The poles run right through the property, but paying standard service hookups and monthly base fees for a cabin we’ll only occupy two to four weeks a year makes no sense. If we are going to make a go of this site, even in a temporary trailer base camp, we need to generate our own light and keep the food from spoiling on our own terms.

But on a budget you start with what you can carry in the back of a car.

Phase One: The Portable Rig

For the trailer, the strategy is strictly plug-and-play. We aren’t mounting heavy panels or wiring up complex inverter boxes yet. The immediate setup will rely on:

• The Solar Generator: A portable solar power station (like an Anker or Jackery unit) paired with two portable folding panels. It’s enough to keep the phone charged, power a laptop and Starlink, and run low-wattage LED work lights at night.
• Propane for the Heavy Lifting: Generating heat from solar is a fool’s errand on a small scale. Cooking and refrigeration will run on propane—a simple two-burner coleman type stove and a small absorption fridge. It’s reliable, weather-independent, and keeps our battery draw near zero.

Phase Two: Tapping the Coastal Gales

Solar is clean and easy in the short, bright days of July. But Newfoundlanders know what happens when November settles in. The fog rolls over the Sound, the sun disappears for weeks, and the wind begins to howl.

Once we clear the land for the permanent spot, solar won’t cut it alone. A longer-term plan is to expand the solution with a micro wind turbine. Anchored directly into the solid bedrock of the property, a turbine will take advantage of the Atlantic winds that sculpt the shoreline and bend the trees, and of course, threaten anything not nailed down, turning the island’s harshest element into our primary winter power source.

First, though, we need to get a trailer, get it leveled and the propane tanks filled. One step at a time.