Work is not work, when it's something that you want to do

Sunday, 6/14/2009 - Our day started earlier this morning than we have been use to since changing our routine from boat to lighthouse. Our departure from the lighthouse by float plane at approximately 9:00 am had me tossing and turning from about 4:00 am this morning, when it got light, till the alarm went off at about 7:00. A shower and quick breakfast before one more look around, then I hauled our now slightly used waterproof backpacks down across the rocks to the boat so that we would be ready to jump in as soon as we saw the plane. Right on schedule at 8:30, the plane carrying our neighbors from the beach, Ralph Harrison and his son Christopher, buzzed the lighthouse and circled around the cape to find a smooth piece of water to land on. Fortunately, just around the east side of the point that blocks the ocean swells, he found a nice spot and soon we were tossing their luggage into the boat and ours into the plane. Pretty smooth till we discovered Ralph’s fly rod case in the luggage area of the plane when we unloaded up in Sitka. Oh well, they will have plenty to do and Rhonda and I are taking it back to beach with us. We walked over to Alaska Airlines to check on our flight for this evening and decided to forgo the quick tourist version of Sitka-in-a-day and took the next flight. We only had to wait for about a half hour for a flight that will have us home by dinnertime.
We had such a nice trip up to Cape Decision by boat. Rhonda was telling me this morning as we were standing outside the copula on top of the lighthouse tower, that she would do that trip again at the drop of a hat if invited. It was such a great experience and we feel that we have made a new friend and anytime Jack needs some help getting his boat to or from Alaska, all he has to do is give us a call and we will be there.
As we expected, the work really got started from the moment Karen met up with us at the back of Port MacArthur on the Log Dog. After a short side trip to shore to check out what turned out to be the decaying carcass of a whale, we got all of our gear and supplies transferred over to the Log Dog and went on ahead to the lighthouse in Helga (the 16’ skiff that belongs to the lighthouse society)to get the hoist set up .About the time we finished setting up, the Log Dog had made it to a good location just behind the protection of the point. Chris and Karen then started to ferry full boatloads of freight in where Rhonda and I would raise it up in the cargo net and unload it onto the dock, then move it towards the light house to make room for the next load. This went on for a solid 4hrs and when the last load came up, hanging off of the side of the net was a freshly caught salmon that made for a great dinner for the whole crew that evening







The next day (Wednesday) was spent setting up the water system and organizing the stuff that had been brought ashore the day before. By afternoon, we were starting to get into the projects that we had come out to do. Chris was focusing on removing the old floor tiles, starting in the bedrooms, then installing a new epoxy flooring material . My focus was to finish the roof of the outdoor composting toilet building (affectionately dubbed the “Turtle Head” for its shape and purpose).
The next couple of days fell into a routine of getting up, making coffee/tea, then starting our projects with a break for breakfast, a late lunch, then dinner when we were having trouble seeing outside because of the dark. At that latitude it stays light pretty late so our dinnertime and bedtime were one right after the other.
On Saturday, our last full day, we stepped back from our projects long enough to go for a boat ride to look for a few things on some nearby beaches. We needed a few pieces of “art wood” for the Turtle Head and some cedar, and for our row boat project back at home, a nice piece of Sitka Spruce. We found the art wood and cedar but didn’t find any suitable Spruce till we got back to the lighthouse and remembered a downed tree on the property that would be perfect. Alas we had chainsaw problems so our beautiful hand carved Sitka Spruce oars will have to wait another year. It does give us a wonderful excuse to go back next year. Untill then we will just have to pass the time messing around with the boat projects that we left behind at Salmon Beach...I don't know about you but I'm kind of looking forward to it. See you on the trail.