Home at last. The first thing I do is build a fire–my woodshed is full of dry wood and the house is damp as ond dishrag. My arthritis is acting up–moving out the desert to SE Alaska is hard on old men. Surprisingly, the house survived the winter and after two days of heat in the house, the piano swung back into tune. It’s a 7’4″ Kawai which is the heaviest piano built–a semi-concert grand piano and it has held its tune for years. The last time I tuned it, the fellow didn’t even touch the base strings. Amazing.
No pipes froze and within about three hours, I had two fireplaces running, water heated and lights on. The new Discover batteries flipped on with a button and the Yacht Club is open! First order of business is to pour a gin & tonic…..no, just kidding….that won’t happen until 5pm. Instead I inspect the intakes for the hydro–here the upper larger intake (a Coanda screen) was lifted right out of the creek by a huge deluge. It’s feast or famine here with hydro power.
Half-way up the penstock (it runs 458′) looking back down to the powerhouse. All intact.
And looking uphill….. These supports are Alaska Yellow Cedar–and won’t rot, especially in muskeg however they take a beating with snow-loads shearing off the fasteners. These are essentially temporary structures.
The Big Bend. This is a problematic area and got clobbered a couple years in a row. Here it’s working. I need to install a clean sweep section here but how do you bend a 6″ Charlotte PVC pipe? You can’t. I’ve got extra sections and could try with heated sand. Anyone done this?
Here’s the intake after repairs and some severe re-engineering. I bolt the unit to a large boulder and fasten each side with a 2″ X 8″ which serves as a scaffold for a berm directing water into the intake. Each end is buried in the creek bank and another huge boulder. By the time I finish, the water is within a couple inches of the Coanda screen. Skookum!
On with the summer! If the sports fishers keep taking these “chickens” or “ping-pong paddles” they’ll be nothing left. One now has to boat out 20 miles or more to find larger halibut. It’s not uncommon to go through $500 worth of gas on one trip–I buy my fish in town and it’s worth every penny. If I don’t catch a fish in 10 minutes, I’m bored as can be. Alaska fisheries are in trouble, especially the King Salmon species. There are rumors that lawsuits are being filed to shut down both commercial and sport king salmon. Canada has no commercial king now and all “East Coast” salmon are hatchery raised, with dye added to make them look like fish. Petersburg–home of the largest King Salmon ever caught–hasn’t had a salmon derby for 9 years now.
One of the burdens of living off grid is hauling propane. But, my new 16′ Lund makes this a lot easier. (I’ve 20 boats now) I’ve 8 propane tanks, four are huge 135-pounders. This is not an easy task for me anymore. Fortunately I ask the boatyard to drop them back into my boat:
I wait til these are about 3′ off the water and slip under with my larger 16′ Lund and Mike gently lowers into the boat. I’m home in 5 minutes and reverse the process with a winch on my dock. Eight tanks cost me $900 this time around with propane over $6 per gallon now! That’s why I build fires in my fireplaces.
Now, this being a Yacht Club, one needs ice and there is no finer accompaniment to my 5 o’clock gin & tonic than this 10,000 year old genuine LeConte Glacier ice-burg ice. What shall I do when global warming hits?
Utilizing my old mountaineering skills, and these donated titanium ice-screws given to me by Russian alpinists during a 1980s sister-city exchange program, I leap into action–much like roping a steer at a rodeo. I anchor everything down after carrying a few buckets of ice up to my freezer and expect this to be around for a few days. I am disappointed–nothing but the rope and two ice-screws remain in the morning. These guys weigh in at several tons–and the currents here in the Wrangell Narrows are swift. I’ve still enough for a month of cocktails.
Then visitors start showing up. This guy is a pretty good sized bear and sniffs around my outdoor kitchen which I keep meticulously clean. He ambles off when I rattle the porch door. He hangs around for a month so I’m cautious when I work outside alone. I’ve bumped into several of these–once nose to nose. Some have cubs.
I remember when corn was a nickel an ear. Welcome to Petersburg–it’s not only propane that’s pricey. A six-pack of Schweppes tonic water is now $9.46! You folks down under–don’t complain about food prices. Northland Barge folded and now it’s only AML (and one ferry) so I detect some price-gouging. Petersburg is now a one-barge town. I shipped a 20′ container from Seattle 20 years ago for $700–today is about $4000.
More bambi’s also. I’ve also a set of twins. This one was born the same day as his legs were shaking as he walked–and walk he did! He seemed quite the explorer and mom gave him leash.
On of my first duties as Commodore of the South Kupreanof Yacht Club (after the ice-rodeo) is to set the crab pots. I arrived May 12th this year and commercial crab opens June 15th so I’ve got to gorge on crab while I can. My last haul was quite good–6 nice dungies so I boil them up with Old Bay and freeze 5 for futures. Normally I leave pots on the bottom re-baiting every two days and taking only two at the most. Today there are about 100 pots in front of my house–no chance after the commercial season opens. Last year I caught only two crab–this year I’m lucky.
My neighbor helps me on the hydro intake (bear wary) and this is our commute over to Mitkof after a crab-feast–sure beats I-5 in Seattle on a rainy Friday Labor Day weekend. Devil’s Thumb straight ahead; Petersburg on the right. North entrance to the Wrangell Narrows is about two miles dead ahead.
My first pies–damn, life is good–Rhubarb/Strawberry on the left and Peach on the right. A few summers back, I baked 32 pies. And of course, you have to eat them with whipped cream (for breakfast) or they’ll stick in your throat. These had the best crust I’ve ever made (2 C flour, 1/2 stick butter, 1/3 cup shortening, dash of salt and water). I split brown & white sugar and only use about 2/3 cup for each. Cinnamon, a dash of nutmet and a pat of butter in the center before closing them up. I can knock two of these out in about 1/2 hour.
A recycled use for old Chouinard pitons is fireplace hardware. 3/4″ angles for hinges and “Lost Arrows” for the latch. Various chocks, nuts and pitons garnish the “routes” elsewhere. A mountaineer stares off at Mt. McKinley on the chimney. Well, summer is here and life is good…… Here are the twins:
Stay tuned!