But instead I fell off a ladder on to some well cured concrete and went SPLAT! 911, hospital, scans and release. The first week since has shown improvement but my construction days could be behind me.
Feb 122012
Of course I had the chicken coup on the back of this truck but I needed to haul materials while building the tinyhouse so I took it off. Now I need something back there again so here we go with a second build. Narrow down low to keep me from installing big mirrors but flaring out up top to mount the bunk side to side.
Jan 062012
So many people have expressed how tough it was to get through 2011. Let’s make this year a good one and do all the adjustments necessary to make it less stressful.
Jul 192011
I showered in the building tonight. There is only a tray so I had to be careful but it was good.
Jul 192011
I have carried this around since the 90′s. Originally purchased for my Cabot 36 but never got installed. I couldn’t find anywhere inside for such a big unit so it will be free-standing.
Jul 062011
Jul 042011
Finding some inside work to do during these mid-90s temps.
Jun 262011
I have seen this guy before around here. He thinks he is a Komodo dragon.
Jun 242011
I picked up the metal roof and took a couple of days to install it. It brought the project out from under the tarps and the rain is falling on it as I type. With this complete I moved on to insulation and am half way through that mess. The high last week was 105 and the air conditioner was drying the air but the temps inside were in the 90′s.
Jun 162011
The windows are in and that is a welcome thing. I am eaten up with insect bites. They were here long before I got here and seem determined to fight for their territory. This is the European wasp.
They are huge but docile away from the nest.
Jun 162011
The sink will back on the right and some kind of propane stovetop on the left.
Jun 162011
This tent houses a homebuilt Lovable Loo from the Humanure people. Jeff composts the collections down at the big house.
Jun 022011
Yesterday I framed and put down a subfloor in the loft space. It turned out about 7-1/2 feet square so plenty of room for a bed. I slept there last night with a screen in the window opening. Sunrise looking down in the woods was very nice. My computer is up here too but there isn’t sufficient headroom for a chair.
The rain was pooling near the edge of the tarp roof so I had to poke the water out with a boathook every few minutes. This went on until after midnight.
May 202011
May 152011
22:23:00
May 122011
Because I wanted to build it so it could be moved down the highway or at least have that option. This limits you to 13’6″ in height and 8’6″ wide. Most of these are built on trailer frames. I thought I would too but the $3500 price tag needed to be spent building the place first. I did build it on skids so a rollback has a chance to load it. The width restriction is what makes designing tough. A 10×15 footprint is easier to layout and having 18″ eaves looks so much better than none.
May 092011
The screenhouse is necessary if you want to turn a light on after dark. Every flying insect in the county heads this direction.
The Building
Spark
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May 012011
I guess I need to build something. I looked at some trailers and searched a bunch of other ideas but it came to this building. It will be a little bigger than the average storage building. I am typing from the foundation now but it is dark and the bugs are attacking the light I have clipped above me.
Apr 152011
I am camping in the woods for now while I work on a new plan. I had an invitation to sail in Charleston Race Week but I didn’t hear about it soon enough. It looks like the weather is going to be really bad with rain all day Saturday.
Progress at last
Spark
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Mar 122011
Moved off the boat tonight to be prepared for some painting tomorrow. A few places need to be filled where plumbing was rerouted and there is some minor flaking that needs to be fixed. There is hot and cold running water to the galley sink now that will take some time to get used to. Life in the boatyard is something that has to be seen to appreciate. People work on their boats at all hours and you may have to wait for someone in the shower at 5am and 11pm. One big family.
A different website
Spark
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Mar 062011
I have a new version of the site up and running but bare bones so there will be dead links and some bugs in the software. It would help if it were used a little bit so I am going to make it live. Your browser will take you there automatically when you type in rainawnings.com. There will be a menu choice that will direct you here. It will say “blog”.
Another stuff run
Spark
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Mar 032011
Thank you Jim for the ride back to Oriental. It took about a week to pick up the truck and car and empty the storage unit. One trailer load went to South Carolina and the rest is here in Green Cove Springs. Every time it is moved the size gets a little smaller. Check out this link to a portable homeless shelter.
Green Cove Springs
Spark
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Feb 232011
The boat is blocked up safely up the St. Johns River in Green Cove Springs Marina. There are many boats on the hard and this is one busy place. Liveaboards from all over North America with a real communal feel sharing common goals. It is good to follow daily tasks with plenty of rest.
Jacksonville
Spark
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Feb 162011
Didn’t leave St. Augustine until 9:30am but did 53 miles and arrived just before dark. The customs boat was the first to greet us. Two men offered to catch our lines. The younger one pulled the bow in and cleated it with us still moving so there is a gouge in the topsides now. He is the mate on one of the water taxis. Wow! At 1:30 in the morning a boat wake bounced us against the dock. A few minutes later there was a loud knocking on deck that turned out to be the Coast Guard. They were looking for a 22′ cuddy cabin and that maybe a 37′ sailboat could be disguised as one. Boy was I pissed. I envisioned them in school being shown a picture with the teacher asking “sailboat or powerboat?” I know they are just kids and I really liked the crew that boarded me in Charleston.
On the erode again
Spark
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Feb 152011
We have been creamed a couple of times by poorly skippered power boats. One fairly big yacht went between us and another boat with huge wake trailing behind. The other victim rolled around as bad as we did and I hope he got the name off the transom. The erosion caused by these guys is a shame. After hearing Will Pearsall play last night we resumed progress north and put in a 57 mile day and are now tied up in Jacksonville.
The perfect storm
Spark
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Feb 112011
I don’t feel terrific. Not too bad but enough of a concern that we decided to play it safe. Marina fees are getting higher as we move south and we would have to pay them if I had to leave the boat for medical reasons. The only answer was to get to the St. John’s River and that became the target even if it meant turning north. A big front passed through right as the anchor was coming up. The temperature plummeted and a driving rain removed the shore from view. Sure we should have waited but the anchorage doesn’t allow much protection. One causeway away was a little island and we anchored until things calmed down. All day was cold and wet only to rock and roll the night away in the unprotected anchorage that Titusville offers. Now we are just shy of Daytona and watching a great show put on by a family of dolphins with the young ones jumping clear out of the water.
Cocoa Village
Spark
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Feb 092011
I know that doesn’t look like a village. We don’t have a camera that works right now. The picture is of the new heat exchanger attached to the recently painted exhaust manifold that I installed on the recently painted engine. The motor started and worked so well that we decided to steam down to Cocoa to see what we could see. I used to come up here and surf as a kid. Wow, what a difference. Sometimes it helps to have a hurricane hit your town because it gives the people in charge a second chance as to how they want their town to look and this one looks great. The anchorage isn’t the best but everything is available with the exception of laundry and groceries. Those are big items but maybe they didn’t know we were coming.
They are still around in spite of the cuts caused by boat traffic. We saw this one right next to us in Titusville.
The beach east of here
Spark
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Feb 012011
The beach at Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge has some nice waves.
