Progress, Maybe?

We've had some movement on the cistern design. 

Cisterns are about $1 per gallon to construct and we need around 30,000 gallons.  This will allow us to have enough for the house and apartment all year round during drier years.  When I first talked to the engineering firm about my designs they were worried we'd have sticker shock at the cost.  I explained we had budgeted for the cost and wanted something that was functional, and would last with our domes through all types of weather.  We learned from locals that you pay for a large cistern one time, but you pay for a small cistern forever because you're constantly having water delivered.

Last week I received a design to approve from the engineering firm.  My plans, as I mentioned in the June 12th update, showed the cistern I designed to wrap around the main dome, 10' out from the house to provide water storage, and double as a solid concrete deck.  The term "Wooden deck" in this part of the world is also known as "Debris" as you can see from the picture below.  This is the house on the other side of the hill from us.  They have/had a wrap around deck that has extensive damage and multiple layers torn off on the other side.  These are the things that become projectiles and damage neighboring houses.  (BTW, this house is for sale if you're interested.)

This is the design I was sent to approve. 

The engineering firm thought they could save me some money by building a straight rectangle box.  When I explained that the main dome will have three 16' entries with 12' glass doors, one facing north, and the others to each side, all with awesome views of the sea and surrounding islands, they suggested I could keep this design and build a wooden deck around the other side.  Although their design could literally hold water, it didn't in my mind and wasn't going to happen.  I was not happy due to the continued delays and their design not in any way as I requested.  

I explained my reasons and resent my drawings.  They apologized and made it right with a plan that matched my ideas.  They did design a better channel for the water off the dome to the cistern.  The current dome on the island from the same manufacturer has a raised channel around the perimeter.  The new design created a recessed channel and a 3' area to collect water around the domes and link.

The design below is their final version that meets our needs.  I was wanting a minimum of 10' from the edge of each door to the outer edge of the deck.  Their design almost doubles that to 17' due to the angles and water collection path.  The cistern below will have five chambers that I can combine as needed to have a primary and secondary cistern.  The volume increased to 38,000 gallons which in this case is perfect for us.  I'd rather have too much water capacity than not enough.    

Future plans include a rectangular or triangle infinity pool at the front of the deck like the house a few hundred feet below us.  It's not currently in the budget but hopefully some day.  

We also have a system to collect and discharge water from the hillside above and behind the dome.  In a normal situation I don't expect much water flow since we're 80' from the top of the hill.  Hurricanes produce large volumes of rain so we'll have a large pipe going under the house.  For normal rains we'll have it directed to a secondary cistern (water buffalo), along with the grey water from the house for watering plants.

Here's a side angle of the cistern and main dome.  We're not sure what to do with the railing but we'll either have removable Plexiglas panels or a terraced area below to eliminate the need for one.  I'm waiting for the sealed plans and we'll be ready to submit our complete package for permitting.  

Last week we had a small tropical storm blow through.  We had some good winds and about 3" of rain.  The lightning and thunder were impressive and a few times shook the house.  

The storm has left over clouds that have made the sunsets comparable to Washington winters.  Two days ago they came back and did not disappoint.  It was the gift that kept on giving and lasted for over an hour.  We had the normal pinks, reds, oranges and blues with an amazing amount of greens on the left hand side that I hadn't seen before.  The last two nights were clear enough to see Puerto Rico and the adjacent islands. 

We're still waiting for the elusive green flash but will need a cloud free horizon where the sun meets the sea.  Our house will sit on a ridge and give us sun rises and sunsets so we will have plenty of opportunities to see them.   

The additional telescope lenses and filters arrived last week but the partly cloudy skies at night have made it too difficult to align the scope to track the night sky.  This is not for the old telescope I restored but the Meade ETX 125.  I was able to briefly see Mars, Saturn and Jupiter, along with four of its moons.  The closer you look with the smaller lenses, the more the tracking feature is appreciated to keep the object in the center of view.   I'm sure that once I get the alignment process down to a few minutes I'll have a better viewing experience.  

Sahmie came to the island and will be staying with us for a few weeks.  It's great to have her here.  We have plenty of things to do and people to see while she's on the island. 

Jessa's due in November so we'll take a trip to see her and the baby.   Hopefully they can come here next year.  Cody and Ryan don't have plans to visit yet, but maybe when we're in the construction phase we'll have all the kids down one at a time, or together. 


That's all for now,

Kevin & Denise (And Sahmie too)

Aloe Everybody!

As usual I've stayed busy doing odd jobs around here, and at neighbors houses.  The engineering firm said they would have the cistern plans finalized by Monday and in the mail to me.  Hopefully by Wednesday I'll be able to submit all the plans and documentation.

I harvested some Aloe Vera plants from a neighbors house a few days ago.  They were decent size averaging about 3.5" across with varying lengths.

Here's about half way through the pile.

When done I put gel in the Vitamix on low speed and ended up with a gallon of clear Aloe gel.  Many uses and easy to get, and grow on the island.  I transplanted a few to pots and to planters at the house where we're staying.  I'll transplant again once we have our property excavated.  I have 2 gallon pots from Home Depot and moved some basil and rosemary to the larger pots.  I also planted some Christmas palm seeds in pots and in the planters in the traditional 3 plant arrangement, and also a few on their own.  I'd like to get a few avocado plants in the ground soon.

Our 20' container arrived and was delivered to us June 28th.  Overall it looks good with only a minor dent in the back end, and no graffiti from the trip.  I was glad to see upon opening it that things appeared to stay where I put them.  Not that they had much room to move considering how tight it was packed, but nothing appears to be crushed or damaged from the rail or boat trip. 

Denise was happy to have access to the clothes we packed at the end of the container, and I was happy to have our tools and other items we put at the end.

Last week Denise and I went back to the Farm Pod to check the status on what we helped plant June 11th, and also to plant a few more rows with Mike & Beecher. 

Everything in the pod is doing great and the smell is wonderful when you first walk in.

The left picture is from June 11th when we planted the starts into the vertical trays.  The picture on the right is the growth on June 27th.

Here's the row of strawberries from June 11th (Left) & June 27th (right).  There are many berries forming on each tray and should be ready in a week or two.  The mint back by the door is also doing great and adds and extra kick to the smells of the pod.  (I spy Denise in one of these pictures!)

Amazing sunsets are usually a nightly event.  Every day provides a new view as clouds and colors come and go.  Today we had rain over the sea with some brief showers over land too.  We had a couple days were you could see Puerto Rico, which you can somewhat see in the picture below, between the sun reflection and the rain on the left.  It's 8 PM as I write this and already pretty cool at 79 degrees.  Hopefully it doesn't cool down much more or I'll have to close a door or two!  The absence of cold in my world is wonderful!

That's all for now.  

Kevin & Denise