5-27-13 Cat Trail after a Heavy Rain

After so many days of rain it made sense to go to a trail I know would not be bad.  Once trails firm up I can go elsewhere but Sal needed to run so we wnet to the CAT trail.  The little gorge was flowing hard after the rain.

White water fun.

And I am sure the water was cold.  I, wisely, did not test it.

I could not find any fiddleheads, all were grown at this point.  I was hoping to gather some for food but I was a week or so too late. I was happy with this picture though.

I had an idea for a piece based on ferns so I grabbed one and picked it in my shirt.  I thought it dashing, and called it macaroni...

5-25-13 Kayak Building

After having built the frame in the fall I finally decided to make a new kayak.  Originally I was planning to make an open topped boat so I could take Sal with me but I ended up changing my mind.  Instead I based this on the F1 design from Cape Falcon.  This site has been instrumental in reading and instructional material over the years and I decided it would be interesting to try actually following a plan instead of going by instinct.

First step was to break down the original into the two gunwales.  I had to make it in my living room because of the torrential downpour and the 45 degrees outside. At least I put down plastic...

Here is the basic shape, spread and zip tied in the ends.

This step took hours.  You cut have to cut compound angles and carve the mastik (the crossbeam right in front of the cockpit) which takes a lot of time while comparing it against measurements.  Because beams are curves tightening it one place bugles elsewhere so lots of double checking.

The next step is laying the keel spaces so I can put the rips in while shaping the bow and the stern.

Another perspective.  You can see the greatest distance is past the midpoint towards the bow.

Adding more pieces zip tied into shape so I can try to make it all match the lines from the drawing.  It was.... awkward at best.  Again a shift one place moves another and the weight of the wood made things shift a lot.

The first ribs bent and zip-tied in place.  It is a fast process.

This is the steam building rig I made.  A 5 gallon pot of water, foil around the base and a PCV pipe with cloth over the end.  Really simple and works alright.  I imagine a good steambox would help but not this time.

Almost all ribs bent and in place.  I was trying to make sure all things were centered but it was tricky.

Here is all the ribs in place, still zip-tied but not fully secured.  This is the view from the stern.

This is from the bow.  There is still a bit of work before I can cover it but the most intense parts are are done.  I decoded to take a break and come back to make sure all pieces are aligned correctly.

5-19-13 Shelburne Pond

It has been years since I have ventured down to Shelburne Pond.  I knew there are a couple of small trails and having once kayaked it, it was longer than I thought.  It was close, which was useful on short time.

Here are the Wild Columbines, with their odd flower structure.

It was odd to walk these woods without palm trees, I think I adapted to the rainforest.  However, the coolness was notable.

I have seen this same tree from the water.  I love the way cedar twists and turns.  It makes for a pretty shoreline.

The lake is getting overgrown with some evil weed, milfoil?  There are warnings about cleaning your boat and I take care to dry out mine when I kayak there.  It is amazing how fast it will choke up the lake though.

More Paintings from Belize

Parting from Belize

I wrote this blog entry as I was waiting in airports and in planes yesterday flying back from Belize.  This is the final shot I have of this odd country that I will find hard to ever forget.

It is hard to sum up the feelings I have from this trip.  The places I went and the things I saw were remarkable. The ruins, the caves, the Caribbean, the country side, all have left a distinct impression.  

I wanted to see the real country, not some tourist facsimile, and I got what I was looking for.   The trash, some burned,  was scattered everywhere.  The mind blowing poverty sheltered in broken buildings while the countryside burned. And of course the incredible humid heat.

It is a developing country in all affects but yet I feel like despite the darkness there was a sense of untapped potential and opportunity. As the country grows, hopefully taking in the lessons about development learned through the mistakes of others.  I like to imagine the roads filling out, the trash put into dumps yet built, and the poverty will decreasing as people travel here to see this amazing land.  

I hope that I will be able to return here and see it then.  And perhaps there is something that the US, with is staggering amounts of laws, could learn about freedom from here too.  Maybe even a trust in its own people to make it all work.  Sometimes the trust fails, sometimes it gets a bit ugly but in return for a moment you might feel alive.  How can you feel anything but that sitting on the top of a Mayan temple overlooking the world after climbing a stone staircase that was properly perilous? 

I think that in the end though, what will stick with me is that smell of smoke, the palm tree over the villa and the little bird with a yellow chest dive bombing the pool for a drink.  The environmental fight for survival, the Caribbean beauty and the energetic vitality in one brief flash.  A colorful spark. 

The Mayan Ruins of Xuanitich

Today is my final full day in Belize. Ashley was able to join me for a visit to the Mayan ruins of Xunantunich. Meaning “maiden of the rock” or “stone woman” in Maya, is situated on the Western Highway across the river from the village of San Jose Succotz and holds the second tallest ruin in Belize called El Castillo.

However, in order to get to it you had to cross a river in a hand cranked ferry. There really is a guy that turns a handle that pulls it along the river.

The most excavated part is group A (there are five) which includes the royal residence, a smaller temple and the larger El Cadrillo coming in at 136 feet tall. That is damn tall. The cool thing is you can climb these ruins. We climber up the mid level range before pushing for the top.

You have to circle around to get up the rest of the way and it allows you to see some of the carved friezes. In order to protect the limestone from erosion they actually cast the carvings and mounted the casting in front of the actual carvings to protect them from the weather.

Finally made it to the tippy top. It was empty except us, actually the whole park was really quiet except the armed guards patrolling. The fog you can see here is not fog but smoke. The amount of burning was stunning.

Looking out a "window" over the valley. You can see where this is in the image with the frieze, it is the triangular openings.

This is the back side of El Castillo. It doesn't look steep but trust me it was.

This is actually a ball court for Mayan sports. Not quite the Pirates Stadium but it is notable that games were held within feet of the temple and royal quarters.

We wandered around to the other end where the royal quarters were. This is looking back toward El Castillo,this city was atoned around 900 AD but it is not hard to imagine people living here.

They also had some smaller carvings in the visitors center depicting rulers doing the whole ruling thing. I forgot to take a shot of the placard so I do not know which ruler this was.

Returning on the ferry, the man hard at work winching us across. A modern system with a very old principle.

This picture is not so obviously related to the others. This under construction home in Belmopan is 9 stories tall, and I wondered when we drove back into town if the owner is trying to finally ankle the tallest building in Belize to surpass the current record holder, the Mayan temple in Caracol.

I will close out with the panorama I took from the top. It was odd to sit on such an old structure while watching the hills around it burn. An odd moment. We came back to Belmopan for wings at an outdoor bar where they played dub step. What an odd, fascinating country. >

A Trip to the Island of Ambergris Caye and San Pedro

Belize is home to a bunch of islands called Cayes. today Ashely was able to join me in a trip to San Pedro on the Ambergris Caye located north of Belize. To get there you have to take either a boat or a plane, we choose the boat, longer trip but cheaper and it was a beautiful day for it.

It took some traffic magic to get to the water taxi launch because Belize City is a complete mess. It beats Boston for one-way street madness. However, soon we were on our way across the warm water headed toward the island.

One of the many islands along the way, honestly I have no idea which one. It was all very pretty and equally indistinguishable. We also stopped at a private island to drop some packages and at Caye Caulker.

We arrived on the crowded streets of San Pedro, everything you could want from a Caribbean island town. Small streets, mainly golf carts to get around. It had elements of where I lived in Californian, but at the same time completely different.

There were golf carts bike but almost no cars to get around. And an occasional tractor.

There was also a church with this painted sculpture in front of it. Most people do not know that medieval churches were all painted this way, as were the Ancient Greek marble sculptures. The Pantheon? All pastels.

Compared to Belmopan the town was in a lot better shape, and the vegetation much more lush. This was a cool thatched roof house with a cacophony of color.

All around were dugout canoes, but some must eventually be retired from active service, and in this case turned into a planter.

This was the place we got lunch, it was a huge thatched space with a delicious and much needed ceviche. I missed this when I left California, fresh seafood prepared in delectable ways was common and this brought me back a bit.

The view we had while eating was equally enjoyable. You can feel the relaxation seep up from the sand.

Just outside of the eatery there was a group of rusted anchors that must have been pulled up at some point, I like the picture it made.

We walked up the beach, found this collection of conch shells on the edge of the water. The water was such an amazing shade and it was amazing to watch the water break a mile out and have no shore waves at all.

There were a surprising amount of dugout canoes still in use. This is another retired one but as someone that has designed and made my own boats I found it fascinating.

So a large part of this ecosystem is the mangroves. They have been working on restoring and protecting the mangroves here.

Ashley believed that when she was here 10 years ago that these were not here. There were crabs and fish skirting around her feet as she waded in.

There was a dock there to with a door to prevent people from wandering up it. It looked like it had not been used in a while but made a great portal-to-nowhere.

There were these amazing hotels along the beach. When we finally got far enough north it turn a bit worse for wear but it is obviously how much the tourism trade has brought a little more wealth here.

There were tons of painted billboards everywhere. This one specifically caught my attention, something about the face distorting terror that seems to fill her eyes is captivating. Like going for a deep dive and discovering that instead of air they gave you puppies. For a brief second you would think, "Puppies!" But then the water would come in.

The walk back to head home. We ended up not going snorkeling, time was sort and we both felt like it was better to relax and enjoy than rush to try to fit that in. Just means I need to come back when I am scuba certified (looking at you Craig) and dive instead.

On the dock was this boat, at first I thought it was fiberglass but as I looked at it closer I realized it was in fact a dugout canoe covered in fiberglass. It was so insanely heavy and it the literal meeting of the old world and the new.

We took the last water taxi out around 4pm and then negotiated the extremely crowded and confusing streets of Belize City (google maps, thank you. Apple maps was completely useless throughout Belize) and the sky was dark from smoke. The slash and burning of the fields filled the air with smoke. For the first time since I moved to Cali in 2003 I saw a completely red sun, except then it was wild fires that had filled the sky rather than purposeful burns.

It was a wonderful day and I am not too burned from the experience. A final shot of the beaches...