Our snow-dusted Toyota sits in the parking lot patiently as we ferry fuel and building supplies across the Wrangell Narrows to work on Totland. Our job this winter is to get the electrical system safe which means a new generator, batteries and a 4000 watt inverter–about twice the size as on the Katahdin.
Here my friend Peter Schultz self-loads a 55 gallon drum of #2 diesel fuel while I secure the boat. We then pump the diesel uphill to the storage tank where it will fuel the generator and ultimately, a new heater in the cabin. This March, it dipped to 7 degrees with a very late spring. Here’s the house with a foot of fresh snow–quite a change from the summer isn’t it? It’s a challenge to wire the well house during these temperatures without heat.
In spite of the hardships, every turn presents us with a fantastic views especially northeast down the Wrangell Narrows to Devils Thumb. On the subsequent post (above), the first photo is taken from our plane as it passes just to the right of Devils Thumb–a rare tour accorded us when Alaska Airlines runs ahead of schedule. Below is our new fast ferry, Chenega, ready to dock at Petersburg a mile from us with the Thumb towering above. I never get tired of this view with every Alaska-bound boat passing in front of our cabin.
The Katahdin, with her new cover, is still our home while we slowly make improvements across the Narrows. With the boiler and diesel galley stove constantly running, we live pretty comfortably albeit a bit crowded.
Our goal is to move into Totland this fall after a 12,000 lb Finnish masonry heater, our container from Seattle and my grand piano arrives this fall. Could have picked an easier place to live, I guess…. Well, I’m off to Prince of Wales Island to help pay for all this nonsense while Martina studies hard in Sitka….stay tuned.