My mini vacation ended with Denise all too quickly. Lots of beach time, really the only time I go, while working about three hours a day. Denise could not take the goat droppings so the downstairs has been cleaned. We could not get the exterior color or the living room right no matter how many samples I made. Plan B, we are going to actually knock on the door of the house where we saw the color in SF and see if they will share. As I mentioned previously, if they had a colorist choose their colors they may not. Sometimes it is even a contractual affair. The living room will even be tougher. We want the color of a national interior design company. It's akin to calling Tiffany's and see if they will give you the formula for "Tiffany Blue". We'll find out.
I dropped Denise at the St Thomas airport on November 1 and I'll be back picking up a childhood friend on the 6th.
The work now is pretty humdrum. Thirty two shutters to take care of all the upstairs doors and windows. Multiple designs preventing any real production sense. Every now and then I had to unscrew a piece because the backs and front are different as are the left and right sides. Space out just a bit and you end up making everything in reverse! What I can tell you, I learned why custom shutters cost so much. Even with the most economical lumber, hardware etc, putting labor at just $25 an hour, a pair of serious door shutters will set you back about $700. Kick everything up with stainless fittings, hinges, milled lumber and the like and you are way past $1500.
With my friend Jimmy coming I'll drop the shutter routine and figure out some two man labor.
Friends since we were seven. The math is scary.
With Jimmy here for two weeks I figured four hours a day of work with the rest for the island. He lives in NY so we don't get to see much of each other. Years go by. St John will actually be much more convenient.
The blue container was nearly empty except for about 40 sheets of the nine foot fibreglass sheet rock. While I have moved a fair number down to the house it is a delicate job for one person. Weight aside, getting them out of the container, sliding them into the truck then reversing the process and walking down the ramp, the fifteen steps or so into the house without breaking them is quite the feat. This time around we have to go even further, to the lower floor. One person very stressful. For two people its a tiresome lay up. Hello Jimmy! Furthermore, I have already sold the container and promised, with short notice, that I would empty it when called. Because of the steepness of the driveway, the camper shell, blah, blah, I can only take about 10 sheets per trip. Let's just say we took a couple of days to move it!
In an act of perfect timing Jimmy got an intro into island living. A concrete truck overturned on the way to Coral Bay. Remembering that we drive on the left this truck was probably full. Just a guess--he was speeding. Speeding on St John is going about 35! The speed limit is 20.
The weather was perfect for all the usual tourist happenings. This is the view along the ridge to the house or as I say when I have a guest--the "Three Seasons". With a tent pitched in the house, an outhouse of dubious merits and a cold hose jungle shower, I don't have many guests, as you would imagine. The paradise buzz only goes so far. Did I mention my cooking? It won't kill you but you do get to put your feet up everyday while I slave in the kitchen. Think of it as happy trails slop. As an added bonus I also do the dishes!
He's starting to get the picture at my Casa Rustico' !
The view from the tent room suite. It could be worse. Don't forget at night it comes with all the rain forest sounds. Going to the bathroom can be quite the experience! Think of it as "outward bound" by accident.
Continuing the "I will work for room and board program", we jumped downstairs and put in all the electric and roughed in most of the plumbing. Two people make it so much easier. Afterwards we sheet rocked most of the bedroom ceiling.
In just two weeks he experienced the full monty of St John. Rainbows virtually everyday, wild goats, sheep, donkeys, deer, lizards, iguanas, feral cats, chickens, the hawks that eat them, noisy roosters, turtles every time we went snorkeling, some rain at night, all that and no mosquitoes. On top of that, now that I think about it, I even paid him money I didn't have. WTF.
the money shot
Here he is performing at the Castaway's. Ignore the bar noise in the beginning. He sings this song whenever we rally. He once sang it using a traffic cone on the Golden Gate Bridge 50th Anniversary walk back in 1987 and stopped foot traffic on the bridge. Yes, he has a band in NY--The Hey Baby Band. With different members it's probably going on 30+ years.
What makes it all the more remarkable is this is how he spent last year. He's now a survivor as they say after a brutal year.
On his last night we jumped over to St Thomas for the Paradise Jam. Easily the best deal in college basketball. Top teams, court side seats. You can walk out on the court during the shoot around and harass the players if you are in the mood. My friend Roger organizes it every year, springs for the tickets and a meal before the game. Who's better than him? Not to mention he even gets us over to St Thomas on the barge.
Just like that two weeks were up. I dropped Jimmy off at the airport and went back to the shutters. I have two weeks to get them all constructed so I can hang them all before I return to SF for the holidays. All I can say, they take a lot l-o-n-g-e-r than you think. Just trying to sand wood that should be planed takes over a week. What a waste. I won't make that mistake again. Well actually I will. Several thousand counter sunk screws take for ever to fill and sand. It all looks easy and simple to you actually do it. Paint, sand, patch, paint, sand, patch. Rinse and repeat four times. I can see why a lot of folks choose a more carriage bolt look for their shutters.
getting some primer on
Ultimately they will get four coats. Two primers and two top coats, sanded between with wood putty where needed. New construction takes a lot of paint. Benjamin Moore on St Thomas did not carry the oil primer I use. They said there was no demand for it here. I had to use a quick dry Zinsser stain blocker. It is not what you want to really use. It doesn't level and I find quick drys to be too brittle. Indoors ok maybe, but I prefer a true soaking oil primer for exteriors. These days the best long lasting combo I have found for wood trim is a slow/normal drying oil primer with a Latex topcoat. Beni Moore Super-Spec oil with a MoorGlo topcoat. With good prep you might get 10 or more years on the sunny side. Thankfully they carry the Satin Impervo oil for my interior trim.
Hanging them up to dry while I'm gone. I'll have to get the windows on my return in mid January.
These guys hung out everyday. The grey male was chased off by the local tom after a good beating one night a couple of weeks ago. I never got a chance to get him spaded. I need to take the two females in.
Lizzy was fixed at the beginning of the year. They have a program on St John where they give you the traps for feral cats and they fix them for free on Wednesday's. Every time I leave island for a month or so I wonder if it will be the last time I see them. Lizzy has returned twice so far. The Tuesday before I left to SF the young females disappeared and avoided the trip to the vet.
The question is often asked how could you possibly leave San Francisco. Looking at the picture above goes a long way to explaining some of the reasons. While admittedly looking like it was staged, it's not. It's hard to grasp, I know. Walk around with amber tinted sun glasses and this is how it looks. If you want to change it up just go to the same spot at a different time of the day.
Off the ferry, I got up to Roger's house and the truck started right up. Sweet Tacoma! Even the slow leak in the tire had plenty of air still left to drive to the gas station. Apparently I've been a good boy. The shack did its job while I was away. The microwave was still showing the time so I knew there had been no power failures. Everything in the frig was good to go. Having to buy condiments all the time is an expensive drag. A bowl of ice cubes in the freezer gives me an idea of how long the power may have been off had it been. The rain gauge showed about two inches, so the island remains fairly dry. But there is always something to remind you who/what is in charge.
The two wild goats who took up residence under the shack at night and during any downpours added a third and decided that it was a little too cozy. They moved into the downstairs of the house by breaking through my flimsy barricade. Yup, they shit a lot. How much? Enough to cover 16'x26' in an 1/2 inch or more. That sound you hear is "Green Acres" playing in the background. I'm not touching it until it dries out.
The next couple of days are always the same on returning. Chill, get to the beach to remind yourself why I'm doing this and jump over to St Trauma for food and supplies to start the next job on the punch list. Thank god I didn't put this trip off. Things immediately got squirrely.
A couple of days later one of my favorite aunts shows up--Irene. ;~)
She missed me but got him. Not ten miles away on the back side of Virgin Gorda, the world's number one narcissist lives on Necker island. As one snarky attorney said, god with a gas can showed up. Richard Branson's place got hit by lightening. With the luck that comes from having your every minute filmed or framed in pictures it was all caught on film. The naked girl is no accident!
We only lost power for five hours. However the tower got hit and I had no computer for almost two weeks. Something about the power grid being uneven so my air card/data connect did not function. Cell phones did work intermittently.
Other than minor wind damage St John escaped Irene. We gave birth but the main land suffered.
I got lucky. This tree snapped above the cul de sac blocking me in. By the time I finally cleaned up the property and went up to deal with the tree these guys were there from a management company for a rental house. I watched that tree miraculously survive a previous hurricane while I rode it out in my truck tucked next to one of my containers. I had told the owners if they saw what I saw they would take it down. How it fell this time without taking out the power lines still remains a mystery!
Lizzy shows up after Irene. She lives in the bush while I'm gone.
After storms come pristine views
With all the excitement over, basically fear and trembling, I got back to the grind. I set about finishing the skim coating of the original plaster job that I interrupted to do all the concrete work with Thor. The kitchen and dining room. Same scenario as the other rooms. Smooth out the uneven plaster. To refresh, the veneer plaster I had shipped went "off" in transit giving me a working time of 15 minutes vs one hour. So instead of working an entire wall through five steps I did little tiny patches. Why? Because I'm an idiot. Yes, I have veneer plaster but it is somewhere buried under your standard topping compound. A compound I was trying to avoid because of its comparative softness. I wanted rock hard walls like we have in SF with their added vapor barrier qualities. Plus if it is done right it has a certain pearlescent that can stand on its own. Painting would be optional, and I did not want to, at least not now. More importantly it is mold and mildew resistant. Now, with all this skim coating, I have to put up four or five coats of paint to get to a level five finish. The dreams of mice and men. F'k.
This tool saved the day on the arches.
The pros are probably laughing their asses off but for me what a huge problem solver. Trust me, build yourself an arch, mud it and get back to me. Sometimes five dollars is worth hundreds!
Just finished cleaning up the previous mess and we started tracking Katia. She followed that track and missed everything on a grand circle route that died near Iceland!
It seems all the young chickens have split or been eaten. The adults are still around but the flock has been culled or whatever they call it.
Continuing the tradition on running ships aground, here was the latest.
She practically landed on a more famous wreck--the Rhone.
By the end of the first week of September I finished all the skim coating and had one coat of primer on all the walls. All the while the "plaster" failure was bugging me. When you are not getting paid, extra work can really be irritating. To change the pace, I jumped into the bathroom and grouted the floor, cleaned and sealed it.
Never a dull moment this year.
Coming at us, going away, coming back. Do I put up all the plywood again? Everyone is tracking her. Next morning at 11 am she disintegrated. Go figure. Never mind!
My live entertainment. The three feral kittens that adopted me generally hang out for days at a time and then disappear for the same.
Sleeping by the door as young chickens look in.
This guy is something else. He's a male though so the big tom is probably going to make short work of him.
the local tom ;~)
Next up, not a week later, Ophelia. She turned north at the last minute and missed us completely. Another near miss!
Here's where they start off Africa. Generally you have about a week.
On the rocks in Coral Bay
Now you would think that I should have put everything aside and started building my storm shutters upon returning. Seems reasonable but you are not in the Virgins! We are currently out of treated 1x4 stock on both islands. When is it coming? Two barges ago! I am not going to buy 1x6, rip it down and waste my money and my labor. Instead I'll do some more skim coating, refining the finish, and put a second coat of paint on all the walls.
To break the monotony and get some cardio I jumped outside for a week and dropped and cleared about 30 trees opening up the view.
The new look
It doesn't seem like much for a week's work but half the job is getting to the trees, climbing back and forth to the house to be certain you are cutting the right ones. Dropping them, cleaning them up and making sure that the countless wasps nest are not disturbed during the process. I am prepared to drop everything and run like hell if I walk into a Jack Spaniards nest. These guys will wake you up. I have bounced off many a tree in my needless panic. Have I mentioned the grade of the hill? I'm good for about five hours a day at this stuff meanwhile drinking almost two gallons of water. The best part--you don't have to go to the bathroom. You sweat it all out! Years ago the original view was the that little sliver of water on the left.
pregnant mamas on the beach
During the time I painted or cleared trees I designed my shutters in my head occasionally making sketches. The basic criteria was they had to be operable by an 90 year old man or woman, all from the interior, no ladders and with no effort, and I mean no effort--you could do it with a walker if you had to. All done in ten minutes or so. As an added bonus, I did not want to see any of the hardware if possible. Further still, on the porch, they were also going to be the doors. Plus they had to be extremely affordable!! I had a host of other criteria I won't bore you with.
To keep it simple I figured I'd do a sandwich board of sorts. The strength of plywood with trim etc on both sides. The ply would also act as my template. Then it would just be a matter of screwing all the bits on. Of course at the time there was no marine ply available so I substituted a Brazilian ply that is popular for door and cabinet makers. Smooth on both sides with no knots, it will paint up nice, another of my demands. Strong, made with eleven layers, it marginally fits the bill. I would not use it again. I would use untreated form plywood, usually smooth on both sides. Smooth? I don't want to do any patching etc that ultimately will show through the paint.
Keep in mind all the 1x4's and 1x6's that I used are treated. Not the best choice but the most economical, bug free and weather resistant etc. The major problem--it comes wet. How wet? Dripping copper azole all over your truck when you transport it. In a perfect world you stack it for six months. I don't have six months to find out what pieces are going to "cup" or go "twisted sister" on me. I'm putting it up wet and hopefully all the screws will keep it straight as it dries. I'll hang all the shutters and let them dry in place. This was the idea behind the dry ply sandwich as a template.
Welcome to my treated lumber world. The plan as it evolved was great but the lumber wasn't. Putting aside the raised grain, dents and the like, dimensionally none of it was the same, even from the same pallet. I had first dibs as they opened the bundles and it still didn't help. Every dimension was off by a 1/16 or so giving me raised edges where anything met. This is why professionals have planers and mill their own lumber. Did I have a planer? Of course not. A huge mistake that was going to cause me untold grief/labor down the road. Keep in mind I'm learning all this as I go. I had no idea that 1x4's and 1x6's would not match up. WTF.
the first set hanging to dry
Color samples on the walls next to the eight foot doors
The back side of the eight footers
I had to make the eight foot shutters bi-folds to span the five foot opening. I took some time to design the back of the shutters so they still held the strap hinges and closed flat against the wall when open--another demand. I did not trust the hinges to hold if they were anchored just in the plywood. This way they pass through the ply and then into the 1x6 stock. I know, too much information. But each of those shutters is close to 100 lbs. You can close them, however, with one finger and you don't see any of the hardware when they are open. Ok, yes you can see the hinge profile tucked along the door frame but it does not stick out!
Denise arrives in a few days. I spruced up the outhouse and tiled the jungle shower--all big hits! Even some of the feral kittens showed back up. I made about 20 sample boards for color choices so we can get that out of the way.
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Hanging them up to dry while I'm gone. I'll have to get the windows on my return in mid January.
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Just finished cleaning up the previous mess and we started tracking Katia. She followed that track and missed everything on a grand circle route that died near Iceland!
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