Hey, we don't mind you guys coming down here to fish. I have even told some of you that there are places where you can drive your rental car right to a nice spot, wade out and catch bonefish without even needing to hire a boat.
But please...you have to remember you simply CANNOT drive down here like you are on I-95 headed for New London.....You just can't.
We drive on the left. The roads are bad. Let your attention slip with a rental car near salt water, and Avis is gonna OWN your ass. Anyhow, it scares the fish.
(I'll go get a photo of it at high tide in a few minutes)
Yeah, must have happened late yesterday, or early this morning. Our construction guys told us about it when they got here at 07:00. Its now 16:00 and it's still sitting there...
My guess is total writeoff. I also guess someone on this island will clean it up and drive it.
Ah, I think I can get used to this view over my morning coffee. This was today:
We just got off the boat about a half hour ago. Went out to Pine Cay to find and fix a problem with La Gringa's dad's Whaler. Bilge pump had been running continuously...and local guys had just disconnected the battery entirely. They couldn't seem to find the problem. Could only be a couple things go wrong, I figured. I knew BW's manual had a decent wiring diagram in it. Anyhow, after working my way through it ( I am rusty at reading schematics) I found it was pretty simple. Float switch was shorted. Replaced that, and everything is fine. There sure have been a lot of electrical problems with that Whaler though. It was a year old in November.
Ran into our buddy Roosevelt at the marina. He just bought a used Dusky.....with an Evinrude FICHT on it....ah oh.
Noticed a number of blowboaters anchored between the reef and Pine Cay. Seem to be more of them this year than usual. Mostly US flagged boats, like this guy:
I cannot believe the things that have been happening at Leeward. Those of you who know this area won't recognize it. We snapped a few photos going by, but I can't download them here yet. La Gringa is out walking the dog on the beach with our new neighbor right now and I asked her to take the camera along and get me some photos to post. She should be back in a bit.
Yesterday I asked La Gringa to take the little camera along when she went for her daily walk with the neighbor lady. They take three dogs with them and walk along the shoreline near here. She had mentioned some decent driftwood to me, and I was interested in seeing what she was talking about. I have these ideas for building some things using driftwood.
Anyhow, she got a couple nice photos that I thought were pretty cool.
This is another Haitian sloop that made it. They are still intercepting a couple of these a week, and of course nobody knows how many get through. Its a full time job catching them and sending them back to Haiti. The boats only make one or two trips, before they fall apart. Still, some good wood possibilities in these things. It's all hardwood, they don't have anything like pine as near as I can tell. The plywood they use is worthless, of course, but the hull planks and more importantly, the internal bracing and beams are really neat.
I can hardly wait to get my workshop finally set up. I see these hardwood planks washed up, and think of a thickness planer, band saw...
Oh, and of course there is plenty of natural driftwood around as well. I have some ideas for outdoor furniture using some of it. And some of it is just interesting to me. I know there MUST be a few woodworkers on the forum interested in this kind of stuff:
We also see some major bamboo drift ashore here. I have seen lots of it that survives the sea journey quite nicely. Just saw off the busted ends and the rest of it is good to go. Here is a piece that is a good example, the length behind the log. And the log is a typical piece, too. The conch shells give you an idea of the size of it, but the bamboo piece is about four inches diameter by nine or ten feet long.....gotta be some good possibilities for some unique furniture.
Definately some nice driftwood for furniture in these parts. I didn't know you did custom furniture. You could sell it here to all the new houses going up they love that here.
I built custom furniture as a hobby for many years. Most of my life, in fact. My first major piece was a coffee table with mahogany and white oak chessboard inlaid into it. Not veneer, but 2x2" solid blocks. I built that in '74, and know for a fact it's still being used.
Had an awesome workshop with just about every tool I could think of. I mean, all the power tools, lathe, etc. etc. Got into some of the Japanese methods, using their fine kerf saws that cut on the pull. I worked almost exclusively in hardwoods. Red oak was one of my favorites. Maple, etc. turned lamps from elm. Worked with mahogany and teak. Did some crazy laminated stuff over forms. I also worked for a while at a cabinet shop. I got really into hand-cut dovetails, all kinds of joinery. Then for a while I got into building pieces with no metal in them at all. no screws. I gave up using nails many many years ago. Nails are basically for framing lumber. Hinges were a challenge, so I had to minimize those. But there is a wood here called Lignum Vitae....and it would make dynamite hinges. Some of the stuff I have seen washed up on the beaches here is incredible tropical hardwoods. Already cured and sea-blasted clean. I have some ideas about patio furniture....I will start building some for our patio. We have a LOT of outside living area here. If people like what I do...well....
I started looking for more ways to make stuff different, and probably built a dozen or so pieces with hidden compartments in them. I built a full wall of bookshelves, and underneath the bottom shelf was room for maybe fifty firearms, or what have you. Totally hidden. Yeah, I was into it. And this place screams at me with materials.
Man Gringo...maybe when your plate thins out a little and you get your shop together you can start working those skills on the driftwood project. Something else to look forward to for me...amazing thread you got here.
Did you ever look into Skype for calling back and forth to the northeast?
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