The Year of the Rat

Got back on island January 8th and set about making the shack livable. First on the list was getting some rudimentary plumbing hooked up. Sink in, shower out. I had a four hundred gallon tank at the top of the driveway which gave me great pressure for the shower. For the sink I put the 150 gallon tank on the roof. Pressure is OK. In fact less is better as I'll use less water that way. Water cost me $135 for six hundred gallons. Not cheap.

When I was loading my containers in Florida the guys at the dock threw in several new hoses and nozzles, which happen to have shower settings, from an open container that was never claimed. Too perfect! One of the 100' hoses runs down along the driveway to my jungle shower out back. The sun heats the water during the day. However it was cold in the winter.

If I ever get electricity I'll be dangerous. As it is now I use hurricane lamps--they work really well--and a Miner's headlamp that Denise gave me for Christmas. My AT&T phone along with my laptop with the mobile internet connection, at a little faster than dial up, work reasonably well. None of this even existed six months ago so I'm totally thrilled. Net, net it's a great place to work, shower and sleep. Down in Coral Bay the Big Belly Deli just opened. Great food and more importantly great prices. They even have a vegi wrap on the menu. Homemade pizzas and the standard breakfast menu. At this point I don't need more than that. I have coolers and ice to supplement but the waste almost makes it not worthwhile. Things will change when electricity comes. We have been waiting over a year now. At least the poles are up!

Back to the hard work.

Laying in the footings for the upper retaining wall. A lot of digging to get the trench relatively level. So much stone and mud. This concrete work can't end soon enough. It just kicks my butt.

Finally something easy--putting the trim boards for the driveway.

I'm only pouring three inches deep as opposed to the normal five to six. I still have to bring back the big track hoe. It will bust up the driveway pretty bad. Afterwards I'll add another three inches when I'm finally done with the heavy equipment. Also it's only nine feet wide. This way one track can stay on dirt giving the operator pretty good control going up and down. Ultimately the drive will be about twelve feet wide.

They stop by every day.

The pool moves! That's it being dug below.

One of the significant advantages of being the designer, builder etc is you can make changes. The pool is a major change. Previously is was sited on the upper patio at the base of the retaining wall in the far corner near the exterior shower. Anyway I even penciled in french doors where the two windows were and was going to add an exterior door to the shower. With the french doors open you could look from the pool through the living room out the opposite doors across the valley and to the sea. You know the routine--curtains blowing in the sweet smelling breeze etc etc. Plus you didn't have to traipse through the house to use the bathroom. You would simply use the exterior door and walk through the 6x7 outdoor shower.

Well cancel those grand plans.

With the sun moving south for the winter the upper patio doesn't get very much sun, in fact none at all for a couple of months until I drop some trees to open up the forest canopy. In addition at approximately a 1000ft above sea level its chilly in the shade. At night it's perfect sleeping weather in the low to mid 60's.

As the picture above shows, I moved it to the corner of the lower patio--the only place that gets sun in January. Now the hard work. On the upper patio, when the time came, a track hoe would dig out the pool in one hour. On the lower patio it would have to be dug by hand or, with great difficulty, bring in the mini track hoe that I used previously. The easy access is now blocked by the shack and retaining wall. There's no way I could dig that pool having already dug the footing for the pier. I said then, never again.

The Big Belly Deli to the rescue. The guy in the pictures below is Thor. We got to chatting while eating and he was looking for work while he was passing through. "I can pay you or I can pay Elvis and his machine". Two days later we started. Yeah I got roped into it to. Someone had to remove the dirt/mud as it came out of the hole. Seven days later a pool was dug and all the earth had been spread, back filling the footing that I had just recently poured. Patio and pool in one hard back breaking shot. Mostly his back! At 31 he can take it. At turning 60 this year I can't!

Thor in the hole.

The gut is almost gone!

I'm going to pour the walls of the pool on the inside of the existing pier and beams that you can see are still inside the plywood forms in the picture above behind Thor. I'll make those two sides of the pool with an infinity edge. Folks are down on these type pools here because they lose so much water, our most valuable commodity. However this is basically a small cocktail pool so I'll spare the expense for the look. The view will be nice when the landscaping is done. The pics below give a hint. Its going to be a great pool for the moon.

The view from the shack when the clouds and rain moves in.

While Thor set about digging the pool I jumped further down the hill to the hole I originally had dug when we did the original excavation for the foundation and laid in the rebar and key way for the septic tank. I'm making my own. Yes it's a pain the ass but it solves all my logistical problems. Getting a plastic tank, sand and water etc to this hole would be a nightmare. Pouring concrete is just more pipe. The cost run about the same but I end up with twice the size septic tank. This tank will also handle the upper cottage.

Now back to the pool to lay in the drains and rebar.

My grand plan at this time was to pour the driveway, the footings on the upper patio, the slabs for the septic and swimming pool, top off the pier and beams that suffered in the last pour and finally pour the lower side retaining wall which continues to suffer from mudslides. (It still needs some work.)

With that completed my next stage would then be to build the upper retaining wall and the pool and septic walls and frame up part of the lower patio. Then pour again.

The drains you see above were purchased on St Thomas. You need two now, thank you California, and as it turns out they have to be inspected before you pour. Nevertheless I put myself on line for concrete. I should get it, weather and supply permitting in eight days. Off to see the plumbing inspector.

In a voice that is best described as "Kingfish" (you either know who that is or you don't) I was told that although my plans have a pool permitted my plumbing permit doesn't have a pool permitted at this time. "Say What?" You needs to have "pool" written on the actual slip of paper. "How do I do that?" You needs to have your licensed contractor submit a request which will be forwarded to St Thomas. "How long will that take?" Abouts three weeks. "I have concrete coming in eight days." Not to da pool. "It's just the drain. Has anyone ever been turned down for a pool?" Well nooo. "Well?" Wells yous have a problem. You needs yours permit. And on and on it went.

I got my concrete on the eight day. On the ninth my plumbing contractor called to say he changed his mind and I could pour without the pending permit. He just cost me an extra pour for $1200. Don't stop the Carnival!

Here's some pics of a place on Little Lameshur Bay lived in until the late 50's. The house and grounds, an old bay leaf farm, were lived in by one of the main characters who turned the island into a park. His name escapes me but he initially had plans to develop the bay into home sites--that is until he started living there. The raw beauty changed his mind. In fact he started the whole National Park in motion by writing Lawrence Rockefeller.

These pics show what happens in less than 50 years.

the cookersMany folks are having a hard time with the park. All the ruins are going to seed. I mean what's the point. In fifty years what are they going to say "there used to be a plantation here". Hello, don't tell me you don't have the money, take care of these places or turn it over to private enterprise so these sites are preserved in some form or another. When we hiked most of the National Parks in the Northwest, including Canada, most of the lodges, tea houses etc were privately run inside the parks. You hike to a glacier and there's an old hut serving food etc. There are several plantations houses that could be somewhat restored and used for the same here, not to mention the revenues they raise for the park. They become hiking destinations. They hide behind the canard that this is some pristine untouchable landscape. Hello. This whole island was taken to the nub and planted with sugarcane for 300 years. The mongooses, feral cats, goats, burros etc are not original, not to mention most of the fruit trees and flowers. Lets get real here. Save these historical artifacts.

On a brighter note look what was spotted here. I might not have to smuggle any in from Puerto Rico!

In the old days they blotted out the sun on occasion until they were all eaten. I love the little buggers. They look like the ones we have in San Francisco.

I already have shack guests.

RATS. Thankfully not ugly city monsters but nice golden brown country rats--but rats nonetheless. On the bright side they seem to travel alone and they are pretty bright. When they do visit it's one at a time and thankfully they slip under the screen in the same place rather that chewing a hole. They don't crawl over you here like they did in Jamaica where I had a shack on the beach. But they make a racket eating plastic containers or whatever so you do get woken up. I shine the flashlight, I chase them, they chase me and then they exit whence they came. They usually only come once a night, two or three times a week. I did have to set a trap for one however. We went through the chase scene four times in one night. Not cool. On the fifth time the trap got him which messed me up at the same time watching him breath his last gasps with those little clenched fists. I couldn't watch.

Then a loud noise. I turn on the light and he's loose. I'm kind of glad. Then I had to watch the Bataan death march as he slowly, hand over hand, climbs the chair to get to the ledge to get under the screen and then continue to climb up a 4x4 to the roof. He couldn't make it and came back down. I thought he was coming back in when I nudged him off the ledge and he fell ten feet into the brush. I have not seen him since. I hope he made it.

It's now the beginning of March.......