Foundation dry and temporary electric roughed in

Super productive weekend... On Friday, (Friday the 13th!) I cleaned the remaining dry mud from the bedrock and was very pleasantly surprised by how uniform, level and blemish free the bedrock looks. The block and mortar was delivered by Menard's by an enormous boom-truck and placed down in the hole for installation later. On Saturday, we were able to set-up the temporary electric service pole, meter box and wire for hook-up from Hancock-Wood Electric.

Block and mortar delivery

Bedrock clean and dry

Temporary electrical service on pole

All good in the hood

We were able to open up Cedar Cottage and all mechanicals worked as expected the weekend of Mar 30th - Apr 1st. The mild winter certainly helped as nothing seemed to be damaged as a result of freezing or excessive water exposure. I was able to make progress on the Lower Cliff property by draining the three-foot-deep foundation pond down to less than 1/4 inch of wet mud using 2 pumps for ~12 hours. Heading back up to continue site work on Friday, Apr 13th. See ya on the rock!

Pipe contraption that I hooked up to move water from the foundation pond

 Water down > 12" since starting the pump(s)

Next morning, looking much drier!

Cottage opening weekend approaching

I will be heading up to the island to open the Cedar Cottage and work on the "Our Little Cottage" project build. The temperature has dropped this week, but I am seriously looking forward to my first trip to KI in 2012. The plan is to drain the pond where the new cottage will be built and other miscellaneous planning activities. Needless to say, I can't wait to get on the ferry this upcoming Friday!

Water front property

All of this unseasonably warm weather has given me a severe case of KI fever. Unfortunately, I have not made it to the island yet as we are planning to open up the Cedar Cottage the weekend of March 30th. My neighbor was kind enough to send me a picture of our lot on Saturday, March 17th. You can see the excavated area for the cottage structure is completely filled with rain water. This obviously will need to be drained and cleaned before the foundation can be started.

Well, I guess I always wanted a lake view!

I've got approximately 7 weeks to get the foundation completely finished before our builder starts framing. I am somewhat stressed but excited.

Ferry Schedule

Good news, it looks like the ferry will be running regularly starting in early March. Let's hope this mild winter continues moving into a dry Spring. See y'all on the rock soon! Or shall we say, See y'all soon, rock on!

Hancock-Wood Electric Cooperative

I had the pleasure of applying for electric service for the cottage via Hancock-Wood Coop. The employees are very nice and friendly but if you leave a message for someone you can expect a return call in about a week. The plan is to install a temporary service (on a pole) sometime in April in preparation for the foundation and framing construction. The full electrical service will be hooked up when the cottage framing is complete.

KI Neighbor Party at Sawmill Creek

Saturday night (Feb 18th) was quite interesting to say the least. Bonnie and I had the pleasure of attending the annual Kelleys Island party/pot-luck/birthday celebration at Sawmill Creek Resort in Sandusky. The usual cast of characters were in attendance and managed to live up to expectations. We spent most of our time partying in various hotel rooms, high-school style. We are now officially ready for the 2012 KI summer season!