Reflections by Kirk 07-08-2013

Living off the grid. Basically, that’s what we are doing. Every time we use electricity, it comes from batteries where we store power that we made with solar panels, wind turbine, and engine alternator. When we use water, it comes from tanks that we filled ourselves. We use cell phones for calling people and to send emails and such, but it has not been often that such service is even available to us. Sewage is a topic for another time. We knew we would need to be self-sufficient going into this, but there are still things that can catch you and we are learning. Things like garbage. Unless we are out at sea, garbage just accumulates until we get somewhere that will accept it. We recently stayed at a self-contained community that included a small marina, several float homes, and three regular homes on foundations. The resident population is eight. They have a community incinerator and will take anything burnable from the boaters. This costs $5 for a small bag, but they will not take tin cans, bottles or aluminum foil as they won’t burn (they have obviously never been to a Doyle or Chubb fire). So we (read Kris) dig through three weeks worth of garbage bags to separate all of the tin cans and bottles so we can then pack them back onto the boat until we reach a real dumpster. Recycling is not yet universal; and I understand, as it takes a fully functioning and economically viable beginning to end and then back-to-the-beginning again system. These areas are just too remote for that to work well.

And then there is laundry. I try to contain our laundry situation by wearing the same clothes for longer than I would if we lived in a house or even on the boat at a marina with laundry facilities. It’s gotten so that dogs will go way out of their way to give me a sniff, but the soiled clothes still accumulate. One might think that this should not be a problem as all of this stuff fit on the boat in the first place; but we have tried, and it just does not work so well to put the empty food containers back in the pantry or the dirty clothes back in the closet. Like I said, it’s a learning experience.

While cruising through the Broughtons, a maze of waterways through many, many, many islands, we also saw lots of extraordinary examples of living off of the grid. Many parts of these islands have shorelines that consist of rock walls that drop straight into the sea. The water can be very deep just a few feet from the shoreline. Then we come around a corner and see a small cove with one or maybe even a few flat spots of land. If this cove is in a part of the island that offers protection from the ferocious winds that affect this part of the world; and remember that we are above 50 degrees north latitude, as often as not there will be a dock and one or more homes. There are no companies that provide power or water or sewer services to these areas. There are no roads, airports, railways or regular ferry service. These people are on their own. While at the small community with the incinerator, we met a couple who were just finishing a really nice house/cabin with two bedrooms, two baths, and all of the usual amenities. Just getting all of the building materials to the tiny little island was a logistical situation involving floatplanes, landing craft type barges, water taxis, and their own boat. One of the first things they brought to the island was a four-wheeled gator, which is like an industrial type golf cart. Using just the gator and their backs, all of the material that went into the home was moved from waters edge to the building site: concrete, lumber, sheetrock, appliances, furniture, etc. We had a tour of their home, and it is well built and finished – definitely not a shack. Power comes from a diesel generator, water from a well and heat from wood and propane. Sewage is another topic that I won’t go into. They had help from neighbors and friends, but it was still a three-year process. Now that they are moved in, they need to utilize the same transportation methods for diesel, propane, food and all of the other things that anyone would routinely bring into their home. We learned that it can be less expensive to have a floatplane deliver groceries than to use their boat considering the fuel costs. This all seems like a lot of trouble, but the benefit is living very close to nature in an unspoiled environment, with million dollar views, and being able to catch all of the crab, prawns, salmon, halibut, lingcod, etc. very close to home. Definitely not for everyone, but a very intriguing lifestyle.

May you get to heaven half an hour before the devil knows your dead.