31 March

A fine workday. Mostly sunny and low wind. I went up to the village access road and took some shots when I got back from Natales. In the afternoon the contractor, José M, came by and we drove to town in his truck to pick up the first 8 windows. We also went to a preferred hojalateria and ordered the gota-agua for the windows, and the trim. Also went to the woodworker shop to order the pinaculos.

The interior is becoming a little more weathertight with each new day. The Lexan skylights are working well, providing ample natural light.

Working on Sunday

One of the things I like about the current work crew is that they are willing to work whenever the weather permits, including Sundays. Lately they have been making decent progress on the all-important roof, including corrections for errors and damage resulting from the previous builder's work.

Today before leaving for the day they told me that we will need an additional 20 sheets of galvanized steel to finish the job. That doesn't seem right, so I will need to check tomorrow to see if that is right. And tomorrow the truck goes in for rear axle seal replacement, so it may be a while before I have a truck. That would not keep materials from delivered by other local means, however.

I see that the chiflonera skylights are installed. Inside the structure the stairway opening was expanded.

Tijerales, por fin

It was time for the tijerales celebration, even if not all of the roof is done. The lads have made a good effort, and they deserved a bit of a celebration as a way of showing some appreciation.

The day started out rainy in Bories, then overcast, then sunny, then overcast again. How very typical of the region and the season, here in the fjordlands of southern Chile.

Increments

Yes, I know in foto number two the framing is not done properly. Fortunately there is very little load on that span.

Thursday, and into town to buy 7 lbs of steak for the asado to celebrate the "Tijerales." And a lot of other food, wine, and other material as well. But good progress continues on the roof, including the cumbrera and the covering of the dormer room. So I guess the lads deserve a party and some good eating.

The wooden stairs went in yesterday as a "provisorio" installation, but this is going to mean a bit of damage during the rest of the construction phase. No omelettes without breaking some eggs, I guess.

The chiflonera, or external airlock-mudroom, has seen some significant growth today. I had hoped that the lads would use the older OSB and save the new material but it did not turn out that way. The Lexan windows and skylights are still to be installed in this room. The main locking outside door will be between the chiflonera and the inside of the main structure. Eventually there will be a door into the chiflonera as well. There is lots of "eventually" in this project.

In the fotos that show work on the roof, one includes a closeup of the ladder used by the workers, but they are working without real fall-protection harnesses and associated gear. That roof is the equivalent of a three story building. They are taking some serious chances up there. You can see how steep that roof is. When I was working up there with Nelson a few months ago, it only seemed right to be clipped in all the time, though when the galvanized sheets were dry and clean, there was surprising good traction. But all it took was a bit of sawdust from cutting the OSB, and that surface became treacherous.

Closer to Tijerales

The weather has been getting cooler, with chubascos, or rain storms, that usually don't last long. Sunset has been coming earlier and at times the dispersing rain clouds contribute to colorful scenes.

The builders have been making progress on both fronts: the roof and the downstairs work on the chiflonera-airlock and stairs project. The covering of the lucarna seems to represent a milestone and will help to protect that area, which as been suffering from exposure to the weather for too long. Inside, the addition of the stairs also adds a feeling that progress is being made. It is possible that within two or three weeks or so, the building could be at the point where it could be locked up and weather-tight.

The scaffolding has been an interesting aspect of the work. The crew seems to be doing a decent job of tying it in, but even so, the height in this wind makes it an interesting ride, I am sure.

No One-Stop Shopping

There are many things that could be written about the challenges of getting a house built in southern Patagonia. Some of them have probably been covered adequately in these postings. Some are below the threshold for polite discussion. And then there are the inevitable comparisons with how things are done in the civilized countries - an expression and implication that never fail to get Claudio's goat.

Number one, let us remember that even local residents refer to southern Patagonia as the, well, the buttocks of the earth. It's a long ways to centers of production and distribution, and by the time anything but rain and snow get down here, the costs of transportation and handling have brought about prices that are rather like what one might find in Alaska. Part of the price impact is certainly attributable to the value-added tax on goods and services, the so-called IVA, that is currently 19% and is used for a disturbing and nonsensical array of social services.

Number two, the concept of planning is not well developed here. I have asked builders for lists of materials so that some economies can be achieved in the area of transportation costs. Invariably the planning lists are not worth the cardboard box flaps they are written on. Planning is not something that Chile, as a nation or a society, does very well. And don't get me started on the subject of craftsmanship, though the current crew is better in some respects than the first group.

Then there is the question of when things are open. Much of Chile simply closes from 1200 noon til 3 pm. This is because a long lunch is more important than productive work. Don't expect those same shops to be open very early in the morning, either, nor after 6 or 7 pm.

Backwater towns like Puerto Natales lack many facilities. The hospital is, well, you don't want to go there. And there are no big-box stores, nothing approaching a Walmart (this is perhaps good, you say). So shopping for five categories of articles will often involve going to five different locations, which are likely to be widely distributed.

Some products are not even found in shops. Today I needed two cypress wood posts. This is not something exotic -- Natales was built on cypress wood posts for most of the houses and other buildings. There was not a single recognized store for buying these posts. You have to get them on the black market. So here I am, gringo looking and sounding to the hilt, down in the fishermen's quarter of this little burg, trying to divine what residence might be hiding contraband wooden posts. And yes, I did find some. And I paid about US$5 a piece, which is not bad. Perhaps I am one step closer to a useful familiarity with how things can be done here.

But the horizon for the completion of the Lazarus House is still way out there. The owners of Casa 9, and they know who they are, have been true saints for having me stay there, in relative comfort, while I work through all of this. Thank you again, D and G.

Ruta 40 Revisited

In gas stations along the more desolate stretches of Ruta 40 in Argentina there was traditionally a tendency to pause longer than was necessary for taking on fuel. The dusty old track, now being replaced in many sections by pavement, was often a fatiguing, bone-jarring ride across largely unpopulated areas, with sometimes 300 km or more between fuel points. At one of these remote stations, at Tres Lagos, I remember that I could get a small room for the night inside the station itself, for about the equivalent of 4 dollars. Those days are gone.

With the creeping of pavement and easier access, perhaps more tourists will ride or drive Ruta 40. That travel will become less of a challenging and sometimes hazardous adventure and more of a simple excursion, something even the Harley riders can do.

But at places like the old YPF station at Tres Lagos you can see the windows nearly covered by the decalcomania of travelers from the past. Some are simply advertising products, but most represent someone's notion of long-distance adventure travel. The little groups of Brazilians seem to be the best represented here. Tour companies like Motoaventura and Aerostich leave their stickers, and there are others I recognize from years gone by. It's hardly a unique condition. In back-country Baja, and Africa, across Asia and around Australia there are still hamlets where travelers left their marks on windows before the coming of the tarmac, just as pioneers before them had whittled on the trees and rocks.

As what passes for civilization drives its chrome and plastic stakes into the wild heart of the Patagonian outback, and what were once dusty outpost stations begin to morph into McDonalds clones, one cannot help but wonder about the fate of these old windows, and the tales that could be told of these earlier, and arguably hardier, travelers.

Birds of Bories - Part 2

Casa Lazarus Rising

In the first image, the skyline of Villa Puerto Bories. The red roofed house is Casa 9. The mostly blue roof is my previous house, casa 7. Rising directly behind that, the phoenix, Casa 7 Bis.












Nobody said it would be easy. But step by step, the work at Casa 7 continues. It has turned colder and darker and it feels as though autumn is upon us. The new work crew guided by José is pleasant to work with, and they seem to generally know what they are doing. They have pointed out some of the many design and construction errors resulting from the unhappy experience with the previous builder. One I was well aware of -- the need to add support under the very flexy second level floor. A solution or solutions for that are being programmed. But yesterday we discovered why the previous builder had bailed out, and had not installed the last section of roof. It turns out that he framed it wrong. My new workers discovered this as they were attempting to install the rest of the OSB in preparation for the fieltro and metal roofing. So now we have to partially disassemble the previous roofing structure and do it right. Do it over. This involves about 20 percent or so of the roof area and should only take a couple of days. Yes, I know there are many lessons to be learned from this experience, thank you.

Nobody said it would be easy. Somebody should have added that it might not be done right the first time around.

The work is now proceeding in chunks, each separated priced. Work done by the new builder is certainly more expensive than the work done by the previous one, but I have more confidence in the quality of the work from the new crew. For the next chunk we are installing the lenga-wood stairs and the chiflonera, the sort of airlock-mudroom that helps keep occupants from being sucked out of the building by the strong winds. The opening for the stairs at the second floor can be seen in one photo here.

When the windows get here later this week (it is hoped - they are already overdue) then the crew will be cutting the metal siding out that currently covers the window openings.

Let's see if I can load the image of the KLR650 being used as a materials transporter. The fieltro, the roofing tar-paper, is on the back of the bike.

It is expensive and time-consuming and not working out as well as I had hoped. But as they say, damn the torpedoes...

March- Conclusion of the Ride

It was a delight to travel with Lewis and Robert on this tour. We started in Punta Arenas, where I had staged the KLRs at Etti's place. On the first day we rode along the coast of the Straits up to Punta Delgada and the ferry crossing there. The force of the current in the Narrows, combined with the wind-waves, made for some interesting viewing where the ferry ships had to maneuver under difficult conditions. Our crossing was uneventful. Lewis was impressed by the good hamburger lunch at the ferry terminal. Once across, we went straight to the lodging at Cerro Sombrero, and shortly thereafter the Motoaventura group showed up. My "boss" Sonia was there with the new Ford F150 support truck (Sonia is the business manager for Motoraventura and I work for her when guiding for them). Likewise my good pal Alejandro was playing guide on this trip. I talked to Sonia about my next job for them when I return to Chile around September.

Motoaventura got started a bit before us the next morning, and we did not see them again until the Lapataia park in the Ushuaia area. Lewis, Robert, and I made it to Río Grande for lunch after a decently quick trip through both Chilean and Argentine customs and immigration wickets. Then we stopped briefly at an hosteria outside Tolhuin for cappuccino and then sprinted into Ushuaia. We stayed at the Canal Beagle hotel - most pleasant.

Next morning we packed up and headed for the end-of-the-road section of the park and then headed for Río Grande to spend the night. The harsh wind blew us all around and Lewis was suffering a bit from that and some sort of stomach trouble.

Rather than trying the new territory south of Pampa Guanaco, which had several unknowns, we elected to head for Porvenir and the evening ferry crossing to Punta Arenas, where we stayed that night. The next morning we make the long run up to Puerto Natales and from there did an afternoon tour of the park, arriving back at Puerto Natales that evening.

I certainly hope that Lewis and Robert enjoyed this tour and will have good memories to look back upon. The weather could have been a little nicer but we had a true "Patagonia experience" with a sampling of what the region has to offer, save for a good rain storm.

And now it is time to get back to work on the house project.

Casa Lazarus, back from the dead

Would it have been worth while,
To have bitten off the matter with a smile,
To have squeezed the universe into a ball
To roll it towards some overwhelming question,
To say: "I am Lazarus, come from the dead....

- T.S. Eliot / Prufrock


And so the house project is back from the dead, with a new work crew, here at the ragged downhill edge of the patagonian summer, where today the snow is down to less than 2000 feet above the Sound.

Headed now for Punta Arenas and the beginning of another guided tour around Tierra del Fuego. Looking forward to this one - it includes the possibility of some yet-unseen sections in the southern end of the island. Visor down...

The last few photos are of local scenery - mostly around Cerro Castillo.









Unrelated to the house - shots around Cerro Castillo