Japanese Tsunami Dock

Tuesday - July 24, 2012

You've read about debris floating across the Pacific from the Japanese tsunami and landing on the beaches of the Pacific Northwest. The biggest debris is a 165 ton dock that is on the Agate beach which is just 8 miles from us. We of course needed to go see it. Next week they intend to dismantle it and haul it away. We headed across the Newport Bridge towards Agate Beach.

Newport Bridge

It turns out you need to see this thing during low tide or it is way out in the surf. We were lucky that we went at the right time!

Dock in the sand 

It was about a half mile walk from where you could get beach access. The wind was crazy strong, about 40 mile an hour gusts. We were walking right into the wind. We walked down into the wet sand to make it easier to walk. You can see the sand blowing around on the wet sand in the following picture.

Sand blowing around

There are two lighthouses near here. You could see the Yaquina Head lighthouse from Agate Beach. We would go see that later.

Yaquina Head Lighthouse

This dock is part of history. I am surprised that they are going to remove it. It brings a lot of people here which I suspect also brings dollars to the area.

Japanese Dock

Some people climbed on top of the dock. We did not feel the need to do that. I did notice it had a green non slick sandy type cover on it. The green may be algae from being at see so long.

People on top of the dock

Proof we were there!

Patty

Brian

After the dock we went to Izzy's for lunch. All you can eat pizza and quesadillas for $4.99!! It was actually pretty good. We had seen an add on a Portland TV station. The server had never heard of it and wanted to charge us $8.99. She asked her manager who of course confirmed it. Apparently no one else had requested the deal.

Izzy's is on a hill that overlooks the beach. You can see Agate beach from here. By this time the tide was coming up. The dock was already in the surf. That is the dock in the distance.

Dock in the surf

After lunch we went to the Yaquina Head Lighthouse. There is a compass in the cement.

Yaquina Head

Yaquina Head Lighthouse is the tallest lighthouse in Oregon at 93 feet tall. They do tours of 15 persons at a time. The line is people waiting to get in. 

Lighthouse

They originally used Pig fat oil to run the lamp. Of course now they use electricity to run the lighthouse. There  are 114 steps to the top.

114 steps

Unlike the NorthHead Lighthouse in Washington that used a 100 watt tail light, this lighthouse uses a 1000 watt light bulb!

Thousand Watt Light bulb

Here is the view from the top!

Lighthouse view

Heading back down to Terra Ferma.

Spiral staircase

Looking from the lighthouse you can see the Japanese dock is entirely in the surf now. I sure am glad we went when we did!

They had a place you could walk among  tide pools but it has filled up with sand. I don't know what their plans are, but I hope they can salvage it because it looks like it was pretty cool.

Tidepools

That's it for Tuesday. Hope you have enjoyed following along with us! 

We miss you all,

Brian and Patty