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"Heavy weather is going to be a constant companion," said RJ Kopchak, a Cordova businessman and former commercial fisherman. "That's what happens there."
Another problem? Black bears. There's a large bear population on the island, and McLaughlin says they "love to get into trouble."
Baird said he'll be safe from the bears. He'll carry a .44 with him at all times, has a shotgun "and a few other weapons, as well." The dog will also alert him to any predators.
There are building restrictions on the uninhabited island, Baird said, so he will have to construct his makeshift cabin without digging into the ground for a foundation.
He plans to have lumber delivered to build his cabin, which will be located about a third of a mile from the beach, about 150 feet up a hill.
He'll have plentiful fishing opportunities.
"The nice thing about the ocean is twice a day you've got a dinner table set out for you," Janka said.
The challenges don't faze Baird, who is ex-military, except perhaps for one.
"Probably the biggest challenge is the isolation," he said, adding it was an issue for some of his classmates in an Air Force Academy survival training course.
Some "did experience hallucinations and even group delusions, just minor things. But it is kind of a concern, being alone that long," he said.
He said he's worked with psychologists at Harvard and the University of Chicago, talking through the things he can expect, like nightmares.
"I think I'll be OK, I've done a lot of work on my own, and I'll also have a dog, which probably will help keep things stabilized," he said.
He also plans to keep busy by reading, taking a couple thousand books on an electronic reader. He'll keep it charged with wind and solar systems he's taking with him.
Baird is planning to keep a diary, which could be turned into a book. He's also thinking of writing an instructional book of how to live in the remote wilderness.
Then there's also the filming, day in and day out, of his experiences alone on the Alaska island.
Once he returns to civilization, he'll edit the video and try to sell it as a documentary series.
Baird is not the first to make or film such an odyssey.
Dick Proenneke lived alone in a remote cabin and kept journals published as the classic Alaska memoir "One Man's Wilderness."
He moved to his cabin in 1968 at the age of 52. Proenneke lived alone until 1998 in what is now Lake Clark National Park and Preserve. He also filmed his adventures, which have been turned into DVDs and were aired on PBS. He died in 2003.
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