Bringing Gas to the Floathouse

I wrote this in March when we first returned.  Now we just had our one summer day here last Saturday; it was sunny and up to 87!!  The next day was back in the 30s and sleeting.  So, when does the Petrol Marine schedule our delivery??  Zach was here this time to help but we were all pretty hot and miserable and we missed out on a prime boating day!

Living on a float house as we do, everywhere we go involves a motor.  Our house too is powered by a gas generator which we need to run about three hours per day.  Our business processor building requires generated power as well for light and to tumble and wash the shellfish.

That gas has to be carried to our remote place, no pipes or deliveries here.  The first years involved JR loading 5 gal. cans in the boat, carrying them up the ramp to a truck, driving said truck to town, carrying cans down another ramp at Petro Marine to be filled, then the trip was reversed.  In the winter months it becomes even more tricky.

When Larry and I arrived to stay and consumption went up threefold, we begin to seek easier methods to run the place.

We have explored wind turbines – not the right sustained wind in our cove as we know it to be now but still opened minded.  We put up some small solar panels and built up the battery storage.  Again, as we know it to work now, not too well in a rain forest above the northern latitudes.

So we still have need for gasoline.  We moved a 350 gal. storage tank onto the ramp on the mainland.  For this amount the supplier will deliver to Naukati.  We still need to carry 5 gal. cans to shore and return them full to the house but we are buying at volume pricing and can better plan the our shorter trips around the weather.

The next summer we bought a second tank to keep at the house.  The tank had to be situated up on skids to gravity empty so we have to climb a ladder to fill it from the top, but it works!  Now we fill our shore tank, spend a painful day moving gas and filling the house tank (where is Zach when we need him) and have fuel at our finger tips for weeks.

This year, with the uncertainty of gas and prices we have a second set of two big tanks operating.  We just ordered 600+ gallons of gas at a bulk discount and spent two miserable days moving 5 gal. cans.

It is these little pesky details that make our lives interesting.

Lar would still like to explore a water/wave power generator.  We do have that action constantly.  Anybody with more knowledge or suggestions please chime on in, we could use the advice.