I'm back from my last trip up to the cabin and I have some better Ideas of what I'm in for.

First: I didn't even come close to getting what I thought I could get done. This was mainly due to not stepping on some pride. 18' of tongue and groove knotty pine paneling should not take a day and a half even when building doors for overhead storage. Even the fact that I was using a mix of new and materials that had been stored fro years shouldn't have added that much time. However it does when you have an assistant. I job I budgeted day for (including the morning to get materials) kept going on and on. This is something I'll always have to keep in mind.

[tips while I'm thinking about it: Any manufacturer bundled wood has to be separated and rested. If you don't have a week or two to let the wood rest pick loose pieces.
Get in the habit of making the cuts and then lightly sanding the back side of the tongue. When working with tongue and groove don't over force the wood. Yes you could probably make it fit but you should be letting it fit.
Don't get to far ahead of yourself. the temptation to make up that half inch to the door can be overwhelming. But lots of little adjustments to do so add up to a lot of problems. You should have made that cut on the first board.
While you can cut away the backside of the groove avoid it as much as possible. Instead work two pieces together around the doors and windows. A couple of face nails and some liquid nails can give you enough play to make a really tight join at the opening. This is even more important when the notch leaves a narrow cut on the one piece.]

The handrail down to the lake was a big success. Landscape timbers make fine posts and since I wanted weathered ones they were cheap. Plenty of young ash on the property so getting 10' - 12' of straight poles was not a problem (stripping ash bark is easy with just fingernails). I left the post a bit long so I can pound them down as they settle. A little rope lashing looks great and hides the screws.

My test pit in the crawl space revealed nothing but clay. No noticeable water seeped into it. The clay remains very wet but is retaining its moisture. This bodes ill as I'm going to have to shift a lot of material just to get a handle on the problem.

On a brighter note. The neighbor sunk a well and hit good water at 40' appox. Talking to him it seems that most people around the lake have their well depths between 40' - 60'. Looking at the contour lines I could expect to hit water at 50'. Lo and behold as I'm in the crawl space I come to find that a sand point was already sunk at 35'. It ran dry after a couple of years but it seems that I have part of a hole already sunk.

Just a quick update on the progress here. I've managed to get the sump low enough and wide enough that water is pooling between visits. Once pumped out it stays relatively dry for the weekend. So water flow is not huge. The crawlspace is noticeably dryer even taking into account the weather. I have high hopes of actually jacking up the cabin and repairing the foundation by the end of this month.

I've built the new front entry stairs and have also constructed a modular portable wheelchair ramp the locks into the stairs very well. The ramp fits under the entry and forms a nice facade.

Using bits and pieces from Bessie, I've also constructed a foot pump system that allows me to float the dock sections making it much easier to remove, install and adjust.

what are options for external drainage management?

is there a slope that the house sits on that you can put a swale uphill of to move water around the foundation? are there planting restrictions that would prohibit using thirsty perennials to draw water away? (n.b. you want something NOT with aggressive roots fi ther'es already a foundation issue)

how far out is this place? i may be conned into goign up for a workday to look at some options with you, and move some stuff about in useful fashions.

The cabin sits in the flattest portion of the property. Unfortunately this is also a depression in the slope. The north side of the cabin has a swampy mosquito factory 10' away from the front entry. There is a swale uphill and gutters so basic management was done.

From what I can determine the problem has lees to do with runoff and more to do with bottom up seepage. Basically the crawlspace is finding the natural water table level. The slow level of accumulation in the sump is mostly to do with the clay soil (once wet moisture percolates through it slowly.

It is a designated wilderness lake which means there are some restrictions.

The cabin is about 20 min south of Hibbing. I am planning a trip up sometime in the near future on my own. They have a recovered Oak floor which I plan on installing. He acquired it probaly 30 years ago and has been getting iin the way ever since. That may be the best time to perhaps have a larger more general work and hangout day or weekend.