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cocobolo · 01-03-2009, 12:24 AM

Hi all:
For the past 11 years I have been building a cabin and house on our 1/2 acre lot here. Before I dive into that part, I am going to show a few photos to set the stage a bit. We are remote here. No services of any kind, except that which we provide for ourselves. So don't expect to see any paved roads with big trucks delivering any materials.
We live at the head of a small bay, which is both a blessing and a curse.
When the tide goes out, we have to clamber over hundreds of yards of rocks to get to our boat. When it is in, I can float logs right up to my little railway to move them onto the log deck. Well, not any more, but more about that later.
This is the bay in front of us.

cocobolo · 01-03-2009, 12:28 AM

I should mention that I have barely one year of computer use under my belt, so if something goes wrong there is no doubt it will be my fault. But I'll do my best.
Just happened to catch a rainbow over the bay, which I thought you might like to see.

cocobolo · 01-03-2009, 12:33 AM

My neighbor is from Chagrin Falls, Ohio. He has had his property here for over 40 years. This a picture of the small deck in front of his cabin.

cocobolo · 01-03-2009, 12:43 AM

At the other end of the spit of land we live on is a very small bay. The wind has been blowing from the south for awhile, and as you can see the bay is choked with logs.

cocobolo · 01-03-2009, 12:45 AM

To give you an example of the sort of cabin you may find here, this one belongs to our friend Chris. He is about 100 yards away from us on one of the inside lots. They are typically about two acres in size.

cocobolo · 01-03-2009, 12:47 AM

Just around the corner from the small bay above is Nayler Bay. It is surrounded by cabins of all sorts.
This one belongs to our friend Peter and his wife.

cocobolo · 01-03-2009, 12:48 AM

Admittedly, most pathways are wider than this one over near North Bay. But it is typical of the smaller side paths.

cocobolo · 01-03-2009, 12:50 AM

Just so you have an idea who is posting this, here is a shot of me doing some planing of cedar boards inside the house.

cocobolo · 01-03-2009, 12:53 AM

I don't always look that grumpy! Honest!
A few years ago, a very good friend of ours - and indeed of almost everyone on the island here - passed away prematurely. His name was Ted Long, and in his honor the island folk asked that the pathway from where he used to moor his sailboat up to his cabin be named "Long Way".
It was my privilege to carve this sign in his memory.

cocobolo · 01-03-2009, 01:06 AM

OK, last picture in the opening salvo. This is the original surveyor's cabin built sometime in the 1960's.
The charming sloping roof was not part of the original structure, but was built by a local "carpenter". Nice job.
Tomorrow I will get on and show you some shots of the actual cabin and house that I have been toiling at for lo these many years. Unfortunately, I did not get a digital camera until after I got the computer, so I can only show you photos dating to around a year back.
The preceding was to show you what is typically here. I must say that very recently some substantially better buildings have been going up. None of them are anywhere near finished yet though. The problem is mainly one of logistics.
How to get materials over here in conjunction with the tides and the weather.
That's a real story all by itself.

pokerdonkey · 01-03-2009, 01:53 PM

Fantastic!
I too am facing the challenges of remote island construction (saltwater island off the coast of Florida).
There are a lot of unique problems to solve...

Bondo · 01-03-2009, 02:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cocobolo

At the other end of the spit of land we live on is a very small bay. The wind has been blowing from the south for awhile, and as you can see the bay is choked with logs.http://www.diychatroom.com/attachmen...1&d=1230957792

Ayuh,... Looks like Plenty of raw material, Right There...

You say you've already got a planer,...
I'd say all you're lacking is a portable Sawmill....

cocobolo · 01-03-2009, 03:47 PM

Me again:
I busied myself with an archeological dig this morning, and unearthed the original model I made of the future house. I'm not exactly certain when I did this, maybe around '98 or so.
I hope it won't come as too much of a surprise to you all, but the house as built, isn't quite the same as the original model
This photo would be taken from the east - roughly.

cocobolo · 01-03-2009, 03:52 PM

In the above pic, the small room off to the right is my wife's studio. That was the first part of the house that got put up. We had been using a storage locker over on Vancouver Island to keep a lot of our stuff in, and as soon as the studio was up, that became our new storage area. As much as I hate to admit it, the studio is still serving the same purpose!
OK, this pic is taken from what would be the south. You can see that highly technical piece of cardboard on the roof, well that represents the solar panels.
The round area in the middle on the ground was going to be a small pond - never happened. I'll be able to show you what happened there as we progress.

cocobolo · 01-03-2009, 03:56 PM

Roughly from the west, the stairs going up in that nice curve were to wrap around a hot tub. It turned out that the outer part of the stairs would have encroached beyond our setback requirements. Not by much, just enough to annoy me. However, not to be deterred, I have shifted the tub location and altered the stairs to fit within the requirements. That is not done yet, but the material for the tub is all cut out and awaits assembly.