Category Archives: Facility work

Beautiful Summer days but a little bit chillier at least on the Rocks!

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Weather

On Monday at 5:00 AM 22 knots west wind getting to 25 in the afternoon and cloudy to clear later. On Tuesday same kind of weather , wind closed to 28 knots in the afternoon and very clear and hot even if the wind on the sea is chilli. Water and air same temperature of 12 degrees celsius,barometric pressure stable:101.7KPA.

Ecological

The little birds are learning how to fly but it’s just the beginning. One elephant seal ,a young one, came back on Tuesday . The sea lions are getting closer and closer on the south side of the Rock and already have  to keep the window closed because of their noisy shoutings.Kelp beds are all around and we have to be cautious with the boat.I found an egg broken still liquid and a bird smoldering and 2 very young chickens.. so the season is not over yet.

Maintenance

Guy for the last time tried to make the seawater pump working but niet it’s really dead so we brought it back to the college and we will get another new one pretty soon.He chopped more wood and will got all the wood in piles closed to the houses instead of a big one at the jetty. We had after that to hoover the water sample house because with the wind :all the wood chips went inside ! the desalinator was on part of the days. Solar panels are  efficient ( Generator once a week on)

Other

Some DND activity.

We went to the college to bring back the pump and some recycling and garbage bags and at the same time we went for an interview with Aziz for the video in a quiet environment ;too much noise all the times here. Also we had a short meeting with Kyle to double check for the  next week organisation. A lot happening around the Sea front : year 31 and 32 alumni  are coming back for 4 days.

Steady watching boats activity.

 

 

First sea lions on Main!

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Weather

The night between Sunday and Saturday was a noisy one :the horn was honking a major part of the night and even in the morning on Monday. Later in the day the wind was strong 29 knots at 16:00 and 32 around 19:00.

Ecological

The first sea lions (californians) were on their favorite spot ,the flat rocks closed to the jetty. We discovered 1 and pretty soon they were 3 and among them a huge one .We have to get ready for a very noisy environment ;even 2 of them can be very tiring ,so when you think about hundreds of them…plugs plugs ! …but we are lucky ,they are late , last year they were already here at this time  .  No more elephant seal on the rock. I miss them a lot!  For now we have  found 7 dead chicken bodies,mainly because of territorial fights.

Boats

Many watching boats and some beautiful sailboats (those ones not in the ecological reserve). Actually one came on Saturday and it was something to see it speeding with the current and without engine.

Maintenance

The fire pump died! this old timer was worn out even if it worked pretty well to now! Solar panel pretty dirty and the whole island ,alleys and rocks,roofs …everything is mainly white because of the gulls .Rain will be welcome.

Busy Weekend for the watching boats

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Weather

On Friday the morning was calm ,the wind coming from West picked up only late in the afternoon at 25 knots at the most.The visibility was over 15 miles and air felt like 16 degrees celsius at 5:00 AM.Te water temperature was 12 degrees and the barometric pressure 101.4 KPA.Sunrise at 5.44 and sunset at 20:54. On Saturday it has been really calm especially around  noon where it was 0.26 knots and the flag looked like dead. On Sunday very calm in the morning and very windy in the afternoon to midnight around 35 knots;a North East wind becoming West later. July has been a pretty windy month !

Maintenance and other

On Friday, Aziz recorded more videos :by example the whaler in action and we brought him back to Pearson College before noon. We came back just in time around 5:00 because at 7:00 the wind was around 28 knots and reached 30 knots at 10:00PM. We had a plane above like usual at the end of the week. On Saturday Guy disassembled the derrick shed door that need to be changed.The seawater pump was on for a few hours .  On Saturday I sent the end of the month report and the Seawater datas

Boats 

We had a parade of watching boats without interruption  the whole day on Saturday!!! and some divers spent a long time on South Rocks ! they could stand up! I wished we had an horn!

The sea lions are coming back

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Weather

It was very foggy in the morning at 5:00 with fog horn on even in the night between Tuesday and Wednesday. it honks to 10 AM.After it was sunny and the wind picked up to 28 knots in the evening

Ecological

We found the first Sea lions sleeping on Main rock Today behind the student’s house and later we discovered  around 20 of them on Middle Rock :they are back . Many harbour seals and babies on the rocks around.DSC_7613

Maintenance

We went to the student’s house to do some needed cleaning in the kitchen and tidying up .

Boats 

We had many watching boats That day and among them we had the surprise to see 2 guys with diving suit (one from the Navy) standing up on their  surf boards with oars to propulse them. The tides and currents were OK but imagine 50  or more people doing the same ! They were in the middle of the passage but not closed enough to make them go! We checked to be sure they left safe and it took at least half an hour.They had some diving materiel with them on a bag .DSC_7614

DSC_7607VisitorsDSC_7596

Kyle brought a long time friend for a short visit.

 

 

Whaler back

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Weather

It has been a very windy day. At 5:00AM we had 34 knots with a gale warning in effect ;the sea was choppy and we had a clear sky with 10 miles of visibility. At 7:45 AM it was still around 33 knots and after a decrease at 19 knots at the end of the morning the wind picked up again and stayed strong between 25 to 28 late in the evening.

ecological

5 geese visiting on Main,no Sealions,only on Elephant seal the adult male . More gulls have returned

Maintenance

The camera on the gulls have been cleaned and stored. The seawater pump has been on for 4 hours and the desalinator for 6 hours. We cleaned the dirty panels as usual and sweeped the alleys full of feathers. We got the whaler back and everything is working well,he starts OK now.

Other

Plane over

 

 

 

 

Check up for the whaler

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Weather

West lo southwest light winds under 20 knots have been on  almost all the time since last week. We got some fog and the fog horn running the whole night between Sunday and Monday to a stop at 8:30 in the morning.The rest of the day was sunny with a flat sea…DSC_0191

Ecological

At low tide the water was pretty far discovering an interesting world of rocks covered with fresh algae. We could count only 4 sea lions (Steelers) around and 60 chickens seen from the front window. If we compare with last year we had 110 sea lions and 87 chickens from the front window .What a different situation.Last year the first one on the jetty came on the 23rd.We will see …the usual 4 elephant seals are most of the time sleeping on Main Rock and the babies are growing fast. Not so much drama I guess because they have enough space but the gulls closed to the path are still defensive and this night a new one was born with 2 more coming (the last ones )so it’s going to be even more difficult to go the jetty! No new dead birds.(only 3 to now ) On Sunday we could count more than 16 whale watching vessels  way beyond the green boyd because of a long pod of orcas.DSC_0217DSC_0220

Maintenance

Guy changed the boat pump for a more efficient one.It was 360 GPM and now it’s 750. He left in the fog early on Monday because of an appointment with a Yamaha specialist. At the college they took the whaler off the water and put it on a trailer.We took the zodiac until the trailer is ready. Camera 3 has been stoppedDSC_0194

Other

3 times this week we had a plane above. Watching boats like usual.

 

 

Abundant waters

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Weather

The weekend has been a calm one ,except on Sunday where in the afternoon the wind increased to almost 40 knots .We got some rain on Saturday ; which is good for the island (cleaning) and in the afternoon the sky was overcast and a dark grey colour !DSC_0203

Ecological

Lately the difference between high and low tide is not big, from 4 feet to 8 and as a result the sea temperature is higher, above 12 degrees . It’s amazing to see all those flocks of birds fishing  all around .We even found a ball of small heering on the balcony…the smell coming inside the house was just as if we had opened a huge sardine can!

Maintenance 

Guy put 3 barrels of gasoil in the main house cistern ( 600 liters).It’s now full (1000l).Solar panels needed attention (LOL) and some sweeping had to be done , grass plucked by the gulls for their nests. We did some light proof curtains for the main bedroom. It will be appreciated by the eco -guardians community especially in Summer time . It’s clear at 4:20 in June without speaking when it’s the full moon!

Other

Watching boats like usual and an helicoptere (Coast guards )just above ,freaking out the birds.

6 barrels and 2 men

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Weather

At 5:30 West light wind 6 knots,no visibility :very foggy .Actually the fog horn has been honking from 3:00 Am to 5:30. It cleared up around 6:00. Sea flat the whole day. and sky :cloudy to sunny

Ecological

The seagull are the main actors right now on the rocks :they are busy and noisy.The little ones pops out everywhere ,even the ones closed to the camera 3. They were born Today but still under the parent’s wing right now…At least every hour ,especially this morning you could see clouds of gulls and listen their shrill cries,sometimes because of the presence of an eagle but not always . All at once ,around 600 of them (at least) at the same time  were taking wing in the sky and a few minutes later  back to the ground…Now I understand the expression a flock of seagulls. Still around 5 Elephant seals . Yesterday night we counted 10 oystercatchers before sunset and some very small and adorable seashore birds.A big pod of Orcas were closed to the green boyd around Noon

Maintenance

Kyle came early because of the tide with 6 barrels of diesel and they hauled them with the crank .Now we have 1200 litres of gasoil. I never saw the solar panels dirtier than Today. It was thick and smelly .One bucket of warm water for the top panels was not enough .I had to do it twice .The young ones under the low panels were born so it’s now getting tricky to do the cleaning job! The parents are getting mad …and we have to wear an helmet.

Other

Many watching boats Today and the same helicopter above 2 times. A tanker had to honk for a watching boat too closed…

 

Errands and groceries days

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Weather

2 very calm days,sea like a mirror and only 18 knots at 9:00 on Wednesday it rained in the morning just good  for a rock cleaning (the whole place is getting white ).

Ecological

On Tuesday I went back to the top of the tower and around the rock to double check the birds on the rocks:I discovered 2 beautiful Harlequin ducks always in the same area closed to the beach,2 oystercatchers couples,around 30 Seashore birds,3 sea lions and many harbour seals ,some with very small babies.

Other 

After 8 days on the rocks it was time for shopping and recycling. The days were perfect Tide ,currents ,visibility and …wind contributed to a quiet trip to shore.After those windy days we found many logs floating on the sea between here and Pearson College . Leaving Main, you could see two huge eagles on Middle ready for breakfast…Usual scenery in the morning or before dark.We took advantage of the trip to fill up the gasoline tanks for the boat.(95 litres) and I send (slow mail)the end of the month report for the Seawater .

Census day

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Weather

The wind has been blowing  strongly since 10:00AM ;before that it was around 19 knots At 5:00 it was calm with 10 miles of visibility. At Noon we had 26 knots ,38 at 4:00PM and down to 30 around 7:00. When we went in the light to do the census the effect of the wind and the tide was amazing and gave the feeling to be on a speed boat especially on South side. Going from the house to the tower for the census was like an adventure between the gulls above , the flying helmet, the binoculars and the wind climbing  the outside stairs but…beautiful up to the tower. By the way we have been steady on the rock for 8 days without going back to shore ! Not bad  really..now we just need more groceries…

Ecological and Census

Glaucous winged Gulls (mainly): around 870(mainly outside the main Rock)

Sea otter :1

Elephant Seals :4

Pigeons -Guillemot: 25.

Oystercatchers:2 couples seen today and 5 babies in the week (I will try to spot the other couple )

Harbour Seals : 65 +babies

Seashore birds: 10

Cormorants : 0

Sea lion:1

Geese : 2 (but not seen Today)

Eagles : 3

Seashore birds : a few ( I will try to see  on the beach( If the wind is not too strong )before  the sunset)

Maintenance 

Food inventory (emergency stock),some stuff discarded .

Generator ran 4 hours and half

Guy measured the door that needs to be changed (Derrick house)

Other

1 helicopter above and 2 commercial fishing boats , No watchers