I hate to jump back in and interrupt a great conversation on the last entry. Hope it continues, just as the Kulluk story continues. Appreciation to Beell, CalPoppy, UK, and many more for the input.
Well the numbers are in for 2012. Weather numbers. In Dutch, we saw wind range from dead calm to 74 mph. Measured by my own device right here at the duplex. Channeled terrain makes a big difference around here. I guarantee there were higher wind readings just around the hill. We had temps range from 14 to 73 degrees. The banana belt of Alaska. Nothing MINUS, even that 14 degrees was a bit out of whack. It was not in that range for long. Normally it stays in the 20s at the worst. Forget that wind chill stuff, I don’t need to be told how cold it feels. Pretty obvious stuff. Just tell me how cold it IS. Right Iaotter?
Watched Louisville have its way with FLORIDA tonight in football. UL was a 14 point underdog, but instead they won by about that. Has to be tough for the Florida folk. Football is their game. Normally UL is all basketball. This is a good year for them, as they are tough in both.
Quarterback and coach return next year. Watch out! Everyone loves football...
The end of an airline era happened recently here in Dutch and Alaska. The 70 year old Grumman Gooses were retired. In Dutch, The GOOSE was used to get people to various small communities not served by bigger planes. Mainly to Akutan, the next island east of us, where Trident Seafoods has the biggest fish processing plant in the state. But they also went to Adak, Nikolski, and more. I really wanted to take a trip to Adak or Akutan in one of those planes. It was used to get to Akutan because it was a sea plane, and Akutan had no airport. But that changed just last year and the goose was cooked. I still want to take a quick trip to Adak, but it will not be on the goose.
The manuscript is with the publisher. Hope to hear any time now from the people wanting some of my photos. As I write I am downloading photos to ShutterStock, seeing if I can get interest for more photo sales. Meanwhile the reviews are coming in on the EPIC film I put together from my recent vacation. Mostly positive. There was a stretch where I had a bug splattered on my windshield and did not notice it. But the camera did. Constantly. Shooting video thru a windshield is not the way to go, but sometimes it is all you can do. Still, I like the results myself.
As for Kulluk, it is the story that never ends. I heard from Alex Haley today, the Coast Guard cutter helping the Kulluk. They will be late, not arriving this Saturday as planned. Pretty much expected.
I think it was pretty dangerous evacuating Kulluk when they did. Dangerous for CalPoppy’s son as well as the crew. That rig is not sinking, ride it out until there was a better opportunity.
4 engines on AIVIQ fail all at once? Rushing out to avoid a tax bill? What will that bill be now?
We have a nice fat order to fill tomorrow. Just another fishing vessel heading out for the new season.
2013 is starting out with a bang (MIDNIGHT FIREWORKS were nice, too).
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Alex Haley has now been tasked with “maintaining a safety zone of one nautical mile” around the grounded vessel. Whilst the FAA have obliged with a temporary flight restrictions around the Kulluk.
They got it all sorted.
Move along please folks. Nothing to see here. You'll have to take your beach BBQ elsewhere Warrior Princesses.
I heard the tide might be obliging on the 12th for a little light shovage to the south. One thing is certain, the weather is going to decide what occurs before, during and after. NOT the 600 people holed up at the Unified Command Centre – where photos show the donning of high visibility jackets is an essential element for disaster response teams based in the ball room of the Anchorage Marriott Hotel...
What a football game. Football is too rough for me. I watched, but prayed that no one would get hurt. It bothers me to see their heads getting jostled around. I guess the fun part was seeing the "underdog" perform. Our QB is recovering from a broken wrist and sprained ankle. You would not know it. I will say Teddy was pretty good getting rid of the ball to avoid being hit. He pinpointed some small targets. What a talent.
Anxious to hear about Joe's final submission on the book as well as his photos.
Snow's almost gone here but the temps are low at night. Next week we could be in low 50s. Putting Christmas away. Kind of sad. I do enjoy the season.
Oh yes, everybody loves football :) and that was one h of a game! Now on to basketball!
LA Times Jan 2, 2013
...questions remained about whether the fuel tanks aboard the vessel were completely undamaged, Coast Guard Capt. Paul Mehler, the federal response commander, said at a briefing Wednesday night.
Referring to the observations by the salvage team, Mehler said, “The tanks they looked at were mainly intact, but they did see one that was sucking and blowing a little bit in one of the void spaces.”
Mehler said he could not be more specific about what the five-member team saw in the void space, which is the empty space between the fuel tank and the outer hull...
===============================================
From the Unified Command:
i can haz five fingers?
CORRECTION: Update #18: Salvage Assessment Team Safely Boards Drilling Unit
Unified Command-Statement #18
Story updated from six salvage members to five.
...The Coast Guard helicopter and crew also delivered a state-owned emergency towing system to the Kulluk, which will be used during salvage operations...
I thought it would be bigger...
And a new icon has been added to the Unified Command header- "Kodiak Island Borough"
On the unofficial-opinion weather front, a series of weak to moderately strong low pressure systems should continue to move over near the Gulf of Alaska keeping the winds and seas with an onshore component. A much stronger low showing up in the mid-range models in about 10 days.
Hear it first on JoeA's blog!
I hear that "the Atlantic Coast Conference Council of Presidents has unanimously voted to accept the University of Louisville as its newest member." I have mixed feelings about that, and I'm sure you probably do, too.
Louisville joins Syracuse, Pitt and Notre Dame in applying for ACC membership. I'm not worried about the academic quality of these schools or their athletic prowess, but it does bother me that all these places are located on the wrong side of the divide. I'm afraid it's going to dilute the Atlantic Coast brand. Pitt and Syracuse have a long ride to the ocean, comparable to Wake Forest or Georgia Tech. Louisville is about twice as far. Don't even talk to me about Notre Dame. There's nothing remotely Atlantic about northern Indiana, and the nearest Coast is Lake Michigan.
Meanwhile Maryland, which has been an ACC member since the beginning, wants out. That bothers me, too. Has the ACC bitten off more than it can chew?
So sad about the retirement of the Goose. I had the pleasure of seeing it land when I was getting ready for my departure from Dutch. It was truly a one of a kind. It was really neat to see where they had the various compartments for storage.
Best of luck on the manuscript!
A hoax website mounted by environmental activists to highlight the dangers of Arctic drilling and mock Shell’s search for oil in the region is getting fresh attention in the wake of the grounding of one of the oil company’s Kulluk rig near Alaska...
Spoof site: arcticready.com
Seawater in Kulluk's hull apparently came from open hatches, Shell says-adn.com/Jan 3, 2013
...Sean Churchfield, Shell's Alaska operations official, attributed the flooding below deck to open hatches and not to cracks or holes in the hull. At a news conference Thursday, Churchfield also said that electrical generators on the Kulluk are wrecked, but declined to say how that would affect future salvage efforts...Capt. Paul Mehler, the federal on-scene commander, also wouldn't estimate when an attempt would be made to move the Kulluk...
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