It Never Rains on Andros In January

We woke to a clear day and set about pumping out our final anchor hole for pouring. Due to the high tide it soon became clear that we could not bail or pump fast enough to keep up with the water so we bagged the pour till the tide went down.

Back in the classroom we began our work on solar thermal systems, and then went down to study the hot water heating system at the Forfar motel. We are formulating our plan for monioting and modifying the system to improve performance.

After lunch we headed out to pour peir #4. We just finished the pour when the rain moved in. So we covered our work, gathere our tools, and headed back to the classroom looking like a bunch of drowned rats. The rain stayed with us till late in the afternoon and though we were anxious to get back out and finish our work, the weather looked iffy so we decided to wait till tomorrow to finish our concrete work.

We learned two things today. You can't fight the tide, and if you want a weather forecast ask Ricardo, not Pete. We did get to enjoy a lovely rainbow at the end of our day.

Bahamian Concrete 101

After our day and night of rain we woke to a lovely day. Our holes were filled with water but Pete Davidson loaned us a bilge pump and we pumped one of them out and started to work. In the US we typically call the concrete compnay and tell them how many yards we need, they back the truck up to the site, and start pouring directly from the truck. Not so here on Andros.

Ricardo is the maintenance chief here at the staion,working here at Forfar for going on 22 years now. He gave gave us a lesson in how concrete is mixed here on the island, instructing us on the finer points of dry mixing the materials first then forming a tray from the dry mix, adding water and turning it into a strong concrete mix. In the US we would add small gravel to the mix. Here we simply drop in some concrete mix and then drop in the large baseball to football size stones to the mix. Repeat, repeat, repeat. The sand here is carbonate based (rather than silica)as is the stone we are tossing in. In addition the carbonate stone is pourous and irregular, so it sucks up the concrete for a strong bond. Since carbonate is the base material of Portland cement the final Bahamian concrete pour is super strong.

Building Rebar Cages

Five of the students are enrolled in the Cultural Studies class and they went off with Pete for lecture and walk/talk down to the Maritime Arts and Inspiration Center. Aaron, Tommy, and I began construction of the rebar cages. The weather was not cooperative, blowing at 20 - 25 knots, so we did our work in the wind shade in back of the odge. We finished our work in time for lunch and then the rain set in. It continued to rain horizontally the balance of the day. Note: My compouter died this weekend so picture posts are delayed but we will catch them up soon.

The Beat Goes On

It was back to work today. We are trying to finalize our digging and be ready to pour concrete on Monday. Our missing rebar came in on the flight today so we should be good to go. We're are having one issue that we did not expect. Some of our foundation holes fill with water at high tide, and empty out at low tide. So we will do it the Bahamian way, and go with the flow. Concrete pour starts at low tide.

Exam Day and Junkanoo

Students had there exam day today. There was much groaning after the fact. Comments from two of the students indicated this might have been the most difficult exam they have had in all of their studies. Well, at least they all had Junkanoo to look forward too, following the exam, and they now have proper expectaions for the rest of the course work and future exams.

After finishing the exam, we loaded into vans with the Eco Tourism students and headed to Nichols Town. The costumes, dancing, and drumming were very entertaining. Junkanoo is a celebration initiated by the slave population of Andros. It celebrated the three days per year the slaves were free from work; Christmas, Boxing Day, and New Years. Tradition has it that the remnants of Christmas wrapping paper and boxes were used to make colorful costumes and masks. These were integrated with customs and dances from the African culture of the slave population. The festival is celebrated in the fashion of Carnival and Mardi Gra. It's quite the party on Nassau we are told. This local celebration was held at the local high school and was well attended by the local community. Children traveled up to 50 miles to attend and compete. They were adorable and they all had their groove thing goin' on.

The Big Dig Continues

We continued our efforts on digging footers today. There were definitely a few sore muscles, blisters, and/or abrasions. Tough going but the students worked hard and we are making progress. We also finished our curriculuum on wind turbines. Exam day is tomorrow.

Pete Davidson gave an evening lecture on the local festival called Junkanoo. We are going out tomorrow to see the junior Junkanoo festival at Nichols Town. It's a competition between the local primary and preschools for the best costumes, song, dance, etc. We are looking forward to it.

The Big Dig

We started our day with a brief lecture till 10:0 AM and then went out to start the Big Dig. We have 5 peers to dig, form, and pour to support the turbine. Each is 3 feet in diameter and 4 feet deep. This would be one matter if we were simply shoveling sand out of the ground. Unfortunately we have a few inches of sand then you hit limestone, ancient coral, which verys between hard and very hard. The students worked diligently, shredded a few pairs of gloves, got a few blisters, and worked really hard.