Outpost Week 20 ~ The Thaw..sort of.

I left off last week saying it was snowing but with warmer weather on the horizon predicted by the powers that forecast these things. Again he was right on both counts and we had snow most of the day on Friday. I don't mind the snow, it looks pretty and stays white and clean till it melts... no cars or smog here to turn it grey and dirty looking.

Sam doesn't seem to mind it to much either.

What a difference a day makes and I mean this literally. We woke up Saturday to the beautiful sound of drip drip drip, snow thawing from the roof and falling onto a misplaced bucket. Every where you looked were signs of a thaw. Not wanting to rush things and be disappointed Mike left the water pumped turned off for a few more hours.

Good time to head outside for a bit fresh air and maybe a walk along the beach. Haven't done this in ages, been too cold. The crisp snow is now slushy and slippery on the boardwalk and I take the opportunity to do a bit of a run and slide. We all still have a bit of the kid inside us.

Throughout the day sheets of snow could be heard sliding down the length of the roof to fall with a thud. My timing was off or maybe my footfalls were the cause but I must have run out half a dozen times to snap a picture only to hear it drop as I neared.

There's always something that you don't think about and have to pay the consequences for it later. During our big freeze not once did I think of the 14 18L bottles of drinking water that are kept outside. Mistake. With a temperature of 3C everything was melting including our water in the 10 bottles that had split open. Garbage cans lined with plastic bags, big pots and trays, anything that would contain the containers to save our water, which I than transferred into other empty jugs.

As I was sorting out the drinking water, Mike was taking care of the real important stuff...water for a shower and it looks like everything was a go. We're back in business once again and the H20 is flowing.

The barge is on it's way to Masset and the last update concerning us, is that the decision will be made Saturday whether the weather and seas are good enough for a trip down here.

Mike and I daily take a look at the marine report and weren't all that surprised (well maybe a little) to see this forecast. Tuesday night we did experience gusts of wind like we have never had before but fortunately it didn't last long nor was there any damage.

Well no one can be right all the time and the weather report forecasting a fairly mild night was well off base. Wednesday morning we find ourselves once again without water, well it was nice while it lasted. Our water tank during the -16C cold spell turned into one massive ice cube and did thaw for those 4 days to provide us with water but the line to fill that tank is frozen, so until we see some more mild weather I'm back to heating water on the stove and the famous bucket showers. Suddenly the weatherman can't make up his mind, tempting us with temperatures of 7C and 8C but delivering a somewhat colder version around the 0C range. At this rate nothing is going to thaw so we are back to collecting water at the 'source'.

Sam keeps us amused on a daily bases showing up where we least expect to see him.

 

Till next week,
Heather & Mike

Outpost Week 19 ~ Deja vu

This week has been all about the weather, from 'Alerts' of snowfall to 'Warnings' of frigid air. The weatherman was right on both counts.

I've lost track of the number of days since the sun has graced our shores but the slight snowfall we experienced did add a different dimension to the normally somber horizon.

Sammy, who can usually be found looking in the kitchen window has now taken to standing out back. He must see us walking around and is hoping his presence here will be more noticeable.

There must suddenly be something good to eat on this side of our little bay as these 'Surf Scoters' never paddle their way over here, always preferring to remain on the other side and out of range of my camera.

Our snow flurries lasted only a day leaving behind just enough snow to make everything look wintery. 

 These clear blue skies came with a cost...a drastic drop of the mercury.

Monday morning we woke up to -14C/6F ( according to the Masset weather site) and NO WATER!. If you recall we went through a period last year where we had no water and I had to melt snow, a lot of snow so it was no surprise when this happened again. Containers of water had been set aside for such a situation but were quickly depleted. You would be shocked at how much it takes to get through a day just doing your daily routine. The snowfall was nothing like we had last year so that option was out but there was another source and that was going directly to the source. There are two water tanks that are filled by way of a stream that runs through the forest, the pump and the beginning of the line all are located underneath the crew shack but it's also here that the streams pours out and down to the beach. Suited up in rain gear complete with rubber gloves Mike and I head out in the very chilly weather to collect water. It's fairly easy to get to and before you know it we have half a doz 18L bottles filled, this is about all we can can pull in the cart through the snow at a time.

The 'source'

Ice as art

The frigid cold front has found it's way into the bones of the lodge. We have become accustomed to the odd snap and sounds as if someone is walking about upstairs but the last few days the lodge has come alive. Crack! Like a gunshot ringing out in the middle of the night it jolts us awake.

Beep! Beep! Beep! What the heck is going on? Once again in the middle of the night, (why do things always happen in the middle of the night?) we are jared awake. This time it's the smoke detector sending out it's high pitched siren and the lights which we had immediately turned on were fading in and out. Something's wrong with the generator! - during this cold spell we have left it running- Dressing as fast as one can while still half asleep and scrambling to find a flashlight, we rush to get to the shed. Grabbing at the doorknob at the back door I am suddenly confused for a second as I find the doorknob in my hand but not attached to the door. We head for the patio doors to find an exist as the genny suddenly quits. Mike in the lead we head out into the biting cold. The crunch of snow beneath our rubber boots is a sound I haven't heard in decades and one I can definitely live without. Once at the genny shed Mike has to wrestle with the door there, it seems to be frozen shut. Access gained with doorknob intact he turns off all power to the 35kw. His first thought is a possible frozen fuel line but it's only -16C/2F. He turns his attention to starting the 20kw but again finds the panels (doors) frozen shut. With only a latch, no handle to pull on he quickly finds a screwdriver to pry it open. A flip of a switch and it fires up but you can tell it's cold and will need a good amount of time to warm up before we can turn the power switch on. A long twenty minutes later we're back in business and from where we stand can see the lodge lit up. First things first I put the coffee on, there was no point returning to bed now.

Settling in our 'circle of heat' .....your what? Our 2 laptops reside on a round table which we placed in front of the windows so we can watch the world go by as we read what is going on in the rest of the world. Three electric heaters which arrived on the christmas plane ( we thank Ken daily for these) are placed around us (i.e circle of heat) keeping us warm in the lodge which these days only reaches a high of 54F/ 12C even with the furnace running. Later in the day back in the generator shed Mike checks over the 35kw, seeing nothing obviously wrong, figures he'll give it a try....turns the key and it starts, better than that it keeps running.

Barge update: Well we're still waiting to see the vessel and weather permitting it will try to make it down here around the 25^th . We've been doing what we can to conserve fuel (this cold weather hasn't helped) and propane. What will happen if it can't make it?

Another trip, another try, is planned for February and we'll be fine till than.

Darkness has fallen and so is the snow. Weatherman predicts warmer temperatures on the way and in fact today was only -7C, by Saturday we should be back to normal with a high of 5C and rain. Strangely enough I am looking forward to seeing some rain again.

So that has been our week..... the pot of water is boiling, time for a nice bucket shower!

Deja vu.

Till next week,
Heather & Mike

Outpost Week 18 ~ I Spy....

“I think I just saw a light.”

It's late Sunday night, 11:48pm to be exact when Mike made this statement. We both jump up to peer out the window into the darkness. Nothing but a wall of black and I mean black. It must be a pretty heavy cloud cover for we can see no stars nor a moon. Staring into nothingness for another 30 seconds I mentioned that it was about this time last year that we started seeing a fishing trawler in our area.

“Must have just been a reflexion that caught my eye”, Mike says has he heads off into the kitchen to grab us a bottle of water. No sooner had he turned his back when suddenly there was a light! The green starboard light was quite visible along with their powerful spotlight guiding the way into the bay beside us. Within minutes they had passed out of sight. It was amazing that Mike had even spied that first hint of light from his chair while we sat watching a movie.

Two days later around 5 o’clock there was the boat again and this time I was able to take a few pictures.

We speculated last year about what kind of fish that trawler was after. January and February are such terrible months for being out on the west coast it must have been something well worth their efforts. Funny how things happen but while we were home, on our sailboat in Port Hardy this past summer, we met the guys who worked on a boat that came into the bay beside us in Port Louis.... small world.

So what do they fish for? Sable fish, also known as Black cod.

The warm weather that I bragged about last week has changed...just a little. The only tell-tale sign that I spied was a small patch of snow on the distance hills.

I spied our resident eagle before before he spied me, which is rare.

This young eagle didn't care if I was spying on him, there was no way he was leaving his beach find (like road kill but usually a bird that has washed up) until he had had his fill.

This is taken from the kitchen window where I think I am the one being spied upon.

Till next week,
Heather & Mike

Outpost Week 17 ~ Fun & Games

The new year arrived quietly under the cover of a grey sky and wispy low clouds. The forecast for an unusually cold winter has yet to materialize, which is a good thing. Just the other day we had a temperature of 10C and if I didn't know better I would think that spring was just around the corner.

Mild as it may be it still looks like January.

Maybe because it is a new year and wanting to start fresh I get in the act of cleaning, resorting, reorganizing and basically taking stock of what's left for our remaining time. After several days of taking down all the decorations, packing them up, vacuuming up all the needles that no matter how careful you are seem to scatter themselves into distant nooks and crannies and putting everything back where it belonged the lodge looks somewhat naked.

A break in the weather earlier this week lets me enjoy some time outside.

Cleaning the front wall of windows which have taken a beating over the last month are crystal clear, the boardwalk is swept clean, the gutters emptied of those blasted pine needles, everything looks great..... until the next storm.

Now that the new year is here and there are no more holidays to plan for or decorations to think upon I turn my attentions to other interests. Last year we brought in our Wii and it was only the last couple of days that I got around to setting it. Afternoons you can now find me at the bowling alley, on the golf course or even in the boxing ring. A bit of friendly competition keeps things exciting as we try to best one another's score.

So far Mike is the tennis champ but he can't touch me when it comes to shooting the ducks!

And what would January be without the start of a new 1000 piece puzzle.

Till next week,
Heather & Mike