Exploring the Inner Channels

I continue to be way behind on blogging, but we continue to be busy exploring and working on projects. The good news is that there’s plenty to share – so far it has been a great summer.

In late May we spent a few days in Red Bluff Bay, on the eastern shore of Baranof Island, because there’s a terrific “bear meadow” that usually has some brown bears eating sedges (a type of grass) at that time of the year. Early wildflowers, like the shooting stars above, are also in bloom, adding to the beauty of the place.

As soon as the anchor was set, I was in the kayak with cameras, and I spotted the four-legged furry things that I love to watch…

The photo above shows typical bear behavior – they’re always scanning to see what’s going on around them, ever watchful for a more dominant bear or a threat. This bear paid particular attention to one area in the nearby forest, though nothing scary ever emerged.

Late one afternoon, two sub-adult bears were eating grass and playing on a shoal, and wrestled and interacted as they swam across to the main meadow – fun to watch since bears are solitary more often than not.

A lone trumpeter swan was in residence, odd to see one this late in the spring since most have migrated farther north by now.

Mergansers are usually pretty shy, but these two let me get fairly close.

As we made our way up to Glacier Bay, we spent a few nights in some favorite anchorages along the way, and finally got to see some good whale action on our way into an anchorage one afternoon. It was a good-sized pod of humpbacks bubble-net feeding!

We watched them through binoculars for a while as we slowed our approach to the anchorage, but the food they were following kept moving them farther away. So that is the end of this tale (tail)… for now…

Next up is Glacier Bay, which never disappoints!

4 thoughts on “Exploring the Inner Channels

  1. I was given this web site address by Bill Eisner. I am looking for Jim Roberts.

    IIRC, back in the 1970s, I think you worked for (the late) Karen Pyrah on supporting the TRW GIM-II database system for the company.

    I worked for OLSB/SPD from 1976 to 1980.

    I am now doing some volunteer work with a museum and several computer historians who are very interested in learning about GIMS – GIM-I and GIM-II.

    I wonder if you have any recollections about any of that stuff. Please reply to the e-mail address below.

    All the best,

    Mark S. Waterbury

    • Gee, I should remember you, as I was in DBMS/SPD from 1973 until 1979. At one time it was just Karen and I supporting GIMS. Between 1974 and 1978 I read over 3700 core dumps and made over 500 software changes to GIMS.

      I may have been the last to run GIMS on the PDP 11/45.

      I corresponded with Karen for years (even after she died– no one told me (my letters were not returned)). I only found out Carl Schwab died recently; he was part of GIMS– he created the reprocess and recovery standalone programs.

      Tom Dillon could still be around. He was TRW, on-site for most of the time I was there. I believe he was living in Alexandria. We saw Tom, Carl, and Karen in 1997.

      No idea on Jim Roberts, but you might look for Ronnie Rosen. Karen told me that Ronnie took over GIMS after she moved on.

      Glad to hear that Bill is still around. Is he in the DC area? Our son Nathan is in Woodbridge, with the Air Force.

      What are you looking for concerning GIMS?

  2. Hi, Stan,

    Thanks for replying to my inquiry.

    When you have a minute, take a look at this document:
    http://web.mit.edu/smadnick/www/MITtheses/06564848.pdf

    It was a Masters Thesis from MIT that describes TRW GIM-II in quite a bit of detail, with specific mention of the PDP-11 RSX-11D version.

    I would like to learn more about your experiences with the PDP-11 version of GIM-II.

    Thanks in advance.

    All the best,

    Mark S. Waterbury

    • Sorry, but we just noticed your inquiry… I’m passing your info over to Jim… you found him!
      So sorry to hear about Carl Schwab passing.

      Robin

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