For the past few years Operation Shore Patrol has been held at the Tidelands Campground in Copalis Beach WA. Dave, the owner of the campground has been really good to us and accommodating our group to the point of breaking some of the campground rules that are normally in force. So it was when Dave asked if there was any way he could get some help with building a new clam shack for guests there were several people from the Rainer Ridge Rams and the Timber Tamers that said they would be happy too. A date was set for Oct 12th when everyone would converge on the campground.
So it was that Pam and I decided to head down to tidelands campground early on Friday to avoid having to get up early on Saturday and make that long drive then work all day. Arriving Friday around 4pm we found that Dave the owner and a friend had just finished digging all the holes with a small auger and were cleaning up for the day. Since there was nothing for us to do Pam and I took a nice walk on the beach with the dog and watched the sunset. Later on we cooked dinner over a camp fire and relaxed in the piece and quite broken only by the sounds of the surf faintly breaking in the distance. We had the whole campground to ourselves.
Saturday morning dawned and we ran down the road to the coffee shop for some much needed caffeine. Shortly after getting back to the campground Moose (TT) arrived with his little tractor in tow. He was quickly followed by Dave (TT) and then Jason (RRR) who had brought along a large auger that would would eventually be attached to the back of the little tractor with some WD40 and a lot of persuasion.
The previous day when Dave dug the holes with the little two man auger he was only able to go a foot or so in depth. With the post hole auger on the back of the tractor we were able to sink the holes down 3 feet deep so that the structure will be well anchored. The vertical poles were all set and plumbed then we back filled the holes to hold everything firm.
Originally the plan was to just put a sloped roof on the structure but with a little persuasion from Jason it was possible to convince Dave to do a peaked roof. The only problem was finding a 24 foot long log for the roof peak. As luck would have it Dave had two candidates available in the campground from which we could choose. The first option was a standing pole located next to the path which lead to the beach. Jason made quick work of it but proved that he was not a lumber jack by bouncing the pole of a car trailer when falling it to the ground. With the pole on the ground it was measured only to discover that it was 2 feet too short. There were two options right?
So off we went to the next option which was in close proximity to the restrooms. Wanting to be a little more careful this time and trying to preserve as much of the pole is possible to make sure it was long enough we went out getting this pole on the ground by digging a hole next to it and then using the flatbed on a 4×4 truck to push it over. First attempt to push the pole over got it down to about a 45 degree angle to the ground. With Dave yelling “hit it with your purse” I gave it another try only to run the truck on on top of the pole. Oops. Perhaps that was not the best idea but that pole will never forget me. We eventually got the pole down on the ground using the tractor to dig around the base.
With the new pole for the peak of the clam shack over next to the construction site and had to figure out how to bet it up on the roof. We eventually got it there by using Moose’s lil tractor to lift one end up and then muscle power to get it on the roof the rest of the way. As it was about lunch time we decided this was a good time to take a break and attack the lunch Dave’s daughter and her family made for us of pulled pork sandwiches, tater tots, and coleslaw. While we were all eating lunch it came out that Oct 12th is not only Moose’s birthday but Dave’s as well.
Lunch done we got back to work with a renewed interest and a goal to get as much done as possible before knocking off for dinner. Most of the afternoon was spent working on getting the rafters done and we were nearly able to finish before Pammy called us all in for a dinner of spaghetti with choice of red or white sauce, garlic bread, and side salad. After dinner Dave’s daughter surprised everyone with a birthday cake for Dave and Moose. After cake everyone was pretty much done for the day and we sat around talking for a little while before turning in and calling it a night.
Sunday morning found coffee and a bite to eat waiting for us before we headed out into the sun in order to try and finish up the project. While Moose used the tractor to move some more logs around before hauling tin over for the roof. Dave and I worked on finishing the rafter framing up before moving on to the soffets. Just before lunch Moose was able to get a trench dug to the shack for water and power and move the big sink over which would take up residence as the cleaning station.
It was getting close to the time where everyone had to leave in order to make it home at a reasonable hour. While Dave started towards home, Pammy and I got things cleaned up and packed for our own trip that direction. Moose was able to finish back filling the trench for Dave before loading up the little tractor that did on the trailer and heading home to Mary. All in all it was a fun project and Dave is very appreciative of the help to get this done as you could tell from the big smile on his face.
Thank you everyone who was able to help.
Terry
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