TCC for 1/2/09

1/1/09


1/1/09


1/2/09


1/2/09


1/2/09


1/2/09


1/2/09


1/2/09


1/2/09


1/2/09


Not a whole lot to report on for today, the very early stages of ice-in have begun here on the Lake. The Caretaker spent most all of the day trying to get things in order in the Ghetto and preparing for a trip over to the mainland tomorrow to get more fuel for heat. He could probably get by without the fuel but he would be a lot colder without restocking his fuel tanks and since he doesn't want to be colder than he has to during ice-in he is going to take advantage of the open water and get more fuel.

Since this day was rather uneventful (or at least nothing too eventful can be remembered by the Caretaker) here's another story from December 2008:

Part of the work being done in the kitchen has required the Caretaker to keep one of the larger Island boats in the water far longer into the colder months of the year than it would usually be. It was the weekend of December 20th, the wind was blowing from the Narrows at a pretty good clip, snow was falling but not enough to limit visibility, the throttle cable on the boat was frozen and the Caretaker had to pick somebody up to bring out to the Island to assess something that needed repair. The Lake conditions weren't exactly great for travel, but certainly not absolutely terrible, not yet at least. Luckily it was only the throttle cable itself that was frozen and not the shift column at the helm nor the throttle linkage on the engine. The Caretaker was able to start the boat and shift it into forward and reverse but the boat would only operate at idle speed. The person the Caretaker was picking up was going to be on the mainland South of the Island, getting there would have been fine for the most part but returning against the wind at idle speed wasn't an option, the wind and waves would have blown the boat backwards. The Caretaker was seriously considering using the tin boat, but being much smaller (12 to 14 feet long with a 15 horse power engine) there were potential risks with using it given the current Lake conditions, especially with the additional weight of another person. Eventually the Caretaker struck on the idea of disconnecting the throttle cable from the engine and operate the engine with the cowling removed so he could control the throttle at the engine. He brought his tools to the boat and set to work on seeing if his idea would work, sure enough it did. Now all he had to do was wait for the phone call from the person he was picking up to bring out to the Island, eventually the call came and off the Caretaker went.

He started up the boat and at idle speed maneuvered it into the direction he needed to go, once in the right direction he left the helm, went back to the engine and raised the engine speed, luckily the throttle held its position so the Caretaker could then return to the helm to steer the boat. He certainly didn't pilot the boat anywhere near as fast as it could go but enough to keep ahead of the waves which were getting to some three to four feet by this time. This method of boat operation was a bit like juggling requiring the Caretaker to be quick on his feet, not exactly ideal but it got the job done. The Caretaker was able to pick the person up, bring him out to the Island and then bring him back to the mainland not too worse for wear. Now that the Caretaker was finished with the boat he had to get it out of the water so it could go into storage until Spring.

To read about that see the TCC for 1/4/09. Oh, and for more blathering:

http://www.theblatheringidiot.blogspot.com/

--The Caretaker