HIGH WINDS, HIGH WATER and RISING ANXIETIES

May 2nd - Lake Michigan's level nearly overtops bulkhead at ferry dock.
Extensions to mooring pipes and raised fenders--work
accomplished in the past year, now prove essential.
essential under such conditions.

Detroit Harbor, Washington Island -

Yet another dirty, windy day.  Winds continue from the ENE, currently spitting moisture in gusts of 30 mph or more.  Not a good day to rake, garden, golf or participate in outdoor activities, including a short dash from house to car, from car to grocery, or from car to post office.

Of course, there are workers who must be outdoors and perform their duties through the day, and they include the ferry crews.

Spring, if it will ever come, has been reluctant to show itself.  Temperatures have consistently been in the low 30s to mid 40s, and we've even seen flakes of snow on occasion.  But we're not alone here on the island.  Snow accumulation occurred in past weeks throughout Wisconsin, south and north.   I stopped one day at Home Depot in Green Bay, and I couldn't help but smile at the line of mowers covered in snow.  Rushing the season, I wondered?

Home Depot in Green Bay in early April

Looking down the waterfront, in particuar at the Island ferry landings, the rise in water level is inescapable.  Nearing the high water marks  recorded in the late 1980s, and with ferry decks considerably above the level of our docks, changes have to be made for ease and safety in loading.

In order to provide means of proper adjustment, steps were recently taken to raise the main ramp located at the end of the Island pier.

Contractor Mike Kahr, in coordination with Ferry Line crewmen, removed that ramp section and installed hinge beams to which the inboard end of the ramp is connected.  Concrete adds (a temporary measure, we hope) slope to meet the new ramp height.  Such changes are time-consuming, add to operational costs, but hopes are that this solution will serve our purpose, and that even more extreme future measures will not be necessary.  Who can predict if this high water mark will be the maximum?

Work will continue to provide the public with greater ease and safety in boarding, with the avoidance of extreme slopes on ferry ramps at Northport.  That plan will call for removal of the short ramp located on the pier's south side, and in its place sections of the ramp formerly located on end of that pier will be installed.  Those two 20 x 20 ramp sections will be joined strengthened for a longer approach on the south side.  New piling foundations will be required to hold this structure in place.   (Previously, for the past 35 years or so, electric screw jacks were used to adjust the south ramp angle.)

All such work, it is anticipated, will be completed prior to the busiest traffic season, when increased passenger and vehicle traffic demands usage of multiple landing points.

Jon Mann, Jed and Rich 
Ellefson and Hoyt Purinton shovel and level
cement from Martin Andersen's truck.

 

Sunday morning pour - Saturday's 20 x 20 pad was enlarged
with another, sloped section.  Location of pour
was complicated by two ferry ramps in close
 proximity to one another.

Jon Mann clears chute as Martin
Andersen, driver, prepares to reposition
truck.

In addition to such waterfront projects, an upgrade in Island terminal restroom flooring and partitions, a new water cooler with water bottle fill option and new carpeting, have been installed in late March, early April.  Not something one often notes as a highlight when traveling, but the results should make for a more pleasant experience overall.

What else goes on here in spring, you ask?

I've recently completed several carvings that I call "medallions," intended for application to the interior of the Stavkirke.   Initially inspired by a Norwegian pendant worn by Connie Sena, I expanded that design to a 12-inch diameter line drawing.  As this carving neared completion in early April, I found other pleasing designs of either Celtic or "Viking" origin.  (Such designs are, for the most part, culturally interchangeable, artistic motifs that were incorporated in ancient jewelry, weaponry, stone and wood.)  Included here are the examples thus far completed, installed in the Stavkirke.

Bottom design taken from Connie Sena's
Norwegian pendant.

With the activity of wood carving plus other repeated physical motions, I developed, temporarily, I hope, signs of bursitis in my right elbow, and later, finger joints. Better now, I can type on this computer, and I've even taken up the carving tools once again.  Summer, sunshine (but probably not raking) lie ahead, and I look forward to working outdoors once again.

-  Dick Purinton