Hi all:
Since the summer of 1997, 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.
Hi Cocoblo. I'd like to complement you on the beautiful woodwork in your home. Pretty awesome! And an awesome site too. I have a question for you concerning your solar setup. Do you or any of your neighbors use wind generators there? I'm curios for two reasons. Being on the coast I would assume( there's that word. ) that you have more breezy/windy days than calm ones. Is there a consensus on your island about which suits your needs/situation best?
I live on the east side of the Sierra Nevada's. We have plenty of sun and quite a bit of wind. But the mornings are usually calm so I'm leaning toward solar myself. If you get a moment I'd appreciate your insights. Thanks.
Hi Cocobolo. I'd like to complement you on the beautiful woodwork in your home. Pretty awesome! And an awesome site too. I have a question for you concerning your solar setup. Do you or any of your neighbors use wind generators there? I'm curios for two reasons. Being on the coast I would assume( there's that word. ) that you have more breezy/windy days than calm ones. Is there a consensus on your island about which suits your needs/situation best?
I live on the east side of the Sierra Nevada's. We have plenty of sun and quite a bit of wind. But the mornings are usually calm so I'm leaning toward solar myself. If you get a moment I'd appreciate your insights. Thanks.
You are quite right about the wind. We typically get north west or south east winds much of the time.
We did try a wind generator here, but the height of the trees on the island did not allow much of the wind to get to the wind genny. A friend of mine at the south end of the island bought the genny from me, and he is right at the top of a high bank in line with the south easterly's, so it works much better for him.
Pretty much everyone here just uses solar panels.
If you are in open country, a wind generator works very well, as it doesn't care whether the sun is shining or not. I think the best system is a combination of both wind and solar.
I would refer you to the Homepower website, which I think is www.homepower.com
There is more information on there than you could digest in a lifetime, well worth your efforts to check it out.
Barely two weeks ago, a good friend of mine was diagnosed with a 4cm tumor on his liver. They were going to give him a single chemo shot which was supposed to fix it. Three days ago they said there was nothing they could do for him after all and he only had 3 months to live.
I have just received a phone call that he passed away at 8 o'clock this morning.
Please forgive me, but I will not be posting any more today.
Keith, Jim, ..over 'up' here, we got 14 inches, and like Keith stated, the underlayers were sopping wet, and a real Bear to shovel, but then later it froze, so was glad I shovelled it when I did! Got about 2 more inches this afternoon, and decided to fire up the downstairs wood stove, so house is all warm and cozy, but the wind is still high! Had to ask city to come and salt hill here, because vehicles going down were spinning 360s, and although fun to watch, not good! Noticed lots of medium sized 'import' trees all broken down on lawns!
Cheers
Scoggy:yes:
Keith, Jim, ..over 'up' here, we got 14 inches, and like Keith stated, the underlayers were sopping wet, and a real Bear to shovel, but then later it froze, so was glad I shovelled it when I did! Got about 2 more inches this afternoon, and decided to fire up the downstairs wood stove, so house is all warm and cozy, but the wind is still high! Had to ask city to come and salt hill here, because vehicles going down were spinning 360s, and although fun to watch, not good! Noticed lots of medium sized 'import' trees all broken down on lawns!
Cheers
Scoggy:yes:
What kind of wood do ya'll burn in your heaters up there? Down this way we burn oak, hickory, birch, cherry and some other hardwoods. We don't burn the soft woods unless it is Aromatic Cedar and that stuff pops like there is no tomorrow, you sure don't want to burn it in an open fireplace. If you want to warp the doors and things on your stove burn straight hickory.
If we had snows like ya'll do it would shut the town down. It is pretty but after while it needs to go away.
jl, that is some kinda cold buddy, the coldest I have ever been in was -11F back in 1950 in Memphis with 4 inches of ice over everything. That is amazing how it gets so cold where you live and other parts of Canada. I don't know if I could handle the cold like you have or not.
Burning pine, how do you handle the creosote build up? I had one creosote fire and it was unbelievable the sounds it made and the fire balls that rolled off our roof.
Bootz, Jim, jl, convchris...thank you all for your thoughts.
I am far more concerned for Larry's wife and son - who is still in school. His wife is a cancer survivor, but is sadly confined to a wheelchair for life. To make matters worse, she is literally held together with steel pins.
I shall pass along your messages when the time is right. We are trying to minimize this terrible disruption in her life right now, and my good friend Randy is doing the communicating for everyone.
I thank you most sincerely for your very kind consideration.
Most people here are well aware of the risk of falling trees. Plus, they usually will cut up any such deadfalls for their own firewood.
Even summertime visitors - of which there are quite a few - like to sit around the fire at night.
I only know of one cabin here which does not have a wood stove, and they heat with propane. It strikes me that bringing propane tanks over is about as much work and nowhere near as much fun as chopping your own wood.
Wow...small world, I actually work in Chamblee. One of the dealerships on Peachtree Industrial. Incidentally, both my dad and grandfather retired from GM at the assembly plant (now closed) in Doraville. So I guess we've always been nearby, but I don't live close. I'm west of Dallas (thats Dallas, GA not TX) which is still kinda out in the stix.
I'm jealous of you though. Tennessee is my favorite place to be within driving distance. Probably not nearly as beautiful as Coco's island there, but in my opinion "Greenest state in the land of the free..." We like to trek up to Gatlinburg 3 or 4 times a year (or 5 or 6....) Some day, probably in the very distant future, I hope to build a cabin somewhere in Sevier County.
Anyway, back to Coco's place...is the snow still lingering?
Still snowing here this morning. It doesn't look as though this snow (now turned to very solid ice) will be going until we get a good rainfall. Maybe on Friday or Saturday.
I opened up this thread and with one of the first pictures I saw I thought, 'that looks like Herring Bay.' And sure enough it was.
I've breezed through some pictures and am flabberghasted with your work. It's truly incredible especially when you consider the lack of resources on your tiny little island. I love your sence of style -all those curves! What a challenge.
Next time we get out on the water we'll have to sail on by your house, maybe drop anchor at Herring Bay. We once considered building on Gabriola Island but instead bought land on Vancouver island. I am certainly not as resourceful as you, nor as ambitious.
P.S. I'm looking out the window waiting for the snow to fall. It's far too cold.
By all means come for a visit. Are you on Vancouver island now?
Yes, the snow is due anytime tonight and much of tomorrow. I've had my eye on the weather channel, and they keep putting up the red warning screen...just for us!
But it is supposed to go above freezing tomorrow afternoon...I sure do hope they aren't kidding this time.
In Canada, our thanksgiving is about a month before yours, so there's no turkey on the table today!
Still snowing right now, but only about 3" extra snow from the last batch. It is supposed to turn into rain soon, but certainly no sign of that yet. It's still below zero.
I've been watching dozens of robins again this morning going after the arbutus berries. We do get flocks of maybe 15 or 20 robins from time to time, but yesterday and today there must be at least 50 out there. And luckily for them there is an abundance of berries this year - more than we have ever seen before.
Thats good to hear. For the last 2 months, I've been reading from beginning to end. I could always just hit "next page" for more...but now I have to wait.
Turned cold here yesterday. Winds picked up; temperature dropped. My car gave me an ice warning this morning...fat chance. I guess convertible season is over...
Keith, I checked and we were colder last night than you were. I hope the weather holds up for you for a good while.
I have been meaning to ask and you may have already told us but how do you get water into your house? Do you have a pump or just the huge tank. How do you get the water up in the tank? Here I go again with the questions.
Does the big tank ever freeze up?
Water off the roof drains into the big tanks behind the house. From there we pump it into the cabin as needed.
I rather imagine that the water in the big tanks would have had a layer of ice on it during the freeze. I didn't check since I didn't need to pump any water.
But you will be glad to hear that after an incredible amount of misinformation and delays that the Star Quartz urethane grout is finally....on order.
Oh no, it's not here yet. It will be sent from Vancouver to the Nanaimo dealer...but first it has to come by way of California. The end cost - for this 9 lb. bucket will be a mere $130+. And you only told me it was "pricey".
I wait with great anticipation for its' arrival - hopefully this year!
Sorry guys...been pretty much dragging my a$$ for the past couple of weeks. Not quite sure why.
The missus prodded me into splitting some firewood today, and with her help we managed a small amount. Then later this afternoon I hauled 4 or 5 logs up and bucked them up ready for splitting tomorrow.
Keith, the malaize you are experiencing is from the 'cold blow out' last week, from 'over there', and is prolly a 'winter Squamish", which causes maladies of lethargy, poor concentration, huge bouts of procrastination, and is 'tempered' by using 'oil' of the Haig and Haig brand, followed by...patience..and then renewed vigor, or if you are from Boston area.."Viggahh'! Lead on McDuff!!
Cheers
Scoggy:laughing::laughing::laughing::laughing:
Keith, the malaize you are experiencing is from the 'cold blow out' last week, from 'over there', and is prolly a 'winter Squamish", which causes maladies of lethargy, poor concentration, huge bouts of procrastination, and is 'tempered' by using 'oil' of the Haig and Haig brand, followed by...patience..and then renewed vigor, or if you are from Boston area.."Viggahh'! Lead on McDuff!!
Cheers
Scoggy:laughing::laughing::laughing::laughing:
"Sorry guys...been pretty much dragging my a$$ for the past couple of weeks. Not quite sure why."
I've had the same problem here too. Dark and gloomy. It kills your motivation factor. I don't want to step out and get anything from outside. It will pass. dorf dude...
Yep...for sure. Only trouble is here that now both of our engines on the boats are causing trouble. I don't have much choice but to fix at least one. Just a bundle of laughs in this lovely warm weather!
Hey CoCo thought you would appreciate this.. I found these today and started smoothing out the frame to the cabinets to insert the glass into them today
They are have a cherry wood handle with a pretty good blade on them :thumbup:
This is the best "feel good" story I've heard in a long time. What a blessing it was for him to be home in time.
And what a sweetheart that airport employee is.
Thanks for telling us Bud.
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