Heather's Special Touches

August is winding down and the breathing room between guests allows for some much needed reflection. What a summer it has been! With all the accidents and calamities it would have been easy to just "pack it in" so to speak and just try to make it through.

Fortunately, our daughter, Heather, was with us this year. Her intended function was to use her culinary expertise to wow our guests with some special palate pleasing dining and delectable desserts. She did that and so much more. She picked up the slack when Abby and I couldn't do our part. From planting the garden to fishing for the Eagles to entertaining the guests ... she did it all. Of course, the wonderful chocolate desserts were my favorite part.

Over the course of the summer, Heather became quite the fisher woman. She caught pretty much everything the ocean has to offer in our area. One fish has eluded her so far, however, the Chinook Salmon. We hope to remedy that situation before she returns to her regular life in Portland. If we do, I'll be sure and post a picture of her catch.

Heather, Thank You for making this summer work.

FIRE!!!

In a word, THE most frightening thing that has happened to us on Rendezvous. Far beyond the other two catastrophes of the summer - Abby, falling on the dock and breaking her wrist in three places along with dislocating it her second day here; and my accident on the table saw cutting a couple of fingers - fire is chilling and devastating.

The story begins last Wednesday. I went out to catch a couple of fish for the eagles so some of our guests could see them take them off the water. In the process, I caught a beautiful 18 lb Chinook Salmon. We decided the best thing to do with it was to smoke it. I prepared the brine and let the fillets soak over night for about 14 hours. Thursday, I started the smoking process in our "Big Chief" smoker that was located in the smokehouse. The last pan of wood chips went in about 6:30 pm and the fillets came out of the smokehouse around 8 pm. We let them cool and then Abby vacuum packed them.

All seemed fine. About 11 pm I went outside on the upper patio and everything was fine ... or so it seemed. I went back inside, shut the lights off, and went to bed.

At 7 am. Nikki wanted to go outside so she got me out of bed. I got dressed and went downstairs to let her out and then headed to the kitchen to make coffee. That's when I saw it.The smokehouse was gone and the area around it was charred. I was out the side door and up the hill immediately calling for Abby to get the neighbors on the phone.

Fortunately, I found the edge of the fire at the crest of the lower ridge. I headed back down to grab a shovel and the hose. I started working on establishing a perimeter to keep the fire from spreading. Luckily the fire was deep in the duff, not burning brush or in the canopy of the trees.

Things happened quickly from there. Max and Henry arrived. Shortly after that Judith came with a shovel and buckets. Then Carl came with Steve Wright and his construction crew. In no time, Clarke, David, Jorge and John arrived followed by two Coast Guard crews. We had at least 5 fire pumps dousing the fire and people working everywhere hunting for heat in the duff and establishing a perimeter. Next arrivals were the crew from the Forestry Fire Center.

In a matter of a few hours, the fire was out ... thanks to the cooperative efforts of all.  We are so grateful

to our friends and neighbors for their quick response, quick thinking, fire fighting equipment, and hard work. Thanks also to the crews from the Coast Guard and the Fire Center. Job well done.

This is what the site looks like today. Not so bad considering what the result might have been.

Mike comes to Rendezvous

In May, Abby's big brother, Mike, came to the lodge to assist with some big projects that frankly were more than I could get done alone. It was so wonderful that he came, added his expertise, his still strong back, and a pair of willing hands. We achieved an amazing amount in just two short weeks.

I'm far behind in posting on on some of the things that have happened this year at the lodge, but the help Mike provided is at the forefront of my thoughts. Everyday we were up at the crack of dawn ... and often before, We had a crew staying at the lodge that needed to get to work over in Redonda Bay and they wanted to be gone before 5:30 am. So, since we were up anyway we were off to work on projects ourselves. During the time Mike was here, I'm afraid all we did was work. I sure hope he'll come back again, but this time for a bit of fishing and enjoyment!

Some of the projects we worked on involved concrete. I can't even recall all of the projects we mixed concrete in a wheel barrow for. We poured new post bases for some of the posts on the heli-pad, post bases for some stair posts, and on and on. This spring we mixed over 80 bags primarily to repair winter storm damage.

Having an electrical background from working with his electrical contractor father, Mike traced down several circuit problems and fixed them. In the process we found a propane leak and fixed that, too. I'm real glad we found that!

We tore out the front slab stairs that lead from the main deck to the first landing as well as the slab stairs that go to the basement. In the process of rebuilding them, we found a drain line for runoff that ran through the basement and under the stairs and to the ocean. Of course, it was plugged so we took it out and replaced it. That led to another project ... developing a "French Drain" for the lodge. First, we installed new drainage pipe under the lodge itself. Then we dug a trench about 8" deep to carry the perforated drain pipe as well as holes for two catch basins. We got the pipes and basins installed with everything prepared for the drainage rock. Fortunately, I found three 20 somethings who needed some day work to bring the rock up from the beach and install it.

The fun didn't stop there. Mike built a much needed deck in the basement to provide additional storage for "necessary" items. In order to complete that project we had to move 30 years worth of junk and clutter out of the basement on to the deck. (I should note that all of the stuff was left by prior owners) We sorted the stuff into piles of junk, retain, and donate ... and then dealt with it all. Looks great, eh!

Unbelievably, we even had time to rebuild a couple of homemade skylights so Abby would have clean skylights in the kitchen. She loves it.

I'm certain I've left out lots of other things we did ... like making dinner for the crew when our cook couldn't make it to the lodge. We did a great job, I think. At least the guys were happy they got dinner.

Thanks again Mike for all of your hard work. You are so much fun to be with and work with. I don't know what possessed you to come, but I'm sure glad you did.

Blue Heron

On my way to the Get Out Migration at Surge Narrows today I ran across this marvelous creature ...

In recent days I've had numerous Pacific White-Sided Porpoises go by the lodge as well as a huge California Sea lion. Sorry no new pics of those.

Big Day for Wild Salmon at Surge Narrows

No, this is not just another fish story about the one that "got away". This is about a grass roots effort initiated by thousands of "locals" interested in preserving one of our earth's great gifts ... the wild salmon. Spearheaded by Alexandra Morton, a biologist from the Broughton Archipelago area, a direct challenge has been made in the court system to the way wild salmon are currently treated by Fisheries and Oceans, the BC Provincial Government, and the Federal Government.

The concern is the future of the wild salmon and the habitat they occupy. Wild salmon are in jeopardy as indicated by the serious reduction in the annual counts conducted by F&O. Many things have played into their demise, but almost all relate to the manner in which government has allowed poor resource management primarily in the fish farming and timber industries. It has been all about the money with only a cursory concern over the impact to the local environment.

Alexandra and her supporters believe this habitat destruction and loss of salmon must come to an end. She is in the process of traveling over land and through the salmon waters from the northern part of Vancouver Island all the way to Victoria in an effort to continue the fight. Along the way people are turning out in large numbers to show support for the cause. If you would like to know more please check out Salmon are Sacred , Alexandra Morton's blog , and Adopt a Fry .

Today, the Get Out Migration came to Surge Narrows on its way to Heriot Bay. Preparations have been underway in the community for weeks. The school children made signs, flags and banners (with Lannie Keller's help). Organizers wanted a flotilla of boats to meet the Migration as it came through Beasley Passage. They wanted a big turnout. I'm happy to say they got it! People came from the entire area. Lots of them. My guess is that there were at least 25 boats to greet her and well over 150 people ... all in the mouth of Beasley Passage at flood tide.  

Alexandra Morton is pictured below - 2nd from the left - aboard the Columbia III

Front Deck Wrap up

This project is almost complete thanks to Max Primgaard. Max is the most amazing guy ...78 years old and you'd think he was barely 50. In unbelievable shape, the man is like the energizer bunny ... he just goes and goes and goes, but he does so with amazing skills and finesse. I'd love to tell you the story of his life, but it's allot better if you get it from him. Suffice it to say I am very proud he is my friend and favorite fishing companion.

Back to the story. The concrete for all the post bases was completed over a week ago. Max showed up at the lodge yesterday ready to complete the job. Frankly, I didn't know he was coming and when he arrived the tide was too high for us to get to work. So, we had tea and coffee and swapped stories for an hour or so.

Once we got into the swing of things the posts went up quickly. Max cut all the bottoms of the creosote posts with a chain saw to match the post bases and also cut them to length. We then either drug them to the water and floated them around to where we could drag them up the rock face or carried them. Believe me they are heavy! We then jacked up the deck and fitted each one in place. Our teamwork was beautiful and things went smoothly.  We also built a bit of a sea wall to protect the posts from the "Bute" winds and the trees and debris that comes with them. I have a few hours works left drilling and bolting the posts to their bases and bolting the wall together, but that's nothing compared to what has already been accomplished. The most wonderful thing is that the deck is now level and plumb. Imagine that! Thanks again Max.

Deck Repair Update

Not too much to report on the deck repairs. The concrete work has been completed for all of the permanent post bases and they are all curing. Most of the work came out fine the first time, but not all. The ocean washed out 3 of the concrete pads the first time they were poured. Doesn't seem like a crisis, but getting concrete out to the lodge is a big job, not to mention having to re-form and then get the concrete down the rock face and under the deck one bucket at a time. The second time I poured them the tide was higher than the first. This time I wrapped them in plastic, however, attempting to make them as water tight as possible. From what I can see (the forms are still in place) it appears that this minimized the washout even though the pads were several feet under water at high tide - and had not fully set prior to their submersion. Tomorrow I'll remove the forms and then I'll know how it really worked. If it was successful I'll take a few photos and post them. If not, I'll grumble a bit and then figure something else out.