The Roatan Story

The fun for us really began when we went down for another week in February 2007. The initial site prep. We had to clear it out enough to run strings and stakes where we wanted to position the house. 

Then double check and triple check just to be sure. Then, when we returned to the states, Lori and I decided that maybe I should go down and stay there for awhile and get the project going for real because every time we leave something is done wrong. For example, you don’t see it in the picture in the previous chapter, but the retaining wall was considered done by the "contractor" even though it had a huge gap left in it where we had the old original dock that faces east extended to land. This dock was existing when we purchased the property and for some unknown reason it originally stopped before it actually touched land by a good 25 feet. You had to carefully walk on the mangrove roots between the dock and land to make it ashore dry! As I said, we had this dock extended to land and the contractor left a 4 foot gap in the wall at this location and didn't have the ends going into the hill. So, the retaining wall would have been virtually useless if we didn't finish this project.  All the mud would run right around the ends and through the gap! This is just another example of how things go here in Central America. So when I arrived (to stay for awhile, not just for one week as we did previously) in July 2007, the wall was the first project to complete. During this time I also had improvements made on our friends harbor side property in Oak Ridge.  This was necessary so we would have a landing to keep the truck (yes we still needed a truck) and a dock in town to tie up the Vista Cruiser or Gremlin (our aptly named 11 foot launch).  This would also be a good launching spot for carrying all of our materials and goods from town to our property.

The following pictures show what excavation was required to get the house sitting at an acceptable level and also allows for storage space underneath for tools and cistern tanks. This work was necessary because of the slope of the property. 

  If we did not notch out the hill, by the time you got to the front of the porch, the house would have been 40 feet off the ground instead of only 20! I figure that most of the property has a slope angle of 35 degrees.  It doesn't sound like much until you have to deal with it. The excavation itself took eight guys five weeks to finish, because like everything else down here, I had to hire and fire before I found the right workers.

That is why there are so many pictures of it. It was a long, arduous accomplishment and I am proud of that notch! Ziggy is in inspection mode here.

Foundation setup is next.   If you look close you will notice that there is rock, and lots of it.

This made me very happy because now I know that barring a total cataclysmic event, this house foundation will stay right where it is! That took a long time for the guys to dig out by hand, so they were not very happy about though. Keep in mind that all of this was done by hand; with the only exception being the cement mixer I managed to have dragged to the top of the hill.  You should have seen what we had to do to get the mixer to the dock, much less up the hill then back to the rental company a month and a half later! All of the material had to be carried up the hill after it was boated over, a sack or five gallon bucket at a time.  It was a long, slow process.

 The holes you are looking at are 4' x 4' x 6' deep for the foundation of the posts and the beam runs are 3' deep and 3' wide! Below you can see the rock I was referring to.

There's that concrete mixer! We used it so much that the pinion bearing failed and we had to replace it. Hey mixer, how about a tequila sunrise? Now wouldn't that be a big party!

Starting to look good!

And strong Ziggy says. 

Ah, the final pour for the support section, the floors are last in the back part where the water tanks will go and our "hurricane bunker" is done in all solid concrete. And you can see the bolts that will hold the house plate to the concrete.

During this time I was also feverously building the "guest house" just off the old dock so I had someplace to live while I was building the big house.  As I said, we figured out that we needed to be on site, watching the workers if we wanted the job done properly.  The original plan was to wait until November to start construction, when Lori and I would both sail down and live on the sailboat at our new dock while constructing the house.  Instead, I came alone in July and although accelerating the time schedule has had some drawbacks (For one, Lori and I miss each other terribly!), it has turned out to be good a move.   It is the beginning of November and there was an early start to the rainy season this year.  Because I got a head start on our initial plans, I am writing all of this while sitting in the guesthouse with my Internet connection and am dry and comfortable! I also have a wonderful monolithic concrete monument for Lori, it will be a house soon though, I promise!

Since I am temporarily separated from Lori, our two Spanish Water Dogs are my closest companions.  I brought them both with me from the States.  One of our furry kids, Ziggy, inspects the work as it goes along. He can be seen in a few of the pictures if you look closely. To say he is with me always would not be a lie! Maggie, the other furry kid, is right next to my leg, that's why you don't see her very often!