Wednesday May 4

We have been rained on in Juneau ever since we arrived. Such is the rain forest. The weather is chilly too, but we had about the same last year. Nights are in the high 30's. We are waiting to hear back from the barge as to when he can take the rig over. Looks like we have a bit of down time to shop in Juneau. We will probably be here another four to five days. I purchased a pressure tank for the well yesterday, and some other construction incidentals.

Let me step back to our Canadian travels. My biggest concern was the trailer brakes. After the failure coming down the Grape Vine grade in California the last thing I wanted was trailer brake failure coming down one of the 10% grades on the Alaskan Highway. I was optimistic I had found the problem, but prudence demanded watchfulness while traversing Washington state. The brake controller never showed anything but good connection on the digital readout. The farther we drove the better I felt about the problem being solved. All across Canada and down the steep grade from White Pass into Skagway the brakes never faltered.

One of the wires coming out of the top of the magnet was installed so tight around a bracket it wore through the insulation causing a short and trailer brake failure.


A view at the top of White Pass before heading down into Skagway. The route is very curvy and descends 3200 feet in only a few miles. Pulling 23,100 pounds I didn't let our speed go over 20 mph.