Easter Time in Puerto Rico

The Pozo is Poured

Digging the hole for the pozo was by far the most time consuming task of the small cabin septic tank for various reasons including that the soil was mostly rock after about 2 feet down and also that they dug with just a pickaxe, shovel and ice breaking bar. So after about 4-5 days of digging they were finally able to move on to the next steps in building the tank.

Once it was dug, they needed to make footers for the bottom. In order to do this, the wheelbarrow method of hauling concrete was once again employed.

Lots of grunt work!

Setting the footer

Next was to bring over all the cinder blocks and then start to build what we called our “castle.” The castle that holds poo.

First line around

More hauling and dumping

The castle and the cabin

And the final step was to do the top of the tank. This will also serve as a landing for the stairway up to the deck of the house.

Forms ready!

First they made the molds/forms for the concrete. Then yet again more mixing and hauling of concrete by hand through the jungle and then finally, they smoothed it out.

Nice and smooth -the small hole will be used to take out the wooden forms once it cures and a cover will be made

We are enjoying this space on the other side of the property more and more as we can start to see our vision manifest into reality. A building project of even this size is not for the faint of heart. This takes quite the commitment, especially the way we have gone about it (aka the hard way) and there have been a few nights of tossing and turning, mulling over our decisions. We are constantly checking and rechecking and trying to avoid or correct mistakes (there will ALWAYS be mistakes), but it’s on days like these when we see big progress toward our goals, we know we are on the right track. After all, the challenge is part of the reason we moved here in the first place! It’s just hard to always keep that in the forefront of our minds.

Silly turkeys playing in the cabin!

The project will be slowing down for a few weeks, but the next step is in the other direction: the roof!

What do you think of this post?

WOW (3)
Awesome (1)
Interesting (1)
Useful (1)
Bummer (0)
Whoa (0)

A Tour Around Rincón in Pictures

9 Replies

As requested, I have compiled some pictures of Rincón, Puerto Rico. Rincón is surrounded by water on three sides, so there is good reason that most pictures of the town show the beach and/or ocean. However, to get a better sense of this area, here is a pictorial display. I hope this shows both the inner workings of Rincón as well as “slice of life” scenes.

First on the tour: The Lighthouse or Faro the farthest west you can possibly go on the main island of Puerto Rico.

Lighthouse/Faro

From the lighthouse park you can overlook one of the most popular surfing beaches:Domes named after the globular now defunct nuclear power station

Domes Beach on a quiet day and during the Corona Competition

Next is the downtown plaza area that is bustling with activity.

Alcaldia/Town Hall

Downtown on Thursday night is the place with the best night life because of the Art Walk! You can check out great artisanal work as well as have a beer at the hugely popular Rincón Beer Company.

Rincón Beer Company from the road on a Thursday night

Enjoying a coco frío from the farmer’s market

Downtown Rincón is great on Sunday mornings for the organic farmer’s market where you can find fresh fruits and vegetables

Fountain in Downtown Plaza

Strange name for a neighborhood near downtown: Cerro los Pobres -Hill of the Poor People

Around the corner from downtown is the cemetery, public works (trash and recycling), an indoor skate park (Skate Town) and the rarely utilized public library.

Mural at the skate park

Public works: Trash and recycling

There are also lots of little shops, doctors, dentists and pharmacies near downtown as well as a medical center/emergency center.

Costa Salud Medical Center

Going in the other direction from the plaza you’ll find the police station and further down the road, the post office.

Rincón Post Office

There are many little fruit stands and food shacks all over town.

La Placita

And plenty of restaurants too!

La Cambija Restaurant

Besides the immediate downtown area, most of Rincón is pretty rural and it gets pretty steep quickly. If you drive up the hills of Rincón/Aguada/Añasco for about 3-5 miles as the crow flies or about 20 minutes you can look out at some incredible vistas!

However, down a little lower the views are pretty spectacular as well!

View from the Beach House and the English Rose

Mainly because of the gradation of the slopes, houses are mostly right on the road and about 80% of them are simple rectangular concrete construction, though occasionally you’ll see a wood house too.

wooden Examples of houses in Rincón

Rincón from a different perspective: on the water

Because Rincón IS a beach town, it is really hard to describe it in pictures without the beach! You must literally try to avoid the beach since it is surrounded on 3 sides by it! There are so many activities, businesses and events that are beach centered. And in some ways it is just the background of life here. Right behind the Econo grocery store not 50 paces away is the beach! The beaches in Rincón are phenomenal and each one is a little different. While Rincón is mainly known as a surf town, there are beaches for everything: boating, snorkeling, surfing, swimming, bonfires, camping, secluded beaches and beaches to party with restaurants and bars!

Beware! Surfer Crossing!

Welcome to Rincón in photos! I hope you enjoyed the picture tour!

Nos vemos pronto, espero!

What do you think of this post?

WOW (3)
Awesome (22)
Interesting (1)
Useful (1)
Bummer (0)
Whoa (0)

Cabin Walls and Pozo

11 Replies

We are at the phase of the cabin project where we can really see the shape that the house is taking. This week we began framing the walls and digging the “pozo.” Pozo means well, but in this case, it is the word they use for septic tank. This hole has to be at least 6 feet in the ground, 6 feet wide and 6 feet in length. Below about 2 feet, it is rock hard soil. And they are digging by hand. In the full sun. Yah. There are some worn out guys by the end of the day.

Britton and the guys take turns digging and removing the dirt for the septic

Before we even started these tasks, Britton installed all the hurricane clips beneath the house as well as brought over and powerwashed nearly all of the 2x4s. Between him and me, I think we probably washed about 200 pieces of wood, and some of them really needed it.

Britton pauses during powerwashing (sorry it’s a little blurry)

This is such a major project it quickly becomes exhausting. The guys often work straight through in the hot, blazing sun. Since we had to clear the area before we could build, it is just roasting without shade. The good thing is that we think it is going to be an excellent candidate for solar power.

Framing the first wall

Every single thing that you see in these pictures was brought over by hand through the jungle up and down slick slopes under and over trees and vines. I don’t think anyone would deny that we really are a team of go-getters with can-do attitudes (but they may say we are a little crazy too 🙂 )!

Two walls up

We are still deciding on a few things like siding (there is really only one choice at any ferreteria: T-111 siding -but we would prefer something else, windows -Miami shutters (Air Masters) must make up 90% of the market here so again not much choice in the matter unfortunately, and we can’t find any rolls of insulation anywhere. Not that we really need insulation for temperature reasons (there will be no heating or air conditioning inside) but we would like it in order to fill the cavities so that bees or bats won’t want to once again take up residence inside. These are fairly minor issues, they just make our days “off” seem like endless scavenger hunts with promising leads, but all trails point to the same limited choices (anyone with any suggestions?). Cést la vie in Island Construction.

What do you think of this post?

WOW (3)
Awesome (2)
Interesting (1)
Useful (0)
Bummer (0)
Whoa (2)

M	T	W	T	F	S	S
			1	2	3	4
5	6	7	8	9	10	11
12	13	14	15	16	17	18
19	20	21	22	23	24	25
26	27	28	29	30	31

Lifetransplanet

Colorado, Puerto Rico and life elsewhere on the planet.

Easter Time in Puerto Rico

The Pozo is Poured

A Tour Around Rincón in Pictures

Cabin Walls and Pozo