What a week it’s been! The team was on a high after finishing the second story slab, and took the weekend to recuperate.
They were ready to start stacking blocks for the second story on Monday, but a fluke rainstorm forced them off the ladders. The crew showed their ‘never surrender’ attitude by going down below to get a jump start on spackeling the interior walls.
Speaking of work that can be done rain-or-shine, check out the rehabilitation done on the main office by Yoseph Castellon and Alex Hernandez.
It is safe to say that this wood has never been sanded this deeply in the last 20 years.
Great work by these concierge-turned-woodsmiths!
They also put the finishing touches on Casa Tranquilo.
Once the weather cleared up, the whole crew got back to Casa Bianca and started piling up the second story of the house.
Captain William is leading the charge with his classic can-do attitude.
Just like on the first floor we are splitting the walls to prevent potential earthquake damage.
On June 9 we took a special break at lunch to celebrate Javier’s birthday with the whole crew. Javier’s son Dario came by to share in the party.
After the party, Javier showed the boys his technique for pouring window headers and door lentils.
The team has followed his lead and kept on battling up and down the ladder to complete this second story.
We have heard from an engineer friend in San Jose who has been watching this project that in his opinion we are working at double the normal pace for this kind of project.
This weekend was lost to heavy rain, but the crew of Nosara Paradise Rentals and FishingNosara are back in action, progressing rapidly on the second story of Casa Bianca
Fortunately almost no concrete seeped through the new slab…it takes precision to make sure that the forms are well sealed from below, and you don’t know if they are tight until the concrete is poured.
Satisfied with the quality of the pour, the team soldiered on with stacking the blocks for the second story.
Nine courses of block have been stacked and filled in just three working days. These guys are in a groove and the speed of the work proves it.
Meanwhile, the wood-shop-in-the-boat-shop is sending clouds of sawdust flying into the nature preserve like a steamstack.
The beauty of this wood is revealed in each pass of the sander, and we are excited to see it in place around Casa Bianca.
All systems are go and we are excited to keep going.
The crew hit a huge milestone on May 26 as Casa Bianca is really taking shape.
There is a lot of preparation to make sure the concrete pour goes smoothly. First up is to fit these 10-inch styrofoam blocks into the frame.
Similar to the first floor, we had to run the conduits, plumbing, and rebar for the second floor.
Of course the difficulty level of this process goes way up when you add the endless trips up-and-down the ramp.
Finally on May 26th it was time to put-up or shut-up. The crew started early and logged ten straight hours of tag-teaming up and down the ramp with full wheelbarrows of wet cement.
Then entire pour was completed in the early evening and we are so excited about this great result.
Great work by this team…the hardest working boat crews in the construction business!
The Nosara Paradise Rentals team is progressive at a rapid pace. For instances there are the eaves of Casa Tranquilo, which have been sanded and varnished.
This is difficult and dangerous work, but these guys are up for the challenge.
Of course the main project right now is the construction of Casa Bianca. We framed up the window and door headers.
Soon we will commence the monster pour of the second story slab. These styrofoam blocks will be encased in the slab, which is essential to save weight and improves HVAC efficiency while muffling the footsteps of the upstairs neighbor.
Here you can see the final form fit for the ceiling slab here:
Stay tuned for this amazing feat, as every drop of concrete will be poured from above one wheelbarrow load at a time. Here is what the road to success looks like:
Meanwhile the preparations for Casa Bianca’s roof wood continues.
You gotta love the depth and variety of colors in this lumber.
Look in the sky…it’s a bird? A plane? No…it’s the second story of Casa Bianca.
Now that the window and door headers have cured solid, the team has started to run rebar and frame the second story slab.
Part of building in Costa Rica is to anticipate earthquakes, and we do that by leaving gaps in the block wall and pouring in these concrete support pillars.
Here you can see Captain Alex and Captain Carlos roughing up the finished pour so that later we can add a wet-coat of concrete in a stucco-like fashion.
Meanwhile, the boat garage has been transformed into a wood shop. This raw timber needs to be sanded and cured for a few weeks before it is ready to be shaped into roof trusses, stairways, and trim pieces.
We are stoked with this progress and can’t wait to see what’s next!
The team in Costa Rica isn’t letting up on their work! The rehabilitation project of the wood fascias has now continued to Casa Tranquilo.
Casa Tranquilo is our second-oldest house, but you’d never be able to tell by looking at the wood.
Speaking of wood, Javier scoured the local sawmills for the perfect wood to use on the rood trusses and facias for the new house, Casa Bonita.
This locally-felled hardwood requires a long period of baking in the sun to dry out before it is ready to be cut and stained.
The ecology in Costa Rica is so aggressive that if the wood doesn’t properly cure before staining, the bugs will burrow inside the wood and chew it up from within the varnish. This kind of delay can (and has) held up our construction projects in the past, but Javier and Dieter are planning this caper perfectly. This wood will be ready to be built into trusses once we get to that step of the building procedure.
Casa Bianca is growing before our very eyes; one week after finishing the foundation, the crew has stacked and filled several courses of block.
The speed of this progress is astonishing, especially from a crew who are not full time constructions workers. Remember that these guys first professions are boat crew and office staff.
The next milestone is a real challenge: pouring the second story concrete floor, which is essentially a second fully-formed slab just like the initial foundation.
In order to get there, we first have to pour concrete lentils (or window headers). This tricky pour is a good warm-up for the big one to come. Here is a close-up look at the rebar lattice drilled into existing block:
Then we form in the sides and bottom of the lentil.
Also the guys were smart enough to pour these lentils on a Saturday so they can have a full 48 hours to dry and cure.
Exciting progress at the Nature Preserve campus as Casa Bianca is really taking shape!
Construction of Casa Bianca is progressing at a whirlwind pace.
Final checks of the rebar ties, plumbing, and electrical conduit were performed along with a final compaction test of the ground.
The whole crew was on-site at 6am for a long day of pouring concrete.
Once again, all of this concrete is mixed on site using a small tumbler; no big mixing truck or hopper…just shovels and wheelbarrows!
After a long day of humping buckets and barrows of wet concrete, the initial foundation for Casa Biance was completed.
Great work by the Nosara Paradise Rentals and FishingNosara crew!
Meanwhile work continues around the Nature Preserve Campus. The woodwork on Casa Bonita responded so well to sanding that we are replicating the process on Casa Tranquilo.
Also our vast collection of furniture is being sanded and refinished by Antonio.
Nothing helps pass the time like a project, and at Nosara Paradise Rentals our property improvement projects are making the days fly by.
This roof refinishing project is long-overdue. With a lot of gutty trips up the ladder and hours with a sanding disc, these eaves are looking good as new.
We always try to conserve materials, so we applied the excess stain to the house signs.
Of course our new house Casa Bianca is the main project, and all hands are on deck for this build.
Notice that there are no tracks from an excavator? That’s because this foundation was dug the old fashioned way: Shovels and sweat!
We were able to purchase all the materials needed for this job is one fell swoop. There is a lot of lost time waiting on deliveries, and that’s a problem that we won’t have to worry about.
We also don’t have a big cement mixer truck, so the stem walls were poured manually. Many hands make light work.
With the stem wall in place and the dirt tamped down, we are ready to route the plumbing and electrical conduits that will go under the slab.
Javier Hernandez and our long-time master builder Dieter are running this job-site with expertise and determination. That’s a good thing because if we left it up to these guys we’d have a problem:
Past guests of Nosara Paradise Rental should recognize familiar faces: Security guard Eduardo Hernandez, driver “Fast Freddy”, concierges Yoseph and Arturo are all pitching on on this project.
Maria has the kitchen roaring and is supplying breakfast, snacks, ice water, and (most importantly) coffee for the crew.
Vincent Van Gogh: “If one is master of one thing and understands one thing well, he has insight into and understanding of many things.”
It’s really impressive to see how our boat crews are able to completely reorient themselves towards construction work. These guys are masters of a specific craft (sport-fishing) and it’s amazing to see them turn in a strong day’s work while helping the team in the field of construction.
Nosara resident Maria Gómez: “[What a great leap from the sea to land the work on land is hard. Tired and sore. Wow!]”
Hopefully their flexibility is an inspiration to all the people right now who are out-of-work or in an unsure position professionally. A strong work ethic and openness to new challenges will always end in success.
Florida Sportsman Editor Blair Wickstrom: “Great work….I think I found a bunch of guys who want to get back on the boats more than I do. Looks good though….”
Hubble Keller: “I can’t wait to get there, looks good boys.”
Maria Acanfora Lein: “Looking forward to returning with my son, Harris and grandson Noah”
Ray Wimbrow: “Looking guys! Stay safe”
Candice Spivey Trevino: “Looking great! Looking forward to our next visit!”
Ginger Graham Hill: “Great job. We snuck our trip in on Valentine’s day in February. So glad we got to enjoy Nosara before all of this. We will be back . Everything and everyone was amazing!”
Brenda Taylor Russell: “Looks great everyone!!! Stay safe we love you all!”
Mirtha Bustos Carrillo: “[Beautiful that Nosara Paradise Rentals maintains the staff in such difficult times that it is a blessing for their Employees✌]”
Samantha Kenney: “Praying for you all! Can’t wait to come back!”
Mark Cooney: “Incredible! I’ve watched them work many times. They amaze me with their stamina and talent. Kudos to Craig, Matty and the gang for keeping everyone working and making decisions that are of benefit everyone!”
It’s been a tough few weeks for everyone, and our family in Nosara is no different. Though our area has been blessed with zero cases of Covid-19, paradise has not been spared the economic uncertainty that has gripped most of the world.
This is not what Playa Guiones is supposed to look like in the middle of high season in the middle of the day
The decision was made early on to maintain payroll and to keep our staff motivated to deliver great vacations to our guests, who we miss very much.
There are a variety of projects underway, and we think that everyone will be really excited about how we are spending our time:
The biggest project is the construction of our new house: Casa Bianca.
Casa Bianca is a two story quadra-plex in our nature preserve, next to Casa Jardin and Casa Surfeando.
This house is named for the longtime pet, friend, and mascot of Nosara Paradise Rentals. She joined our family the day we first purchased Casa Privada, and for 10 years comforted our guests, protected the houses from pests, and roamed the nature preserve as the Queen of the Jungle.
Casa Bianca is intended to satisfy couples or individuals who need more space than a standard studio and less space than a two bedroom house. It is also intended for students of the adjacent Nosara Spanish Institute and Nosara Yoga Institute.
We were planning to start building in August, but Javier has rallied the troops and began building the foundation in mid-April.
Ideally we will have this house complete before Thanksgiving.
The FishingNosara team has already run over 400 fishing trips since November. The boats are in the garage so that the Captains and crew can maintain the motors, equipment, and tackle.
These guys are ready to roll in May when fishing resumes.
At Nosara Paradise Rentals we have been addressing parts of the operation that are unseen by most.
This last off-season we were focused on renovating the kitchens and bathrooms inside the houses, which meant that other usual maintenance items got pushed back.
We are taking this opportunity to repaint the tin roofs on Casa Tranquilo and Casa Jardin.
The constant equatorial sunshine and heavy seasonal rains really do a number on exposed wood; so we sent our bravest guys up the ladder with sanders to do the difficult work of stripping the old varnish off of the fascias of Casa Bonita and Casa Privada.
We’ve heard of social distancing, but this is a little extreme:
Most of you probably don’t realize it, but each house has a small bodega (accessible from the outside) that we for storage. Between maintaining 14 houses, 40 safari carts, and 5 boats worth of fishing tackle we have enough gear to fill a warehouse.
Obviously in the hustle and bustle of high season things can get disorganized, and this sudden surplus of time has enabled the staff to get thing organized and cleaned.
To summarize, we are psyched up to get back to the business of delivering dream vacations. Our hope is to be reopened for tourism on May 1.
Now is the time to re-book your trip for the coming months. June, July, and August are our best months for fishing, and the town of Playa Guiones will be back to business as usual.
Here are the current details from major airlines:
Alaska Airlines: Open for travel on May 3. American Airlines: Open for travel on May 6. Delta Air Lines: Open for travel on May 2 JetBlue Airways: Open for travel on May 1. Southwest Airlines: Open for travel on June 5. United Airlines: Open for travel on May 3.
If it is not possible for you to travel, then we will continue to honor the deposits you have paid for use on a future visit in 2020.
We are standing by to help with questions. With God’s strength we will make it through this time and be stronger for it.
NEW FOR 2020: Family Style “Heat and Eat” Meals
Prepared fresh daily by Maria and the Nosara Paradise Rentals Culinary Staff. All foods are locally sourced, 100% Organic, Pesticide-free, and Hormone-free. Order in the CR office, and the entire meal will be in your refrigerator at 4pm with heating instructions.
Meal choices:
Chicken (Pollo Tipico): The Tico staple. Free range chicken with classic filling side dishes. Includes Rice and Beans, Salad or Veggies, and Sweet Plantains (Dessert)
Pork (Cerda Dulce): Sweet premium cuts that melt in your mouth. Includes Rice and Beans, Salad or Veggies, and Sweet Plantains (Dessert)
Fish (Pez Tres Veces): Your fresh catch prepared three ways: Blackend, Fried, and Sauteed. Guest-provides filets; must deliver filets no later than Noon on day of meal. Includes Rice and Beans, Salad or Veggies, and Sweet Plantains (Dessert)
It’s been another whirlwind off-season, and once again FishingNosara is locked and loaded for another great season of fishing.
Big changes are afoot all around the Nosara Paradise Rentals campus. The bathrooms in most houses have been completely refit with new tile and countertops throughout.
Casa Tranquilo got the upgraded bathroom and new kitchen counters.
Casa Neptune got a new set of window bars:
Special thanks are due to our world-class crew. Nothing would be possible without the teamwork and positive attitude that our staff exhibits in all of their work.
