Base camp is taking shape!
13 August 2012 | Abemama
Matt Satterlee
Dad moved into base camp this past week where he will reside for the next 6 weeks until we make our return trip to Oahu. I've been spending most of my time at base camp helping clean and tidy things. We have a hand helf VHF radio used to communicate with Caelestis. It comes in very handy. Every day we take into base camp more tools we will need to finish the block house which will be used for secure storage.
Base camp is layed out in the following way. There are three huts in line with each other and parallel to the beach. The middle hut is where the food is stored and the eating takes place. Two feet inland from the middle hut is where what we call the block house. The block house that we are going to finish constructing is about 8' x 10' with a concrete floor. The outer huts are where the sleeping quarters are and where the men and women stay when a dental team comes to Abemama.
One of the items we didn't sell before leaving the states was Dad's good Stihl chainsaw. Yesterday he cleaned it thoroughly, got it running and cut down a dead coconut tree at base camp. The locals build all their huts out of coconut trees and palm fronds and are very good at carving a 2x4 out of a straight piece of coconut tree.
Every Sunday the students work on many different jobs around the campus. For the past two Sundays, the principal Barnabas, has brought us 6 students to help us with various tasks. They work just like Adventist students do in the states to help pay off their tuition. They are paid about $1/hr on average for their labor Yesterday we decided to use them at base camp to help clean up the grounds. We used them from about 9am to 1pm. There are about 8 different burn piles aroud the perimeter of base camp used to gather the various wood debris that falls to the ground from the coconut trees. We also moved about 8 big logs to the beach and layed them end to end to use as benches to sit on and look out into the ocean. The beach front is now clear of small wood debris that washes up with the high tides.
The base camp used to be grounds used during WWII. We've done a pretty good job of scanning the ground for misc metals that might be anything from a 30 cal, 50cal, or rusty spring from a cot. We seem to find a fair bit of Australian coin laying around too. Mostly coin of value less than $1. When we arrived at base camp there was a hut that had blown over by some strong winds. Dad and I finished taking it down as well. We then searched the area for nails and other debris with the metal detector and magnet. We like to walk aroud barefoot but usually wear flip-flops to avoid getting cut by broken glass and we pick up any broken glass we see laying around.
Today we are leaving Abemama and sailing to Tarawa to take care of some business on the internet and pick up a few provisions. One of the locals that watches over Sugar Blues, the trimaran, is going with us. It will be nice to have an extra hand onboard to help sail since dad is staying at base camp while we are gone.
Nothing, absolutely nothing gets done here fast. One always has to remember they are on island time.
The shipping container that arrived in Tarawa has cleared customs and is looking for a ride to Abemama. Inside it are many bicycles that we hope to get our hands on....at least two. Maybe one motorbike. Gary Morgan is working on the finances for the motorcycle and we hope that will come through soon.
We miss all of you back home and will be there soon for the holidays.