I’m Done Counting Days: Two Months In (Give or Take)

(November 22)

Bears Seen: Still Just 2

Sorry to everyone that for taking so long between posts. I took a week off because Sam was here, and then it was hard to get back on the writing wagon. As far as the mundane, day to day business goes, I’ve been working, dog/house sitting, and spending time with friends, the same as always. Since this post has so many weeks to cover I’m just going to hit the highlights. You’re in for a picture heavy post; they count as a lot of words, and I owe you all a lot of words.

My lovely wife was here for a long weekend at the beginning of October. We had lots of fun despite the rainy weather; we walked around town, spent some time with my friends, toured my office, and even drove out to hike on a glacier! The day we hiked out to the glacier was a little rainy, but it was still really cool!

On our way back we saw dozens of bald eagles along the road.

BEAR FACT: Bear spray (think mace on steroids) is designed to propel a mist for 15 to 30 feet. If discharged into the wind or in a vehicle they can adversely affect the user!

I got to go out on a research boat to help test new SONAR equipment on the ROV (Remote Operated Vehicle). Eventually we’ll be building ROVs with the kids out of PVC pipe, but this is the real deal. The goal is to be able to use this guy to search for schools of herring underwater. Driving it takes a coordinated effort between the operator and someone up on deck calling directions. You can’t see anything outside from where you sit to drive, just what's on your screens. I saw a giant starfish (3 feet across) on the SONAR, but I couldn't catch him with the video. If I remember correctly I was told it was probably one of these: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunflower_seastar

The yellow cable or 'tether' is fiber optic. The ROV is about knee high, but heavy. The yellow float on top weighs 60 or 70 pounds all by itself. Oh the side you can see one of the four thrusters (angled up) as well as the ballast (silver) that makes the ROV neutrally buoyant. We were a bit positive (floaty) but the thrusters were strong enough to overcome it.

Mission Control. The big screen in front of me is a video feed from the ROV and displays the depth, heading, etc. All the controls are in that box. The laptop is displaying data from the SONAR rig we were testing. It was really cool to be able to see fish swimming around on both screens!

November has brought us amazing weather; up until this week it’s been cold but sunny. This Thursday brought snow followed by rain which all turned to ice on our frozen ground. I got a ride home from a friend with the intention of stopping by the post office on the way. I couldn’t even tell she’d applied the brakes to get ready to turn, we just sailed on by. Time to bring out the chains and studded tires!

These are from an October storm.

We got about an inch of pea sized hail!

Last weekend was the annual Sobriety celebration, a festival put on by the Native Village of Eyak to encourage responsible drinking as well as showcase culture. The native corporations are one of the few entities who can still hunt otters; the gloves and hats are super warm and soft, but also pretty pricey. There were also dancers and musicians and a big potlatch dinner (the real draw). There was moose and bison as well as shrimp, scallops, and crab; everything was amazing!

That’s about all I have for right now. I’ll try to post more regularly in the upcoming weeks! The next post (hopefully this weekend) should include night skating on a glacial lake and maybe some shots of the aftermath of today's storm.