⛏️ It's all over
It's official - the summer 2023 season is a wrap.
Yesterday we pulled the Eroica out of the water. We had hoped to take our time and do the final box clean before pulling the boat, but we caught wind that a barge was planning to nose up to the ramp and do welding projects all day, so we dropped everything in the middle of the box clean to get the dredge on the ramp to secure our slot.
With up to 30 knot north winds today (making the pull-out even colder and more difficult), and Diver Dan leaving on Sunday to go home, we knew waiting even one day would screw up our post-season plans.
It's always fun to get under the dredge and inspect the jet and flare, the foot valve, and the wiring and fittings when it's up on blocks. There's usually a surprise or two. This time we realized the jetting system is blowing out in a big way. Hate to think about how much gold we lost with this huge hole. At least it explains a few late-season rock jams...
This thing was brand new three seasons ago, and has been patched annually since. We're going to have to cut it off and send it down to Anchorage for Dr. Ross (one of our divers this season) to work on. I'd like to rebuild it with some stronger material and patch this one up to have a spare on hand. Thinking we'll have to rotate this thing like tires on a car if we put it back on, because it's always (naturally) getting most worn at the bottom.
This is the time of year when we make a big list of preseason and off-season projects. All of the problems (excessive rock jams, inefficient cabin heating, poor hot water, short hose, cavitating & underpowered outboards) are fresh in our minds and we can take measurements and make part lists for next year.
You think you'll remember it all, but once you're out of town for 6 weeks everything sort of leaks out of your brain. It's important to write it down now.
I was hoping next preseason wouldn't be as expensive as this one with the pontoon rebuild. And it probably won't be. But it's still not going to be cheap. $5k-$10k projects add up fast.
I try to remind myself that in the gold mining business you're either growing slowly or dying fast. Growth takes a ton of effort and resources, but if you just try to coast on minimal investment and effort, in a few short seasons you're falling behind the competition, losing crew members, and snowballing your maintenance costs.
But we'll worry about most of that in the new year. For now it's time to make one last push to get everything put away for the winter, hang up the cleats, and enjoy the long break.
Couple housekeeping things:
1) Me and some of the dive team are considering going down to Underwater Intervention (a WorkBoat Show) in New Orleans at the end of November to check out new dive/ROV technology. Anyone ever gone to that? Would love to hear your experience.
2) I'm sorry to say we are completely out of stock of gold-by-the-gram on our store. I was not able to stock more of that this summer. We still have paydirt available to sell if you love to pan and you like bigger gold - we screen all of our paydirt to 30 mesh+. Prices are updated regularly to reflect spot price of gold!
Alex
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...