Power out on Bear, possibly Pine and others
 

Power went out on Bear Island at 10:47 AM Tuesday. From the outage map it looks like Pine and the islands near the south end of Bear are out as well.

NHEC has posted the following.

"Due to NHEC safty policies, the ice condition are unsafe at this time. NHEC has not determined when crews will respond to the island outages."

So much for my intricate ice eater timing patterns![emoji6]

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The NHEC should realize it is 2021. There are several air boats available, two of them at Shep's, that can transport them to the islands in any ice conditions.

I think it’s out on my section of Little Bear as well.

update Friday
 

NHEC said they will evaluate ice conditions on Friday to determine whether to go out or not... with the temps forecast in the teens at night and low 30s during the day, hopefully that will help the decision!

ice-out... or ice-in... either one is good! -PIG

Mink too....
 

I second the view that NHEC needs to have access to an airboat. We want their crews to be safe. But we also need our power restored to prevent damage to our properties.

Ya know the NHEC should definitely hire ME, fatlazyless, as an island outage ice-time specialist ...... because I can so totally go get out there ..... with my 22-lb 11.5' inflated stand-up paddle board while holding a large box of Cheez-its under one arm, and paddling with the other arm, while blind folded and one arm tied behind my back, all at the same time.

Like ...... it is so totally easy to do this! ....... :D ...... weighing 22-lbs and equipped with a large, depressed carry handle in the center, it's good-to-go out to the iced in island ..... paddl'n the open water and walk'n across the ice ..... it's an ice, water amphibian long distance paddling-walking traveler that only weighs 22-lbs and is 11.5'x32"x6" size .... plus a box of Cheez-its for powering it along. ...... bringing Cheez-it power out to the icy island.
.... :D

So's with an inflatable sup and a box of Cheez-its, I could be getting that island all powered back up in no time ....... easy-peasie! ..... :D

Island Services has an air boat, and they have assisted the utilities many times over the years. Obviously they will want to be paid for that assistance.

We should all call NHEC and suggest they try harder.

Tough to get a bucket truck on an airboat.

FLL can do it
 

FLL can do it. He'll just put one on his inflatable paddleboard and head out from Shep's. The bucket truck will be easily recognizable; it'll say Tonka on the side.

Dave

Island Services is a contractor for the COOP so they are all set up to work with them. I have been dealing with one of their service reps on an easement and pole change lately, at which time he mentioned they are set up to use them.

I saw on one of the facebook groups this morning that the COOP was planning on going out today to restore power, depending on the amount of damage found.

Of course the forecast shows high winds today and tomorrow so more could happen.

With enough noodles anything is possible.

The power seems to be restored on East Bear.

good news!
 

Power has been restored to Pine Island as of a few minutes ago.

Last year we had an outage in January as the result of a large (2' diameter) pine tree that had come down... I went out and took photos and sent them to NHEC... the power lines were a mess, broken, tangled, on the ground, etc... the NHEC crew was out within two days and did a remarkable job with minimal equipment... everything they needed they brought out with a four-wheeler... chopped up the tree, rehung the wires and spliced them in, all by hand...

I know there are a lot of complaints about NHEC, but the crews do a great job!

my two cents -PIG

Island living is tough in the winter. I'm thinking I would not want to be reliant on the power grid if my house isn't winterized. If not winterized some type of back up generator would be essential I would think.

Ok ....... so's at 3-pm today, driving down the Meredith Neck Rd right at the top of the hill with the small white church building, there was a big long line of about ten electric utility trucks heading north.

There was about four bucket trucks from Liberty Utility, four bucket trucks from NHEC, and two pickup trucks from NHEC. Maybe four were towing trailers with a 4-wheel atv in the trailer. Did not see any snowmobiles. So's apparently these small open atv 4-wheelers are how they cross the ice and get around the island to go chase down the break and fix the power.

They must climb the poles with just the leg spikes, same as in 1951 when there were no bucket trucks.

A few years ago I watched two men add a new pole near the Mail Dock.

They pulled the pole over behind their boat. Dug a hole with hand tools. Erected the pole with wood pikes and a rope. Leveled it by sighting with a rock tied to a string. Put on leg spikes to climb the pole and do the wiring.

Who needs a bucket truck.

Bear Island Power Outage
 

The nhec outage map says our cove behind Shepard Island has several poles down from March 2 winds and won't be remedied til ice out. NHEC says they will need to use a barge to bring poles over.

You sound like Johnny Appleseed, only for Canada Geese! :eek:

Bear Power
 

Dave from Y Landing checked our camps at 323 and 325 Bear, the cove behind Shepard Island, and reported we have power. He also said only a pole or two was down, not the great many that the nhec outage map says.

FYI - I got power on the north west end of Bear. There was evidence that the power company had taken something - tracked vehicle of some sort - down the power lines so they have been out looking things over.

Power
 

Power came back Thursday on Mink. As is usually the case, lost power on Bear causes power to be lost down stream — Mark and Mink Islands. On the NHEC map, if you see a blue dot, that was a specific report from a customer — so there was only one dot on Mink, for example, but the whole island was without power.

NHEC has been very responsive to restoring power to the islands in the winter over the last few years. Mainland will always come first as people are living in those homes. The islands are more susceptible to damage from wind and heavy snow in the winter due to their exposure. Almost all of the island were out with this last storm and power has been restored to 99%. The balance will not be on until ice out due to the need to get heavy equipment out for pole replacement. I kept everyone updated with information directly from my contact at NHEC on the winni island facebook group and on the bear and pine facebook group. Suggest you join those for information. You can only join those groups if you own island property and there is no trolling like on this forum. To much b____ and trolling here. Anything posted draws criticism from certain members who always seem to have an ax to grind.

Bear Power
 

You seem offended.
Is it possible you need to be offended?

Not offended. Just informing people that there are better places to get information faster and without putting up with politics and trolling and mean responses seen here. First time I checked this forum in a long time. Used to be great 10 12 years ago

It looks like we are down again. Online it states that they are doing tree work on the island, hopefully we will be back up later.

Power’s back on Mink....
 

Glad they could get to the additional repairs before the upcoming warm-up.

Bear Power
 

I hope that our cove behind Shepard Island on Bear has power again.

They have about four atv 4-wheelers w/ big knobby tires that seat one or two riders from Liberty Utility and the NHEC ..... the small 4-wheeler made by Honda or Polaris or Kawasaki.

Bear Power
 

Does anybody know if power is out on Bear? The BearChow link seems stuck on night time.

I have power on East bear. My cameras are on.

Power is on. Richard is moving cameras to new website.

Bear Power
 

Does Bear have power today? How about Mark?

If you are on the west side in the area of the carry it is likely you do not have power. Call the Coop directly and ask if your property is effected by the early March outage. Several poles are down _and they need barges and heavy equipment to make repairs. They should have plans now that the ice is gone.

Why would you want to live at a place where the power goes out every other week. This is a serious question, I am trying the understand what the attraction is.

No problem on East Bear today.

It doesn't go out every other week for starters. There have been plenty of outages on the mainland to. It happens.

The draw is something that cannot be explained, only experienced.

I think you would have to live there or at least spend a few weeks in the summer to understand. Not sure words could explain it.

The power doesn't go out on Besr Island any more frequently than the rest of New Hampshire so is your question why live in NH?

My wife and I own a water front 3 Bad, 3 bath summer house here in the lake region. The place is monitored 24/7 throughout the year. We have lost power maybe twice in the past three years, that was due to some ice storm we had a few years back.

So, NO, the power does not go out all over NH.

Reading this thread sure sound like the power goes out more often the other places. Bear island must be a beautiful place, have never been there. I can not imagine putting up with that kind of BS.

During the winter there is not always safe access to make repairs, so there is a chance of extended outages should damage occur. Our power feed comes in from Meredith Neck, so if lines on the mainland go down we are off as well. We had a few outages over the winter where we are, but nothing extended. A few properties were affected by downed poles and lines which could not be repaired, but these were isolated.

Boy...I could write a book on this subject! Maybe some day when I retire![emoji16] Why do southerners live where they do with the possibility of hurricanes destroying their homes? Why do people stay in areas where tornadoes frequently occur? There must be some kind of allure keeping them there. For me, the island is that kind of place. The seclusion, lack of traffic and unwanted guests...the whole atmosphere is like a different world. World-class neighbors, past and present ( yes, even you J.) will do anything for you, as I will do anything for them. Losing power? In my world that's a minor inconvenience to be able to live THAT life, and it really doesn't happen that frequently. I would also suggest renting an island property for a week....only then will you " get it".

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Thanks buddy! I thought you were leaving us out! :cheers:

No Power??
 

Sounds like Texas awhile back!

Never!

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