Gear Up
 I spent most of the fall convalescing, and the spring saw a more modest gear up for summer.  The theme of the summer was "work party," a concept developed by my friend Glenn who offered to pound nails (or the equivalent) in exchange for food and beer.  My first trip of the year took place in early May when my folks took me and their 38' fiberglass boat M&M down, loaded with extra lumber, a kayak, and other supplies; we didn't accomplish much on that trip other than delivering the goodies (see photos to right).  Still uncertain about building foundations myself, my parents and I then took advantage of a gorgeous sunny day and flew down on my mother's birthday (May 22) to start work on the second cabin.  It was a pleasant work day, though fraught with typical construction hurdles. I estimate that on average we spend at least 60% of construction time solving problems and 40% actually working, and that may be generous!

By the end of the day we'd managed to square the posts and install the rim joists.    I returned over the last few days of May to spruce up the only standing cabin (packed all winter with supplies), dig the outhouse hole, and cut and paint the outhouse walls.  Then followed a few frantic weeks in which I tried to muster help for a four day party and plan for all food, drink and tool needs.  At the last minute I managed to gather a haphazard mix of folks to make up a three to five person team for four days.  Summer 2004 had the finest summer weather anyone could remember--days on end of sunshine and temperatures above 70.  It was glorious and I was lucky enough to schedule the work party during one of the warmest, clearest stretches of weather. 

Work Party
On Thursday June 17 Dru, Dan and I flew down in the afternoon.  We chose the best place for a campfire on the rocky point, had a few beers in the cabin (on account of the bugs) and turned in early.  In the morning Dru started up my camp stove for the first time for coffee, we ate breakfast on the point, and then got to work on the floor of the second cabin.  The three of us were a good team, and this was perhaps the most pleasant day of work that summer, or maybe ever, slowly cutting and adding rim joists and then plywood in the dappled shade of the spruces with the smell of summer all around (see photo below).  Whales blew in the inlet.  Dru was new to construction and power tools, so he got to try a some for the first time; Dan taught me subtle carpentry tricks to make the project easier.  By the time we were ready to quit, we'd begun unpacking the cabin kit and laying out the bottom pieces.  As the sun began to dip behind the mountain we went for a swim in the river to cool off, playing in the icy water.  While we were washing up, Kirby and Becky arrived in their C-Dory and we hustled to get dressed and meet them. We had hot dogs around a fire on the point (see photo below).

The next day we finished hauling the materials down and put up the walls in only three hours; it was a perfect work environment, five folks hauling logs in the sun dappled forest, handing them up, pounding them in and watching the walls rise.  This time we had all the hardware for the rods that stabilize the walls, but no amount of finagling would allow us to tighten the bolts.  We messed with them for some time with increasing frustration, using every socket and wrench, finger and thumb that we had.  We eventually gave up.  One of the walls didn't even have holes at the bottom to access the rods (another StarTek flaw), but we left it in disgust as I didn't yet have a hole saw.

That afternoon we hauled one of the outhouses up to its hole (see photo at bottom), put on its door and siding and began digging the foundation holes for the third cabin.  After a full day of work, we had a beer on the point before the plane arrived, bringing Glenn down and picking up Dan.   Glenn brought a bottle of Tanqueray, tonic, limes and stogies and made a pork loin, salmon and baked apples for dinner.  I don't remember much about the evening, except that Becky, Kirby, and Dru didn't indulge in a great deal of alcohol but somehow the next day most of the bottle of gin was gone (see photos below of the crew around the point).  The combination of generous amounts of alcohol and my very first cigar resulted in an unpleasant finale to an otherwise fun evening.  Glenn and I pitched tents inside the walls of the second cabin and were reluctantly roused from our slumber by a chipper Dru the next morning.

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Hungover and tired, we weren't pictures of productivity the next day.  With a five person crew, it was tricky finding projects for everyone while overseeing the cabin construction. My thoughtfulness before making decisions was not appreciated.  In short, Dru, Glenn and I worked on finishing the roof on the second cabin in the morning while Becky and Kirby worked on the outhouse, dug holes for the last two cabins, or did odd jobs.  We joined the hole digging in the afternoon and it was a blessing to quit for the day.  Dru made pasta and Becky and Kirby took off after dinner on the point; it was summer solstice and Glenn and I barely stayed up till midnight.

On the final day we were all pretty worn out.  The sun had shown steadily all weekend and temperatures hit the 80s each day.  We worked on digging more foundations holes (see photo), placed and squared the corner posts, put the roof joists on the outhouse, covered the roof of the second cabin with a tarp (it still lacked metal roofing as the roofing nail drivers for my electric drill wore out) and buttoned the place up.  In the afternoon a plane took us home, sunned and weary (see photo at the bottom of Glenn, Dru and I at the end of the trip).

The Rest of the Summer
I came back in July with Larry.  Nigel, my dog, is terrified of fireworks, so we timed the next trip over 4^th of July weekend.  Larry and I spent three days putting in the foundation to the third cabin on the point and fixing the metal roof to the second cabin (see photo).  I also finished the roof of the outhouse, cleaned up around the second cabin, and did other odds and ends inside the cabins. On July 21 Teamo Supremo headed down to Snettisham for our first experience slaying sockeyes at neighboring Sweetheart Creek.  Dru, Glenn, Rob Haight, Skiff, Kevin and myself spent the night at the homestead in the two standing cabins, reveling around the campfire until late.  After fishing the next day, Glenn, Skiff and Kevin headed back while Dru, Rob and I spent another night; in the morning they helped me move some metal roofing off the third cabin kit. 

After they left, I painted the inside of the outhouse and did some other chores until Larry came down with Dave and Carleen in their new boat.  We packed about a third of the cabin kit to the point before turning in for the night.  It poured while we slept, but cleared before we started work again.  By 4:00 pm we had the entire cabin up minus the metal roofing (see photos below).  It started raining again as we gathered around the campfire, so it was an early night.  The next day we finished the roof and took off as soon as Dave's boat was floating.  Dave and Carleen's kids, Cody and Trace, seemed to enjoy exploring the property and playing in the mud.

In August, my parents again volunteered to haul gear down to the homestead for me, this time lumber for the porches of the cabins.  We arrived late Friday and went straight to bed, hauling all the lumber to shore with their Boston whaler the next morning.  While they went fishing I took advantage of the nice weather to stain all three cabins, first scrubbing the mildew off the first one and letting it dry in the sun.  Before we left the next day I also put screen up in the gable ends of the outhouse and constructed a simple cooking station on the point.

 

Here's a selection from my journal describing the next day-long trip to the homestead.  Mark was an acquaintance who agreed to fly me to Snettisham in exchange for trumpet lessons from Larry.  For the first few years of this project, my father owned a Cessna 206 (five passenger float plane) but due to vision problems had to hire pilots to fly, so this was a perfect relationship (for me, anyway, not so much for Larry).

8/30/04
It was perfect.  A gorgeous sunny evening for a flight in the scout (which was very cool--I can see why Mark wants a small plane) and a whole sunny day to work followed by an evening and Sunday at home.  I couldn't have been more content and got done just about everything that I wanted to.  These included: constructing the foundation feet for Hermit Thrush (cabin 4) and hauling them up; cutting the rim joists and hauling [them up]; constructing and placing two bridges for the trail to the creek [for collecting water]; cutting and moving the fallen trees in front of Cabin 4; washing all the dishes, setting up the cooking/washing area; hauling the rest of the kitchen gear to Murrelet (cabin 3) and cleaning and organizing it and the other cabins; and customizing the new 2x6 to function as part of the kit.  This involved finding and retrieving a comparable 2X6 piece from the kit, cutting the bevels, cutting the notches, chiseling out between the notches and chiseling off ¼" of tongue.  This because the Canadian logs are ¼" narrower in beam and tongue than the local ones.  StarTek is going to get a nasty letter, but at least the log is pretty much ready.  This  last project  was to replace the missing log from the first cabin kit which StarTek promised to replace but never did.

Larry and I returned in September and managed to place the foundation feet for the fourth cabin and square them, but I came down with an unpleasant cold, the cabin was damp and chilly even with the portable propane heater, and we called Mark for an early ride home.  In October, we flew down again with my mother, did an inventory, cleaned up some of the construction mess, and buttoned the place up for the winter (see photo below).

    

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2003 Report