What A Day . . . Peking Fire and Magone Blows Up the Crane

The day started early with a 4:35 wake-up call courtesy of the Department of Public Safety - the beloved local Chinese restaurant was on fire and it was time to gear up. I learned a lot, the veterans on the force are almost inhumanly patient and willing to teach better ways to do things. You can check out the story here. I'm sure CB from Dutch Harbor Dirt got an eyeful, the restaurant is right across from his apartment building.

About 4:30 this afternoon the word started spreading around that Magone Marine was gong to blow up the APL crane at 5 - the same crane that blew over in the 175 MPH winds in December. I didn't have a good camera with me at work but I had a little point and shoot so Goldfish and I headed down to the beach by the plant to see if there was any substance to the rumor. Sitting there waiting for over an hour reminded us of when we lived in company housing with a living room window view of the East Channel.

First, the F/V Frontier Mariner went by . . . .

The a Penair flight found a hole between snow squalls and took the opportunity to land . . .

The F/V Pacific Sun headed out towards the Bering Sea . . .

And Alyeska's own F/V Messiah came in and tied up next to the Alaska Rose . . .

And finally there was a pretty impressive explosion, and a portion of the crane swung down 90 degrees, dangling and swinging back and forth . . .

Not sure if that is how Dan Magone planned it, but it was pretty impressive. Lots more work to be done before the salvage job is completed and a new crane can be installed!

We really enjoyed the time watching the channel, the birds, the boats and the ever-changing weather - never a dull moment!