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Chronicles of the Joys, Trials, and Tribulations of Owning
and Maintaining a House and a Pond
This will be a rambling recap of what has gone before, and a
semi-up-to-date account of current events in the land-based lives of the
Webcaptain and Ladysailor. Mostly so we can remember what the heck
happened here!
Overview
The House:
Purchased in the summer of 2005, rehabbed just enough to become
livable in the next 2 months, further improved the following summer with a
second-story deck, new roof and gutters, and pond where the swamp was, this
house has never been occupied by it's current owners in the winter. We
were spending the winter in Mexico on our boat, and hoping all was well while we
were gone. Thanks to a couple who rented the place the first winter, and
our pal Buck who lives here full time now, there has always been someone here to
keep an eye on it. This year it will be our eyes as well, since the boat
is now in the southern hemisphere, and hurricane season is their summer, our
winter. We'll return to the boat in Fiji April 28, 2008.
The big plans for this winter are to finish the downstairs into
living space. You see, the man who built this place back in the 1940's was
a plumber, and he built a two storey house so he could live upstairs and work
downstairs. His old workbench and pipe vise are still down there, along
with all the exposed studs, plumbing and wiring. We sprayed for dry-post
boring beetles and other critters today, and this week hope to start hanging
insulation and drywall down there, section by section. We will plumb in
another bathroom down there, as well as a full kitchen, and with a ceiling and
floor covering, it'll be just like a small apartment down when we're done!
May even rent it! We still have to get rid of mucho junk-o, though,
just to be able to work down there, so that will remain job #1.
Interestingly enough, yesterday I took pics of the unfinished
windows and doors, and today they're getting done...will post the "after" shots
in a day or two. Looking good so far.
12/6/07 The Christmas lights are up on the house, and now on the
web site, and today the tree will go up. Buck has been a champ getting the
drywall all filled in and mudded up in the interior around the doors and
windows, and paint and trim will appear soon, in time for Christmas, yay.
We're going to try to get insulation and drywall up in the "bedroom" alcove
downstairs before Christmas as well, so somebody can sleep down there in
relative comfort. You know, we try to make even relatives comfortable...ha
ha ha. That reminds me, I better get off this computer and to work!
Home for the Holidays
12/6/07
Almost
three weeks after returning to our non-floating home, we are starting to get
used to the non-cruising life again. The culture shock was extreme when we
first walked off the plane, after 19 hours of travel time. Everyone was just as
they were when we left, and many folks we know only casually acted as if they
had no idea we’d been gone for a year! We learned right away not to volunteer
too much information about what we’d been up to, because many people just got a
glazed expression on their faces as soon as we mentioned “South Pacific”, or
“the boat’s still in Fiji”. It’s better just keeping it our little secret
unless someone is genuinely interested, and very few are.
The
house came through our absence very well under Buck’s care, and what few
situations we didn’t care for (like the mess we had left in the downstairs) were
quickly and easily remedied. The “pond pets” were doing OK until a Great Blue
Heron showed up a few days after our return, and proceeded to nosh on whatever
was swimming around. The effect of the new slingshot was much like that of a
late barn-door closing, and though the big bird has moved on, there seems to be
little sign of fishy life out there. Buddy, on the other hand, is looking
better than he ever has, though he is completely bonded with Buck. We decided
that’s just fine, since we’re going to leave again in a few months anyway, and
don’t want him to have to get over missing us all over again.
Anyhoo,
we’re hoping Arabella will make it through a cyclone season there at Vuda
Point, and when we leave here to return, we’re also hoping there will be a
finished area downstairs that may bring in a bit of income.
While
we’re home this time, I think this Captain’s Log type stuff will appear in the
new “House and Pond” section, and will resume
here in early May, when we’re back on the boat.
Hope
everyone has a Merry Christmas, and the Happiest New Year!
HO HO
HO,
Mike,
Barb, Buck, and Buddy the House Dog
Life on Dirt
01/10/08
Living
in a house on dirt has sure been a treat after a year of life afloat. It’s hard
to believe it’s coming up on two months since our return. Little things that
are challenging to accomplish on the boat are so easy here, like doing laundry
and getting groceries. It’s especially easy getting groceries of all kinds;
fresh, good, plentiful and cheap, with no long distance carrying or
dinghy rides involved. Booze too, even though Oregon has state run stores for
hard liquor. We were used to paying almost $100 for a bottle of vodka in Fiji,
and $50 for a box of wine.
So it’s
no mystery why we sat around and ate and drank a lot at first, while staring at
another luxury I’d missed for a year, the Boob Tube. Not to mention enjoying
the great views of nature we are so lucky have from this little shack on the
dirt we call Casa Fulmor.
Don’t
get me wrong, we have done some stuff since we’ve been back. Lots of
cleanup and organization mostly, trying to get the downstairs cleaned out enough
to get some work done, and the workshop put together enough to use in that
pursuit. It actually looks pretty good now and I’m kicking myself for not
taking “before” pictures. We’re working on getting a line of credit to pay off
the credit cards and buy home improvement materials, and it looks like it will
all happen. A couple of azalea bushes got transplanted and the pond area weeded
to some extent, but the inclement weather has impeded outside work. We’ve had a
couple of doozy storms packing winds up to 60-100 mph knock down lots of trees
around us, but the house has been sealed up well enough that we hardly feel a
draft.
Christmas was a blast, with daughter Lucy and her soon to be husband Dave, twins
Nick and Alex, his friend Sara and my sister Deb joining Ladysailor and I here
for a couple of days of feast and frolic.
Anyway,
after New Years we cleaned off the treadmill our first renters left behind,
plugged it in, and it works! It’s a smart treadmill that can run online
programs (iFIT.com) and adjust its speed automatically while a virtual personal
trainer talks you through a workout. They even have an online diet/meal-plan
that changes every day and is very easy to follow. Maybe this will help a
fitter, smaller webcaptain to emerge from hibernation come spring.
Have to
close for now, Jennifer (my virtual trainer) says it’s time for my hike on the
treadmill!
Hope
your New Year is going well and continues to do so.
Your
Temporarily Dirtbound Sailors,
Mike
and Barb
Shore-leave Flying By
02/17/08
We flew
out of Portland on the 12th, bound for Hawaii and my daughter’s
wedding. After a marvelous visit with Barb’s sister Mary and her partner
Barbara at their beautiful 14th floor condo in Honolulu, we came over
to Maui yesterday to prepare for the Big Day tomorrow. During our time on Oahu,
we managed to tour the entire island, see some major surf at Waiamea Bay (25’
faces), visit all four yacht clubs, tour the Maritime Museum, and even enjoy a
tiny bit of Waikiki night life. While touring the Aloha Tower area we managed
to get a pretty good look at Paul Allen’s little 300’+ floatie toy named
Octopus, tied up to the pier there. She only had one helicopter
aboard, but we were relieved to see another helipad on the forward deck.
You have to have a place for guests to land aboard also, don't you?
On a
sad note, words
could never describe the “progress” that has occurred on the fair island of Maui
in the 40 years since the webcaptain has been here. Let’s just say there are
precious few familiar landmarks, especially here in Kihei where several happy
summers were spent at my folks’ “beach house”. I couldn’t even find said house,
and imagine it got torn down and replaced some time in those intervening years.
I had been warned about the changes here, but nothing could have prepared me for
the reality of the place. It makes me think of the old Eagles song about
paradise, and what happens when a place starts getting called by that name.
Admittedly, the island is still drop-dead beautiful, but it sure is starting to
feel like Oahu there.
So
tomorrow is Lucy’s wedding, then we’ll fly home on the 20th to resume
our home improvement project. The remaining two months in Oregon will be past
before we know it, and the time to return to Arabella will be upon us.
Hopefully we’ll get our work done on the house before then!
Update 02/19/08
The wedding was as beautiful as you could imagine, set on the beach in a perfect
little cove in the Makena area, where we used to go snorkeling in the old days.
As they said their vows the sun came around a cloud with that "TA-DA" effect,
you know, the rays shooting up and down like God is about to appear... a truly
classic moment.
The reception
dinner at Sea Watch restaurant was a fabulous "surf 'n turf" with a crab cake
appetizer and of course wedding cake for dessert. Today we're going to ask
them how in the hell the bill came out $400 higher than they quoted Lucy.
Seems kind of wrong, doesn't it?
Anyhow, today
we'll tour around a bit, probably go to Lahaina with sister Deb and her friend
Virginia, and get ready to fly home- see ya here with another update in a month
or so.
Aloha from Maui,
Mike 'n Barb
Countdown to “The Return”
3/27/08
Could
it only be a month until we climb back on a silver bird for the gruelingly
uncomfortable, interminable flight back to our beloved Arabella? Since
they’ve curtailed direct flights to Fiji from the States, we have about a 10
hour layover in Auckland, New Zealand before we actually get to go to Fiji. Not
sure what to do for that amount of time, but hope we’ll find something.
Meanwhile, the progress on the house appears less than exciting, although much
has actually been done. Despite how it looks, we may yet accomplish something
like what we hoped for. Miracles do happen, right? The next few days may
actually see those new water pipes actually carry water, and the downstairs
bathroom finally become functional. That’d be a biggie, one of those things I’d
just never quite thought could happen.
After
that, it’s just a matter of insulation and drywall, putting together a kitchen,
and some kind of floor treatment. Yeah, that’s all…
In the
midst of all these house thoughts, it’s a challenge to try to think about boat
needs. I need to hurry up and order some stuff, I’m sure, and somehow figure
out how we’ll get it all back to Fiji.
We’ve
had some great family time lately, with my kids and sister visiting for an early
Easter, and Barb just returning from a whirlwind tour of family and friends in
Southern California. Spring is in the air here in Oregon, but we drove through
falling snow yesterday in the coast range, so it’s not exactly hot yet. Fiji
will be shockingly sweaty for us, I’m sure, but at least we will have missed the
worst of the heat if we timed it right.
The
three new koi are doing well in the pond, and one big heron-survivor has
appeared from under the rock, so we have four big guys swimming around. The
four little Wal-mart koi are not visible, and may have become food for a
seagull; however I’m still holding out hope for them.
So
that’s about it for now from the Casa Fulmor Koi Rancho, will try to get some
pics up today.
Cheers,
Mike ‘n
Barb (and ‘lil Buddy)
Some Construction Progress Pics
The Pond:
So the pond was conceived as a remedy for swampy back yard,
before we realized the swamp was due to an old spring-box that was just left to
drain into the yard. When we discovered how much water was actually
flowing into that old spring-box (around 800 gallons a day?) we were already
bitten by the "pond bug" and couldn't wait for it to be dug and filled so we
could begin raising Koi. We were pretty naieve. It surprised us how
long the job took and the cost of rocks, liner, pumps, and back hoe time.
Knowing what we know now, we could have done alot more of the finishing work
digging the ledges, etc, but we trusted our pond-guy Robert, and he did a
hellovabangup job. He talked us out of that landscape fabric that keeps
weeds down, though, and I wish he hadn't, because when we returned last week,
the pond had been overcome by WEEDS big time. I know our pal Buck did his
best to keep them in control, but these Oregon weeds are tough, wiley, and
resiliant. Too bad you can't use Round-Up (good weed killer) around the
fish without endangering them.
One problem with creating a natural-looking water feature is
that the creatures in nature think it's all for them. The nerve of them!
The pesky deer and elk think it's their private drinking fountain, the bugs
think it looks like a good home, and the #*!@(%$? birds (and raccoons) think the
fish are on their menu anytime they get hungry. The latest pest is a Great
Blue Heron who thinks he owns the place. Being a member of a protected
species has made this guy pretty fearless, and he is young, big and hungry.
I'm afraid many of my small fishy pals have become lunch and dinner for him,
probably breakfast too. I wish I had a bigger dog...
12/6/07 The slingshot worked- never hit the big ba..ard,
but scared him a little I guess. Unfortunately, the damage was done, I
fear. Next we got hit with a nice little storm packing 100 mph gusts, and
Lake Lacrimose filled up with pine needles, debris, and mud, so we'll never see
any fish anyway for awhile until it clears. I did make a basket out of
screening to keep stuff out of the recirculating pump, so the water is getting
well aerated at least.
More to come...
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