Heavy Weather and Huge Seas

Coast Guard Cape Disappointment/Pacific Northwest chronicles dramatic rescue missions conducted by the Coast Guard in and around the Columbia River Bar. Located at the mouth of the Columbia River, the bar is a notoriously treacherous environment responsible for numerous accidents, injuries, and fatalities at sea. To take on an array of challenges in this dynamic natural environment, the Coast Guard presence includes both air and surface assets — with helicopter crews from Air Station Astoria, in Oregon, and boat rescue teams out of Station Cape Disappointment, located across the river in Washington. The series focuses on the rescuers' heroic feats in a place that is commonly referred to as "the graveyard of the Pacific."