July 13 and 14: New crew member

Will came in at about noon on July 13. He’ll be here for a week. He spent much of the day in town, working with David, Sarah, Jake, Jeff, and Luka. They were cleaning up the Ambi and the Grayling, getting the Ambi ready for the trip to Katmai and the Grayling (and its outboard) ready for the winter. They also organized and remodeled the net locker, taking out an un-useful desk and building more shelves for storage. Luka worked with Harry putting up the Janice E. They stayed until a piece of lumber fell on David's head and made a gash on the back of his head, matching the one he received at daycare when he was 4 and told us his name was "David James Nicol Climber Builder Smith." The old gash occurred during the "Climber" phase of his young life. Apparently, this one is connected to the "Builder" phase. I want him to wear a helmet until we get through the "Smith" phase.

Rohan, Roger, and I were busy here at camp. It got to 82 degrees on the 13th. That’s darned hot for here. David has really great vision – of the far-seeing type. He made a list of projects that need to be done around here – some that have needed to be done for a long time. Many years ago, Sarah set up a clothesline for the crew cabin, using scrounged material. It has held up pretty well, but could definitely use some stabilization. That was one of the items on the list, and Rohan selected it.

This is what it looks like around camp these days. Here is the front of the crew cabin, with a buoy light on its way back to Debby’s cabin, the unsheathed propane smoker out for its initial try on top of two old pickle barrels that we use as part of our end-of-the-season mouseproofing procedures. To the left of the barrels is a heap of cardboard boxes that may be on their way to the dump or may become fodder for the next bonfire. Looking beyond those barrels and boxes, you can see Rohan working on the near clothesline support, and the drooping clothesline strung between the two uprights.

We found a screw anchor that we wouldn’t be able to use for anchoring our nets because it is too light for that, but plenty strong enough to hold up a clothesline, no matter how many wet sweatshirts are on it. The idea is to extend the clothesline from the cabin on one end, across the supports and down to the anchor on the other. That should keep it from sagging. Rohan and I started to drive the anchor in by walking in circles around it, holding on to the turning bar… until it just stopped going in. Probably because it hit permafrost. When the anchor stops making progress on the beach, it's usually because it is spinning on a buried rock. The choices then are to back it out and start over, or try to power through. We always start by trying to power through and that is done by hitting it with something heavy - on the beach, it's usually a big rock; near the cabin, it's a sledge hammer. We called on Roger (note the beach-appropriate footwear) to be the hammerman while Rohan and I turned the bar. It's a little unnerving to have that hammer swinging so heavily and so near. Eventually, we just held the anchor upright (using the bar) while Roger hammered, and then turned it some more. I got tired and Roger took over (after changing into anchor-driving appropriate footwear) and freeing me to take photos.

Here are Roger and Rohan, straining to win an argument with permafrost. A person must be persistent to win that argument. They were. I think the anchor will hold.

The Bathtub crew and the Ambi crew have been taking turns with the tides. The evening tide belonged to the Bathtub crew, but Roger and I covered it while Rohan made curry and the Bathtubbers stayed on their roll in town. (Until the incident with the "Builder" gash on David's head.)

When Roger and I were about to start on the last net, we looked toward shore and saw... was it Rohan waiting to join us? But it looked like he didn't have a shirt on. We went in and found him swimming. In the Bering Sea. He swam out to meet us and climbed into the boat. I'm not sure but it might be the first time anyone on my crew has ever fished barefoot and shirtless. And gloveless.

Most of the Bathtub crew arrived with enough time for me to look at David's gash (queasy) and put a dressing on it, invite Will to wolf his first meal with us (luckily he likes curry. Rohan has another fan of his cooking. I think it is unanimous), and join the ebb pick (we all thought it was best to keep David out of the boat for the tide). Jeff and Luka had stayed in town to work on the outboards, and Sarah had to run into town to return the four-wheeler key they would need to get home. So Roger and I covered. Jake started the evening by coaching Will on using the outboard. Then I took over and showed him how to grab the net and pull it onto the boat. Here Roger is coaching him through picking a fish.

It isn't easy to get the hang of getting the web out of the gills, but he's catching on fast. (Missy and Chris - I have many other photos I can share with you if you like.)

As soon as Sarah got back, she jumped into her gear and helped with the walk-through. Even though we told Jeff he didn't need to gear up (we were already ready to go), he put on his boots to help pull in the fish in the little sleds. No one on this crew tries to avoid work. They are really great to work with, and they bring out the best in each other. Here are Jake, Sarah, and Jeff loading up the fish...

Except for those that the seals started to eat, but did not finish. There were many others that they completely consumed except for the head. I think they may eat two or three of our fish for every one we get to keep. When they leave a lot behind, we save it. These will be trimmed up and cut into strips for the second try at smoking with the new propane smoker.

Roger and Jake are looking out at another spectacular sunset. It really feels like an honor to be working in this ancient role, under this glory.

What better way to wrap up Will's first day with us?

Will got up the next morning (Sunday) at 6 to go out for the morning flood pick at 6:45. We might have gotten 10 fish (and the seals got more than that, leaving us two more partials). We came in at about 7:30 or 8 to wait for the ebb walk through. I salted the fish down and will freshen and smoke them later this week. Will said he sat down on the couch and closed his eyes just for a minute. Next thing he knew, I was waking him at 11 for the ebb walk through. He has the makings of a great crew member. One of the top requirements is the ability to sleep when the opportunity arises.

The crew split up again today with most heading into town to finish the carpentry projects in the net locker and the mechanical projects with the skiffs. David mentioned Will's hard work, describing how he washed down the Ambi, looking hard to be sure he didn't miss anything.

Sarah and I stayed back and gave the crew cabin a thorough (though not yet complete) cleaning... and baked bread. The ambitious town crew returned and continued their productive streak by cleaning the (filthy) sofa (beating was involved) and reorganizing in preparation for guests arriving in about a week.