Today marks the first full day of the bulkhead construction. The guys showed up about 6:15 AM, while I was still out walking the dogs. I had previously given Emir a key for the gates, so their getting in was no problem.

They were in high gear by the time the girls and I got back. Of course, Cindy and Secret think they're being punished for something since I'm keeping them chained up while the work is going on. You ought to see them tear around when the gates are closed for the evening and the workers are all gone. Finally, there's a sand hill worthy of the name so they can play King of the Hill (or whatever they call it).

First Few Bags Being Filled

I went to bed at 6:00 PM this evening after taking two Benadryl capsules for a sting I got this afternoon on our front porch. Dianna and I were talking to Denis, from across the street (where Dan used to live). I used my hand against a porch post I was leaning against and felt a fluttery sensation like my fingers became entangled with some sort of bug.

It wasn't till I had run downtown to pick up a couple of strap wrenches from National Hardware to help with the leak in the pool pump area, that I noticed my finger itching.

Since today was a "Double Top-Up" day for Digicell, I stopped at INK Supplies and bought $50.00 BZD worth of time, giving me $100 BZD worth of time. Just in time too (no pun intended) as I tend to go through a lot of phone time while we're constructioneering. And, it was while at INK that I noticed my whole hand beginning to puff up. So, as soon as I got home, it was Benadryl. Two hours later, it just knocked my out.

Filling Bags With Dry Mix

The way the process works is, they load the mixer (the 'Machine') with sand, gravel, and cement, just as if they were going to make a regular mix of concrete, except there's no water added. they dump that out and shovel the mix into the bags.

The bags, in turn, are barrowed over to the wall site.

Hauling Bags to the Bulkhead Work Area

Once there, the bags are dumped one by one into the water and positioned.

Ready to Drop Another One

Once in place, the worker in the water positions them. At this stage of the game, it depends a lot on feel as to how they're placed.

 Dragging and Positioning

With neutral buoyancy as an assist (probably a negligible assist at best) the bags are dragged from the drop site to be positioned where they are needed in the bulkhead.

 Hard Work to Position At This Stage

Early on, it took two guys to position each bag. Here, they're working to ensure correct positioning. You can easily see some concrete dust washing out, but really, it's a negligible amount. The theory is that there will be enough to bond between each bag and its neighbor bags.

Pounding in the First of Many Rebar Pieces

Every two rows, rebar is being pounded in straight down through the bags to provide additional stability and strength.

Tromping the Bags

It sounds simple, but it's really a critical step, that is, to tromp the bags. It helps settle and position the bags so they fill gaps and get additional air out of the bags.

Bags Bubble A Long Time After Being Dumped

Once in a while, a heavy-loaded wheel barrow can get away from you. That's what happened here. Two bags went over the side just as they were being delivered to the preferred drop zone.

Retrieving An Errant Bag

It was really a pain for them to retrieve those bags and position them where they were needed. They persevered and were able to finally move and re-position the two bags.

Well, that marks the end of the first full day of bulkhead construction. Dianna and I were planning to go out for some fried chicken this evening, but after the Benadryl, I was tucked in bed by six. You'll probably be able to tell from the posting time, that it's only 4-hours after. We had a sudden rain storm pop up, so I got up to close some windows and to let the girls in. As soon as I post this, it's back to bed for me. Nitey nite.

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It's Going to be a Big Job

Yesterday, the work began on rehabbing our canal bank and getting ready to build the bulkhead to guard against future erosion (I hope). Actually, some of the work began a couple of days previously, when Agusto brought several bags full of bags - used sugar bags that will form the basis of our bulkhead. We also had a truckload of gravel delivered. Sand will come today around 9:30 AM. Luckily, there's a smidgen of sand left from previous projects that the guys can use till that load arrives.

And the Work Commences

The first step in the project is calving off the pieces that are already in danger of falling. Along with that, the guys had to venture into the water, braving the constant threat of crocs (we have some nine-footers that have come through lately - but they're pretty timid.) to check the depth of the water and to see what the bottom is like.

Checking the Boat Slip Depth

Turns out, surprisingly for me, that the depth in the canal is averaging about five to six feet, while the depth of the boat slip area is around ten to twelve. There's also a couple of large rocks that will be left in place, with the bulkhead being built and incorporating the rocks into the construction.

In the image below, those rocks are at either end of the bank. The one to the right you can see with no problem - it's huge. The one on the other corner is about 2-feet below the surface, and it's probably about as big as the other one.

Smoothing Out the Bank

Also yesterday, the first load of cement arrived. We have that stowed under Elsie's parking palapa.

Work Progresses on Elsie's side as well

Speaking of Elsie's side, the guys spent time in the water checking her bank and depths as well. Work will begin in earnest today. Yesterday afternoon, the guys brought the mixer, the 'machine' as they call it. After ensuring it would start, and had oil and gas, they knocked off as there really wasn't enough time to begin filling bags in any meaningful way.

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Some of the other things that have been going on around Casa Winjama and Corozal in general - sort of a 'Sunday Grab Bag', only this is a 'Tuesday Grab Bag'.

Allen and Elsie at Hailey's

Elsie's back in town. She'll only be staying for a month or so before she heads for Argentina and Antarctica! You know Elsie. That backpack just can't stay in storage. She brought along a friend of hers, Allen, also from the Calgary area of Canada. He has about another week here before he heads back north. Today, he and Elsie are going to tour the Lamanai Mayan ruins. Which is just as well.

We received word the other day that BEL (Belize Electricity, Ltd.) is cutting off current (electricity) for the whole Corozal District today from 8:00 AM to 3:00 PM. Dianna and I plan to spend significant time in and around the pool today if it's not raining or something.

Checking for Leaks?

Speaking of the pool, the past few days, we noticed that the pool water level kept dropping a few inches. I'd top it up, and over the next few hours, you could tell it was going down. Of course, our first thoughts were some sort of leak caused somehow by the bank problems we're having. Such isn't the case. Cody, our caretaker, noticed the main pump appears to have sprung a leak, so some of what I have to do today is to try and fix that. If it isn't one thing, it's something else, y'know?

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And speaking of Christmas, Dianna really wanted to decorate for Christmas this year. So, we spared no expense when we went to Cinty's and bought a 4' tree, computer-controlled lights, and a box of ornaments, all for $30.00 BZD. Where else could you get such a deal?

Dianna Unpacking and Decorating the Tree

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 Last night, we went to Patty's for dinner. Patty's for those who don't know, has just recently moved to new quarters.

Ivan Welcoming Us to Patty's New Location

They have kept the same menu and prices, but the decorating has undergone major changes. Gone is the handwriting on the wall - so to speak. All the witticisms and travelogues from their old location are part of history. Patty's is featuring clean, nicely painted walls.

The food was excellent as always. We went with Elsie and Allen, and ran into Lynn and Rachael, who both joined us. Rachael is from California, and is staying at Lynn's Almond Tree Inn for a week or so - one of those working vacation sort of things.

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The other thing I worked on this past week was, again, with the pool. This time, the solar blanket, or rather, the straps that connect it to the reel. The straps all rotted and broke. I suspect mostly UV damage from the sun.

Broken Cover Straps

Discovering where to get replacement straps has been an effort. It's not easy to find quality nylon strapping here. I finally found some at one of the two large fabric stores in Chetumal. It's so nice now that we're able to travel freely over there.

 

Ready to Repair the Straps / All Done

It turned out to be an easy job to do. After about an hour dangling my feet in the wet stuff, I was all done.

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And, as a parting shot, I have to hurry, as the current goes off in about 10 more minutes, here's a shot of the new moon, just before sunrise. I took this at Doug and Twyla's while waiting with the doggies before we started off on the morning walkies.

New Moon Over Corozal

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Well, worker-bees will be around the place again come Monday, only not on the project we thought was going to get started. Instead, we'll be building a bulkhead or seawall. It will cover our cave-in area, the boat slip area, and will be mirrored on Elsie's property. Of course, I'll be documenting it as usual.

We even have a set of plans drawn up for it - which should help stay pretty much on track.

Canal Bulkhead Plans (partial)

We're going to be using sugar bags, approximately 16"x34", which are a poly bag that will be filled to about 2/3 full with dry mix concrete, then positioned in the canal and held in place with rebar that will be pounded through the bags every couple of rows. Water should infiltrate the bags relatively easily to wet the concrete. The bags might be delivered today, I'm not sure on that point.

John Harris, who built our swimming pool and deck for us, will be doing the honors for this project as well.

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I think we're getting ready to have a blizzard down here. My impromptu waterfall is gonna freeze.

What follows is an exchange of emails we had this morning with Doug and Twyla. Most of this exchange was after Doug and I had walked the doggies, fulfilling the pack imperative. I had goose-bumps most of the way, although I did take my fleece jacket off after a while on the walk. The layering system, you know. It could be dangerous to work up a sweat in this frigid weather.

Here's the exchange:

Date: Sat, 28 Nov 2009 6:00 am

From: doug
To: dave
Subject: Temperature...

Dave,
It's 67 F in the kitchen this morning!
Doug

Date: Sat, 28 Nov 2009 7:15 am
From: dave
To: doug
Subject: Re: Temperature...

Doug,
I just looked at my WeatherMate... it says it's currently 64. Where's my long johns? Who do we complain to?
Dave

Date: Sat, 28 Nov 2009 7:38 am

From: doug
To: dave
Subject: Re: Temperature...

Dave,
...tuckin' back into bed to warm up!
Doug

Now we know we're really getting aclimatized (or is it traumatized?) down here. We just don't have warm enough clothes for this. I'm wearing socks, of all things, 'cause my feets are freezing! I've got sweatpants on and a fleece jacket. I need gloves, but I can't wear 'em and use the keyboard. I need a knit hat. Where's my balaclava? Doug and Twyla call it a toque - pronounced toook. Even my coffee is cold! Ick!!!

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Well, here it is, the morning after Turkey Day. I'm sitting in the living room. Dianna, out on the porch, calls me, saying Bob C. is across the canal hollering for me, something about the canal.

So I put my Crocs on and hobble on down the stairs (I bunged-up my knee yesterday morning walking the dogs. Right across from Caribbean Village, I slipped in the muck and fell pretty hard. The dogs were thankful I didn't use them as landing pads. Anyway, my knee is scratched and scabbed, sore and stiff today. But that's not the topic at hand, is it?

What Bob wanted was to tell me I had a river coming out of our bank and making a cute little waterfall into the canal. He was right. Looking down, I could see it bubbling away. I could also see some large cracks in the bank, in fact, along the whole left canal bank on our property, it looks as though a cave-in is imminent.

Taking Bob's advice, I jumped into the Isuzu and headed over across the canal to see it from his perspective. Wow!

Our Endangered Canal Bank

And here's the waterfall - almost right in the middle of the span.

The Waterfall, Bubbling Happily Away

Here's a bit of a close-up of the waterfall.

Almost Dead-Center

My posting the other day regarding the need for remediation and restoration in the canal before we have problems? Guess what? We got's problems! I was hoping to defer putting in a bulkhead till after the guesthouse was completed... That ain't gonna happen now. This definitely takes priority.

I've got an engineer coming over to take a look at it sometime this afternoon, and what Bob and I talked about doing (I'll see if the engineer agrees) is waiting for four or five days, checking each day to see if the waterfall volume is decreasing, as long as we're (hopefully) done with the rain for now. Then, when it stops (hope, hope) we'll begin putting in the bulkhead with lots of 4" drain-pipes to allow the water to disperse, avoiding a pressure buildup, and at the same time protecting the dirt from needless further caving.

Well, there you have it. I'll let you know what I find out and what the plan of action will be just as soon as I know what it is, well, maybe a few minutes later.

You know, I always say, "If it was easy, it wouldn't be any fun." I could do with a tad less fun for a while.

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Yesterday was Turkey Day. An American holiday, but more or less celebrated down here in Belize as well. It's an excuse for a feast and a party.

Charles and Mae in the Kitchen / Craig, Jim and Earl in Discussion

 Katherine, Gail and Sandra Talking / Melanie and Gail Prepping the Chow

Well, that's what we did. feast and party. We went over to Jim and Melanie's house along with thirty-three other folks, and had a great feast. That's the way, you know, of pot-lucks - way more food than any one person could possibly eat.

Loreta Announcing How the Serving Will Work

Dianna and Doug Going Through the Line / Everyone Ready to Eat

For our contribution to the meal, Dianna and I brought two different recipes of sweet potatoes, one with garlic and rosemary, onion, olive oil, apples and of course, the sweet potatoes. For the other, we included apples, papaya, sweet potatoes, honey and butter mixed together as a glaze. Both turned out great.

 Table One Takes Their Turn

Of course, everyone's contributions turned out great. They always do. We had ham, turkey, salads, pies, ice cream (which I never did find), and a whole assortment of hors d'oeuvers, along with a couple bottles of a nice Gallo Cabernet Sauvignon to help wash everything down.

A Couple of Plates, Ready to Go

Jim and Melanie even provided a bartender (George, a college student) to take care of all the bottles, and two attendants (Marta, their housekeeper and her sister) to help with serving and take care of any needs at the tables. It was a posh affair, for sure.

George the Bartender / Marta and Her Sister

As we were supposed to do at Thanksgiving, everyone ate till they were ready to pop. Of course, after dinner a large part of the group gravitated to the patio, some smoking, everyone talking and laughing.

Linda's Dad, Linda and Nellie  / Lola and Bill - Everyone Relaxing

 Guess Who?

Brad had brought his guitar to entertain, and so he opened his case and proceeded to do exactly that.

Brad Enjoying A Sol (Contraband?)

Brad is the music teacher at the local college (high school) here in Corozal. His wife Christina, usually helps with the entertainment and such. She's a pretty unique personality in her own right and is quite entertaining. However, she wasn't here as she's spent the past couple of months in a hospital in Oregon in the States, after suffering a pretty severe cardiac problem.

She got discharged from the hospital a few days ago, and flew to New York to spend Thanksgiving with her parents and her sister. Somehow, (I don't know if it was planned or just occurred spontaneously) Mae happened to call her so that we could sing Christina her favorite song - 'I Can See Clearly Now' over a cell phone. A novel idea.

I happened to switch my camera over to video for the occasion and below is the result. We had quite a lot of fun doing it. Amazingly, you can hear Christina on the speaker-phone.

The Crowd Entertaining Christina From 3,000 Miles Away

I shortened the video a bit. Hopefully, you'll find it entertaining as well. And yes, I made a DVD of the entire video for Brad and Christina to enjoy. BTW, Christina will be coming back to Corozal in about ten days, so we're all looking forward to seeing her again.

Just your usual holiday party in paradise, you might say.

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National Meteorological and Hydrological Service of Belize

General Situation: A moist and unstable airflow will continue to dominate our weather for the next few days.
24hr Forecast: Cloudy skies today with a few sunny breaks.
Tonight skies will be mostly cloudy. Off and on showers and possible isolated thunderstorms will continue to affect most areas.
Winds: Easterly at 5-15 knots becoming gusty near heavy showers and thunderstorms.
Sea State: Choppy... Becoming locally rough at times.
    *Operators of small craft should continue to exercise caution*
Outlook: For Wednesday morning thru to Thursday morning is for a similar weather pattern to prevail.

After having had a fairly dry and uneventful (knock on wood) rainy/hurricane season, now that we're less than a week from the end of the season, Mother Nature seems bent on ensuring we get our full alotment of the wet stuff.

It looks like this weather pattern is going to continue for at least the next few days. Hopefully, the timing will work out so that the girls can get some exercise in at least every couple of days. To say that Cindy and Secret are unhappy is putting it mildly. On the one hand, they're upset that it's raining hard at the same time we are scheduled to go for 'walkies' for two days in a row, and on the other, they're upset with the pack leader (me) for being such a wuss in not wanting to get wet.

Cindy & Secret Making Their Own Fun

Especially now that they're trapped in the confines of the yard thanks to Isaiel's fence installation. They just can't run out of the yard whenever they feel like it to harass armadillos, gibnuts, and bicyclists passing by.

Speaking of the fence, here's a few shots of Isaiel's handiwork. It's almost done. Just a few sections remain in need of painting. Isaiel's hoping to be able to get that done today.

Isaiel Inspecting the New Fence Bits

Fence View Looking South / Looking East

We're also beginning to move forward in a more coordinated fashion with the canal. The South End Canal Association, at this time a loose coalition of property owners whose property is immediately adjacent to the canal, has a Steering Committee. The Committee's purpose is to guide the progress of rehabbing the canal and to recommend and guide maintenance and future improvements to the canal.

After the last Steering Committee meeting at Doug's place, we all traipsed out to Doug's bulkhead and boat slip area to see how he did things.

Bob C.'s Boat Moored at Doug's / The Slip Toward Doug's House

Doug's place is a great example of how a bulkhead can be done economically and provide great protection against further erosion, and if the owner wants, suitable moorage for a boat.

Rocks & Concrete, Rocks & Concrete / Doug's Bulkhead

 

The process is simple. sharpened Pimenta sticks or poles (a local wood & I'm not sure if that's the right name or spelling) are driven into the bottom and plywood sheathing is added. Then local rocks are added, alternating layers of a dry-mix concrete (hydraulic concrete would be great... if it was available) up to the desired level. Then, if desired, like with Doug's boat slip area, a smooth concrete walkway is poured to cap the whole affair.

Here's How It Looks From Doug's Patio / Bob M. Inspecting the Moorage

Dianna and I will have to be doing something similar to what Doug has done with the bulkhead - and fairly soon too. We have some serious bank erosion underway. If we don't address it, we stand a good chance of damaging our newly completed fence. Well, it just goes to show you, if it ain't one thing, it's another. Hopefully, we'll be able to complete the guest house before we have to tackle the bulkhead. Stay tuned for further developments.

As an example of the kind of thing that occurs, since our properties all over northern Belize lie on a limestone base, similar to Florida, cave-ins, etc., are pretty common. This shot is of Elsie's side of the boat slip area, and shows a small cave developing. This sort of things can lead to the edge soils collapsing into the canal. Hopefully, with proper maintenance over the long haul, a well-constructed bulkhead will solve this sort of problem.

Elsie's Boat Slip Area

Our problem area that I already mentioned is worse. it is already collapsing into the canal. So we have to do something soon to take care of the problem. Like I said, stay tuned.

Let's see, what else has been going on? Internet connectivity issues. Since we live out beyond the reaches of civilization - that is, beyond where the two cable companies in town reach to, if we want to connect to the 'Intertubes', we have to resort to satellite, or at least really strong string and rust-free tin cans.

Well, if it was just for our house, that really isn't much of a problem. I set up a wireless network that broadcasts throughout the house, so we can sit in the living room and surf the 'tubes' while we watch TV (also on satellite - another dish is required). But, once we started building the guest house, we realized that anyone who was going to stay there would probably want to connect to the Intertubes as well.

Unfortunately, it's not quite as simple as running a piece of wire down there and plugging the visitor's laptop in. I figured the best solution was to do it wirelessly as well. So we did. With some great help from a friend we met through this blog, Bob from New York City, we managed to get that part of the 'Winjama Network' up and running. We have a good strong signal to the guest house.

Not only that, but the signal is strong enough to reach across the canal. It just so happens that Canadian Bob's place is across the canal and up a ways, and he has an unrestricted line-of-sight view to our antenna tower.

 

Bob Doing Technical Stuff  / Dave Trying to Get Bob Connected

Dave and Bob came over the other day trying to get Bob's laptop connected to our wireless network. Unfortunately, it was to no avail. For whatever reason, the electronic gremlins would not allow a connection that day.

However, a couple of days ago, I went over to Bob's and tried to connect him. Again, no go. So, on a whim, I brought his laptop back over here and hooked it up physically to my router. Bingo. It worked. So, then I disconnected from that and tried again from the guest house. Success. I took the laptop back to Bob's. Still good.

Why we were able to connect now, I guess the stars and the moon were in proper alignment or something. Anyway, Bob is now happily surfing the 'Tubes'.

Finally, for this edition, we missed probably the entertainment event of the year - the Moscow Circus, which had been in Belize City for eight days, came to Corozal.

Moscow Circus Came to Town

We didn't go, having spaced on it. In any case, it was expensive - especially for local folks - $20.00 BZD per adult for general admission. We heard that for special seating, the fare went upwards of $40.00 BZD. For a family, the cost could well become prohibitive. I guess, probably no more so than taking the family to a Mariner's game at the Safe in Seattle.

Anyway, we did get to see them departing town. We were walking the doggies, as we do early in the morning. As we came past the Catholic church at about 6:10 AM, here went their gaily painted semis right in front of us. I just barely was able to grab the camera and take a shot.

Moscow Circus On the Road Again

Lastly, thanks for the emails and Facebook messages wanting to know if everything was alright, that it had been days since I made a posting. I'm ok. There was no problem other than a case of laziness on my part. I could blame it on writer's block... yeah, that's it - writer's block. That's what it was.

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