schooner adventuress

During the week of Martin Luther King Day we take a break from our normal routine of river restoration to do some work in the community. This year we spent a day working with Sound Experience on the Schooner Adventuress in Port Townsend. The Adventuress was built in Maine to catch a whale in Alaska, never caught that whale, joined the pilot fleet in San Francisco Bay, then a coast guard ship during World War II, and ended up in Seattle around 1952 where it eventually became a vessel to teach youth about sailing. Every winter it spends time out of the water for maintenance. The crew was hyped on the work we accomplished, and we were hyped to switch it up and spend time away from the woods.

From the stern, dry docked for the winter.

Ryan and Chelsea, painting the hull.

Blocks and hull, to be sanded and repainted.

 Matt was bored in Virginia and came out West to work on the ship.

On the deck, fresh varnish on the wood.

Salty seas are rough on the hull. Scaffold zone.

Zach, first mate, stoked on his job.

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ripples

Little ripples from far away.

lake mills

Winter means we're back on the Elwha project. The goal is to get plant regeneration off on the right foot by putting thousands of native plants in the ground. Constructing access trails for hiking plants to revegetation sites is critical. With dam demolition nearing completion, and the park getting ready for the hordes of visitors that will come to view the newly drained reservoir, we're beginning to transform access trails into pathways ready for the public.

Hiking out to the planting site.

Clear, cold days. The worksite got two hours of sun.

Two sentinels, watching the old lake bed from their posts.

Only 30 feet left to demolish. These upper pieces will remain as a memorial.

Filling turnpike before covering with top dressing.

Taylor, posing with the tool of choice, demo site in the background.

One big chunk of cedar equals five cedar beams.

Shane, chief gravel coordinator.

Hot lunch.

Sam, scoring logs embedded in the fine sediment.

Brand new trail with a brand new feature. Three years ago this photo would be ten feet under water.

Elwha River, Lake Mills, Mt. Fitzhenry, and Mt. Carrie.

new year

The ocean has been giving gifts of all shapes and sizes this holiday season. We've been running around trying to unwrap as much as possible. Merry winter and happy new year.

Finding some nice lines away from the coast.

Looking for gems in the soup near Ocean Shores.

Ask and the Jetty delivers. Merry Christmas from Westport.

(note the surfer paddling to the left for scale)