Last Minute Weather Cancellation

More often than not, the weather cooperates. Sometimes however, it does not. We start looking intently at the weather five days before any trip. Since the charter companies rely heavily on the NOAA marine forecast, that is where I start. I usually the confirm the forecasts by checking two other sites: windfinder.com and windy.com. 
If we have a favorable forecast that is unlikely to change, I send out a group email with all critical trip information: when and where to meet, where to park, what to bring etc. I usually add that the group will only hear from me if the forecast changes drastically. 
If we have a poor or questionable weather forecast, things are more complex. The first group email will contain the forecast and our judgment on how likely it is that the trip will go out. Often we will wait a couple of days before making a final decision, unless we have a long-term forecast of very poor weather. The main reason we wait is to make sure that cancellation is the best decision. Some people have traveled very long distances and spent a lot of money to do our trips, and we want to go out when it is prudent to do so. When it is necessary to cancel, we do our best to do so as early as possible, allowing people to cancel hotel reservations, etc. Nevertheless, we sometimes make the decision as late as the day before, or very rarely, the morning of. We thought we would be able to run our July 19 pelagic, but the skipper called me the day before expressing concern about running the trip. As we discussed this, he made the discussion to cancel our trip. Although the final decision on whether or not to go out is made by the charter, safety is a concern shared by everyone, and neither the charters nor Oregon Pelagic Tours will willingly put anyone in harm's way. 

Oregon Pelagic Tours Updates!

 We at Oregon Pelagic Tours are excited to start our 2026 pelagic season! This year, we are not only offering our normal 8-hour pelagics out of Newport (8/29, 9/20. 10/11, 12/5) and Garibaldi (9/13, 10/4), but have several special tours planned. All OPT trips have spaces available. 

The first of these is a short, 6-hour tour out of Newport on July19th. This tour is ideal for those who still hope to see albatross and other typical seabird species, but don't want to spend a full day on the ocean. We would love to see a few more birders on this trip. 

Next up is the All-Women's Pelagic out of Garibaldi on August 16th. This trip is currently full, but we are accepting names for the waitlist, as not all participants have paid, and therefore one or two spots may still open up. 

The third special trip is a 10-hour Newport trip  on September 27th, which will offer county listers the opportunity to visit Lane County. This trip is a little over half-full and needs more sign-up to be sure to go. 

More more information, please visit the Schedule and Reservations pages of the Oregon Pelagic Tours website. 

Looking forward to a great 2026!

Oregon Pelagic Tours wishes everyone a 2026 filled with good times, adventures and great birds. We had a difficult 2025, but are excited about the possibilities for the upcoming year. Those who periodically visit our website will have seen that the 2026 pelagic schedule has been published. 
I'd like to highlight a couple of trips. Our spring repositioning cruise will be on the Eurodam from April 20 to April 24. This trip starts in San Diego and ends in Vancouver, B.C. It is already almost halfway filled. The 2027 dates are also set. 
We are again excited to offer an All-Women Pelagic -- boat crew, guides and passengers. This trip will go out from Garibaldi on Sunday, August 16, with Skipper Tamara at the helm. 
Lastly, we had a special request for a pelagic to Lane County waters. Because of the distance, this will have to be a 10-hour trip. It will need around 22 committed birders to run. We are waiting to confirm the date with the charter. 
Oregon Pelagic Tours looks forward to providing birders with opportunities to see albatross, shearwaters and other seabirds, and marine mammals.  We hope you will join us in 2026.