June 18: But wait, we weren't done yet

I thought we were done for the day, until we decided to try to get the wash down finished and ready for tomorrow. Chris is the lead on that and I wanted to learn how. It is a really good system, developed by Bob in 2010. Chris calls it "Bob-simple."

A shallow lake a few hundred feet behind my cabin hosts a couple of swans and provides a wash down for muddy fishermen. Bob devised a wooden plank to hold PVC pipe to the end of which he attached a bilge pump. We dump that end into the lake and attach the PVC pipe to the pipe that runs to the edge of the cliff. The pump end is to the left and the line running across the tundra toward the bluff end is to the right.

When we're setting up, we need to:
1. Pull out the ends that have been stored in the cabin. One end is the barrel at the bluff, and the other is the pump at the lake.
2. Find and mend the breaks in the line using sleeves and purple primer / blue glue to attach them
3. Reconnect the electricity at both ends - don't forget the wire nuts and the liquid tape
4. Toss the pump end into the lake.
5. Put the barrel at the edge of the cliff.
6. Connect the long line of pipe that runs across the tundra between the barrel and the pump to those ends. Take the cap off the end and remove the gasket. Put the cap on the long pipe and the gasket over the end of the pipe so that it will butt up against the end that goes into the barrel or into the lake, depending on which end you're at. Screw the cap on.
7. Position the upright piece that is attached to the blue hose that goes into the barrel. Don't forget to open the red valve.
8. Attach the outgoing PVC that goes down the cliff and rests on whatever we can find (an upturned garbage can this time) with an elbow that ends in a faucet. Attach the garden hose there.
9. Bring out the generator and turn it on.
10. The float switch should turn it off when the barrel fills. However, remember that there is a slight decline from the lake to the edge of the cliff so it will keep running. We need to remember to open and close the red valve.

It should begin to fill pretty soon. If not, check for breaks in the line that we didn't spot before.

We were almost done tonight. We had the generator going, the big leaks mended or at least wrapped with tape. I'd been helping, learning, and taking pictures - including beautiful pictures of the swans in the lake and Chris in action. Then everything went sideways - and that was before I discovered that I didn't have a memory card in my camera. Argh.

Chris is as long in patience as I am short in it. When the PVC that runs down the cliff became disconnected so water was gushing out of the barrel making the mud at the bottom worse, I felt like it was a disaster instead of just a mess. When that part of the pipe broke because I let it go, I wanted to just throw the whole thing away instead of just mend another break in the pipe. And when the incoming part of the hose came disconnected, I thought we would drain the lake, when we really just needed to reattach the gasket end. Unlike me, Chris recognized that we are five minutes from being done - everything works; we just need a few more connectors, a few repairs, and we will have a working system. I'm not this way with everything. We're always running into different problems when we're fishing - that's sort of how we know we're fishing. And those are just challenges to figure out. But when it's something mechanical and I don't know something else we can try, I somehow think that it's never going to work.

So we packed it up for tonight, knowing that we'll finish it tomorrow and I came in to check out the photos - especially of those beautiful swans. And discovered no card. So I went back out and got a few photos. The swans have flown, so I'll have to get their picture tomorrow. And luckily, we have some more work to do to finish it tomorrow, and so I'll be able to get shots of Chris in action.

Really, all is well. Plus I had my camera out and handy (and with a card in it) when the sun started to set.