⛏️ Ice in the harbor
It's a cold and clear week up here in Nome, and the snow hasn't fallen yet, so it's the perfect opportunity to get the diver cabin dried in.
Now that the dredge is tucked away for the winter, and we sent the busted jetting system out for rebuilding, we've turned our focus to building the 16'x24' two bedroom "tiny house" on the compound that's going to serve as crew quarters in coming seasons.
So far we've only been able to get the blocks up and ready for the beams to set on since the barge with all of our materials has been slower to arrive than expected.
Originally the company predicted the barge would arrive end of September, but they have the same issues we have with weather, and storms have continuously delayed their arrival. The boat finally got in on Sunday and Alaska Marine Lines has been busy unpacking connexes since then.
We finally got our first trailer-load of materials yesterday evening. I hope this time next week I can share a picture of the cabin with the floor, walls, and some of the roof done.
The first and last barges of the summer tend to be the busiest. As nothing can arrive in Nome via boat between late October and late June due to the ice, locals are racing to get big items like cars, connexes, and construction supplies sent up here before it's too late.
Just like termination dust on the mountain tops - the port looking like a pop-up Toyota dealership is a sign of coming winter.
There are a few brave souls still dredging, but most guys have pulled out by now. The wind and wave conditions are actually great for mining this week - it's still and sunny - but the cold can start to be a challenge.
As the ice creeps into the harbor, the dredges start to anchor up in the Snake River, or tie up to the high wall as close as possible to the jetty where they won't have to break ice. Pretty soon you'll be able to walk on the frozen water where the floating docks were just three days ago.
Have a great weekend!
Alex
More stock on Bering Sea Paydirt is coming soon!
But for now we only have 1 Gram Diver Dirt Paydirt, 2 Gram Eroica Paydirt, and the Paydirt Bundle (which is one bag of each) left for sale.
All of our paydirt contains gold recovered from the Bering Sea by our team on the Eroica and the really fine gold has been screened out, so you only get nice chunky 30+ mesh gold flakes!
Don't Forget to use the code BSPD10 for 10% off ANYTHING in the shop, including gold, with your first purchase!
That's it for this week's newsletter. Drop me a line at Alex@BeringSeaPaydirt.com if there's anything you think we should cover.
Until next week!
Bering Sea Paydirt
view from the office Between 4 inches of snow, stormy weather, and setting the clocks back it definitely feels like winter is here. The plow truck is clearing our driveway as I type this. Moving from Nome, which is in northwest Alaska, to Homer, which is in southcentral, in October means you get a second chance at fall. Usually we leave Nome in some amount of snow and come back to above-freezing temperatures for a few fleeting weeks. But now there's no avoiding winter unless you live in the...
This past week gold crept over $2,000 an ounce for the third time since 2020. As commodity producers we're slaves to commodity prices. Traditional gold miners are killed by low gold prices or high fuel prices. Bering Sea dredgers aren't nearly as sensitive to the price of fuel since operating on the water means, pound-for-pound, we can move equipment and dirt from point A to point B very efficiently. But the gold price matters deeply to us all. I have no idea what the price of gold will be...
Got the Eroica stashed away and buttoned up, the compound turned over to a friend for the winter, and it's officially the off-season. goodnight sweet prince The Eroica sits like this in the boatyard all winter. Where you put the thing is always a gamble with the snowdrifts. If the wind is blowing the right way you might get a dusting of snow around your dredge and it's easy to work on right away in the spring. We've been losers in that sense two seasons in a row. The last two years the dredge...