Outpost Week 29 - Restless

Maybe we are feeling a bit antsy due to the fact that the weather has gotten warmer ( about time) and we want to get out and traipse through the forest and do some more exploring by water but those April showers that bring May flowers have arrived here a week early in full force. I know we could suit up in a full set of foul weather gear and I have on occasion when I just have to get out and at least walk the beach but we'd rather do it in the sunshine.

Maybe we're feeling fidgety because we've gone through all our movies and have now resorted to watching older ones. This week we have been having a “Bond” marathon, from “ Dr. No” to “ Quantum of Solace”. I have an urge for a martini.

Maybe we're feeling a bit discontent because the the repertoire of the cook has become uninspired. What we wouldn't give for some chinese take-out, an extra large pizza with the works or even a spicy chicken sandwich and a frosty from Wendy's.

I wonder if the office would mind the delivery charge?

Maybe we're feeling anxious as the end of our 9 month stint at the OP is in sight. More often we are talking and making plans of what we want to do this summer and just becoming reacquainted with civilization has us a bit giddy.

This uneasiness has even crept into my sleep. Waking up at 4 am is not my normal

'internal clock' but wide awake I am. Having come prepared this year for being able to roam around in the dark I don my little headlamp, grab my eReader and head into the kitchen to make a cup of tea, little to early to be turning the genny on just yet so I can't make coffee. I read for a couple of hours than find myself finally drifting off to sleep on the very comfy couch in the living room.

Restlessness is not without it's upside. Jobs that I would tackle a month from now in preparation for the incoming crew are getting my attention, this way when the fabulous weather does arrive I will be spending all of my time out doors.

This doesn't look like a rainy day.....give it a minute...... OK an hour.

By the time we have finished our morning coffees, plans for the day have changed.

The smell of spring in the air has Fat Cat venturing out for the first time this year but

she will not wander any further than the doormat for she's a 'fair weather' feline.

Other things are also making an appearance. The first of these bugs was found on Mike's shoulder, YIKES!!!! and several others have had their lives cut short while scurrying across the carpet right in front of us.

Even when the sun does shine for brief moments the rains never stop.

Almost temping enough to dip a toe in.

Quite often the day will end as beautiful as it began.

Till next week,
Heather & Mike

Outpost Week 28 ~ Spring?

March 16^th was circled in red and given a gold star in my calendar this past week.

What made this day so special, you ask. The pictures tell it all.

So spring has finally arrived at the Outpost, as it seems to have done in Ontario also.

Family and friends have all passed along pictures of flowers starting to bloom and being outdoors wearing t-shirts and sandals. It's only March... where is the snow and slush that is the normal weather for this part of the world? Well I'll tell you, it's here!

My one day of sun-bathing was thoroughly enjoyed and thoughts of morning coffee on the deck were foremost in my mind but it was not to be as the next day my sun spot looked like this.

Not having TV here we tend to be looking out the windows for our entertainment, watching the changing sky, the eagles, maybe an otter fishing out front so it's not surprising when we do manage to catch sight of a trawler heading into the bay beside us.

What we don't see often is the trawler leave since I imagine they get underway at the crack of dawn ( I'm still sawing logs at that hour) so it was something new to see them in the light of day. We watched as the smaller boat played out the net, than they

headed to the open ocean. We always wondered what the boat name was and finally getting a good shot of their transom we discovered she's called “Queens Reach”.

“There's a boat coming in” Mike says, although in a tone of 'nothing special'. I didn't react to much since it was just yesterday that we watched a trawler come in so I didn't give it much thought. When I did look out the window to the furthest island since that is where it would be, I didn't see anything, must be behind it right now. I than realized that Mike was gone and at that point I noticed that there was a boat coming in, into our BAY!

Mike was already on the radio hailing the vessel and after trying several channels he got a reply. They had been here several years ago and asked if it was 'banjo Pete' the caretaker at that time, whom he was talking with. They chatted for several minutes and asked if they could tie up to the heli pad for the night. Seems they had done this before so we gave the OK. We than headed down the dock to greet our visitors.

 

Meet Michel, captain of the “Silver Dawn”

 

Don, 1^st mate, chief cook and bottle washer. In my opinion the hardest job on board.

After the vessel was securely tied everyone headed out to collect kelp, which is why they were here. During low tide the scourge the shoreline looking for this plant to harvest, which is used for a popular product sold mainly in Japan – Herring Roe on Kelp.

Once collected in totes the kelp is taken to 'ponds' (an enclosure using nets) and suspended on lines using a clip and a weight. Herring are than released into a pond ( up to 80,000 lbs for a large pond) and will than spawn, their eggs adhering to the blades of kelp. Roughly a week later the crew returns to collect the kelp which is than put back into the totes with a brine mixture. After several processes of grading are undertaken, it is shipped to Japan where it is sold in restaurants and also given as gifts.

This has been a very simplified telling of the process but I hope it covered the basic idea.

Mike and the prized kelp.

By 8 o'clock their work was done and Mike and I headed down for a visit. The

conversation was lively and varied as we all had stories to tell and questions to ask. Both

Michele and Don are 'boaters' so of course we had that in common and talk of anything

that floats was discussed.

While they were out getting kelp, mussels and sea urchins were also tossed into the boat,

which Don cooked up (the mussels not the urchins) for a bit of a snack. I love mussels

and you certainly can't get any fresher than this. The sea eggs as Mike (my Mike)

referred to them was not something I'm accustomed to eating and the sight of the

'spines' moving as Don obvious enjoyed his snack was not my cup of tea.

Upon leaving close to 11pm a bag of goodies in the form of some apples, bananas,

oranges and eggs was given to us. I must have mentioned at sometime that these things

were long gone or maybe it was the way I way looking at the bowl of fruit on the table,

either way it was greatly appreciated.

With good-nights said and plans to see them around 9 am for coffee after they did their

morning collection, we headed back to the lodge.

Wanting to show my 'thanks' I decided to bake them some bread, and than I decided to throw together a pan of brownies and while these were in the oven I thought 'I bet the guys would like some cookies' and since we are going down for coffee in the morning wouldn't some scones hot out of the oven be nice. Four am found me just tidying up and heading to bed where I set the alarm for eight so I could finish the scones and pop them in the oven.

We could have sat for hours talking but after only 45 minutes they had to head off.

Emails exchanged we promised to keep in touch and possibly get together once we are out for the summer.

Lucky for us they saw our dilemma when it came to trying to get across to the next dock. If you noticed in the first picture of the vessel tied to the heli pad you will see that there is a board instead of a bridge between the 2 docks and now that board was in the water. Several days ago we found the 'bridge' floating upside down between the 2 docks, total mystery as to how this happened as there haven't been any storms and we had it tied with 2 lines. Our plan was to tow it out with our tinney and drag it ashore to remove the plywood and than we could manhandle it onto the dock and put it back in place.

The guys aboard 'Silver Dawn' didn't hesitate to come and lend a hand.

Thank-you everyone.

Jan and Richie ready to go.

Under blue skies and with calm seas they headed off.

One final word: Happy Birthday to Me!

Till next week,
Heather & Mike

Outpost Week 27 ~ Bit of This, Bit of That

Some weeks a phase, a thought or a good title will pop into my head which gives me some sort of direction that my blog will take. Hopefully this happens before Wednesday afternoon when I sit down to write, as this seems to have become my routine. If there is nothing rambling around up there and I can assure you that some days there isn't, than I wait and see what comes of the pictures I have taken throughout the week.

Recently I have commented on the few number of photos I have been taking, there just doesn't seem to be much going on around here, except for the barge last week (one last hurrah) so I was surprised to find so many images that I could use this week. I'll admit it's almost all animals and weather but hey that's all I got to work with here.

Now that I'm not attached to a heater and hot water flows freely from the taps it's been a week of cleaning. Floors got washed, the kitchen had a good wipe down and the pile, mountain, heap or mound, take your pick, of laundry gave the NEW washing machine a workout. I forgot to mention last week that Ken had put a washer aboard the barge so my hand washing days would be no more. The nice thing about having an inventory of a 50 or so towels (for crew) is there's aways a fresh one to grab.

 

We have 2 resident eagles whom I often hear but seldom see. On this particular day there must have been something intriguing on the beach which held their attention and let me spy on them.

The weather window which had allowed the barge to come down was just that, a window which closed later that day and in it's wake left behind 4 days of dreary overcast skies.

When this weather pattern does break the vista before us is always breathtaking.

There's something about the sun shining that has everyone coming around.

Sam has grown comfortable, maybe a bit too much, looking in the windows to see what we are up to. Hello Sammy!

Princess on the other hand will sit here all day but not once acknowledge that she sees us.

And than we have the unexpected. Mike was outside filling the furnace tank and I had been in the bedroom when I walked into the dining room and saw a dinghy racing towards the dock. People!!! First things first I grabbed my camera and from the deck snapped a couple of pictures, than rushed out to tell Mike we had company and than hurried down to greet them. Two of the fellows we had met last year, one from DFO and the other was a diver that had come in to do some work on the heli pad. The reason for their visit this time was to dive the docks, something they were doing at all the lodges. We chatted for a couple of minutes while two of the guys suited up and it was than I realized that I didn't have my camera, not like me to run down there in the first place without it, so off I went. Either the water was really cold or they saw all they wanted to see but by the time I returned they were both back in the boat and all 3 were heading off.

So much for a photo opportunity.

A question that had been asked by one of our visitors was “have you seen many birds lately?” “No we haven't” I replied “and in fact I haven't seen as many birds here as I did last year.” Nothing more was asked so I have no idea why they did.

These 3 Merganser's have been in our bay all season. They don't very often come to this corner so I didn't waste any time trying to get a couple of pictures.

I've learned never to be disappointed nor get excited when I take my first look at what's happening outside because in an hour or two it will likely change, so when we woke up to quite a bit of snow (for here) the other day it was no big deal. In fact my first thought was “I'm going to make a snowman today”. Well true to my word by the time I had my coffee (s) something to eat and browsed the internet to see what was going on in the real world the temperature had started to climb and the snow had started to melt....than it started to rain. My plans for having a bit of fun in the sun oops meant snow, were melted away.

Must be tiring to be a deer. Trails to navigate, beaches to explore, having to check back to the lodge several times a day to see if there might be a hand out...take a nap.

So it it seems another week has gone by and I have managed to say a bit about this and a bit about that.

Till next week,

Heather & Mike

Outpost Week 26 ~ Happy Days Are Here Again

If ever there was a cause for celebration it was Monday March 5^th when the barge finally arrived in Port Louis. Ken had been keeping us up to date as to their progress and a possible attempt to come down the coast Monday or Tuesday was the plan so far. On Sunday afternoon we received the email that we have been waiting 6 months to read........the barge is coming!!!!

An ETA of 10 am to noon on Monday had us up at the crack of dawn, well more like 8 but close enough, to have a couple cups of coffee before we started hauling down the assortment of items that were going out on the barge.

It was a beautiful clear morning even if it was chilly and a thin layer of snow had fallen the night before. The sun was out and the bay was calm, couldn't ask for a better conditions. Manned with hand carts we started wheeling down beer kegs (empty), boxes of fishing gear to be repaired, bags of jackets and pants to be cleaned for the coming season, fishing rods, a safe (yes a safe), a large coffee machine, a dishwasher, 2 ice makers and a paddle board. Try as I might we couldn't manhandle the heavier items so I'll have to step aside on that one and ask one of the guys coming in to lend a hand.

As luck would have it we were on an incoming tide and a high one at that. For us that meant the ramp from the barge to the heli pad wouldn't be as steep as it might have been but we were also experiencing quite a surge and the docks were constantly moving and groaning and emitting all types of strange noises. Have you ever gone into the 'fun house' at a carnival? This is what the docks made me think of. You would go to step onto one of the bridges and suddenly it wasn't exactly where you thought it was.

Everything now piled on the dock, we waited, sitting in the sun which had now reached us.

We heard the rumble before we actually saw the barge. I raced back up into the lodge to grab my camera and take some shots of her coming into our little bay.

It's been 95 days since we've seen anyone and that was only for about 15 minutes when the plane came in with the part for the furnace and a load of fresh produce.

Once the ramp was down Mike wasted no time on going aboard and greeting the guys.

I almost hugged the first person I saw ( but held back) mainly because their arrival meant that we would have fuel and that meant we would have heat and hot water.

After discussing the gorgeous weather, their trip down and how each month they had tried to make it here but the conditions always seemed to kick up just then, it was time to get to work. While Dave, Dave, Jim and Mike headed off to hook up the diesel hose, I stayed back on the float where the sun was.

Now that the fuel was flowing it was time for us to start transferring our pile from the dock up the ramp and into the container on board. With Dave lending a hand we were done in no time at all with the light stuff, the dishwasher and ice maker were a little more taxing.

 

I think Mike was thoroughly enjoying some male conversation.

In no time at all Jim had the 4 tanks filled to a total of 19690 L of glorious diesel. No chance of running out now! Propane was next on the agenda. Dave had said they were running kinda low in that department but would fill as many as he could, only got as far as 6 but with the 2 we already had we'll be fine although I won't be cooking up a storm. 

While the propane tanks were being taken care of I had a job of my own to do and that was filling the furnace tank with diesel. I'll admit I was a bit nervous when Mike went to start up the furnace but there was no need, it fired right up...oh what a wonderful sound.

The wind had started to pick up and the crew were getting anxious to get under way for the 6 hour trip back up to Langara. Paperwork completed, handshakes and wishes of a safe trip back and than 4 hours after they arrived, they were gone.

Did you hear that? What is that noise? It has been so long since the furnace was on that we'd forgotten all the strange noises the 'beast' makes. We constantly feel the radiators, their getting warm and turn on taps to feel the water, still just luke warm but heating up. Three hours later we enjoyed long hot showers, than a very large celebratory drink while throughout the evening we took turns looking at the thermometer, watching the mercury climb.

One last word: as I sit here writing this I am wearing A t-shirt and no socks.

Our 'circle of heat' is no longer and the average temperature these days is 76 degrees.

Happy days are here again!

Till next week,

Heather & Mike