October, 2022

 

Team Rubicon

Operation Appalation Spirit

After action report

A disastrous month in review

Thanks to Janice being willing to hold down the fort on her own, I got to go spend a week in Kentucky playing in the mud. Floods all look alike after a while. No, I don't mean to minimize it but there are so many similarities. Water, water, water everywhere. Debris, damage, lifetimes of work, mementos and souvenirs lost forever. It is always so heart breaking. The county we were deployed to has an extremely high social vulnerability index number. Simply put, it is one of the poorest areas of the country with little ability to ever recover or rebuild as the average family income is $21,000 a year and has not a penny of insurance. We are never sent to wealthy communities as they have money and insurance and are back on their feet in little time. Many here are coal miners that the government is making a herculean effort to put out of business.

Florida? No Kentucky. In the end, they all look alike, Everything you own... appliances, clothes, furniture, even your car is dragged to the curb to be taken to the dump. 

Meanwhile your walls are full of water

A day at the office. Some of the homes did not even have studs in the walls. The interior was coved with thin stapled Masonite type material. When removed, there were boards that if you leaned against you would fall though the wall to the exterior.

                 Where does it all go?  Debris fills the local creeks and river for miles

Travel is slow going

Hey, this is Kentucky after all!

Anheuser Busch donated hundreds of cased of drinking water to Team Rubicon but we had to stop taking them out in the field as some people called to complain that they thought our teams were drinking beer while working.

One of the tasks I was given was to drive a trailer of our equipment to our warehouse in Cincinnati Ohio to pre-position it to respond to Hurricane Dorian.

Morning Brief. We had up to 102 people on our wave, housed in a Veterans of Foreign Wars bingo hall (where I was), the local firehouse and the American Legion Hall

The strike team I joined

No sooner was I home than I got a 6 hour notice to fly to Puerto Ricco to help with damage from hurricane Dorian. A half hour later, 'GO' bag by the door, I was informed to 'stand down' as they were using volunteers that had not just returned from deployment. Whew! We would have had to leave the island at 2 AM to arrive at the airport for my 6 AM flight.

I know that last month I wrote that I was done for the year unless something else happened. But then.... hurricane Ian hit and we were on once again. 

Operation

Sunshine Strong

Type 3 Hurricane

Valusia Co. Florida

(Daytona Beach)

You have to have been living in a cave not to know or have seen all of the devastation that Florida endured during this Cat 4+ hurricane. The hurricanes do what they do and we show up and do what we do. As was the case, I got notified to get on the plane and head to Florida. Accommodations were the best I have ever seen, but still not not 5 star. It's still a Red Cross cot. Perfect! Where do I sign up? If I am not careful, I could become a disaster junkie :) 

Once again, the love of my life sent me off with an encouraging smile knowing perfectly well that she had to hold down the fort on her own. This time I was deployed to Valusia county Florida (North east of Orlando). As far as I know, in all of Team Rubicon's history they have always set up in one area or town for one operation after a disaster. Here, they have set up 5 separate operations in different parts of the state as the damage and destruction was so widespread. Meanwhile, we still had a team in Puerto Rico from hurricane Fiona.

A Team Rubicon strike team tarping a roof and removing debris from a house

My first task was to fly to West Palm Beach to pick up one of 12 trucks of supplies to take to our base in Daytona Beach. Then it was time to get busy. It had been a week since the hurricane, so naturally it was out of the news with everyone figuring it was 'all over' and moved on to the news stories of the day. The fact is, they had barely recovered all the bodies down south in that time. Florida, being quite flat, takes a long time for the biblical amount of water from the hurricane to make its way to the ocean. As a result, towns that had suffered damage but not destroyed, suddenly found themselves between the sea and all the water that was draining out. Result? Flooding that they thought they had escaped. We were there to help clean up the mess.

This one was quite different than what I was accustomed to. Driving into Daytona Beach, I couldn't see hardly any damage. Yes, all the large billboards and some business signs where blown away in the 100 MPH + winds but there was little other evidence of a 'disaster'. But driving down any of the residential side streets in the surrounding communities was a different story. The homes, by and large, looked fine. The sidewalks though, had branch debris 5 feet high and 6 feet wide the entire length of both sides of the streets. Some roofs, primarily mobile homes, had roof damage that let the rain water in and did a lot of damage. A number of enormous trees had fallen, some blocking homeowners access.

Some pockets of the communities were in low lying areas and got 3 inches to a foot or two of water in the homes. No, not the 4-6 feet of water like many flood areas I was deployed to in the past but 3 inches of water may leave the structure of the home intact but the net result is that all your flooring is ruined, water goes thru the drywall, wicks up the insulation and gets into your furniture and appliances. What do you do with it all? This.

Something that is not acknowledged nearly often enough is the fact that these deployments are two person teams. The ones that never get the credit or the glory are the wive's who are left behind, like mine. None of this is possible without her ongoing support and understanding.

Road trip!

No fall season here would be complete without a little leaf-peeping. So on a spectacularly sunny and mild day, my bride and I went to get lost on the back roads of upstate New York to Lake Placid. Along the way we went through the town of 'Fine' on highway 3 and began noticing a peculiar sight. Every 50 feet (17 M) on the side of the road was a smallish American flag with a laminated card on it. Occasionally the Flag was inserted in a combat boot. This was EVERY 50 feet along the road, through towns, in front of businesses and homes, attached to guardrails, along farm properties, wherever. The thing was that it went on and on and on.

For 25 miles. (40Km)

From the town of Fine to Cranberry Lake. Curious, we pulled over to see what it was all about. Sure enough, each card had the name of a fallen soldier, where he died and where he was from. It was quite moving but there were over 2600 of these along the road....

Over the years, I have come across a few other similar pictures

that I posted that have just left a lump in my throat, like these two.

This one just kills me and still takes my breath away

OK, now that I have regained my composure and caught my breath, this is what our leaf-peeping was all about

This months advice

September, 2022

 Operation Appalation Spirit

Type 3 Response

Here we go again. Another disaster, another town destroyed. This time in a place called Whitesburg, Letcher county, Kentucky. Never heard of it? Me neither. It is somewhat east of Louisville, out in back of beyond, a little more than a million miles from civilization.

In the early morning hours, 9-11 inches of rain fell in a period of 4 hours causing flooding in already swollen rivers, run offs and culverts. These local disasters don’t always make the national news and if they do they are quickly forgotten in the next news cycle. This one did make the national news but it too was soon forgotten. Homes, roads, bridges and utility infrastructure were damaged and destroyed. Numerous water rescues have taken place but rescue crews are still struggling to reach people due to roads and bridges being washed out.

Typically, what we do is a lot of debris removal and cutting felled trees that are blocking roads and access to everything from the fire station and hospital to schools, businesses and homes. There is a lot of stuff -trees, house debris, water- where it doesn't belong. We help try to get things back to normal. We do a lot of ‘Muck-Out's’. Muck is the unwanted stuff that forces its way into a family's home or business causing damage, usually as a result of flooding but sometimes as a result of a tornado that simply trashes everything in sight. Muck-out operations are straightforward--clear it out--but the work is crucial and grueling.

While we were in Europe, I was asked several times to deploy to one place or another, but I couldn't. This time I got the call and was given travel orders to fly and join my strike team on a wave. (A wave is a weeklong slot of time) So, I grabbed my "GO" bag which I keep one at the ready both here and in California and at O-Dark-Hundred this morning, I was headed to the airport. Team Rubicon volunteers, much to their credit, know the drill. We will be used to exhaustion for a week then replaced with fresh meat. The idea being to get the most out of everyone but knowing that after a week in those conditions, we all begin to lose steam. Well, maybe not all of us… J Then it’s time to get a new group to keep the momentum going.

I have been on operations from the North West corner of Washington State on the Canadian border to the Florida panhandle, from North Carolina to the Bahamas and parts between. After a while, like here in Kentucky, they all look alike. Its hard not to get jaded but how much worse can total destruction get? Places that used to be really pretty but are no more. 

Team Rubicon: I just love these people. Hard charging type "A" folks who just don't know the meaning of "I can't". These are my people. This is my second deployment this year, ending my 2 weeks per year that I make myself available to go anywhere and do anything Team Rubicon asks.

 Unless, maybe, if something else comes up….

The whole Fam Damly

We had my brother's family visit from Montreal so we took them all out on the boat to swim over a sunken wreck. From left: sister Lorraine, brother Marc, nephew Andrew, Grace, nieces Emily and Gabby, and herself.

The 116 foot Pentland and F.A Georger wood boats that burned and sunk in 15 feet of water off of Grenadier island. We snorkelled over and through the ghostly remains and anchored directly above them. The Thousand Islands is reportedly one of the best freshwater diving locations in the world with tons of wrecks, some being much deeper.

Incoming....

Next, we had the good fortune to have friends Richard and Vicky from California take us up on an offer to come visit, catch up and spend a week with us marooned on our island. It gave us a nice break from chores and allowed them to take in some of the local sights.

First we went to Ft. Henry 

Kingston, the old capital of Canada in 1841. 

                                        then off to Bolt Castle on Heart Island nearby by boat

We went to the Parliament buildings in Ottawa, the capital of Canada 

 The Museum of Natural  History

And finally, boating through the Lost Channel nearby.

Every once in a while, Google send us an email with some kind of a picture count of how many times pictures we have posted have been seen. The number always surprises me as I have little idea as to how they are being seen. Yes, I upload a few pics to the Epistle that the 4 or 5 people who read it get to see and Janice posts a few on some of the social media sites like Facebook she follows, but come on! 100,000?

The account is in my name so I get the public credit  but that is unfair because in truth, Janice is the brains behind the operation and the one posting them. What I want to know is if anyone knows how I can make money off of this? I just hate leaving money on the table.

As a boater, I can tell you that...

August 2022

The Eagle has landed

It would seem that we have gone on a real-estate frenzy lately as we have purchased yet another property this month. No, not another house, but a property. In France. Our villa there is on a double lot, and five years ago we saw a vacant lot next to ours that was owned by our homeowners association but was not being maintained. We were up to our eyeballs in alligators at the time but I casually asked one of the representatives if they would be interested in selling it. He didn’t take me seriously and we did not pursue it.

Four years ago, we complained that the unfenced property was abandoned looking and was being used for little more than people dumping trash, teenagers drinking or dogs doing their business. So, we offered to buy it. As things were and where it was located, it could serve no one any purpose as it could not be attached to anyone’s property but ours. It was not being used in any manner and was not only an eye sore but a liability to our homeowners association. Perfect! For us, it could add a third ocean front lot to our villa and provide an additional buffer on that side of our property with a neighbor who owns 5 adjacent acres. It would add tremendous financial value to the villa for our kids when we are pushing up daisies. We submitted an official offer but being neophytes to the process it was dismissed out of hand.

Being nothing if not determined, we returned three years ago, armed to the teeth with documents, pictures and all manner of official charts, graphs and the like. Being foreigners and not present at the association's yearly meeting, it was easy for the homeowners voting on our request to blow us off for any number of petty reasons, and they did.

Two years ago, we were at it again, offering a little more in price each time. The associations narrowly voted in our favor but it lacked a quorum so it could not pass. We returned again last year, with the intention to grind them down year after year until they saw the light and agreed to see things our way. I can take a lot of different answers, but NO just doesn't seem to be one of them. The vote was virtually unanimous in our favor but once again, lacked a quorum so could not pass.

This year we made a real effort and went door to door to introduce ourselves and lobby anyone we could find at home, but the most significant change occurred when a few influential friends went to bat for us. Also, our homeowners association lost a lawsuit and suddenly needed cash and finally had their come to Jesus moment. Again, the acquisition now gives us a triple lot, with the ocean at the bottom of our garden with no ability for anyone to build and block the view. A swimming pool and pool house should round things out quite nicely on our new property as soon as Janice saves her allowance and I get a job as a gigolo to pay for it.

Guilty as charged!

                            "Guilty as Charged" [Illustration by Marie-Anne Erki, ©2022, Kingston, ON]

Last month I submitted a story to our local online magazine (Thousand Islands Life) about an experience I had with Canadian Customs some time ago.  I wrote that they could shelve the story until the day that they had little else to write about and needed some filler material for that month. Well, I don't know if this was the case or not but they decided to publish it right away. It seems that the material I have offered in the past is just off the wall enough that they include it for variety. In any case, if you are interested, it is HERE in all it's glory with an animators rendition. 

https://thousandislandslife.com/guilty-as-charged/

Chores

Replacing something like a washing machine on an island can be quite a task. Just pull out the old one that weighs a ton, put it on your barge or (in my case) your pontoon boat. Take it to the mainland, load it on your trailer and take it to the dump. Then, cross the US border to pick up the new one. (The US has many more model options and the prices are MUCH cheaper). Load it on the trailer, pay customs at the border and take it to your boat. Load it (as seen above) and take it to the island. Install it and you are done for bout 8 years until you have to do it all over again. Worth it? On the day you do it...questionable. For the next 8 years, absolutely.

 The reenactment

    Minor re-enactment of the battle between the French and the Indians 

                  of the French Indian war in Ogdensburg New York this past month.                   

 Ironically neither won, but the British took possession of all North American lands that the French had claimed. Some American colonists decided to fight with the Brits and were called "Loyalists" in Canada. We had a different name for them in the US.

The bachelor

Well, it happened again. Janice ran off and left me with no adult supervision. She flew to Astoria Oregon for over two weeks to allow Cassie and her husband Art a little time off and to visit with her mom while corralling 3 kids and 3 dogs.

She got the easy job. Me? Well I had to take care of myself. By myself. All alone. How hard can it be? I was in charge of watering all our many flowers and would face her wrath if any died during her absence. I also had my work cut out for me with docks that my friend Brad and I built for several of our small islands we are trying to sell. Brad was an indispensable help and spent days and days helping me with all manner of chores to  get these islands sold.

And for good measure, I invited a couple of friends to come visit for several days so we could put our drinking pants on, scratch and spit and catch up. First,  Dan showed up and we swapped stories, some of which were true. Then John followed.

John at the start of his visit

John at the end of his visit

On the last day I was taking John back to his car on the mainland when unfortunately, he slipped getting out of the boat and ruptured a quadricept tendon in his knee. We called an ambulance where he was taken to a local hospital for treatment. Once released, I drove him home. He is now out of commission for several months while it heals.

Next I had my friend and former flight instructor Claude 'drop in'. As both our planes were identical he was able to dock on my aircraft carrier. When he left, he did a few low level passes over the island on his way home. You can see all the action here. 

The moment he realized that nothing in there was self cooking

Full disclosure: Janice left me enough pre made dishes to feed an army for the entire time she was gone. Still, I had to reheat them by myself. I am usually relegated to the manly task of BBQ' ing. A skill that in 40 years I have yet to master. No matter how hard I try, friends are reluctant to accept an invitation knowing that anything I cook will either be all but raw or shoe leather hard. Try as I might, I am just no good at it. 

And with that, another quiet month ends.

July, 2022

 

Father's day dinner out with my baby girl in New Orleans

The Bennington

Last summer, we decided that it was time to upgrade our boat. We traveled all over hither and yawn in Ontario Canada as well as New York State shopping for just the right one. We settled on a new 23 foot Bennington pontoon boat. We are not the 'buy new' kind of people but used did not have the options we wanted and cost nearly as much. So last September, we ordered it before leaving for the season for a June 1 delivery. We picked it up upon our arrival and drove it straight to the folks who were going to make the custom canvas enclosure for it in 5 days. Pontoon boats usually only have Bimini tops (like a canvas roof for shade and minimal rain protection) but this is our commuter boat so we can be out in all kinds of weather and we are in no mood for wind, rain and cold in the fall come pouring in from all sides. 

Well due to Covid, the Russian invasion, the supply chain breakdown, inflation, TRUMP (of course), climate change and every other bogus excuse you can think of, it took them 5 weeks. Finally, it was done and here she is.

For a long time, pontoon boats were thought to be for old people as they lumbered along next to speed boats. But as time went on, they have become more and more popular with all age groups. Older folks (NOT me!) and anyone who is mobility challenged (NOT me!) sure love them because they are dead easy to get on and off, especially next to a floating dock like ours and have plenty of room for many more passengers. We opted for a Tritoon which are 3 tubes or floats, with one in the center between the two outer ones which adds a lot more stability and gives a smoother ride through wake and waves.

Of course you can easily carry groceries, building materials and many have powerful engines that allow them to keep up with most other boats. Families love them because some (like ours) have swim platforms on the front and back for a mid lake or river swim. Various models have options like a little changing room, a toilet, a BBQ hanging off a rail, lounge chairs or fishing set ups. This is not your father's pontoon boat.

Lounging around on the river with 5 o'clock cocktails.

 It is not an easy life we lead.

And Phantom makes 6

Last summer we bought a few islands near us because the seller would not part with the one we wanted (right next to Honey Bee) but only the 4 that he owned and was going to sell all or nothing. We only wanted  the one (that we have since named Pirate island) so that no one else could buy it and turn it into a party island so close to us. The whole purchase turned into a real Chinese fire drill with one of the 4 islands being nowhere to be found at the time, but that is a story for another time. This story is about Phantom island. 

When we were completing the purchase, I noticed on the previous owners deed that he also had purchased the same islands as a group in 1968. In reading his deed, I saw that the 4 islands were identified by number with one curious addition. The deed stated that he was purchasing the identified islands but included the sentence " AND  the island located 65 feet south of island 80J" [That we own]  Excuse me? "AND" another island? What island? Since we are purchasing the same group of islands do we get that one too?

NO, was the short answer. In 1968 they were a little looser about identifying real estate in a sale but today, unless a property has a tax roll number assigned to it, you cannot own it. This being Canada, if a property is not privately owned it belongs to the Crown (the government). I checked but since it was sold to this individual in 1968, it did not. Still, without a tax roll number no one could own it. It was clear that any attempt to untangle this legal mess would only open a can of worms, be a real morass and a fool's errand.  Perfect, I thought. I'm all in.

I approached our local government with the argument that I wanted to pay taxes on the property but I needed them to give it a number. "Help me help you!" was my approach, but no dice. We then hired an attorney to do whatever was necessary to get a tax number on this very pretty but small island but not before we had the seller sign a document that stated that if we managed to get a  number assigned to it, we would own it at no extra charge. He agreed with a 'good luck' snicker.

10 months went by with the occasional email between us and the attorney with no progress to show for it. He was being ignored and given the brush off by every agency and department the government had. Then one morning this past month we woke to him reporting that had done an end run around the 'mapping correction portal', whatever that is, and got the sucker registered.

As quick as a lick we were in his office signing the deed. We also decided to keep the name he had jokingly given it throughout the year. PHANTOM. It joins the other 5 we have for the time being as we will keep both Honey Bee and Pirate Island. But Spirit, Secret, Mystery and Phantom Islands are all up for sale.

Another day in Paradise

This months big projects were more on the subject of docks. After getting our new main dock last month, it set in motion the movement of a number of others. I had recovered a good deal of the salvageable wood from our 'old' dock to build new ones for the little islands we had acquired. Meanwhile, a friend generously gave us a dock he was no longer using or wanting and would be perfect to replace a smaller one we had at 'Pirate Cove', a beach of sorts we have for small kids on the island. That last one is being re purposed, again, for another island. If you are beginning to see a musical chairs kind of thing here, you are not far off.

But this is about the new dock being gifted to us. At 6 X 20'  (2 X 7 M) is is of a very respectable size. He not only gave it to us but helped tow it from his place to Honey Bee. I 'rode' it to ensure we would not have any mishaps like hitting other docked boats or rocks along the way. Once there he suggested that he could 'flip' the dock upside down to inspect it. He had been a park warden for over 30 years and had done it a number of times, he claimed.

Flip the dock. Upside down. In the river. Right...

I don't want to suggest that I was skeptical but while I was born at night, it just wasn't last night. Still, he insisted he could flip a dock in the water in less than 10 seconds. Of course, he was wrong. It took him 3. Once upside down, we could inspect it for any damage (none) so it was time to put it back upright. You can see it all here.