Raising the Cabin Walls
By Catherine Geiger
My first time to the island did not disappoint. What started out as sketching cabin plans in the garage ended as a wildly successful week all wrapped up under a tarp.
Pre Island Planning: Pack only what you need
My dad and I had regular phone calls leading up to the trip, discussing building plans, menus, and what to pack. Knowing that we would be bringing up a lot of weight in the form of building supplies, I wanted to make sure to pack as lightly as possible while still being prepared for potential extreme weather.
Packing the food required the most planning and organization. In order to reduce waste and bring back as little food as possible, I intended to pack one less lunch and dinner (with the plan of catching crab or fish for one meal and leftovers)... or unintentionally pack two less. My dad miscalculated the number of days we would be there, so we ended up four meals short when we packed. Luckily, we caught enough crab to cover three meals and used whatever random scraps and leftovers to make the remaining meal. In the end, it worked out perfectly, as we brought back almost no food - Food Waste: 0, Trips for Ice: 1 (only initial stock up in Port McNeill).
August 4th, Seattle to Port McNeill: Departed 8:30am, stopped at Ford dealership in Sedro-Woolley for the License Plate, held up at border crossing to pay taxes for importing the windows and doors, stuck in traffic crossing Vancouver, missed our ferry reservation by one minute (causing roughly a three hour delay), checked in at the Haida Way Motor Inn around 8:30pm, had dinner at the Northern Lights Restaurant, and walked to the docks to watch the sunset - bed time by 10:30pm.
August 5th, Day One: When a tree falls in the forest, it definitely makes a sound
Loading the boat was surprisingly easy, and to keep the weight balanced, I found myself captaining BRNR for the first time. Despite my slight nerves, I was a natural. A short and uneventful hour and a half later we landed on Hull Island and got unpacking - no broken windows, Dad's Official Fall Count: 1, missing cabin build plans.
Only when we were startled by a loud crack did we stop for a minute. Was it a bear breaking a large branch? Was it a gun shot?After a second pop and we were certain it came from near the rain water tank, so we focused our gaze up the trail while edging toward the nearest can of bear spray. Seconds later we hear a series of cracks and pops (definitely branches breaking) which culminated with a boom. The noise from the falling tree was terrifyingly loud and echoed around the island like it played in surround sound. My heart was pounding and we were both a little on edge after that, still unsure what caused it to fall.
Steak and mushrooms for dinner, cocktail hour watching the sunset, kicked off sea salt production by boiling ~ 2 gallons of 100% pure sea water on the fire, and bed time by 11pm. I don't think I fell asleep until 3am, I was so nervous about the surrounding wildlife and sounds.
August 6th, Day Two: Harnessing the power of the sun and the winch
It was another perfectly clear day and we were up by 7:30am. We decided our build schedule would be a full 9am-5pm shift, so we made a quick breakfast on the stove, sipped our coffee and tea, and topped off our Nalgenes. As we were cleaning up from breakfast, we were startled by another loud pop, closer this time! We immediately stopped cleaning and looked up to see if we noticed any tree swaying, as if it were preparing to fall. A few pops and cracks later and we were still unable to spot a rustling tree. My dad decided to investigate where the sound was coming from, beginning to think that this wasn't another tree falling, but an animal. As soon as we made it down to the landing (a rocky beach landing spot for the boat, 1 of 2 waterfront spots closest to the camp), we realized that a black squirrel was responsible for all the noise. It was all the way at the top of a fir tree picking off and dropping young pine cones. The pine cones were large and tough enough that they made an impressively loud popping noise when they slammed agaisnt the rocks below. We laughed about how nervous and paranoid we were and went back up to camp to begin our day.
By the time we solved the squirrel debacle, uncovered the tools, set up solar power, and equipped ourselves with tool belts stuffed with screws, it was well past 9am. The back wall, being the longest at 20ft, was where we began. I would estimate that I did well over 500 squats measuring, marking, and screwing in all of the 2x4s for the studs, window frames, blocking, and sheathing.
By mid afternoon we were sweating horribly, but ready to lift our first wall. It was much heavier than expected, so we started by lifting inches at a time and wedging support pieces underneath - I'll give dad all the credit for the lifting because I was exhausted and obviously nowhere near as strong. When we had lifted the top edge close to 5 feet we couldn't lift anymore. Queue the winch! While dad set up the winch contraption I screwed a handful of screws (in a close bunch) in to the header of the most central window in order to have something to hook on to. The winch gently lifted the wall the remainder of the distance and we were able to square it up and secure it in place - no injuries, Generator Use: 0hrs, Daily Killed Horsefly Count: at least 32.
Despite my exhaustion, I was on to my other campsite upgrades. I reshaped the stone fire place my mom built in order to accommodate a new grill grate and finished work on the shower. The cracks between the stones were jammed with dried moss, hoping that when it rained the moss would fill in and soften up the shower floor, and I used a piece of wood my dad had cut from a previous visit as the support for the hose/shower head and shampoo/soap shelf. Used a chainsaw for the first time too, which was awesome.
Chicken and asparagus for dinner, boiled an additional ~3 gallons of sea water, and bed time by 11pm. I was out by 11:30pm this time.
August 7th, Day Three: Crab dinner, party of two
Feeling fully rested and in building mode, we got our start at 9am sharp. However, before we actually got started on the construction, we shifted our focus to our sea salt production. After boiling down roughly 5 gallons of salt water to a little under a liter, we were left with a lot of brown sea debris in the pot. Maybe a mix of algae and plankton? Other than the floating debris, the water was crystal clear, so we figured filtering it through a coffee filter would do the trick. We laid out a large black trash bag over a car drip pan and filter the water directly on there. The setup was temporary, but worked for the morning. Back to building now!
Today's goal was to put up the two forward facing walls and cut out the windows. We were on a role from the previous day, so by lunch break we had already lifted the longer front wall and completed the windows. However, starting the next wall created a bit of a delay. Since this wall was set back from the edge of the deck, the wall had to be a certain amount taller so that the roof rafters would properly lay across it - this is where it would have been helpful to have the build plans that went missing on Day One. Luckily dad had some photos saved on his phone, so we were able to reference those to make sketches on scrap plywood, and then confirm our sketches using simple trigonometry and cellphone calculators.With the measurements set, we completed and lifted the tall wall, with the hole for the front door and double window already cut out - technology didn't fail us, Generator Use: 1hr, Daily Killed Horsefly Count: around 19.
Salt Production Update: After a full day of sun exposure, enough water had evaporated to show salt forming around the edges of the puddles, but was still a puddle in the middle. I decided to build a more permanent salt drying table that would allow us to easily relocate the pan to sunny areas throughout the day and optimize drying efficiency.
Before it got too late, we hopped in the boat and went to check on our crab pots. We brought home 4 Dungeness Crab, tossing all females and surplus of males - the first pot had 6 females and 1 male, and the second pot brought in 2 females and 6 males. On the boat ride back we decided to take a loop around the island to try and find the fallen tree. Unsurprisingly, the tree fell right along the coast, a couple hundred yards from camp. After offloading the crab, we set up a pot with a splash of water (for steam) over the fire and went to kill and clean the crab - live to cooking in under 5 minutes, best crab dinner of my life.
Right after dinner we took a walk to the fallen tree, learning that the base had been rotting out, the ground was made of layers upon layers of decomposing shells, and the lack of rain had dried it out so much that it could no longer stand. We explored a little more, and I came across this tiny crab exoskeleton with an even tinier crab dried to its back. I thought that was neat!
Crab and steamed broccoli for dinner, toasted marshmallows for dessert, the most incredible star gazing (we could clearly see the Milky Way), and bed by midnight.
August 8th, Day Four: Solar powered showers and sun dried sea salt
Exhaustion had really started to set in this morning. My legs, knees, and wrists were starting to ache, but that didn't stop us from starting at 9am again. We wanted to get up the two side walls, one with three windows and the other that will case my dad's hand made barn doors. Since these walls were to support the roof beam, it took us some time to plan how to construct them. We decided to build the base rectangular structure this day, and build the triangle tops the next. In order to maintain a sturdy wall, the sheathing would be added after both pieces to the wall were lifted, allowing the sheets of plywood to connect the top to the bottom securely.
Today's work brought about another animal sighting. While I was busy screwing in some of the blocking for the side wall, I heard a deep flapping noise and looked up to see a giant Bald Eagle landing at the top of a tree right near the solar panels. I'd say he was close to 3ft tall; his magnificent size enhanced by how close he was. He sat and watched us for a good amount of time, not afraid of the sound produced from throwing pieces of 2x4 and running the circular and chop saws. Only when we had to turn on the generator to rip the header to the barn doors did the Eagle leave us. Once we got the two bottom parts of the side walls up we called it quits, at 5pm on the dot, and enjoyed our first solar warmed showers - Generator Use: 30min, Daily Killed Horsefly Count: less than 10
Since the 200ft-long hose had been sitting out in the sun all day, the water was amazing and felt hot after a quick dip the ocean. That may have been the most incredible shower; the view was picturesque and the feeling of showering in the open was quite freeing. I could have stood there forever, but considering we were running on rain water (which we were only draining since it had been weeks since it last rained) and I wanted to save some of the hot water for my dad, I showered in record time.
After our showers we tended to the salt production. Finally, we had crystallized a few cups of coarse, sun dried, Hull Island Sea Salt. With all of our fresh salt, I made a perfectly seasoned dinner. During dinner we spent some quality time making phone calls and decompressing from the crazy week we had already been through.
Crab cakes and brussels sprouts for dinner, dad chopped a Cedar board for me that would become the address plaque, cocktails around the fire, bed by 11pm.
Four days of non-stop building finally caught up to us. With so much work already accomplished, and so much more to do, it was difficult not to just give up. My legs were jell-o, my wrists felt like they were going to fall off, and I was beginning to mentally wear out. But again, we pushed on. We knew that we couldn't leave the cabin uncovered, so we set the new goal of finishing the walls, putting up the roof beam and rafters, and covering the roof.
After getting up the two rectangular wall pieces to the end walls, today's focus was to complete the triangle tops. It took us a little bit of planning to make sure that the roof pitch was at the correct angle, and that the two top points lined up directly across from each other. I think today was the first day that Dad and I had any sort of disagreement... partially because we knew these triangles had to be exact and partially because we had both hit our physical limit. We used some simple trigonometry, our cell phone calculators, and chalk markings on the floor to create a life-size plan, before cutting and piecing together the triangles. Now came the next hurdles...
It was time to lift the triangle pieces up to the top of the rectangle bases and add the sheathing! The pieces were light enough to lift relatively easily, but making sure to line it up and not push it off the top was a nightmare. We added some support pieces to try and prevent the top from slipping off, but it was so wobbly up there that we nearly lost it off the back a few times. Once they were up there, it took a good amount of time to square up and secure the tops. Sheathing was equally as nightmarish. I didn't realize how much more exhausting it was to screw the plywood on to an already standing wall - I lost so much leverage and it added even more strain on my wrists. I was getting so frustrated with the screws, I could barely lift a sheet of plywood anymore, and Dad was trying to compensate for where I was lacking. This combination gave way to Dad's second slip, losing his balance and falling backwards between a stack of 2x8s and the plywood. Luckily no major injury - Dad's Official Fall count: 2, Generator Use: 0hr, Daily Killed Horsefly Count: don't remember.
I called it an early day (ended around 4pm) and decided to focus on cooking a nice dinner. While Dad was still adding more screws to the sheathing, I slow cooked the pork over a smokey fire and made a pot of cast iron potatoes au gratin.
Awesome dinner, began carving the address plaque, bed by 10:30pm.
August 10th, Day Six: Icing our legs in Nature's ice bath
I felt much better this morning, but was still quite sore. Dad finished up all the sheathing yesterday, so we were ready to start the roof.
We screwed together 4 2x10s to create a double thick 24ft long roof beam. We wedged one side up in the corner, lifted the other side up, and then took turns sliding the beam up the roof line. With one of us on either end of the beam, we tipped it on to the peak and screwed it in to place. Dad then began cutting the rafters, using a template he created back at home, while I marked the 16" spaces along the top of the wall.
Once I finished all the measurements and Dad had a stack of rafters, he climbed up on to the top of the step ladder and I lifted the rafters up to him. The ladder was shaking and Dad nearly fell while trying to line up one of the rafters. He saved himself by just grabbing hold of one of the other rafters up there, but I knew at that point we had to change our method. We set up a plank between the step ladder and the other ladder, creating more space to stand on and making it more stable. With less shaking, we finished up 12 rafters and added a finishing touch - a tree on the roof beam. Started as a Scandinavian tradition in 700 A.D., a "topping tree" is a pine tree associated with the raising of a building's highest beam or structural element, and so it is added to the top of construction to signify the completion of the framework. It signifies a successful build and offers good luck and prosperity for the future occupants of the building. Dad's Official Fall Count: 2 + 1 close call, Generator Use: 0hr, being done: priceless.
It was an incredible feeling to step back and see how much progress we made in one week. To celebrate our efforts, we decided to go for a swim. Dad claimed he had never been swimming by the island, so this was the perfect opportunity! This would also double as a great way to "ice" our legs and reduce some of the pain. We stood in the water, a little over knee deep, and were laughing about how cold it was. Then, within seconds these little shrimp-like critters landed on our feet and legs, tickling as they walked around. After a few minutes of standing around, I walked in a bit deeper and went for the full dunk. It was FREEZING, but still refreshing. I bolted out of the water and ran to go warm up in the shower.
After our showers, we went out in the boat to haul in our last catch of crab. We kept only two this time, one which was the largest catch of the week. We cooked it up with the last of the food we brought with us, Mom's spaghetti. It made for an interesting combo, but still hit the spot!
Since rain was in the forecast for the upcoming week, we decided to cover the cabin with tarps. To get the tarps over the roof, we tied some rope to the grommets on the corners and then tied a short heavy stick to the other end of the rope. Dad hurled the sticks over the top of the cabin, I grabbed on, carefully pulled the tarps over, and then tied them to anything solid enough to hold it down. We were pretty surprised by how well this method worked out, and with our tarp roof on, we could really feel the size of the space!
August 11th, Day Seven: Hull Island to Seattle
We quickly loaded up the boat and departed by 8:30am. Our first stop on the way back was at the Lagoon Cove Marina for coffee and gasoline. Not too long after, we were stopped when dad spotted a Humpback whale blow. It was right as we were about to pass through a shallow narrow canal, so we immediately shut off the engine and drifted a while as we watched the whale flap its tail a few times and swim through there. It felt like we were no more than 100 feet away, and I believe the radar showed the water depth was only 40 feet deep. We were amazed that a whale that size would be spending so much time in shallow waters. To stay on time, we turned the engine back on and slowly puttered through the canal. What felt like only a few minutes later, we were stopped again when dad hit the line of a buoy. The boat lurched and we both panicked for a second. Dad reversed a bit and then lifted the engine to check the propellers. We were super lucky the line did not get wrapped around, so we were back on our way. Our last stop happened near Telegraph Cove when I spotted a pod of Orcas! There were four or five of them swimming around, and within minutes we noticed tons of boats swarming the area. There must have been a call that went out about them. Again, we knew we had to stay on time, so after about 10 minutes we took off. We finally docked the boat at Port McNeill and loaded up the truck, grabbed some Subway for brunch, and then sped to Nanaimo Ferry Terminal. This time we made our reservation by only one minute.... always cutting it close! On the ferry we enjoyed some mediocre ferry food and soft serve ice cream for lunch. After all is said and done, we made it home by 8pm, had the rest of the spaghetti sauce for dinner, and was in bed by 10pm.
Post Island: Batch 001 of Hull Island Sea Salt and the Completed Address Plaque
Before heading back to Boston, Dad and I packaged up our first Batch (001) of Hull Island Sea Salt for the family, and I finished carving the address plaque for the cabin. I could not have imagined a better way to experience Hull Island and the beauty of British Columbia.
I cannot wait to return.
Wonderful journal, Catherine. What an adventure, and so much accomplished in so little time. And, thanks for the salt!
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