Some Swell and an Employee Revolt

The Project: We got the main part of a retaining wall finished yesterday on the property, made out of coconut palm trees laid on their sides with rebar tacked in, and it looks great. No one has ever seen this type of wall down here before, so we´re kind of pioneering some building styles.. cool. It worked for us becuase the palms were free from another spot, and a lot of chain saw work and trucks loads got them there. We added gravel to the trench and backed it with rubble for drainage in the rainy season. A little treatment on the bottoms and ends and some rebar hammered into pilot holes makes for a great looking natural and cheap wall. Pictures to come. The goal of this project is to use as many natural and local materials as possible. Bamboo has already been purchased and TS has a bazzillion ideas for how he wants to use it.
Surfing: I had a really fun surf yesterday morning (although challenging) - I didn´t do super well, but I left the water with a smile cuz the waves were just awesome.There was a swell (6 feet at 14 seconds) with a strong offshore wind which means they stand up longer before falling over. It felt like heavy rain-soft hail on the backside of every wave I duckdove from all the water getting blown off the lip from behind me. There were a few times I couldn´t see well enough to drop in, due to the amount of spray getting blown up and over the wave from the winds. Even though it may not sound like it, it was pretty much the best conditions to surf in; offshore winds with a swell. now I just have to get a lot better at catching all the waves that I paddle for. everyone out there was laughing and yelling and encouraging each other, which doesn´t happen too often in many surf spots (due to the competitive nature of having a limited amount of waves rolling through and too many people in the world that like to surf). One thing about El Zonte is that by now we know most of the locals by name and when we see them in the water it´s usually pretty amiable. Mostly it´s just kids now anyway, many of the older guys wait for the coming swells that I am afraid will be coming before I¨m in shape for them. 10-15 foot waves are common in about a month.

Life: Tim Sorensen and his parents (who are in town for a couple weeks) are taking off today to Antigua Guatemala, so I¨m heading up the prop for a few days. Everything should be cool, we hope.... His workers had a little revolt today; they said the new project of digging holes for fence posts was too hard and they wanted more money. Classic. I guess you can´t escape employee needs in any society (even during an economic downturn). TS fixed it though, and they were happily digging away this morning when we saw them last. In case you´re wondering how the situation got fixed, he promised them a bonus at the end of this particular project, if they finish up in 2.5 days before he gets back. Easy.