Friday December 2 is circled in red on our calendar. It was a grey overcast morning with a sprinkling of rain but no wind and the bay was calm. A phone call to Heather at the Masset Seaplane airport confirmed what we had been waiting for .....the plane will be coming in. After a quick trip to Langara it will be coming back to the hanger to load our 900 lbs of supplies than out to the OP. Whoa, that's a lot of weight, let's hope everything makes it on.
We were rather antsy waiting to hear the sound of the engines overhead.... pour another cup of coffee and sit, only to get back up a few minutes later open the door and listen. “Da plane boss, da plane” (no matter how many times we see a plane you just can't help saying this) and suddenly there it was overhead. We jump into our boots and coats, grab the camera and the last wagon to pull down to the docks.
These pilots don't waste any time; pull up to the side of the heli pad, toss out a line to Mike and before he can have it tied off the pilot is out of the plane and wrapping the second line.
As box after box is handed over chit chat is of the weather ( snowing on the other side of the hills) where you from (Prince Rupert), what's your name (Michael) how long you been flying out of Masset ( sorry forgot that one) and before you know it we're unloaded and he has to take off.
Canned goods, produce (a lot of produce) and a small box of holiday cheer weighed in at 450 lbs, the other 450 came from pails of oil for the generators, winter treatment products for the septic, 3 electric heaters (yippee) and the much anticipated parts for the furnace......oh and a mop.
From the plane to the heli pad to the wagons and up to the lodge. A couple of hours spent loading, hauling, unloading, carrying, finding the box containing refrigerated stuff and than sitting down to take a break before the main event.
The Outpost manager Kenny B, as most refer to him as, took extra precautions and sent to us a complete oil burner unit just in case. Twenty minutes was all it took to disconnect 13 wires from the sensor unit (on the complete new burner) and reconnect them on to the unit in the basement. Now the moment of truth. With the flip of a switch the furnace/boiler fired up! Have you ever been so happy as to actually jump for joy? Well I was certainly doing a happy dance down in the basement. Mike being a bit more reserved, waiting to do his happy dance once he inspected everything, made sure the boiler temperature rose to 180 degrees,the circulating pump was pushing the water through the heat exchanger and the rads upstairs were pumping out heat. All this happened in 20 minutes and it wasn't until he turned on the hot water tap for the first time in 87 days and felt warm water, that he did a jig.
I continued putting away the groceries turning on the tap every so often just to feel the increasing temperature of the water, each time I found myself smiling. The moment had arrived...I was almost giddy when I went for a shower. The water by now was hot enough to likely boil a lobster and I emerged after a record breaking length of time into a steam filled room wearing a silly grin.
A bottle of bubbley was popped opened as we moved out of the Florida room and back into the livingroom revelling in the increasing warmth.
Back in business, back to normal, back in the saddle ( or shower ) again.
I swear I wore a smile for the first couple of days, marvelling each and every time I felt scalding hot water pour out of that tap. Only once did I find myself filling the pot full of water to heat up on the stove. Old habits die hard.
On the spur of the moment I can once again shout out “going for a shower” and off I go. No longer is there the need to prepare for it.
We routinely shut down the generator at night before we go to bed but Friday night we left it running sending forth heat and warmth all night long throughout the entire lodge. Saturday morning was a treat in so many ways. First no one had to run out to turn the genny on, second the lodge was warm, 70 F/21C kind of warm, even the furniture felt warmer and third for breakfast I had a banana and than a bagel both which arrived by plane. We haven't had fresh fruit for quite some time so the crunch of a crisp apple or the sweetness of a juicy orange is a treat. Life is good.
You had to have noticed in our pile of boxes sitting on the heli pad several bags of potatoes, 100 lbs to be exact. We like our potatoes and for the last month we have been spudless. Since last week we have had french fries, pan fries, oven fries, mashed, baked and french fries....did I say that already...well we have had them twice.
One great thing about being here in the winter is seeing how clear the water becomes. Leaning over the side of the dock to rinse out my kitchen bucket I noticed the most amazing array of sea life growing just beneath the water along the floats. From my reading these are bivalve siphons, correct me if I'm wrong. They can be referred to as 'shows' or 'eyes looking out'. Located at the posterior end of a bivalve two siphons are formed from folds in the mantle. They draw in water and food (the larger of the two) and expel waste. The fringes which look so pretty act as protection against unwanted debris.
My reflection allows you to see right to the bottom.
So things are back to normal. The morning temperature in the lodge these days (remember we shut off the heat at night ) is 60 F/15C but doesn't take long to warm up with the furnace running and electric heaters helping out. Time spent in the kitchen has increased and even washing up dishes doesn't seem so bad, wonder how long before that feeling wears off? What now? Christmas is just around the corner so it's time to start planning the holiday decorations for the lodge and finding that perfect Christmas tree because this year I do not plan on having a “Charlie Brown” tree, as we all saw last season.
I'm off to have a shower!
Till next week,
Heather & Mike
