Graveyard of the Pacific

Shipwreck and Survival on America’s Deadliest Waterway

By: Randall Sullivan

Narrated by: Lynch Travis

Off the coast of Oregon, the Columbia River flows into the Pacific Ocean and forms the Columbia River Bar: a watery collision so turbulent and deadly that it’s nicknamed the Graveyard of the Pacific.

Two thousand ships have been wrecked on the bar since the first European ship dared to try to cross it. Since then, the commercial importance of the Columbia River has only grown, but despite the construction of jetties on either side, the bar remains treacherous.

When Randall Sullivan and a friend set out to cross the bar in a two-man kayak, they’re met with skepticism and concern. But on a clear day in July 2021, when the tides and weather seem right, they embark. As they plunge through the currents that have taken so many lives, Randall commemorates the brave sailors that made the crossing before him—including his own abusive father, a sailor himself who also once dared to cross the bar—and reflects on toxic masculinity, fatherhood, and what drives men to extremes.

Rich with exhaustive research and propulsive narrative, Graveyard of the Pacific follows historical shipwrecks through the moment-by-moment details that often determined whether sailors would live or die, exposing the ways in which boats, sailors, and navigation have changed over the decades. As he makes his way across the bar, floating above the wrecks and across the same currents that have taken so many lives, Randall Sullivan faces the past, both in his own life and on the Columbia River Bar.

©2023 Randall Sullivan (P)2023 Dreamscape Media

Too much background, too little shipwreck.

When I purchased this book I thought that it would focus on the many shipwrecks and tales of survival in the Pacific Northwest. Instead, what I got was a book that focused too much on the lives of the 2 men who set out to cross the bar in Oregon. I wasn't interested in an autobiography of the men involved. A brief mention would have been fine.

Uneven Storytelling

I enjoyed learning about the history of the Columbia River and the stories of various shipwrecks over the years. However this interesting history kept getting broken up by the author’s personal stories (somewhat random and meandering) which were of little interest to me.

The narration was OK but unfortunately mispronounced several local names and places, like the Willamette Valley in Oregon.

Very interesting text, lousy narration

Great detail of many historic shipwrecks, people and events around the mouth of the Columbia River. Wonderfully researched
Moderately interesting biography of the author.
Sadly the narrator consistently mispronounced many of the names of places and features of the Pacific Northwest, very distracting. Also his cadence and inner city accent where unpleasant to listen to.

Place names pronunciation butchered

The book is a first person narrative by a Pacific Northwest resident, yet the reader mispronouces so many place names it's impossible to get immersed in the story. It would have been so simple to check the list of names with literally anyone in the area. The whole thing gives the impression of a cheap knockoff. Finally had to stop listening when the childhood back story took over. Is this a local history or a biography?

Too much focus on the two men. Not enough on the shipwrecks

There is an important story about the Columbia River bar embedded here, but the author gets much to enamored by his own story. And the reader must never have been in the Northwest for he didn’t know how to pronounce place names like Yakima or even Oregon.