Barra de Navidad (House Building 5)

If you missed the previous parts,  you can catch up on:

How this whole thing started.
Building the dock on the canal for Sea42.
Building the House Part 1 and finding the property.
Building the House Part 2.
Building the House Part 3.
Building the House Part 4.
My blog on Barra de Navidad.

 I returned to Barra on my own for 10 days after spending the new year with my family on my last trip. The boat looked ok other than a few bugs making a home down below. A few hours cleaning up and everything was back to normal. Later in the week I had all-sorts of battery problems and I ended up taking the port bunk apart to get to the golf cart batteries. Turns out they were out of water. I ended replacing 16 liters (4 gallons?) of water. I later worked out it had been a year since I last topped them up. I hope I havent permanently damaged them, but they seem to be fine now.

In addition to the battery problem I had my diver clean the hull and check the zincs. It had been 6 months since the last time and I was interested to see what effect the canal water has had on the undersides. The zincs were around 70%, but the prop looked like a toffee apple had been dunked an a bucket of nails! It  was totally unusable. He spent a few hours chiseling of the small coral reef. Next time I will only wait 3 months before having it checked. I'm thinking that putting a thick black plastic bag over the prop during the summer should reduce the growth.

During this trip I made a trip to Colima and Guadalajara to choose marble tiles and granite counter tops. Its a 4 hour drive and would mean an overnite stay in the city. Marble and granite in California is an expensive luxury but in Mexico it is a good investment as the cost is significantly less and you are far more likely to get your money back if you ever decide to sell your house. Ceramic counter tops and flooring really date fast but natural stone can be timeless.

The house construction was moving at full steam and gave me lots to see. During our time in Mexico we have noticed some unusual Arabian style architecture that at first appeared out of place. When my mother visited last year she identified the cupolas and arches she saw as Moorish. After some research it turns out that before the Spaniards arrived in Mexico they had recently been invaded by the Moors from Tunisia. The Moors (or their descendents) have had a strong influence on the Spanish architecture that gives it the unusual Mexican/Spanish/Moorish hybrid style you see here.

We decided we must have a typical cupola built above our stairway, so our architect found us the cupola specialist and set him to work. Having grown up in the UK I saw a lot of fancy brickwork, but I have never seen anything like this made before.

The cupola brickwork is completed, every brick laid by hand, using with no forms. Not sure how we will finish the exterior yet. Some sort of Spanish tile seems common.

The finish inside the cupola is beautiful.

The framework for the palapa roof quickly begins to take shape.

The center column is put in place. The timbers are seasoned local woods that are rot/bug resistant yet strong.

Bamboo is laid across the timbers to support the palm fronds. Reminds me of thatched cottages in England, but with different materials.

The finished palapa is sprayed  and sealed. Check out the 20ft high plank he is standing on supported by 3 ladders!

The columns are treated with an acid stain giving a permanent wood effect..

During the week, some friends BBQ'd a whole pig. After 11 hours of slow cooking it was ready. If you've never tasted a whole pig slow cooked an open fire, it should be on your bucket list. Peeling off the bacon is the best.

 The painter dropped by and put up some different colors and finishes for us to choose from

The area for the pool is cleared and most of the dirt removed.

Digging out the pool. The bottom is below the tide level, so the salt water had to emptied every morning.

Lots of  fallen trees and roots made it tough work. This area was once a large mangrove swamp with tall trees until the canals were built in the 60's

The pool foundations and perimeter wall are finally laid after a week of digging.

The pool retaining wall under construction. Next, a steel and concrete wall is built and then another block wall before the finish tiles are applied. The pool will be in a nautilus shell shape with a beach entry. This is the deep end.

The marble tiles I selected on my trip to Guadalajara. Not sure which we will use yet.

We stopped in the historic city of Colima on the trip to Guadalajara. It reminded me of Rome.

I finally found some time to sit down with a cold beer and enjoy the sunset at Barra before I returned to California

During this trip I needed to sort out my property and city taxes. I had asked my local friend Pepe to drive with me to Chihuatlan city hall to sort it out, but I ended up doing it all myself. It turned out to be no problem and was all done in a few hours using my limited Spanish. I was pretty happy with myself after that.

A pleasant surprise was my city association fees which included using the canal, having my boat at my dock, garbage collection and 1 year of unlimited water use for the house, being just over $11. That works out just over 3 cents a day mooring fees for my boat. Slightly less than California!