Life on the Outer Coast

July 9th

Almost sunny as we departed Elfin Cove at 8am for Pelican. We had a nice view of Brady Glacier, Cape Spencer light and the peaks of the Fairweathers as we departed.

Cruised into Port Althorp on the way in search of sea otters. We did find 3 deer and a Great Blue Heron in the estuary. Harlequins, Porpoise and sea otters, some with pups, in the bay.

Looked like there was an active mine claim in Port Althorp. At least I assume that it is a mine claim We could see a large pile of gravel, a barge, and several buildings that looked like they were in use. Given the number of mineral claims in the northwestern part of Chichagof, it is probably reasonable to assume that is what is going on.

It was very calm traveling around the corner into Lisianski inlet. Lots of Glaucous winged gulls, Kittiwakes, Marbled murrelets, several Pigeon guillemots and Pelagic Cormorants, 2 Tufted Puffins, 1 Double crested Cormorants on the bit of outside water. The bird sightings thinned out considerably as we traveled through Lisiansky inlet. Did see two more deer on the Chichagof island shore. Noticed that there was alot of snow on Yakobi Island and Chichagof islands at the 1000 to 1200 ft level.

Tied up at the Pelican dock around noon. Shortly after tieing up, I saw a beautiful little skiff rowing into the harbor. The most unique feature (that was immediately noticable) of the skiff was a collie figurehead. Turned out that the couple in the skiff was Eric and Pam Bealer. I had talked to the storekeeper in Elfin Cove about Eric's prints and mentioned that I was traveling to Pelican the next day and thought it would be interesting to meet him and see any new prints he had on hand. She sent an email relaying what I had told her and apparently it was a town day for the Bealers, so I was in luck.

They live about 3 to 3.5 miles east of town on a small piece of property with a large garden and some stock animals. They moved to Alaska from Vermont about 14 years ago, first settling in Haines, then in Pelican when they found this property. Both Pam and Eric seem quite dedicated to developing a connection with this place and the inhabitatants (of all kinds). I asked about problems with deer and bears in their garden or with the chickens etc. He is fairly convinced that mindful practices and respect for the animals and their habitat has prevented any problems, as they haven't had any to speak of.

Just for example, they bury the herring eggs in the garden (only had a bear visit when he was too tired one day to bury them in one area), and feed any suitable kitchen scaps to the chickens instead of composting them. They also don't have a smokehouse for fish. On a side not, it was interesting to confirm that there is consistant herring spawning in Liskianski.

The chickens are in an enclosed space with one side that opens for fresh air. The enclosed space seems to preclude problems with mink and weasels.

They have had weasels liviing in the barn and under the shed, but apparently haven't had any trouble with them, except for the smell. I enjoyed their stories about watching the juvenile weasels playing in the sun by the sheds. They were kind of amazed that I hadn't seen one before this summer.

They are very dedicated to growing their own food, storing it for the winter and not buying much from the store. Maybe more dedicated than I could pull off. Eric told me a story about cooking dinner the week before. They were out of carrots and potatoes from last summer and weren't going to buy any of lesser quality from the store, so the stew was rather meat rich. They would just as soon wait until their crops are in and do without. I probably would have compromised, but they seem rather happy with their choices.

I wish that I could have seen their garden, it sounds rather productive. At least it seems so when the weather is kinder. A couple of issues that they are having with crops: thrips (?) in the apple flowers and potato scab. Hadn't heard of thrips causing a problem with apples here previously. I suspect that a change in apple variety might help the apple production. Scab is just a pain around here.

Developing a connection is also how Eric approaches his art. Both in his "serious" landscape/animal prints and in the more amusing posters he produces for the Boardwalk Boogie. He seems rather dedicated to experience of the process rather than necessarily focusing on the product. Actually both of them seem to agree on this, but Eric was the most vocal.

The skiff is homebuilt from local spruce. He found naturally bent pieces of wood to use where the boat required it instead of steam bending to get the curves. Aside from the planer, the boat was built with hand tools. The boat is named for a collie's named Luna, who served as the model for the figurehead.

Beside gardening, found out that we share an interest in birds. Pam told me about a mockingbird that they had in the field last year and have since learned about a kingbird that is visiting this year.

I managed to repay them a bit for the afternoon, by taking a box of prints for the Rose Gallery. Seemed like the least I could do.

Spent the rest of the day wandering around Pelican, the weather was pretty nice through the evening. I did stick my head in Rosie's Bar, but didn't feel the need to stay long.