Friday, January 15, 2016

Wednesday - Day 2, Part 1 (D2P1)*

After Chips scorpion bite we fell into a fitful sleep for a few more hours. Dawn did not find us in great shape but it was time to pitch in and get started. We generally don't eat much breakfast and there is no real morning bathing routine other than tooth brushing and flossing so we walked up to el rancho and began mapping out our strategy. Beyond the fact that the bottom horizontal pipe section of the first flush had disappeared into the soil or vegetation we had no idea if it was even functioning. We needed to visually inspect the tanks, start doing bacterial water samples and try to figure a way to repair the leaking gutters. The first thing we would need would be a ladder. Last year Ambrosio and Ramon made a new wooden ladder for us by cutting two long saplings and nailing cross struts of the same trees for steps. This year, he made it out of Nispero, the native wood we have been using for the tanks platforms. It is a beautiful wood, with a golden-red color, dense as lead, hard as concrete and heavier than hell. Not necessarily the best qualities for a ladder but not many options to choose from.


It had to weigh at least 75 lbs; hoisting into the upright position required three or four people and moving it along the roof involved "stilt-walking" the feet 4-6" in one direction then sliding the top along the gutter, gingerly lifting it over any straps or joints, then equally gingerly laying it back down on the PVC gutter. Also, it is not adjustable and there were times when it was too long for where we needed to use it. Tim was to become the master of it.

With the basics of the day laid out, Mike and I split off from the group and headed down to the dock to get our boat back to Isla Colon and doing a little guy-bonding in Maderas Richards.

* D2P1 is a tip of the hat to the Star Wars droid "R2D2". This was chosen to be his name as he first appears in a scene from "reel 2; dialogue 2" during the cutting and splicing of the first movie. Since I am going to need several installments per day, for the moment, this is going to be how I designate them.

1 comment:

  1. glad I got to catch up on your trip! Beth and I were cracking up when you checked the chlorine at the resort, only something you would do! We miss you!

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