If anyone wants to come out and visit us at our homestead, we have a nice new float that you can tie up to.
Last November, returning from one of our trips to town, I fell through our float as we were unloading the groceries. Fortunately, I was only bruised a little, but it definitely emphasized a problem we’d been having. Our old float, which was probably more than 20 years old, was gradually rotting away. We’d been looking around for a replacement for a couple years now with no luck. I figured that getting an old, used fish farm float would be simple, but apparently there is a big demand for them.
After some searching around, we found a company in Campbell River that refurbished old fish farm floats. Ken wanted a 10’ x 40’ float so that when we tied up the Awen, she wouldn’t extend beyond the float, like she did with the old, defunct float. This company had the right sized float (another company we looked at did not, and suggested welding two floats together, not an idea that Ken and I thought would be very good), and did a very good job of reconditioning—putting on really thick whaler boards, removing some odd bits and pieces required by the fish farm, and welding in a “hidden” (e.g., not exposed) set of anchor points that could be accessed by hatches from the float itself. The float is steel-framed (unlike our old one, which was all wood) with an expanded metal deck that will help keep the bird and weasel droppings from accumulating (a problem that had made the old wooden float slimy with green algae). We’re very happy with the float. We’d better be—it cost half as much as our 2022 Santa Fe! At least I can be sure that the float will outlive both of us!!
However, the cost for that company to deploy and anchor the float at our location was incredible. So, we shipped the float from Campbell River to Sayward (another $2,700) on a huge flat bed truck which was accompanied by a giant crane truck. The whole crew parked in the turnout just before Kelsey Bay, and did a beautiful job of swinging the float off the flatbed, over the rock breakwater, and into the waiting ocean.
It was raining heavily, and Ken got the nasty work of poling the float out to some pilings just offshore where it could be tied up safely. The next morning, we brought the Awen over from the Kelsey Bay dock, put a towing harness on the float, and took it home with us. That was the best day in December, and we had sunshine and both currents and winds at our back the entire way.
Once we got the float home, we tied it to the old one temporarily while we arranged for another company (located in Port Harvey, which is much closer than Campbell River, and thus we didn’t have to pay as much for crew and ship time) to install the anchors and set up the anchoring system for the new float. I wasn’t sure when they would arrive, and the weather had taken a turn for the worse, with southeast storms. One morning, on the tail end of January, we got up, I set about to make breakfast, and Brennan started barking. Looking out through the sleeting rain, there was a huge landing craft (actually a modified ex-ferry) doing lazy circles in the bay. I said, “That looks like our boat!”
Ken hurried off in the grey misty dawn (he always seems to get the wet tasks this year) while I put the cabin in order so that I could come out to give a hand if required. As it turned out, the crew (only 2) were extremely professional, and in a little over three hours, had deployed four 2-ton concrete anchor blocks, chained the float to the blocks, and “tuned” the system so that all the chains carried equal force. Wow! It was pretty impressive to see such a large boat working delicately around the new float and the old one where the Awen was still tied.
On my birthday, we transferred the Awen from the old float to the new one and got all the bumpers rigged up properly. It was an expensive job, but we will sleep better knowing that the old boat is secure and the float is safe.