We’re into our final days here at The Outpost now and to be honest, we both cannot wait to get out. For me, there are three reasons and I think Wendi feels the same.
#1) Since the middle of the month, we have had a crew of guys here who are building the new staff accommodations. They are not a bad bunch of guys but they’re not the best house guests either.
#2) We both miss our boat and our family – it really is time to go.
#3) We can’t wait to get out so that we can come back – True story!
Yesterday afternoon, Wendi & I went out in the new boat – 😎 – with one of the guys to
do a little fishing. We didn’t catch any fish and we weren’t out very long before the outboard started sputtering and hesitating but it was really a lot of fun anyway. We went out past the islets and islands that we’ve been staring at for nine months and it felt great. It felt like day parole! It was very calm but on that side of the islands the swell was alive – gentle and not big, but very alive. It really felt great and now I’m really stoked about getting back to Cosmic Debris and getting back on the water.
When the motor started acting up we reeled our lines in and Doug opened her up and we went for a little rip – literally, one blade was completely sheared off the propellor! Not Doug’s fault, we didn’t hit anything. This boat is a 19 foot aluminum with a 90 HP Yamaha on it and this will be our ride for our next nine month stint starting in September. It will be so much nicer to have a boat and be able to get around a little, do some fishing – cover some ground. So yeah, it’ll be totally cool to get back!
In mid-April, Jordan came in with Graham – Graham is the builder they’ve contracted to put up the new bunkhouse. They had a look around and made some plans and then left the next day. About three weeks later, Graham returned with his crew – four guys including himself.
After that initial visit we started work removing a very large stump where the building was planned to go and gutting the old staff building to prepare it for demolition. By the time Graham and the boys returned the stump was gone and the windows, doors, appliances, woodstove, breaker panel, etc were all removed from the old guide shack. Doug came in on a seiner with our grocery order and more building supplies to demolish the old shack.
Needless to say, with all the work on the stump, demolishing the old guide shack and trying to look after this crew, we’ve had no time to devote to garbage detail on the beaches, other than right here in front of the lodge, and now we won’t be able to do any more until our return later this summer.
We’ve briefly discussed putting a mooring for Cosmic Debris in the bay here and it doesn’t sound like it’ll be a problem. Details haven’t been covered and no commitments made yet but it sounds very hopeful. Tomorrow, we fly out to Masset and spend the night at Gerry’s B&B again before flying to Vancouver on the 24th. The main task will be to get Cosmic Debris ready for an insurance survey and then we’ll also do a few upgrades to prepare for an offshore voyage of 500 to 600 miles.
Today is our last day, we’re fairly socked in and there’s a bit of wind in the forecast as well. It’s raining cats & dogs this morning but the forecast for tomorrow has been upgraded to partly sunny with rain. Hopefully, nothing messes up our flight plan!
I’ll cut it short here, my next post will come shortly and be from aboard Cosmic Debris.
We did manage to get out for one last hike up to the bog and over to Tingley Cove one day, so I’ll leave you with some pictures of that.
Cheers and Happy May Long!!!
Our Haida Gwaii Cleanup Project is about to shift into overdrive as we prepare for launch day!
One time donations accepted here, or
Contribute by smaller monthly donations here
PS, when we get back to Vancouver, this’ll be waiting at the Apple Store for me, er… us 😉 – SUPER STOKED!!! 😎
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