Huichol page 25 May 25th trip
Hold mouse arrow over pic for caption
(only works with internet explorer browser)
On this trip we essentially delivered roof parts and took up more cement and lime for mortar and concrete. It will take two more trips to get all roof parts up there including the 6" x 3/16" U channel truss parts and the balance of the 6" U channel 14 gauge cross beams that sit on the trusses. All 26 sheets of laminar, corrugated 1 meter x 3.66 meter galvanized, were delivered this trip. I plan to cut all the trusses out with the proper angles at my shop here and then weld them together at Campamento Agua Fria.
I didn't get a pic of the foundation work but
they will be finished with it by next Wednesday when we will take more roof
parts up and begin pouring the concrete corner piers. There is as much as an 8
foot difference in height from the lowest bottom corner post to the upper left
pier and this all had to be built in
with a rock foundation wall to make it all level before the slab could be
poured.
This is a pic showing the roof parts. The six meter U channel on the steel pickup track kinda tested it's strength. I even crossed braced it in the back in case we had to do any sudden swerves that would collapse the rack. That's a long pickup counting longbed and clubcab and the 21' castillos and U channel pieces overhang on both ends.
There was more weight this trip than I imagined.
I think we had the boat close to maxed out. Besides there not being any room
left to sit, we had to go really slow and water being cut by the bow and pushed
out was actually 6-8" above the sides of the boat. From left to right
that's Miguel, Chaleo, and Thomos.
Notice all respectable Huichols never leave home without their Huicholi bag.
I have one too that they made for me.
Shot of the water on the sides of the boat. Good
thing this was a fairly
calm day as there wasn't a lot of freeboard left like there usually is.
The neighbors come a long ways to get water from our spring, and the boats they paddle in with are very small, and sometimes when the wind comes up on this reservoir in the afternoons the water gets pretty rough with large waves; you don't want to be out there with a small boat when the wind comes up.
I modified the water filter outlet so they could
either send water from the
spring to the tank and use from the tank; or change valve lineup and bypass the
tank and use water directly from the spring in the early morning when the water
is coldest. The tank works good for heating up the water more for a warmer
shower. Mexico has plastic threaded fittings that pretty much replace the more
expensive galvanized fittings. Brass fittings past half inch are really hard to
come by. We use the black sleeping bag container bag to cover the filter so
sunlight stays out which helps diminish the algae growth inside the
filter.
They completed the rock stairway up to the
outhouse this past week. Can't
say I was too impressed with the finish work of the mortar and rocks but
as
long as the women can climb the stairs and get there it works for me.
There
is a big difference in what is considered finish work here as opposed to that in
the US. I put Thompsons water seal on the exterior wood and used a roof mastic
on the backside bottom where the outhouse boards mortar to the rock behind it to
provide a flowpath for the rainwater around the outhouse so it doesn't
flow into the hole. If you look hard you can see the holder for the red ocupado
flag the user sets out so others know it is in use. Page
24 pics shows the flag out.
Next trip we get serious with the corner piers for the main community center.