Sea Otters Of Alaska

The Camp

Our camp was situated on the shore at Alice Cove, a short hop in a float plane from Codova. Down on the shore were two tents where we volunteers slept, as well as a couple of sheds for storing equipment.

A short walk up stone steps led to the log cabin. This is Fred's home, but he had graciously agreed to live on his boat for the eight weeks of the project. Fred and his father built it many years ago from local trees, in a fantastic octagonal design with a roof constructed so that it only requires four triangular sections.

The cabin was our HQ for the project, and was the location where we cooked and ate, where we played guitar and debated long into the night, where we listened to the whine of the generator and the screeching of the computer's power system.

As well as a toilet and hot shower inside, there was also a small outhouse just across the way.

Fred's fishing boat, The Dancing Bear, was moored on his dock in the cove.

The volunteer's tents were basic but sturdy. Jim and Bruce were in the green tent on the left, and I had the larger tent with the two Lauras and Diane. We had an oil heater that we used to take the chill off the tent in the evenings, but it was easily capable of keeping the place as hot as a sauna. A barrel of cold water and some simple shelves constituted the bathroom. Although Jim and Bruce had fewer features in their tent, they had the better view as their door faced onto the cove and ours faced the shed!

At high tide we were only a couple of feet above the waterline, but Jim and Bruce had the water lapping up their steps.

A view of the camp.

The log cabin HQ.

The outside facilities.

Jim and Bruce's tent.

Mine and the girls' tent.

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