Community gardens, power-washing, sludge
The sound of blanks from the airport, fired over the water at the airport to scatter the eagles – God forbid they get stuck in a plane turbine.
A morning of rest – thankfully. Spent yesterday pressure-washing the deck, we’ve finally got the bilge pumps working, and the engine room begins to get organized. Pumped all the diesel oil sludge from the main bilge. Cut out the bad 6-wire and hooked the 220 outlet up to some hardcore Canadian stuff. Removed that nasty looking splice. Took off the jumper in the box and all seems to be well.
Woke up this morning to no water. Apparently the harbormaster turned it off. Couldn’t figure out why the washing machine was coughing so bad.
I’ve become familiar with the leaks. Half-asleep topside I can pick out them out like birdcalls – the steady warbler bass in the starboard wheelhouse, the high-pitched low-volume eagle leak off the port valence into the salon, and, far-away but worst of all, the great horned owl drips onto the corrugated fiberglass over the welded fueld tank. Or sometimes they’re like clave, the tumbadora, horns coming together to make Cuban son – each element entering in at regular and sometimes irregular intervals, the precursor to Cuban timba, sounding far away, close, inside your ear, across the harbor, the drips arranging themselves into a sad, consistent song.
I’d like the drips to go away.
Bought some Silver-seal. Experimenting with different mixtures of glycol antifreeze, borite, borac acid and insecticide boiling over the stove, feeling like a witch in Macbeth. You pour this stuff in and it freezes mold, apparently. The more traditional way heating pine tar with linseed oil. But this first mixtures penetrates through paint, apparently. And the owners previous, god bless their hearts, painted over so much rot it makes one cry.
In that same vein have been teaching Cuban salsa at the Hames PE Center. Folks should take a moment to check it out. It’s a true heart-lifting story of the community reaching out to rescue a gym, donating their time, coming together and making something work. There’s a great video by Hannah Guggenheim at: http://www.hamescenter.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=45:sheldon-jackson-campus-revitalization-video&catid=8:happenings.
Rick and Darcie dropped off a bunch of salmon yesterday. I fileted em up and got them brining although missing soy sauce. I should do a separate entry on smoked samon. Kyle tied his Super Cub floatplane up to the dock to do some work on it. There is sat like some great exotic bird at the bow of the Adak. I have yet to go up in it.
Went up and planted seeds at Community Gardens. Folks are none too sanguine they will become anything with the lowering of the sun. Beets turnips mustard greens and kale. We’ll see about that.
The gardens quite wonderful in and of themselves. Folks have different plots, sand mixed with compost with dirt the county drops off from expanding the shoulder on HPR. Also – cleared out the buoy balls, those old moldy things, and digging out little trees growing in the planks of the Dak.
Clear eyes, full heart, can’t lose.
That’s how we roll.
