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CONSTRUCTION JOURNAL
We officiallly started construction Tuesday, March 21st! We're
working at the Duwamish Shipyard on the west bank of the river. Besides
loaning us the barge, the guys at the shipyard have given us some major help.
They've made this project way easier than we ever thought it would be,
and we can't thank them enough for it! |
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Friday, March 31
Today the barge took its maiden voyage up the river to where it
will be moored for the month of April, courtesy of Western
Towboat. Here it is at the beginning of the day, dwarfed by its Shipyard
neighbors.
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Like a movie star in the dressing
room, getting ready for the big scene... |
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Western Towboat tugged the
boarge upriver and moored it into position in a graceful ballet of large
floating objects, pilings, lots of rope... |
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And death-defying acrobatics! |
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Wednesday, March 22
Today we loaded all the plants on the barge - it is starting to
look like we imagined it would. Here's what the barge looked like
close to the beginning of the day. |
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We started the day by staging all
the plants for moving onto the barge. Milt, the forklift driver, moves
a load of plants to the staging area. |
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The plants staged on pallets for
craning onto the barge. |
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David, the crane operator, lifts
the pallets up....we loved the sight of trees flying thru the air on their
way to the barge. |
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Mark, the rigger, directs the load
as it comes down onto the barge thru an elaborate system of hand signals.
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The load arrives on the barge deck.
We take off the rigging and the crane goes back
up for the next load. Unload plants, repeat twelve times or so. By
the time it's quitting time at the shipyard (3:30), we are beat! |
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The barge, looking slightly more
full after lunch (we were too, after some serious mexican food). Nicole
and Bill Pease adjust a cedar in the rain. |
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People are starting to wonder what
we're doing. This tug stopped by on its way downriver to see what was up.
There goes the neighborhood. |
Bill Pease and our lovely vine
maple in the left foreground as the curious tug pulls away. |
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Can you spot Nicole in this picture?
Hint: She's hiding in the forest. The yellow hard hat gives it away. |
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Tuesday, March 21
We officially started construction today with some good news - our beach
logs (aka Large Woody Debris, or LWD) had been delivered early. George Blomberg
at the Port of Seattle offered them up for the project, and we
loved the idea. The bulk of the day was spent craning the beach
logs and the big vine maple (now safely planted in a big wooden box)
onto the barge. |
We didn't get any action
shots here because there were actually two video cameras filming
the drama, and because we were busy "supervising."
This picture is of Nicole in classic supervisor's pose, selecting
LWD with George Blomberg. |
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Saturday, March 18
We spent the day salvaging THREE TRUCKLOADS of evergeeens, ferns and
a huge vine maple from a soon-to-be- suburb on the Eastside.
For those of you who may wonder, that is officially a boatload - we hope.
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Our salvage crew, in front
of the 'Living Truck' (L-R): Nicole, Enrique, Sarah, Rob, Lisa,
Michael (in front). Not pictured: Jesus, Kara and Sara. A huge
shout out to everyone who helped us dig and haul! |
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Nicole and Sarah in front of the
day's prize find - a lovely vine maple.
It looked small in the
forest, but turned out to be around 20 feet tall! |
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Luckily, John at the shipyard
was able to find a big wooden box that we used as a planter for
the vine maple. Nicole and Michael hold it in
place as the rest of the crew fills up the planter
with dirt. |
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Our little forest at the Shipyard
is growing! |
Nicole and Sarah
breathe a sigh of relief at the end of the day. |
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Wednesday, March
15
We are starting to sweat. Everything besides the cedars looks like
sticks in pots! Shit. Through a fortunate series of frantic emails
we line up a salvage excursion. |
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Monday, March 13
Nicole and her beau John B pick up some tall cedars. |
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Saturday, March 11
We went with my man Rob in the ReStore truck "Possum" to
get a few loads of plants (shown here thru Possom's windshield). First
stop - MsK Nursery, where Deborah hooks us up with a beautiful
load of Indian Plum. These lovely little plants can be seen all over the
city on hillsides and greenbelts. |
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Friday, March 3
Nicole and John make a trip to St**b**ks to pick up burlap bags.
The plants will be kept on pots while on the barge
and covered with burlap so soil won't go in the water when it rains.
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