. Repairs. There are no facilities for extensive repairs. Machine shops are available, but there are no dry-docking facilities except for scows and small gas boats.

A Coast Guard station is located on the south point at the entrance, 1/4 mile eastward of Coos Head.

A radio direction finder station, call letters NPF, is located 1% miles northward from the north jetty on the outside coast.

Communication is by rail to the interior and by regular lines of steamers plying between Columbia River, Coos Bay, Humboldt Bay, and San Francisco. There is also considerable local traffic in smaller vessels to various local points north and south. Communication may be had by telegraph and telephone.

Currents. A short series of current observations in the entrance taken during the month of September indicated a mean velocity of about 2 knots. The greatest observed ebb velocity was a little over 3 knots.

The following statement concerning the currents at the entrance has been furnished by the master of the Government bar dredge:

The time of slack water varies with the height of tide. The ebb runs from 1 to 12 hours after low water, and the flood from 2 to 4 hour after high water. During long runouts I have found an ebb current of 5 knots at Guano Rock, and up to 7 knots at the bell buoy, same buoy being run under at times in winter months. Flood current-maximum velocity, 31⁄2 knots.

From the bell buoy to the outer end of the north jetty the ebb generally sets west (mag.), with a strong tendency toward the south spit. From midway between the end of the jetty and the black buoy, and well out across the bar, the ebb invariably sets strong to south, from 1 to 3 knots. At times I find it necessary while dredging on W. 2 N. course to haul up to northwest to overcome it. (Dredging is done during the summer.)

Entering in rough or heavy weather this should be especially guarded against. With the run of the sea and the set, a ship is more likely to be set upon the south spit than upon the jetty.

The present ranges are good guides when visible. The current never sets north at the whistling or channel buoys except under a continued spell of strong southerly winds.

Tides.-The mean range of tide at Mashfield is 5.2 feet (1.6 m). The range between mean lower low water and mean higher high water is 6.9 feet (2.1 m). A range of about 12 feet (3.7 m) may occur at the time of maximum tides.

DIRECTIONS, COOS BAY

From northward or southward the course should be shaped for the lighted whistle buoy. From seaward Cape Blanco and Cape

Arago are the prominent features, and at night their lights furnish an excellent means for determining a vessel's position, after which a course can be laid for the lighted whistle buoy.

Approaching from any direction in thick weather, great caution is essential. The currents are variable and uncertain. Velocities of 3 to 3.4 knots have been observed at the light vessels between Blunts Reef and Swiftsure Bank, and velocities considerably in excess of these amounts have been reported. For detailed information regarding the conditions which may be encountered and the precautions to be observed see the statement on coastwise navigation beginning on page 22.

Under the above conditions particular care is necessary in this locality. The depths should not be shoaled to less than 50 fathoms (91 m) until the fog signal on Cape Arago has been made.

Strangers should not attempt to cross the bar unless the entrance range can be seen, and not then unless the bar is smooth enough so that a speed can be maintained sufficient to have the vessel under full control at all times. The fact that the outer end of the jetty is submerged should be borne in mind. The most favorable time for crossing the bar is on the last of the flood current, and on many occasions it is passable only at this time. Vessels entering Coos Bay are usually light, and therefore are not often bar-bound outside, but when loaded with lumber outward bound, a fairly smooth bar has to be selected, and bar-bound vessels inside, especially during the winter months, are not uncommon.

Vessels of 20 feet (6.1 m) or less draft, having crossed the bar shortly before high water, should have little difficulty in reaching the wharves at North Bend or Marshfield, as the dredged channels are well marked by ranges, lighted beacons, and buoys. The chart is the guide, and no other directions are necessary.

The following information relative to the navigation of Coos Bay has been furnished by the commanding officer of a United States destroyer:

The best time to enter Coos Bay to go alongside dock is to arrive off whistle buoy about 45 minutes before slack water at Coos Bay entrance. By entering at this time and steaming at 12 knots you can carry a small flood current all the way up. To dock at North Bend get into turning basin and swing the ship to go alongside against the flood current. If it is not desired to dock heading out, it is best to wait an hour. The time of change of current at North Bend is approximately 45 minutes later than at the entrance.

In general, Coos Bay does not present any particular difficulties for ships drawing 15 feet or less, but a commanding officer who has not been in before should be particularly careful not to mistake piles (which are driven indiscriminately for log booms) for spar buoys and range dolphins. From the information the writer gathered from pilots it is always unsafe to cross the bar at the entrance if there is a medium or heavy swell running and care should be used in steering through the jetties, where whirlpools are likely to be encountered. This ship encountered a slight whirlpool 45 minutes before the tide turned to ebb, and it was considered necessary to straighten out the ship with the engine.

UMPQUA RIVER (CHART 6004)

has its entrance 20 miles northward from Cape Arago Lighthouse. Considerable lumber, the output of several salmon canneries, and farm and dairy produce are shipped; general merchandise is received. The port of entry is at Coos Bay.

The south point at the entrance to the river is marked by sand dunes, partly covered with trees and reaching elevations of 300 feet (91 m). About 1 mile below the entrance is a bright bare spot in the dunes that shows prominently among the trees.

Umpqua River Lighthouse is situated on the south entrance point. The light shows 2 white and 1 red flash every 15 seconds (each flash 2 seconds and each eclipse 3 seconds duration), is 165 feet (50 m) above the water, and visible 19 miles. Trees surround the light house and only the lantern shows over their tops.

The north point at the entrance consists of shifting sand dunes, extending northward for 3 miles. These are bare as a rule, and on the river side reach elevations of 100 to 124 feet (30.5 to 38 m).

The entrance has been improved by the construction of north and south jetties. The former was completed in 1930, the latter in November 1933. The outer 500 feet of the north jetty is submerged at high water. The channel over the bar is reported to be shoalest usually during the month of September. Later in the season the river cuts a deeper channel through the bar. In May 1934 the controlling depth over the bar was 16 feet (4.9 m) at mean lower low

water.

Inside the entrance the channel has been improved to Reedsport, and in 1934 there was a controlling depth of about 12 feet (3.7 m) at mean lower low water. At high tide the river is navigable by vessels of 6 feet (1.8 m) draft to Scottsburg, 23 miles above the entrance, and a draft of 3 feet (0.9 m) can be taken up the Smith River to Sulphur Springs, about 25 miles above the

entrance.

The channel to Gardiner is no longer marked, and there is no shipping from that point. The channel to Reedsport is marked by lights and buoys. Just above the mouth of Scholfield Creek this channel is crossed by a railway drawbridge with openings of 150 feet clear width on either side of the central pier and a vertical clearance of 15 feet (4.6 m) at high water when closed. The signal for opening the draw is one long blast of the whistle, followed quickly by one short and one long blast. During foggy weather an answering signal of one long blast from the whistle on the bridge will indicate that the draw is open for the passage of boats, and a succession of short blasts will indicate that there will be some delay in opening the draw.

A channel from Gardiner to Reedsport, which is commonly used by launches carrying freight and passengers from the railway station to Gardiner, follows the eastern shore to the cannery 11⁄2 mile above Gardiner, then leads through the flats and around the north and west sides of Bolon Island. A post light marks the crossover. A cut-off channel has been dredged to 6 feet (1.8 m) at mean. lower low water across the flats northwesterly from Bolon Island, making nearly a straight channel between Reedsport and Gardiner. It is marked by two lighted post beacons.

Winchester Bay is a small open cove on the east bank just inside the entrance to the river.

A rocky reef, bare at extreme low tide, lies 600 yards southward from the south point of Winchester Bay. The reef is about 100 yards offshore.

72870°-34——13

Ork Reef, a patch of rocks and sand awash at half tide, lies abreast the northern end of Winchester Bay. Depths of 3 to 5 feet (0.9 to 1.5 m) extend 350 yards southwestward from the reef.

Gardiner, population 350 (1930 census), is located on the north bank of the river 72 miles inside the entrance. There is a ferry service (passenger, freight, and automobile) with Reedsport.

Reedsport, population 1,178 (1930 census), is a station on the railway, and the principal town on the lower river. One of the sawmills was in operation in 1933, and lumber was shipped out about twice a month. There is ample water at the wharves for vessels that can cross the bar.

Supplies. may be obtained.

Provisions, water, gasoline, and fuel oil for launches Pilots and towboats.-Pilots may be obtained by making a signal to the lighthouse or Coast Guard station. There is a 90-horsepower gas tug available for work on the bar.

A Coast Guard station is located on the north bank of the river, 1 mile inside the entrance.

Repairs.-Minor repairs to hulls or machinery can be made. Carpenters are available, and there is a machine shop at the lumber mill. There are facilities for docking launches up to 60 tons.

Communication is by rail to the interior, or to Coos Bay and thence by steamer. The vessels calling here for lumber do not carry passengers. There is communication by telegraph and telephone. The Oregon Coast Highway (U. S. 101), formerly known as the Roosevelt Highway, connecting all ports along the Oregon coast, has been completed.

No directions that would be of value to a stranger can be given.

SIUSLAW RIVER (CHART 6023)

enters the ocean 42 miles northward of Cape Arago Lighthouse, and 71⁄2 miles southward from Heceta Head Lighthouse. The river is in the Oregon collection district; the port of entry is at Marshfield, on Coos Bay.

The south entrance point is a narrow spit of high, shifting sand dunes. The north point consists of a low, flat sand beach, backed by rocky, wooded cliffs of 50 to 100 feet (15.2 to 30.5 m) elevation.

Cannery Hill, 145 feet (44 m) high and wooded, is situated on the eastern shore just inside the entrance, and is prominent from seaward.

The entrance has been improved by the Government by the construction of jetties. These confine the channel which, prior to their construction, was subject to extensive changes in position. The approach is marked by a whistle buoy.

The bar is narrow, but the depths are subject to change. In June 1934 there was a controlling depth of 8 feet (2.4 m) at mean lower low water on the bar, and a least depth of 14 feet (4.3 m) between the jetties. The controlling depth to Cushman was about 8 feet (2.4 m). In 1933 most of the mills were shut down, and there was no shipping in the bay. Lumber products were shipped by rail.

Light-draft vessels can ascend the river to Mapleton, but the channel is narrow and crooked.