Carbon Cat Columbia River Adventure on Best4Boats

To prove the toughness and capabilities of Carbon Cats, Aspen founder Larry Graf decided to put some of the new tenders to a test. An adventurer to the core he and his team launched three different Carbon Cat models, a T10, T11, and the new flagship T13C, into the Columbia River in early September at Ilwaco, Washington near the river’s mouth. After they cruised along part of the notorious river bar near the Cape Disappointment Lighthouse and visited the USCG station with its 47 Motor Lifeboats they headed upriver on a five-day journey. 

The trip took them 491 miles from the ocean past Portland OR, through multiple locks that traverse Columbia River dams and up the Snake River to Clarkston at the entrance to Hell’s Canyon. Larry, his son Nick, Len Renne, and Steven Gremmert set out to determine if boats that most people use as light weight tenders can cruise safely and efficiently for hundreds of miles. In the Columbia Gorge, famously known as the Windsurfing Capital of the World, gusts reached 40 knots and the boats still managed to stay on plane. By the end of the trip, the fleet had proven that even the smallest of tenders can be effective cruisers and come back with a story worth telling. Follow along as journalist Norris Comer recounts this epic small boat adventure in Best4Boats.com.