Opus Gets Another Chance
Monica fixs up a place for herself
Walt:
For a long time, Windward's primary focus was on making our land payments and keeping the power turned on. Beyond that we undertook the installation of basic systems such as water, power and septic. Since we didn't want to go deeper into debt by financing the construction of sustainable housing, i.e. systems which require a significant upfront investment in passive and low-impact technologies, for a long time we relied on small trailers and old RVs for individual housing. Two summers back we retired the first of those units to the "break down yard" where they're being disassembled for recycling and reuse.
Opus is a pug-nosed camper built on a 1-ton dodge frame that I have fond memories of--it was where I lived my first winter at Windward. But a heavy winter snow a few years back broke part of the rood, after which the plan was to sell it for parts. Monica's strong desire to fix it up ran counter to our usual plan of not investing effort into these old rigs, but rather to put that effort into new, sustainable construction such as the intern yurt (Acorn) and the intern cabin we call Octangle.
Since she felt strongly, and it made for a good example of certain repair/salvage techniques, we decided to invest some effort and hard ware into giving it the chance to be of use a while longer.
Monica:
One exciting thing about Windward is the opportunity to claim a space and make it your own. Upon arrival, you are given a temporary residence, to be comfortable while you check out all of the other various trailors, campers, buses, etc. I chose Opus, a little old Dodge camper.
I had a cleaning frenzy-- sweeping out cobwebs, throwing away and vacuuming up all the mouse nests that had accummulated in all the enclosed spaces, and finally washing walls and carpets. The only impediment to moving in was that the ceilings over the bed side of the trailor were completely falling in.
I asked Walt if he thought it was fixable, and he said that if it would please me, we would figure out a way. What we ended up doing was jacking up the ceiling, sandwiching it between two boards, drilling a bunch of holes through all three layers, and bolting it up with carriage bolts.
Eventually we will tar and cover the topside, but for now, it is a beautiful (though not quite waterproof) new ceiling! After that was fixed, I painted and prettied up the place, and transformed it into my little nest.
Notes From Windward - Index - Vol. 68
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