4 wheeling on a remote Alaskan island

[arctictraveller]

So, I took this job as Marine Operations Manager supporting the construction of a new hydroelectric plant on Prince of Wales Island in S.E. Alaska.My first task was to bring a crew boat back to life after sitting for ten years.It had new engines about 11 years ago, but sitting all that time didn’t help em.I found one turbo was seized as well as an alternator.Three out of four Ujoints were seized too (it’s a jet boat with drive shafts).After new timing belts, hoses, V belts, three new 8D battery’s, new bottom paint and some electronics it was time to move it to Wrangel where my next project was, an LCM 8(WW2 landing craft)It got a ton of work including new bottom plating, paint, electrics, a new blower on the Pt engine (2 stroke Detroits) and plenty more.While this was happening, the project manager was beginning to build our new home at Copper Harbor.I arrived towing the crew boat with the landing craft and the real work began.We started with two travel trailers and four guys.A few weeks later we had a fleet of equipment, trucks, loaders, excavators, generators, a 2000gallon fuel truck, a dump truck, an office trailer, one four wheeler and five shipping container / shops.Then another barge arrived with tons’ more stuff including our new six man bunk house complete with kitchen, shower, toilet, dining area and three double bedrooms.Then there were three large piles of rock and gravel, two large docks, a water treatment plant, a large generator, a sewage system and best of all, two new Honda side by sides.Moving the bunk house was a total pain as the lifting straps broke, it slid off the fork lift twice and was too large to make the turn to camp.A bunch of brute force finally got it to submit though. The following weeks have been spent setting it all up. A septic system was installed, a water tank buried, the water treatment plant commissioned, lights and the generator installed and overhead wiring to all the buildings.We put a large satellite dish together, mounted it on the water treatment plant and finally got internet a couple days ago.It’s been a long grind and today is my first day off in about 6 weeks.The big boss had to return to Fairbanks for a couple weeks and left me in charge, so one of the first things I did was to give everyone the weekend off!!That’ll teach him to trust me huh?We do have some fun here though.The bay is full of fish and we have eaten quite a few, along with lots of shrimp and crab.All those fish bring the bears though and the place is filthy with them. We have completed about 3 miles of road, and there is more bear crap than rocks in some places.We keep the camp clean and well-lit though and they mostly stay on the fringes.The fourwheelers and side by sides are available to everyone to take out and explore with after work, and I’ve done quite a bit of that but really need a motor cycle and my van.It’s not looking good for the van though and I may not get it till Xmas. Now that the camp is mostly built, I’ve been moving a lot of equipment with the landing craft including an 80,000lb rock drill truck yesterday.Here are a bunch of photos.

[arctictraveller]

More photos

[arctictraveller]

And a few more including the way I did my laundry for the first two months. Yup, that's the crab cooker Life in the bush is different. Were running a dry camp here, but no one seems to pay any attention to that little detail.

[rallypanam]

Yay!







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[BroncoHauler]

Sounds like a great adventure.


Herb

[gcvt]

Very cool Jeff, and glad to hear you're still with us

Originally Posted by arctictraveller

Were running a dry camp here, but no one seems to pay any attention to that little detail.

That's good to hear!

[Tienckb]

Wow Jeff... Keep it coming man.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
2002 LX470 expo ready
2008 Ford E350 EB V10 4x4 Sportsmobile PH top
Custom off road trailer

[arctictraveller]

Well, camp life just gets better and better, and bears continue to keep us on our toe's. Until about a week ago we had never seen one in camp, but last Sunday the boss was cooking in the bunk house and he had an uninvited dinner guest. The bear was standing at the open door, two paws inside, nose in the air. He startled the hell out of the boss, who grabbed a hammer (the only available weapon) and scared it away. Meanwhile, we now have two cool camp dogs to entertain us. Unfortunately, the smaller black and white one tangled with a bear yesterday and barely escaped. He was wearing a bandana that was ripped up and recieved some claw marks on his chest. He thought he was after a deer, but it turned out to be much bigger and meaner. All in all though, the bears have pretty much not been a problem, and hopefully they will be gone soon. Meanwhile, we continue to enjoy fresh shrimp, crab, halibut, red snapper and venison, but salmon have been a bit thin. Otherwise I got a few days off to see Mrs A/T and to move my boat from Juneau to Ketchikan and had a great trip in good weather. I needed to get back to camp from Ketchikan and heard that the CEO was flying in to camp on a chartered float plane. I was able to hitch a ride with him, rather than fly commercial and then drive several hours to catch another boat to camp. My timing was pretty good on that one. Now that I'm back, in additon to being in charge of marine operations, I'm told I'll be leaning to operate heavy equipment. Oh joy, I can hardly wait to start ripping things up. The two bottom photos are the site of the penstock intake. Life in the bush is rewarding.

[BroncoHauler]

Damn, what an interesting job. Curious how the winter turns out.

BTW, three words; Karelian Bear Dog.


Herb

[Jsweezy]

That looks like a lot of work but a lot of fun. Definitely wish I was doing something like that!