The ice breaker Healy is on the way

Here is an old pic of the USCG Healy in the Bering Sea, cutting through a thin layer of ice. It's now on its way to accompany the Russian tanker Renda which is taking emergency heating oil to Nome.

It's there just in case the tanker has trouble breaking the 5 foot thick ice on the way.

But today, the Russian tanker had to return to Dutch Harbor, not because of ice, but because of engine trouble. Apparently a valve alarm went off and they decided to return to replace it before reaching the thick ice.

Once they leave Dutch, it'll be 700 miles to Nome and 300 of that will be through the thick ice.

People are now starting to talk about the cost of this inter continental shipping. Seems like it would have been cheaper to ship American oil by plane after all.

There is also talk of bringing small nuclear power supplies to villages in Alaska. Don't laugh. Maybe we'll do a blog about that and you'll see that it is a good and safe consideration.

We'll keep you posted.

Cold water

For those who thought the New Year's Swim pics looked like Hawaii.....here are some more pictures taken that afternoon, at the end of peninsula from the swimming pictures.


That ice on the rocks makes it look a heck of a lot colder.

And this is the view of the houses and mountain that were behind those swimmers.


38 degree water and getting colder...
usually down to 33-34 in February.

Anyway, someone asked if it wasn't warmer in 38 degree water than in 20 degree with wind blowing on you. That is a question I will have to pose to some of those who got their whole body submerged in the water.

All I can do is quote one of the Coast Guard rescue swimmers on the
"Coast Guard Alaska" TV show:
"The water is so cold that even your teeth hurt".

I hear that other divers made fun of that comment.

But I think that quote will come back into my head whenever I take out my kayak when Spring approaches!

Happy New Year

Happy New Year to one and all.
Hope had a good and safe celebration.
We, too, enjoyed our parties and amateur fireworks.

And we assume, if you live close to the water,
that you certainly had a New Year's Swim.

Yes, at about 15 till noon the Mill Bay Beach parking lot gets full
Suddenly people come out of their cars and on to the beach.....
kind of like a flash mob.

But, what I didn't include in this pic was

the frozen water from the drainage pipe form the road above.

The sun might be out. And 22 degrees it might be.

But with the wind chill, it felt like 4 !

In Kodiak, however, that didn't stop these hardy souls.

First the mandatory "picture pose" before the big event.

Then the dash and the splash....

....into the "warm" Pacific waters at 38 degrees !

To experience shock ....
and then the elation of still being alive!

But that doesn't delay the sprint back to the beach ....

....where the "loved ones" are hopefully waiting for you

with a nice dry towel!

Have a Happy New Year !!!

Russsian tanker to save Nome

There has been extra-ordinary weather in Alaska. So severe was an autumn storm from the Bering Sea that it made them cancel a test of the state-wide emergency response system because they were afraid there would be too many real emergencies that might be ignored during their test.

And it has been a very cold autumn. It was in the single digits here in Kodiak for days and days in November. Fortunately, it warmed up to let all the snow melt.

Unfortunately, the single digit cold is back on the week after Christmas.

So, it was particularly problematic for Nome, Alaska, 600 miles north from here, when the early frozen seas made the tug and barge that were carrying their heating oil return to Seattle.

And since the US just doesn't have any ice breaking tugs not committed to their own deliveries, Nome was in a mess.

Never fear, ingenuity will succeed. Even if it takes a contract with a Russian tanker to pick up a load of diesel in Korea, gasoline in Dutch Harbor (800 miles from Anchorage, out in the Aleutian chain of islands), and have the only working ice breaker in the US Coast Guard fleet abandon its expected holiday trip to its home port....to be there if the tanker has trouble breaking the 5 foot thick ice on the way in.

So, on by Jan 1, the Russians' Renda will be about to enter the 300 miles of ice on their way in to Nome. Wish them all the luck.



Yes, it is challenging living in the real North.

As a friend has said, "Remember never to ignore what your grandparents taught you"..... because if the tanker doesn't make it, I think the locals will have to review their igloo making techniques!

To read Nome's paper and their articles on the recent storm, the oil shipment, and other cool stuff, go to:

http://www.nomenugget.net/archives/2011/121511nn.pdf


As a local from Nome wrote in their editorial page:
Here Comes Another One
Hurricanes, blizzards, winter storm warnings— just another normal
day in Nome. Seems as though one storm passes through and another
winds up to test our endurance. Weʼve been geographical explorers
with the Great Wall of China on the East Beach, The Khyber
Pass on K Street, the new Berlin Wall on First Avenue and Mt. McKinley
behind the old Wein Building.
The high-pitched rumble of the state and city snow removal equipment
is sweet music to our ears. While we are stoic about storms we
may find ourselves surprised that family and friends who are not in
Alaska phone to see if we are safe and sound and are not freezing to
death from lack of fuel. Social networking and media hype has
brought us into the spotlight. Does Alaska, with all her oil, really have
to get fuel from Korea brought in on a Russian tanker? We just smile
and try to rationalize why the rest of the nation is suddenly so concerned?
We just do what we always do— dig in and hunker down.
Nomeites were born with snow shovels in their hands. However, we
canʼt be overconfident. Mother Nature is a formidable foe. We have to
be prepared when we take her on and head out into the weather. We
should be smart enough to stay put. If we have to go out we should
have survival gear, leave travel plans with folks who know where we
are going, and when we are expected to return.
When yet another back-to-back blizzard blasts our town we can
feel secure and safe in our homes while the winds howl. We are confident
the Nome Joint Utilities, Nome Public Works, Public Safety and
snow removal crews are doing a fine job for us. So let it snow!
— N.L.M. —

Kodiak Christmas Lights

You might think we are a little too isolated to do what they do in the big cities. But no. We have fireworks, parties,and decorate for the holidays just like anyone else.



Here is a house, just a few blocks form our house. Turn up your volume and take look at this house's light show, coordinated with music on the radio.

Not a show to apologize to anyone about!



And.... with 90+% of our power form renewable energy (from our hydroelectric damn and 3 wind turbines) we can turn on the lights and not feel guilty about our carbon output during the holidays!

To see another aspect of living in the North Pacific, check out the Weather Channel's show "Coast Guard Alaska", based here in Kodiak.

Pretty real stuff. And popular it seems. It is said to the most viewed program on that channel. So they've decided to continue making new episodes for at least 2 more seasons.

Glad to say that I've met some of those people they brought in.

For a view of their website, go to:

http://www.weather.com/tv/tvshows/coast-guard-alaska

Not all Kodiak bears hibernate over winter. In fact, 15% do not. I heard there has been one hanging around Wall Mart a few blocks form here as recent as a few weeks ago. Makes you be a little more careful when you hike the Island Trail just behind the house.

To imagine what a visit here might be like, here is link to an article by an Australian ...and a picture of the bear they found enjoying the supplies back at their kayak on their return.



Check it out at:

http://www.smh.com.au/travel/activity/great-outdoors/bear-witness-20111012-1lkhl.html

Here is an email sent out by friend. Tells it like it is, so I just copied and pasted it.

Hi
We are having a cold wave. The temp is 7 degrees with a wind of 30 mph and gusts to 50. The radio is predicting 14 foot seas and a rough 12 hour ride on the ferry Tustamena. The radio announcer suggested that everyone with a boat in the harbor go down and check on it. Very lively radio broadcasts.
This is a record cold for Kodiak. Pray for global warming.
Yesterday Monday, Alaska airlines announced that they were suspending flights until Thanksgiving because of high winds. I went immediately to the safeway figuring everyone would decide that meant there wouldn't be any food left for the holiday. It looked like Elizabeth City just after they announced a hurricaine was coming. The store was pandemonium. Half the town was there grabbing milk, beer and potato chips and in this case turkeys and cranberry sauce. Managed to get out of there with my pepperoni bottled pickles.
So far the ocean hasn't frozen. All the snow in our yard has blown away. We have some deer in the back yard. They apparently are eating what is left of the potted plants. We have only seen them once since there is now about 17 hours of darkness but their tracks were everywhere before the wind blew away the snow.
Our new boat is on order. Hope to arrange delivery by late January.

Law of the Sea

Politics are confusing. Here is an issue I had no idea existed.

I first read about this the uear before last Spring in a Kodiak newspaper article about a retiring Coast Guard Commander supporting its ratification. But when I looked it up in the Internet, opposition tremendously outnumbered support.

Apparently, if a disagreement occurs between nations concerning what is referenced in the treaty, it goeCs to an UN court in a Caribbean country. That just won't fly with many Americans. Ronald Reagan opposed it; Bush I opposed it.

Clinton made requests for ammendments and got them into the treaty, but political power in Congress changed hands and he didn't bring it up. Bush II supported it but apparently he had too much on his plate.

Now Obama , I think, supports it. But that really doesn't matter: nothing will pass in this divided Congress.

Look up some Internet sites an make up your own mind. But as I see it, many are loosing sight of the forest because of the trees.

Here is how I see it. 1/4 of the world's undiscovered oil is thought to be in the Arctic, along the Arctic's Continental Shelf. With melting of the ice, this will be accessible to drilling. If we sign the treaty we get access to the oil and minerals in our Continental Shelf beyond our current 200 mile limit; if not, we are limited in access to 200 miles from Alaska.

So, what if we have to pay 1to 7% of the profits of what is removed to the international community?

93% of something is a lot better than none.

I know that some say we should not drill in the Arctic. But let's be real: I've read China has been sending it's ocean floor mapping ships to explore this area.....and they don't even have land bordering this area. They are now building more ice breaker ships than we do. Do you think they just like to explore for the fun of it?

Call me a pessimist, but I think we run a high risk of them drilling just outside the US's 200 mile limit of we don't sign the treaty that gives primary access to those assets. What do you think will happen when they ask the UN's " Court" to let them excersice their "rIghts" to the assets in the unclaimed part of the world?

You read about it; see if I am right. Maybe the melatonin from the long nights is affecting my thinking.

But, if you agree, write your Congressman supporting the signing of this treaty. Don't let the current bickering in Washington affect the squandering away of these assets to an international court who'd decide who can drill just outside the 200 miles in OUR Continental Shelf.

Here is the most recent current local article:

http://kodiakdailymirror.com/view/full_story/16434830/article-Sen--Begich-vows-to-push-ratification-of-Law-of-the-Sea-Treaty?instance=do_not_publish_here

Google "law of the sea treaty" and you will find dozens of articles and opinions. Here is a typical one :

http://www.heritage.org/research/commentary/2011/07/law-of-sea-treaty-could-cost-us-trillions

OK, I'll shut up for now...and go on a hike. You research this and see if I am right.

New USCG show on TV

Have you checked out the TV mini series about the Coast Guard out of Kodiak? Seems like I recognize a few faces.

Look for it on the Weather Channel

Here is what a promotion had to say:

'Coast Guard Alaska' Premieres

November 09, 2011
U.S. Coast Guard|by LT Stephanie Young


Four hundred miles from the North Pole, ice began to break around a research camp, threatening the camp’s shelters. A Coast Guard aircrew from Kodiak, Alaska, launched to provide support for the camp and ensure the threat of breaking ice was no more. Operations like this are commonplace in our nation’s Last Frontier and have largely gone unseen – until now.

Riding aboard the HC-130 Hercules aircraft alongside the Coast Guard aircrew, was a film crew from the new TV show “Coast Guard Alaska.” The film crew has taped Coast Guardsmen and their families for the past few months and will provide a rare insider’s perspective to the missions and lives of Alaska’s heroes.