Started the morning by starting the gas generator. The weather shows mainly cloudy today, so I will run it for a few hours to build up charge this morning. While the generator was running, I went about the duties for the day. First up was walking the fence and moving the rouge sealions back to their side of the fence, then repairing the sections they knocked down.

Hoping to see some sun later in the day, I climbed up and cleaned the solar panels. Perhaps early morning is a good idea, as they still had a bit of moisture from the dew. It was my first day cleaning the panels, so it took a few panels to get my technique figured out.

Lots of eco-tourism boats today. I climbed the tower at one point and could see boats of various sizes all around. There were lots of Humpbacks, so they were in different areas viewing the whales. I spent some time viewing and identifying the wildlife from the top of the tower. Tomorrow is the census, and I wanted to figure out how I will view all the wildlife on the outer islands. Anyone who has climbed the tower knows it’s a workout; I counted the stairs on one of my trips up…91 to get to the ladder, then 8 steps on the ladder.

I did some weed whacking of the pathways to remove the overgrowth. With the nesting seagulls, we didn’t want to disturb the nests, but now the paths are being overtaken by the foliage. I systematically trimmed and then saved some battery, so that I could use the blower to remove the mess. I did about half of my goal before I needed a battery recharge. And then once I resumed, I ran out of trimmer line. I’ll pick up this task another day once I get new line.

After gathering the water sample today, I closed the shed door and the handle came off in my hand! Fortunately the door hadn’t closed, so I could push it open. I recalled seeing spare handles in the house, so I went on a hunt to remember where they were. Replacing the handle was a bit of a challenge with he salt water having rusted everything.

With the salt water. the door handle gets pretty corroded.

Saw the sea lion that had the plastic around his neck earlier. They seem to be doing well and the wound has healed. The sea lion has an obvious ring around its neck for life now.

Sea Lion is doing well, but will have a scar for life

Facility work

• cleaned solar panels
• ran the gas generator
• checked batteries
• fence repairs
• Some weed whacking
• Fixed maintenance shed door knob

Vessels

• Ecotourism: 24
• Private: 6

Weather

Cloudy with sunny periods.  Winds 2 to 8 knots, direction variable. Daytime temperatures 12 to 14 degrees.