Rocking & Rolling in the Beach House

Over the summer we sleep in most of our accommodations at Port Ashton at least once. Last Wednesday it was our turn to sleep in the Beach House. That night the tide topped 16' which means we were floating. Tides are high in Alaska but this was a really high tide!

Now I've been known to get seasick in choppy seas and Wednesday night there was a storm with 35 knot winds. Rain and wind were blowing so when the tide hit it's high, about 1:40 am, the Beach House began bucking and rocking. This 1100' home became a house boat.

Randy is very safety conscious so the Beach House is anchored to trees and pilings in five places. The Beach House has survived many winter storms so Randy was not concerned about us floating out into the bay. But I had not considered the effect the high tide and storm would have on the Beach House.

Tristan and I agreed that we would wake each other up to check out the high tide.

Kristofer and I were sleeping upstairs so I awoke to the swaying and bobbing motion. It was dark outside and I was apprehensive about getting out of bed. My strategy for avoiding seasickness is to stay prone. Yet, I really wanted to see how high the tide was in comparison to Port Ashton landmarks. And, I had promised Tristan that I would wake him. But I was afraid if I got up I'd start to feel sick.

Finally, I crawled out of bed to peer out the window. The water was just below the steps of the hot tub and next to the bank below Look Out cabin so there was no path to walk from the Beach House to Creekside. I'm not sure whether the Beach House ramp was floating but I was feeling that the only way off the Beach House was to swim!

It was too dark to get pictures and I chose not to risk any seasickness so I went back to bed. Later in the morning as the tide receded the Beach House began to settle in making a squeaking noise as it brushed against the floats. It was a wild ride!

In the morning I reported the nights experience. Randy started laughing. "I knew it would be a wild ride with the high tide and storm surge," Randy belatedly shared with me.

Fresh Eggs

Five dozen eggs...that is our inventory par. We eat and use plenty of eggs. Most baked items require eggs...and eggs are a common breakfast entree at Port Ashton. So when we run out of eggs it's an emergency!

Our nearest grocery source is a 3 hour boat ride away. The most resourceful folks in our area grow their own produce...so why not raise laying hens? Randy and Lia raised chickens four years ago so they are experienced chicken farmers! Thus began the building of the chicken coop.

The body of the coop is an old stand up freezer that has five roosting shelves. Randy enclosed it with reclaimed cannery wood...drew up plans for the fencing and left Lia and I the task to finish the coop.

More green painting, luckily we had help from Tristan and Tasha. It was 75 degrees the day we painted and I was too hot! Between the bugs and the heat I was ready to quit.

After painting we scavenged wood from the ruins of China Town and the Cold Storage buildings and began measuring. We cut the wood with a hand saw...which was no easy task, dug the holes for the posts with a little help from Heila and set the posts. We made sure the posts were level and started in on the fencing framework.

With only a few pieces nailed in place Randy arrived from his supply run to Anchorage. After unloading and putting away the supplies we returned to the chicken coop project now with Randy's supervision.

He laughed when he discovered we cut the wood by hand and then the lesson began. We had tried leveling the framework but it was crooked...he informed us that you cannot level on uneven ground! So we dismantled some of our work and measured this time. We also learned that if we blunted the ends of the nails the old wood was less likely to crack.

Complete, except for the chicken wire...so we thought. Randy just saw my post and informed us that we need one more 1x4 in the center of the overhang.

Chickens next season!

Overwhelming Laundry

Laundry is constantly arriving at Creekside - clothing, table linen, sleeping bag liners and bed linen. Between July 2-5 we had 40 guests, 6 dogs, 4 kids, 13 boats and 36 loads of laundry!

Here is our personal laundry...notice the towels in the shower...we have found the shower to be a great place to stage dirty dishes as well as laundry!

We have a full size stack washer and dryer in our bathroom that is constantly running. This means closely watching the water tank level so we don't lose the prime on the pump...see last seasons Water blog posting.

Lia is the laundry lady...she keeps the washer and dryer running during the day. Sometimes though the amount of laundry is overwhelming. Usually, she powers through it but the other day she collapsed...into the laundry!

With the beautiful weather we were hanging the laundry...Port Ashton style, on the dog run! We have a laundry line that needs to be hung up...the big decision is where to locate it. In the sun but out of site of the guests? Serious questions for us to consider...

Any thoughts?

Fish Alaska Story

We were so excited to have a writer as a guest. Les Palmer, a columnist for the Kenai Peninsula Clarion newspaper, and his fishing buddies were guests at Port Ashton Lodge last season. Getting publicity for the lodge seemed very important and having a professional writer and experienced Alaskan fisherman visit was ideal. Lia and I looked forward to having Les’ impressions of PAL documented hoping that his words would describe the essence of our offerings.

Palmer planned to write and submit a story about Port Ashton Lodge to Alaska Magazine, Alaska’s premier publication. A story in Alaska Magazine would mean incredible exposure for our business. Visitors as well as Alaskans read Alaska Magazine. We couldn’t wait to see our lodge displayed on newsstands!

When Les, Dave and Rod arrived at that dock we were all there to greet them…kids, dog and moms. Our overwhelming desire to please them exuded our every action. We wanted Les to know everything about Port Ashton Lodge…but he was tired and hungry. So we hurried to finish dinner.

Dinner was wonderful…fresh Lingcod they caught with raspberry chipotle sauce and red salmon, purchased from a local seiner, served with a vegetable kabob and mango salsa. We finished the meal with blueberry cobbler and homemade ice cream. Les and his friends reminisced about fishing in Prince William Sound and we got to know one another.

We are hopeful and anxious to read Les’ story…not knowing when it will be printed we wait patiently through the summer. In August, I forward more photos to Les…and we keep in touch awaiting news of the printing date. In January, Les sends the bad news that Alaska Magazine has killed the story…they are cutting back on stories due to the economic down turn. We are all so disappointed.

Finally in April, Les sends news that Fish Alaska will print his story over the summer. We are overjoyed, thankful and eager to read the story. June 2009 the story is published and I search the Fish Alaska website for a copy. Unfortunately, it is not one of the stories featured on the web…so again I must wait.

Kristofer and I arrive into Anchorage June 20th and begin the shopping marathon. We spend five days looking for supplies from new shower knobs to cilantro. During each day, I look for something to do with Kristofer to break up the monotony of shopping. So we go to Barnes and Noble for some new books. After checking out we walk past the check stands and I see it, Fish Alaska magazine.

Going Back: Reliving Adventures in Prince William Sound, story by Les Palmer, photos by Les Palmer & Paige Talvi. Yahoo! Port Ashton Lodge is in print…