A spare, witty account of messing about in a homemade boat in the Columbia River estuary, originally published in 1987. The author -- a literary river rat -- follows the Columbia River from Cape Disappointment to Portland, past campsites for the Lewis and Clark expedition, sites for old Indian villages, and old fishing communities, to the barrier of the Bonneville Dam. The journey spurs anecdotes, history, and observations about the river and the author's experiences.  (PNW98, $14.95)