Wilderness Blues- Ramblings from the Great Land

  It's hard to believe that 44 years has passed since that June day in 1976 when Jan and I drove our 72 Pinto up the ramp of the Hoonah ferry terminal into an adventure that would last for this long. Driving through the town I was wondering what I had gotten myself into. We left sunny Charleston South Carolina and came to this land of mountains and water and rain in amounts I'd never seen before. The main road was nothing more than a narrow, muddy, rut -filled lane that two cars could only pass on in select areas. Houses along the road were so covered with mud that the paint wasn't visible and if the sun did ever shine you'd never know because the windows were streaked brown with so much mud that light couldn't penetrate. People walking down the road were in no hurry to get out of your way, and stared at you like you were on display in a circus. The few cars I passed had slogans like Indian Power and Custer Had it Coming. A lot has changed in 44 years. Hoonah has be...

  For the past few years Alaska has been suffering with a budget crisis. There hasn't been a state tax since I believe the first year I came here, back in 1976 or somewhere around then. When oil was discovered on the North Slope and Prudhoe Bay, the state was swimming in money from oil revenues. There was so much money that the governor at the time, Jay Hammond decided it would be a grand idea to share the state's wealth with it's citizens. Hence the Alaska Permanent Fund was born. It was a tremendous blessing to receive, and was doable because to this date I believe there are less than a million people who live here. So many folks find themselves out of work in the winter months because of the harsh conditions, so having an extra source of income in the fall really makes a difference. Some years back the price of oil started dropping, from over $100.00 a barrel to around $60.00 or so. The state for years has lived off that oil revenue,and when the prices st...

  Jan and I took a little trip down to the lower 48 last week. We were on the lookout for a new place to call home. The trip didn't start off all that great. After checking out the ferry schedule, and coordinating the with doctor's office to see that we could get appointments around the ferry, and making arrangements for a flight on Alaska airlines that would require the least amount of down time, I got a call from one of the attendants at the local Alaska Marine Highway office the day before we were to leave,  informing me that the ferry was broken down (again) and they weren't sure when it would be up and running again. Frankly, I wasn't shocked at the news, but I was really angry. I needed my car in Juneau when we returned from down south so we could run around to the doctors and shop at Costco and Fred Meyers and load up. The potential savings on groceries alone is enough to offset the almost $300.00 it cost to take the truck to Juneau round t...

It's been a while since I last posted pictures of the boat, so I thought I would take a minute today and update you on the progress. As you can see, its coming along. John is doing beautiful work. We've replaced even more than we were going to- as he worked his way down the side he would see another plank that just wasn't up to par and the shipwright in him couldn't let him leave it. The only problem is that he's working full time getting the cannery up and running and the busy season is upon us both. Unfortunately I can't do any of the plank work myself so I have to wait for him to find time to do it. To compound the issue, I had to go to Juneau the other day to pick up supplies. The return ferry trip which should only take three and half hours if it's direct to Hoonah, took twelve hours because the geniuses who set up the schedule, bypass Hoonah and go down to Tenekee and Angoon first and then come back to Hoonah. So the normal amount of time is quadr...