Category Archives: Marine Vessels

Chunk ‘s visit

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Weather

It has been a very calm weekend . North East wind mainly and very light wind around 50 knots and a pretty cloudy sky all the time.

Ecological

Chunk was back on Saturday but not for so long , I would say 3 hours …He stayed closed to the boat shed . For a long time ” Boss ” was deeply asleep but at the end when the other tried to come up …he just needed to show up and Chunk was gone as fast as a torpedo. Don’t tell me that an elephant seal can’t go fast! Every thing looked fine with the e females Elephant seals and pups . They are bigger and the second born bigger than the first. The male tried to get one female after the other but without success and a lot of drama. It is always scary to see the young one so closed in this situation. Many eagles have been around those last days. On Sunday we had 4 geese and later 7 and on Sunday 13…many cormorants too and Oyster catchers.

Maintenance

We went on with the wood stacking job and brought bak to the main house the wood under the guest house. On sunday we were busy with the jetty. Logs everywhere and our main concern was to get free the launching boat way in case of an emergency.

Vessels

Just a few boats around:a small sailboat in the passage, a big fishing boat on his way to the coast, and a few watching boats .

the storm never came

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Weather

Looking at the forecast we were expecting a gust (to 40knots)on the 17th but it stayed pretty calm .Just a big swell came from East. When we had a look on the website Windyty the wind was on the West coast outside and on Victoria and the North of Vancouver Island. The sky has been very cloudy with a dark sea  and rain never far.The air temperature was a higher and the water too( around 7 degrees Celsius.) In the morning of the 18th in a gloomy atmosphere the flag was hanging like a stick for a while and like the day before keeps changing its direction all the time . The tides are really high. never saw them like that before

Ecological

Everything is fine in the nursery .The big male spend his days closed to the females and babies ,waiting for his turn and sometimes trying to get one or the other but to now without success. We got the visit of a few eagles and some geese .

Maintenance

More wood split and stacked. The desalinator and generator are on almost everyday . Guy hauled up with the crane a very long log around 30feet. The last 200 liters of gas oil have been transfered to the yellow tank.We have now 7 barrels empty ready to be filled up and 2 Propane bottles. The barrels bottoms have been got rid of rust  and repainted.

Vessels

One watching boat almost everyday

 

Boat shed roof repaired

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Weather

Very nice weather 15 to 20 knots East wind . calm day

Ecological

Now every 2 hours  the baby got fed and everything looked fine. the baby was not moving easily  and was crying a lot maybe from frustration or to get attention. It was really nice to see everything from the window .

Maintenance

Kyle came with his wife and helped Guy on the boat shed roof. it badly needed repairs and patches of shingles before the heavy rainy days expected next week.

Marine activity

One whale watcher boats with freezing people ! and a plane above in the afternoon

 

Census and calm day

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Weather

Wind :went down around 10:00AM to 13knots

Sky: Nice and sunny and cold day

Census

Gulls:136

Cormorants:60

Elephant Seals:2 (1 female in the evening + the boss)

Sea lions:65

Harbour seals:34

Geese:4

Harlequin Ducks:14

Black turn Stones:10

Raven:2

Eagles :4

Maintenance

Camera 5 cleaned,battery in the crane house put in charge,desalinator and generator on

Boats

1whale Watcher vessel

 

Census

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Weather: 10 knot N wind

Ecological:

  • Due to cold temperature and frozen ground/puddles birds that scavenge in the mud (turnstones) and depend on fresh water (geese) have been absent lately.  Today temperature is above freezing and ground is mostly thawed.
  •  Census:
    • Peregrine Falcon: 1
    • Harlequin ducks: 8
    • Bald Eagles: 7
    • Cormorants: 82 (see photos, poor lighting for distinguishing pelagic vs double crested)
    • California sea lion: 84
    • Northern sea lion: 33
    • Black Turnstone: 1
    • Sparrow: 1
    • Elephant Seals: 2 females and 1 male (Chunk) on West Rock, 1 male on Great Race
    • Gulls: see photos (Gulls NE and Gulls West Rock)
    • harbour seals: 25

Boats:

  • 1 dive boat
  • 2 sailboats passed by the outside of the reserve

Maintenance:

  • replaced in line water filter in basement of keepers house
  • continued clean up in basement, built firewood storage rack for better circulation.

Diesel Delivery and Desalinator Technician

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Fuel in, garbage out

Fuel in, garbage out

Weather: Wind N 15-20 knots

Boats:

  • 1 ecotour
  • Kyle, Guy and a desalinator technician arrived around 1300 in second nature

Maintenance: 

  • offloaded 4 diesal barrels from second nature to race rocks
  • technician looked over desalinator HP pump, suggest bringing it in for a rebuild once parts available
  • Offloaded 5 sling loads of garbage and recycling including: scrap metal, glass, old wet carpets, asphalt shingles, 2 old treadmills, broken small appliances/electronics, TV, oil/fuel rags, empty paint/spray cans, scrap wood, and old line trimmer.
  • stored diesel barrels, pumped 1 barrel to tidy tank and filled day tank.
  • greased steering shaft of whaler
  • filled fuel in whaler

Steady North Wind

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Weather: N wind 15-20 knots in the morning and up to 30 knots NE during the day, temperature around 0 deg C.

Boats: 1 eco-tour, it appeared to be closer than 100m to sealions.

Maintenance: 

  • Clear boat ramp of NE wind debris
  • clean up in basement, prep for offloading scrap/garbage
  • grease boston whaler steering rod

Freezing

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Weather:

  • 25-30 knot NE wind, clear sky.
  • temperature fell below freezing overnight, ground frozen in the morning.

Boats: 3 ecotour vessels in the afternoon, they all appeared to get within the DFO’s 100 m marine mammal setback guideline.

Maintenance:

  • checked on water lines and hooked up extension cables to heat tape on the fresh water tank and the main house fresh water inlet.  Dumped water from rain tank to avoid freezing valve. Drained cistern pump in derrick shed.
  • measured generator diesel levels, filled day tank.
  • started generator in the morning, ran for 3 hours before overspeed fault.  Ran again in the evening without overspeed.
  • chopped wood, cleared out firewood cutting jig