Ferrying up the Inside Passage–nearing Finlayson Channel.
It was a hard winter, even by Alaskan standards and perhaps one that was worth avoiding with my winter travels. However, I now have to deal with the consequences. Last year I put in a micro-hydro system and this year it’s in shambles. Eleven years of permits now require major manpower to fix the damage. Here two trees–together–topple directly upon my two intakes. Two for two.
Note the root system impinges upon a very expensive gate valve. Luckily this valve still works. A day with a chainsaw and a helper and the penstock is back running. The snowpack built up over the entire pipeline, froze, then rained, then crushed as the snow settled. Two-thirds of the support bracing failed–completely shearing 3″ tempered deck screws. I was fortunate–the penstock broke only in one place.
Looking back downhill the West Intake survived and is now functioning after some modifications of gravel, etc.
Next it’s tearing down my Yamaha outboard. I discovered a hole burned through the exhaust section (mid-level here) last summer–it could wait til this year. This engine is toast but I risk a home-rebuild with $400 worth of parts. Yamahas are very highly engineered but highly difficult to work on. And, parts are unavailable with the supply issues so it’s getting repaired here at the Yacht Club. This engine has run perfectly for 14 years or more; it’s a FA20ELH which puts a manufacture date of 2008.
Here is the damage–exhaust pummeled the aluminum casting requiring a replacement part priced at $370. As I write, this part has been replaced however, the engineering is tight as it can be and I’m now flummoxed by reassembling. (Update September–it’s run perfectly all summer).
Also not working after this winter……
My internet, washing machine, solar panels, you-name-it, are broken. My cell-phone hotspots OK; almost better than GCIs “high-speed” internet. I keep the GCI account so I can monitor my power generation. My generator also won’t auto-start. Broken pipes greet me upon arrival. And I’ve a leak somewhere in the propane–that could be serious.
It’s time to relax and enjoy a South Kupreanof Yacht Club dinner of pan-fried oysters. Secretively and surreptitiously and otherwise, on the sly; I transport several cases of specialty wines in my truck on the ferry and there is not a better time to enjoy. Wine tasting at the Yacht Club tonight.
Last night; filet Mignon! At my age (soon to be 76), I might as well start using the silverware and enjoying a bottle of my “retirement” wine. Look this up on the internet–it now boasts a four figure price tag–time to guzzle this down!
Here’s the story on these wines. I once had a patient who ran a up-scale wine store in the Pike Place Market. He cellared me one bottle a month/case a year of the finest wines that crossed his desk. Twenty cases in 20 years–Doug’s retirement plan–and then after selling the practice and moving north, I’ve enjoyed a bottle/month for 20 years; all now aged about 20 years or more……. Except that by year 13, I realized I was drinking thousand dollar bottles! So I’ve cellared these in Seattle under lock & key and am now sipping more judiciously. The wine-glass: ugly by anyone’s standards. Guess where these came from? The same guy who built the ugly music museum at the Seattle Center; Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen. I also had a patient who worked with Dale Chihuly who made a set of 50 glasses for Paul. Of course, being hand made, some were slightly off-size and these he paired up and traded for some dentistry. Four of these and a wine decanter for four wisdom teeth–good trade! But, boy are they ugly! I can’t wait until they all break.
I build a fire in the outdoor kitchen and the South Kupreanof Yacht Club is open for the season. A welcome feature of my kitchen is this fireplace–I’ve barbecued at 15F so this comes in handy. Enjoying this evening is Gregg Dietzman:
I run into Gregg Dietzman from Friday Harbor who is cruising past the Yacht Club in his 48′ classic double-ender–built for the BC Coastal Police in the 1940s. Greg walked past me while I was sitting at our only outdoor cafe here in Petersburg and noticed my South Pole hat. We struck up a conversation. He, too, had visited Antarctica and even worked with a fish biologist, Art DeVries, who’s posted here. Gregg is a marine biologist and cold-weather diver and also plays the concertina. He’s making his way up the coast doing recordings in different buildings and recording the acoustics. He has me play some chords on my Kawai Grand piano to later be blended in: Here is a snip of “Gur mis ‘tha gu craitch o’ n’ uriuidh” sans piano: https://soundcloud.com/bridge-of-eights/sets
What do skulls have to do with all this? Besides studying Shakespeare and Anatomy, absolutely nothing, except there’s a shortage of skulls in the medical research industry so I donated mine to the UW School of Dentistry. All skulls today are plastic (perhaps explaining our recent political disasters–I meant to say medical specimens) but this one is real–imported by a medical research company Clay Adams of New York. Skulls used to be imported from India but after a kerfuffle over nuclear test bans, India quit importing them. I recall paying about $150 for this in 1975 dollars however, today it’s valued between two and three thousand dollars!
This sea lion is the biggest I’ve seen–1200-1500 lbs.?
And finally this–maple syrup. Not so, you say, but I asked our local store manager what was in these containers. He replied “laundry soap.” “Where do you see this,” I asked. He squinted and could not find any mention of soap. I queried further insisting this was perhaps maple syrup. How do manufacturers get away with omitting the contents of a container? It could be ricin or nuclear waste? But, hey, they flaunt “fresh breeze” scents and the like, and all sorts of oxy-removal secret technology. In todays marketing world there are perhaps 100 different types of maple syrup; 200 orange juices (calcium, low pulp, etc.) and milk–I cannot count the variants. How do supermarkets keep this all in line? And shampoo! hundreds and the bottles get narrower and narrower so they can compete for space on the shelf–and fall over in your bathroom…… Don’t get me started on conspicuous consumption.
I order 10 more solar panels and put in a new line–the old one developed ground faults (it’s buried). I’ll hopefully be tripling my PV input–my current best day is 9.6KW on a clear winter day (cold is better). My primary input is between 10am and 2pm and I hope to fully charge empty batteries during this four hour opportunity. Here’s a plot of what my power consumption/production is. Solar is green. The coffee-pot went on at 8:30am; late this morning getting rolling. We are approaching twilight all night now here at latitude 58N. Stay tuned……
