Down the back stretch

Ok, the party is over, back to work. It was a great time sailing the islands.

As was previously mentioned, Thor had returned to St John in mid February after crewing on a delivery. I believe this is his fifth time passing through. On other occasions he stayed in a screened cottage down in the valley. Really quite nice. This time it was in disrepair of sorts with the electricity having been shut off. Even if the owners consented, they didn't, it would be weeks before the power would be turned on. Yup, Thor needed a place to stay and I had no funds for employment. Figuratively and literally the money is gone for any 'help'. Tell me about it, it is not a good place to be when you are trying to finish a house. That said, it is what it is. Thank god I originally brought most everything down in containers.

Thor suggests some work for room and board. As chief cook and bottle washer, I say yes. I'd be happy with a couple of hours a day. In fact the work I'm now doing is basically one man finish work with the exception of a 25-30' trench to bury the septic pipe. Hello Thor!

Left to my own devices this trench would have taken me well over a week at a couple of hours a day. That's about all I'm good for when it comes to digging ditches these days. The tedium blows my brains out! We won't even talk about the cardio. Thor does it in one with another spent helping me set the pipe. It's a pretty long run out to the septic, some twists and turns, all having to be sloped. Our original work with a water level, setting the pipe fitting in the septic wall before pouring the concrete, was spot on. Truth be told, I was surprised. We had gone up, over and around several  mounds/debris piles before reaching the septic. Then, estimating what would be a pipe run, dropping 1/4" per foot. A significant mistake would have meant hammer drilling a four inch hole in 8 inches of poured concrete with rebar getting in the way. Doesn't sound like much until you do it.

 

Someday it will all be covered with a small lawn. Someday being the operative word!

 

 

Another project Thor spent time on was thinning out the forest. It's actually something I like doing. It gives me a break. Anything smaller than my thumb and middle finger touching comes down including larger dying trees. You can see the progress on the right side of the picture above as the sun breaks through. The deer, wild goats and bush chickens seem to like it a lot. At some point I will have done this to most of the property.


A small black goat munching his way in the new clearing

In keeping with the boat sinking chronicles, here's the latest.
 http://www.stjohntradewindsnews.com/index.php/206-news/032012-news/8017-after-marine-collision-in-pillsbury-sound-one-power-boat-sinks-off-steven-s-cay

I happened to be driving by as they were taking her off the barge. Rent barge, put a crane on it, cruise out and pick up your inflated wreck.

 

 

 

The yellow zodiac boat is the salvage vessel. They dive down, in this case 90', putting the inflatable rubber stacked on the fore deck inside the sunken vessel. After returning to the surface they inflate it and up pops the stricken boat. It's a great gig in clear water. The young French woman on her was most interesting--I mean who wouldn't want to know about salvaging! ;~)

 

 Full screen, speakers on

 
A Turtle from Banana Tree Films on Vimeo.

Thor busied himself, which he does very well, I might mention. In fact, I had to tell him to stop and go to the beach most of the time. Whenever he shows up his Virgo takes over and I don't even recognize the property. As anyone who has even seen my office in the old days knows, I knew where every chart/article was no matter how deeply buried. Border line pack rat in some respects! Same with my job site. In all the chaos I know where every random screw or scrap of wood that I can make some trim out of is. After Thor blows through you can actually walk around. Denise has seen the before and afters over the years. Yes, yes, it's obvious which she perfers.

 

So while he did his thing, I went back to trimming out the interior. I gave up waiting for the wood to dry. After three months it was still wet to damp. Treated lumber takes a long time--too long in my case. Not to mention it seems there's a lot more cupped and twisted sisters in the stacks as they dry, compared to stateside lumber. I can't afford the waste or the waiting. It is not uncommon here that you can go a couple of months or more waiting for something as simple as 2x6's and the like. I decided I'm putting it all up 'wet'. Screwed in place, I figure it might cut down on the twisting etc. Ultimately it makes the sanding more work. It is a lot easier sanding everything on a work bench. 

 

 Nothing complex on the door trim. Simple and clean and well within my skill set.

 You can see the beginnings of the crown moulding in the above picture. At some point it will house all the 'cans' and rope lighting for that special cathedral ceiling effect. ;~)

 

Baseboards followed the door trim. How powerful is 'cupping'? In the picture above the baseboard cupped over several months such that it pulled itself through the screws that attached it to the steel. I would not have believed it. For the record, every screw on all the trim had to be tapped/pre drilled first with a steel bit. Labor that takes a professional carpenter working with wood studs a week, took me more than three. Countless bits as a bonus! Fourteen gauge studs take some effort and time. First you tap the wood to hide the screw then you switch bits and tap the steel. Then you switch bits and drive the screw. Later, wood putty all the holes. This is not pneumatic guns and away you go. In fact with all the screws etc, the trim actually ends up being part structural in some sense. I'll pass on the discussion of the uneven veneer plaster job I did that the eye could not pick up but the trim could! Lets just say a lot of skim coating to get it where I needed it. Another little gem of a problem--the 2x8 stock I used as my door jams were not all the same size. Consequently I had walls that were 'proud' as they say, such that the trim boards did not lay flush to the jam. Yup, I had to take them down and trim/scrape off the corresponding amount of plaster to get everything flush. Now you know why everything took about three weeks!

The work also took longer because I didn't have the right tools. It was a choice I made. For the amount of 'cuts' necessary I couldn't rationalize a sliding compound miter saw, instead opting for a the simple base model which could not cut 8" baseboards. So I used my skill saw to finish the cuts.( In fact now I use the Skil saw/speed square to make all my 45 cuts.) I also took the time to cut a simple design into the baseboard with my table saw so I could forgo any type of trim moulding on top. A 45 angle at the top, cut back leaving a 1/4 wide flat top.) I don't have the tools to put it up and I did not want to attempt to route it. As Clint famously said, "A man has got to know his limitations". I'm using it throughout the house including the porch. It was something Ryan, who had helped me a couple of  years ago, cut into what would become the base of the porch column trim.

 

With Thor leaving and Denise due in a couple of weeks I stopped patching/trimming the inside and jumped on the outside to paint the house before she came!  After what seemed countless color samples it only took a couple of calls by Denise to the home owner in SF who was all too happy to give us the Beni Moore number--even though, as I originally feared, she paid a colorist for it. That is not the norm and in fact some designers prevent it through contract. We were close on our sample boards, hitting all around it. It's a blue color with a green name, go figure!

 

 

There's always drama for a first time builder. Why the cut out on the first trim board I started to sand? Apparently, the lawsuits continue, Paradise our island lumber yard, received a substantial shipment of bad lumber. However it is that treated lumber goes bad, this stuff did. Several houses and decks disintegrated over the course of a couple of years. I had heard about this and knew one of the plaintiff's involved in the suit. For us, other than trim, there was no treated lumber in/on the house. My congratulatory attitude changed when I climbed the ladder only to run into this on the first day. Pure mush. How is that even possible? Worse still, I'm not in a position to get these 2x10x16' and 2x12x16' down, not to mention the cost of new ones. After sitting on my ass crying the blues, I started the old screw driver test hoping to find an edge/border to whatever this cancer was.

 

 

 

Miracles of miracles, there was an edge. With that, I decided to cut an exact 2x4 size piece out with my Skil saw.

 

 

Here's the new look with a new inserted 2x4. Skim coated with wood putty, three primers and two top coats and you will never see it. The really good news? Despite my fears it was the only bad piece on the entire house. Oh lucky man! As far as I know the lawsuits are still not settled. I just can't imagine building a house and having the wood immediately rot. I would want to die. That is no joke. 

Finally something I know how to do--paint.

 

 

I'm going to be a father. This feral cat is pregnant.

 

Everything used to build the house comes down this ramp. My extra steel floor joists came in handy.

 

The unpainted board below to the left is where the outdoor shower will ultimately be. It is the last thing on my list. The very last!

Denise relaxed for about ten days before she left.

Talk about luck. They had just put up this guard rail for the first time. It would have been over and out for a bus load of kids just a couple of weeks prior. We drive on the left so he is going the right way, speeding as he came around the corner.

 

It finally happened. Returning from St Thomas with a month's supply of food, a lot of which was frozen, new rear tires and a load of lumber and paint, the truck stalled at the top of the driveway. Coasting with the hand brake, I made it to the bottom. If you have ever seen the driveway it was quite a feat. Nothing would get it to start, including a new spare battery. Sounded normal, just would not catch. Over the phone most thought it was a fuel pump. Whatever, this being Friday, no one was coming until Monday. Dwight showed up with his flatbed and attempted to winch the truck up the driveway. The steepness and the positioning broke the winch.

 

 

He returned two days later with another truck. This time it worked. It wasn't the fuel pump. Two weeks later, a $100 part from the states, along with $700 and $200 for the tow (a deal) I had the truck back. I never left the property for the almost three weeks. I had food, I had work. In the end walking down the mountain to catch the bus to fetch the truck in Cruz Bay practically killed me. My legs turned to spagetti by the bottom--that is one steep mile. Whew.

The wild goats return. At least a dozen or more, babies in tow. They took everything to the nub over a couple of weeks. They leave the property smelling like a barn yard, which as it turns out I'm partial to.

This guy would have hurt.

 

Unlike store bought these last a long time

Who needs a fishing boat when you can do it off your paddle board.

 

With the outside painted and the inside trim drying out I set about trimming and detailing the porch.
 

The angular arches are the same as the interior design without the finishing curve at the bottom where they meet the column. I tried to cut out the design with a jig saw but with no luck. Yes, it's possible my cheap jig was not up to the one inch stock with the blade always warping. Whatever. This actually made it easier. Just two straight cuts and up they went. Later on, I'll run into or buy a band saw and whip out the end pieces. When I'm done you will never see the joint. Truth is, I have gotten used to the straight arch. Denise will have the final say.

 

Starting to look semi finished

 

Crash chronicles! This one was special. Cruising along the upper road with a full load of water some one lost control. Over the side, down through the 1/2 acre bush taking out a chunk of a house, it then flipped over and landed on the road below. No one, including the two children in the truck, were hurt. Don't stop the carnival!

 

http://www.stjohntradewindsnews.com/index.php/577-news/05-2012-news/8107-no-one-injured-when-prestige-water-truck-plummets-over-hillside-and-tears-through-rental-villa-bathroom

 

There it is. The corner kitchen in my 12x12 shack. Viewed while I was re-screening one wall to see if the new better view screen is any good. It is. But it is much more delicate. I will use it in the house. The power cord is going to the house below for my tools. One 20 amp service runs everything.

Out of nowhere a few manta rays showed up and they are now making St John their home. They like people. Go figure. They are not to be touched however. Their mucus membrane skin could be damaged.

The annual one month excuse to party

 

Girls just want to have fun

Fireworks in Cruz Bay

R.I.P. The hawks got him. My hens are lonely.
 

 Off to San Francisco....

Sisyphus

If you have to leave St John this is not a bad place to land twelve hours later!

For the first time in memory we bailed on a tree. That's it in the background with the red ornaments. There seemed to be some blahs in the air. True, the cost of trees is through the roof but the whole city seems pretty dull by standards. The usual displays of gi-normous trees looking professionally decorated were absent in most homes. 

Venice at the De Young

Museums and movies--most of the Academy nominees--take care of the cultural dt's for several months.

Only time in the US and third time out of Rome in 400 years.



 Interesting story behind the piece: http://www.sanfranciscosentinel.com/?p=166541

Yet another exhibit at the Legion. It's common to think of Pissarro as a leading Impressionist but Virgin Islanders tend to think of him as a local boy made good! Born and raised on St Thomas in 1830 when it was still Danish.

http://www.sfexaminer.com/entertainment/2011/10/pissarro-s-people-home-san-francisco-s-legion-honor

One of the world's best settings for a museum. Virtually everyone has seen the Legion, one way or another.

Sixty five years later little has changed in this video from the museum to the city scenes.

Back on the rock....

Returned to St John after more than a month in SF which included a week long delay on my return flight. It was obvious I was going to miss my connection to St Thomas out of New York so I simply took a flight a week later rather than hassle with what could be nightmares in NY and later trying to get to St John, my truck and on to the shack. There's a good chance I'll have a flat and the truck may not start. I'm bringing a new ground cable with me. Denise was thrilled with the week delay.

A week later the truck wouldn't start and it had a flat! The cable worked and a can of fix a flat or whatever it is called got me to the gas station. The shack was in reasonable shape but the power had been off. The micro was showing "0" for time. However the bowl of ice cubes in the freezer still had their shape so the outage was less than a day so everything was still good. The chickens and cats were long gone as usual.

It's always something when I get back. This time it was the beginnings of mold/mildew. Before I had left I painted most of my skim coat patches with the remaining oil primer from the shutters. Sure enough all the places I didn't paint were showing mold. You can see a distinct line in the picture below.

It's a little disconcerting having been told this would not happen. More work. The rock just keeps rolling back down the hill. Next day jumped over to St Thomas on the barge for food and painting supplies. To sleep at night I'll have to paint the entire place with oil primer after washing the walls with bleach and setting up the scaffolding in the living room again.

Lesson learned--if you have to wash walls with bleach wear a respirator. I did not on the first day and it was nasty. It sort of sneaks up on you. It is not good! Is there such a thing as bleach poisoning!?

Two days to paint the place. Had to wear my respirator for oil primer.  Working with a respirator is a real pain in the ass.

This is what happens when things break in paradise. Watch the video. Forty two days!

The mold issue really psyched me out. Even though the oil paint seemed to solve the problem I thought I kept seeing some starting here and there. I had to get an eggshell finish coat up with some extra mold/mildew additives thrown in. Painting was not part of the master plan at this time. Finishing the window shutters and trimming out the interior was. Whatever work I do now I'll have to do again at some point. I could not wait for a final color decision with Denise. I bought  a color that I thought would be close and painted with the knowledge that ultimately I would have to put up a second coat. I could adjust it then. I left the other rooms with just the oil and every time I thought I saw something, real or imagined, I washed the wall with bleach.

The last of the window shutters being constructed

This is not what you want to see at the bottom of your coffee cup after the last sip! One of my close friends.


Just another "moderate slope" build!

Things are taking shape



Eric Clapton drops the hook in Coral Bay.I would have preferred Jimmy Page but.... 

When we dry out we look like California in the dry season.

A lousy way to start the new year. Hovensa decided to close its refinery on St Croix. This is the VI's largest employer with good paying jobs. Not to mention it supplies us with all our energy needs. Two thousand jobs on an island of fifty thousand. Try to imagine 10% of your community being laid off on the same day and no one could leave town. Not good.

He was run over in his dingy one morning by the Caneel passenger ferry, shown below, at 6 am in Cruz Bay. He's in very bad shape in a Florida hospital.

Well its not all work and no play. My friend Roger called and asked if I could help a friend of his bring a boat over from Tortola. After a careful review of my non existent social calender I grudgingly said okay. Coincidentally my friend Thor was also returning to St John from a sailboat delivery. We jumped over to Road Town, Tortola along with Fran, Roger's wife. His boat was at Moorings. Here's their promo.

John's 42' is in there somewhere




Waiting to clear customs for our sail to St John

Sailing to St John

A perfect day was had by all. John wondered if we would be interested in cruising for several days around the Virgins. That's how I got roped into sailing the islands! ;~))

We over nighted at Norman and with an early start made the Baths at Virgin Gorda by ten.




The Baths at the east end of Virgin Gorda

Thor and I amongst the rocks

the Caves

We made for Cooper by night fall. Cooper has a nice layout with a great bar. As it turns out we had looked at some property online there many years prior. I got to see it in person. St John was a much better choice. Cooper went from remote and sleepy to a small bustling resort and a favored yacht destination.

http://www.cooperislandbeachclub.com/look/

Captain John

It was a great three days. Don't hate me but John wants to do it again next December for a week!

Sisyphus will get back to the house tomorrow.....

I never saw the kittens again.