Interesting Visitors

Mr Greenjeans is a fairly young iguana that stayed with us for a few days. He was very laid back and calm. He is one of many different types of lizards we have on the property.
He hung out with us for about 3 days before he finally decided to leave. He was particularly beautiful due to his more than usual vibrant green color.

(Don't forget you can enlarge photos by clicking on them.)

Moths

We have a wide variety of beautiful moths on the island. This guy is one we had not seen before.
George is moving his upper wing to reveal a lower set of wings. Most of the moths we have seen show the entire wing. This one is definitely different!





He reminds me of a stealth fighter plane.

Ginger was in the States for 5 long weeks. What was George and the crew up to while she was away in Oz?

They finished the ceiling and installed fans

and lights in the indoor/outdoor dining area.

We are making all the furnishings, cabinets, and bars on-site

The boards are cut, glued and clamped for drying and

planed and sanded by hand

The handmade drawers for dressers

frames for closets and dressers and

bedside tables are ready for sanding and lacquering

The sanded and lacquered bedside tables

built in closets/dressers and

sink cabinets and vanities are just the beginning of the furnishings being completed.

bathrooms

They laid the fossile rojo tile in the bathrooms

installed the glass blocks in the showers and potty areas

and finished installing the louvered windows in the baths.

kitchen

They built rustic counters for the first kitchen and moved the stove and refrigerator from the bar and grill over the water into the main house, since George wanted to surprise Ginger by having her moved into her new living quarters upon her return home.

Before she left for the States, Ginger ordered all the bedding for the rooms and new cushions for the bar chairs. All that arrived, and George set about finishing room 8 on the third floor in preparation for the arrival of their first guests

Enter the "palm tree" room

There is a very comfortable queensize bed and

walk into the bathroom

Walk into the bathroom to the sink and vanity and

private potty area and then

into the large walk in shower.

client room

The walk in shower opens out to

the built in closet/dresser.

You exit the bathroom to the bedroom and

the beautiful view of the wildlife sanctuary and caribbean.

First guests & sunset

Rick and Timmy were our first guests, and if all our guests are this great, we are going to have a very easy, fun job! They stayed with us for 2 great weeks. Here are their comments on their stay: "Timmy and I (Rick) had a great time and are proud to be your first guests. Just to help you out a little I offer a few pro's and con's. The Hosts were too friendly; the food was too good; the diving was too fantastic. On the con side - The Hosts were super friendly and hospitable; the food was great; and the diving was incredible. I wish you guys the best of luck." - Rick "Wow . . . What more can I say! I am so proud to be your first guests! I came not knowing what to expect, but I never expected the incredible treatment we received. I don't remember when I have been treated so much like a princess in a paradise. The owners are more than host and hostess, they become your friends. I learned to dive where here and I'm hooked! HOOKED on Ginger, George, diving, Clearwater Paradise, and all their staff!! I'll be back. Thank you for everything!" - Timmy

And, of course there are always those fabulous sunsets that Ginger missed terribly while in the States. (Yes, I know Austin has some wonderful sunsets, but there's a lot to be said when you see them over a beautiful endless ocean.)

Tile, Tile, and more Tile

So, what's been done since Ginger returned home? Well . . .

We are hand cutting and laying approximately 9,000 square feet of ceramic spanish tile. The mosaic is being individually placed and grouted, and George is sealing all the tile by hand. This is the indoor/outdoor dining area for D'Bonuron Restaurant.

What a view ! !

Click on images to enlarge

 

The happy couple shows us the view from the third floor sundeck.

 

View from the front yard

New doors

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New french doors to the gameroom and the sundeck
next to one of the rooms.

Path to beach past garden

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This is the path to the beach. Note that is passes
beside the garden... what's for dinner?

Capping septic/diveshop foundation

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The top of the septic system will serve as the foundation
of the diveshop.

New rails started

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We've gotten a good start on the rails on each of the floors.

View from water

Click images to enlarge

 

 

Here you get a great idea of what we're looking like from the
water. From the pictures, you can see that we have many of
the windows and doors installed and a start on the rails on
the dining deck and the sundeck.

Underwater paradise

 

Click on image to enlarge

Some prospective clients have asked about the diving here. The diving in Guanaja is called "lazy diver's" diving, because it is so relaxing and effortless. There is little current, the reef is nice and wide making safety stops similar to swimming through an aquarium. So, after your wall dive or the wreck dive, or going through the maze of swim-throughs, there is no boring safety stop, because you just continue following the reef as you slowly ascend. Because Guanaja is such a well-kept secret, there are little or no divers here, so you might see 1 other dive boat during your stay, but not likely. We basically have the reef to ourselves, which makes for pristine conditions for the reef and very nice diving.

Getting down to some of the details

Click on images to enlarge

 
Of course, the kitties must have access to the sun deck,
so we build a large "mouse hole" door for them in our
quarters. It will have a small door that can be latched
to lock the door when the kitties must stay 'home'.

 
We went to the beach and collected lots of these clam
shaped shells and sorted them according to size for
our shower floor.

 
Here we are laying shells into our shower floor.

 

We've finished pulling the wire on the second floor and
prepped the ceiling for the tongue-in-groove wood that
will be installed soon.

And more progress

Click on images to enlarge


 
We began painting the dining room as well as the guest rooms.

 
We continued to form and pour the driveway steps

 

We've poured about half of the driveway steps.

 

And completed the steps and landing to the third floor.

Recent activities

Click on images to enlarge

 

The digging for the septic tank was completed. No
Caterpillar backhoes here... this was all dug by
hand.


 

George painted the front of the building with the sprayer
Ann and Gene were kind enough to pick up in the States for us.


 

He might have gotten a little paint on him in the process.
Definitely not a good color for him.

Sooo.... What have we been up to?

We're sure you have been wondering what we've been doing the last few months since the blog was updated. Well, . . .

We worked on the garden
(don't forget to click on the pics to enlarge)

adding to the squash and melons we had already grown


In addition to what is shown, we have blackeyed peas, lima beans, mangos, pumpkins, avocados, sugar cane, and lots of lizards, frogs and iguanas

A day's pick

Not your mother's QVC . . .

We've been on a shopping binge, purchasing generators,

commercial stoves,

indoor and outdoor lighting,

and ceiling fans, among other equipment

Details, details...

We went to the mainland

and began research,

with George's invaluable input,

on tile . . .

Drying in

George routed the edges of all the rafters and grooved the tops for wiring,

the roofing materials were carried up the hill,

the wiring was pulled for the third floor ceiling lights and fans, and

the decking was completed

Plumbing

We laid out the ever-important septic

broke ground

and began the arduous task of hand digging it

Second floor forms

We built the form

for the second floor walkway and landing


and poured it

Let there be stairs . . .

The forms for the first floor landing were installed

Canelo supervised


The steps were formed after the landing was poured

And, Voila! We have a roof and steps to the second floor!

Third floor work

We built third floor walls

installed the rafters for the roof


received the insulation and zinc from the freight boat

and had it brought to our dock along with more sand and gravel

Vaulted ceilings

All the third floor rooms will have vaulted ceilings

We built a large cupola in the gameroom for airflow


Once the temporary support boards are removed we will install a large ceiling fan in the cupola

The insulation and zinc was put down on the decking

Plaster work

We plastered walls

inside and out

and finished the upper walls on the third floor

Front yard coming along

We worked on the front yard

adding terracing, trees and flowers

Curbside parking (not)

We created a mooring for the Miss G by cutting a large buttonwood trunk and taking it out in the bight,

jetting it down until

just the "Y" at the top of the trunk was out of the sand, and

connecting a tag line and marking it with a flag to create a mooring for the boat in anticipation of "winter weather"

So busted . . .

Some of us were busted playing computer games instead of working

Downtime

We purchased fresh fish - this 4' king fish was caught by Capt. Hernan with a hand line

We attempted to train Lucas, Cocksman & Canelo

George has some interesting training techniques

We cooked for new friends

Grubbin' out

We fed the crew some of George's famous seafood gumbo (YUM!)

Newest additions

We welcomed new additions

to both

animal

and human friends

Isn't he just the cutest thing?

Introducing George (yes, named after the man, himself) Gene Callis Powery!

After hours

We hung out on the dock with Sadie

and Shadow

and, of course, enjoyed the beautiful sunsets.

Why we're here ...

Click on image to enlarge

The flat seas and great visability make for some excellent diving. We finally got a chance to take a break from construction responsibilities and George, Kate, and Adam start exploring some of the local dive sites while Cap'n Ginger (wo)mans the Miss G topside.

Uh, where's the agave ? ?

Click on image to enlarge

Our garden has produced yellow squash, zucchini, okra, blackeye peas, melons, spaghetti squash & cantaloupe so far.

3rd floor pour (say that 3 times, fast)

Click on image to enlarge

Everyone worked on the day of the pour to complete the 48 x 70 foot 3rd floor slab in one day.

Prep work

Click on image to enlarge

While George, Adam & Kate began finishing the bar & grill, the crew prepped for the third floor slab.

¡Vámonos!

Click on image to enlarge

While George and Ginger took the Miss G through the mangroves in Roatan, Adam and Kate got the inflatable running and the Boo managed to get painted.

New company business card

Click image to enlarge

Here is an image of the new company business card. Don't worry, there's a version with Ginger's name on it too ! ! Notice that the logo has been carried forward to the 'Miss G'. So tropical ...

Introducing the 'Miss G'

Click images to enlarge

Here are pictures of our 25' panga boat we had built on the island. She's very sturdy in the water. We have had 2 trips from Guanaja to Roatan on her. We still need to have a top put on her and have the cushions made and she'll be perfect !

The Bar and Grill over the water is nearing completion and the 3rd floor slab for the resort will be poured on Monday 8/25. Once that is complete, we are well on our way to being complete. We will be taking reservations for Thanksgiving. Stay tuned.

(Editor's note: sorry for the lack of updates... that shouldn't be construed as lack of progress... the person banging on the keyboard has had no free time to update the blog for Ginger... mea culpa).

A Room With A View

Click image to enlarge

The Paradise Bar & Grill is located at the end of the dock out over
the pristine Caribbean waters and is open and airy with a 23'
thatch roof. Burgers and "island style" food will be served and
a full bar service will be available. It will be perfect for hanging out
with "locals" from neighboring Mangrove Bight.

Game on . . .

Click image to enlarge

G's Spot gameroom will have a comfortable sitting area for watching
DVD's or television or playing any of the many board games available.
We will also have a lending library and a computer available for
checking e-mails. There will also be a large sun deck outside the
game room.

D'Bo-what ? ? ?

Click on image to enlarge

The D'Boneuron Restaurant will be specializing in whole fish, hence
the name, D'Boneuron... Debone Your Own whole fish (if you're having
fish that is). The restaurant will be open to the kitchen, so you may
sit at the island and chat while we slice and dice. There is as much
outdoor covered seating as there is indoor seating. The dining room
will be air conditioned for those still, hot summer days.

Resort Accommodations

Click for larger image

Here is a peek at what your
room will look like. Click on
the image for a larger view.
As you can see, the rooms are
being designed to accommodate
one, two or three persons(a
futon can be made into a bed
for a third person). This
is a schematic of one of the
four rooms located on the
first floor of the resort.
Notice the huge shower...
enough room for rinsing all
your dive gear!

All 8 rooms will be air
conditioned, and the rooms
on the second floor are suites
for more comfort or larger
groups.

So, what's all the fuss about?

Click image to enlarge

Now for the detail on exactly what we're building. This is a sketch of the
side view of the main resort building that contains all 8 rooms, G's Spot
Gameroom and Bar, the D'Boneuron Restaurant, private living
quarters, a sun deck and outdoor dining deck, as well as a workshop
and hurricane shelter. No fancy AutoCad output here...

Has it been a whole year?

It has been a year since Ginger retired and left with George on their great Honduran adventure. We have had the dream of owning our own little dive resort in the Bay Islands of Honduras (Islas de la Bahia) for many years and finally decided that, before we get too old, we better just "gut it up" and sell everything and do it. We had some rough spots thinking we had found the perfect place and having the deal fall through a couple or three times during our first 4 months on Roatan. We came back home to handle the dive shop and regroup. We knew we had made the right move; we just needed to continue looking for the right property and place. After a couple of months, we returned to Roatan and decided to broaden our horizons and look at other islands. We ended up finding a beautiful 1 1/4 acre tract on the north shore of Guanaja. We had not planned on building our project from the ground up, but that's how it has worked out, and we now know that's what we were meant to do. It is turning into a beautiful place, and we are completely excited about it. We are enjoying the experience of creating it, but we are really looking forward to being able to share it with our friends and clients.

Here they are...

 
Click on image to enlarge

You can see from this image that there is not a lot of development
around us. Definitely no hordes of cruise line tourists here !!!
This is the place to go and get away from it all.

Where in the world are George and Ginger?

Click on the image to enlarge

Here is an aerial view of the Bay Islands off the coast of Honduras.
Copy down the geo coordinates (from the bottom left hand corner of
the image) into Google Earth to investigate the area around us
interactively (http://earth.google.com/).

Construction proceeds !!

Click collage to enlarge

The concrete is mixed crater-style with bags of cement and sand and gravel, which is hand dug from the river bank, bagged, and delivered by boat to the property and hand-carried to the job site. It is used for the lower and upper posts for the bar and grill and the construction of the "house." All equipment and materials, including the new transformer for electricity is delivered by boat. Gives quite a new perspective on 'manual labor'.

Clearwater Paradise - Guanaja

Click collage to enlarge

We have a beautiful crescent beach for all to enjoy along with interesting items found on the beach like Mr. Hermit Crab, who has moved into a glass knob. The "house" is under construction with beams being poured to prepare for the first floor slab. It is up the hill overlooking the beach and is surrounded by native plants like the lantana shown here that grows in abundance. And, of course, there are always the beautiful sunsets to enjoy... definitely a Clearwater Paradise.