A New Project.

Well we've been here just over 2 months now and the upstairs looks good, but the kitchen needs some more cabinets. I built and installed a cabinet for the kitchen sink, but it still needs some shelves and doors and we need another L-shaped cabinet and a wall shelf as well. We're planning on buying a convection oven to hang on the wall and for now, we'll probably just use a 2 burner electric stove top. We may buy a full stove top in the future, but it's not a priority.

So with a kitchen sink installed, Cyndi wanted to shift our focus to the downstairs studio so that we can have it completed before the tourist season starts so we can rent it out on a weekly basis. I cleared out the cabinet that was down there, it was infested with rat droppings and scrubbed the floors and walls, took out the bathroom sink and toilet and shower curtain rods. Last week, we patched a few cracks from previous water damage and primered and painted. I also installed a new toilet (not fun), and poured a new concrete floor for the shower.

I also started building a cabinet for the kitchen downstairs. We bought a small sink and refrigerator, when it's done, there will also be a microwave. This week we need to get the shower tiled and then I'll build a glass block wall to take the place of the shower curtain. After that a new sink and vanity and a bed, tv and some furniture and we'll be done. I think we budgeted about $2,500 to redo the downstairs and even with the cost of professional electrical work, we should make it.

When we're done we'll have a 400 sq. ft studio with a kitchenette, queen size bed and a foldout sleeper, probably space to sleep 3 comfortably. After inquiring with our friends who own guest houses in the area, we figure we can get anywhere from $45-$55/night during the tourist season, November to May. We don't plan to rent it out all the time, we have family and friends who will come visit, but if we can rent it out for even 1/3 of the time we will more than make our remodel investment back in the first year.

Or so we hope. I think we really are working so hard to complete the space so our friends and families will visit. We feel so lucky to have found and settled in such a beautiful place and want to share it with those we love. So let us know when you can come!

Let the Preaching Begin....

While I was in Los Angeles for a week, Cyndi volunteered at a Surfrider beach cleanup here in Rincon. They worked at Maria's which is a beautiful spot where we take the dogs often. They picked up at least 15 bags of trash; bottles, glass, cans, straws, clothes and all other sorts of trash that people take with them to the beach or that the wind blows onto the beach from the nearby road.

Surfrider held this beach cleanup day as a worldwide event, so beaches all over Rincon, the Caribbean and the rest of the Earth were made cleaner on this single day by volunteers like Cyndi. Obviously the cleanup makes the beach nicer, but so much trash effects the animal and plant life in and out of the water. I recently saw a documentary where oceanographers were tracking a giant cluster of plastic in the Pacific Ocean. It was hundreds of miles long and wide, made up of water bottles, fishing line, 6-pack holders and small plastic globules that are used in industrial plastic manufacturing. It was disturbing to see the amount of trash that had made it's way out to sea and the effect it was having on the sea life.

It seems pretty obvious that we need to take care of our oceans, but apparently not to everyone. At the risk of sounding preachy, next time you're at the beach, take a few minutes to pick up any trash you see; even if everyone doesn't do it, for those that do it will make a huge difference, and it makes you feel good.

The Rincon chapter of the Surfrider Foundation, http://www.surfrider.org/rincon/index.php is headed by Wes Merten. He held a meeting on Thursday, so we went to see what they were working on. There were only about 8 other people there, which even though a lot of people from Rincon are out of town this time of year, seems like a very low amount considering it's such a wave-loving community. The next project is installing 24 new trashcans at some of the beaches around Rincon. It's great that Surfrider has the money and the connections to be able to do this kind of thing as it makes keeping the beaches clean a little easier if there are less excuses not to.

Cyndi and I are both looking forward to being more involved with Surfrider and a few other organizations here in Rincon that make the town a better place to live. We're setting our roots here and it's important for us to work toward improving our environment and not leave it up to someone else.

How Can I Makes Some Money in Rincon?

The move to Rincon, came before knowing if we could make money here. Cyndi sold her massage therapy business in Laguna Beach and has started doing sports massage here in Rincon. It should work out great for her. As I've written before Rincon has plenty of athletes; surfers, mountain bikers, kayakers and divers and as far as we can tell only 3 or 4 other massage therapists, none of them just specializing in sports and deep tissue massage. She started by getting a website, http://rinconsportsmassage.com/, and added a free business listing on Google business listings, part of Google maps. She joined the Tourism Assoc. of Rincon (TAR) and got a listing on their website, http://rincon.org/, and a spot on the map of Rincon that is sold for $2 at many of the TAR locations. By becoming a member of TAR, you are also entitled to place your business cards in other TAR businesses. She spent the first couple of months here doing just that as well as meeting various operators and owners of inns and guest houses that can recommend her services to their guests. She has also joined a concierge service, http://rinconvacations.com/, that is a one stop-shop for services for the Rincon tourist. All this marketing work was done before the true tourist season starts in November and Cyndi has already done a few massages.

I had no plans, but a few ideas to make money in Rincon, so when we got here my agenda was to work on the house and get as much information as possible on what's going on in Rincon. There is still much work to be done on the house, but I also need to start having an income. My experience is in the restaurant business and there seems to be plenty of opportunities for employment either as a bartender or waiter at any of the hotels and restaurants around town during the season and that may be my best option for the first year we are here.

There are also roadside foodstands all over Rincon, roasted chicken, pinchos (bbq'd meat skewers), hot sandwiches, hot dogs, burgers and even pizza. It seems to be a good cash only, low overhead business that allows you to control hours and location, but the key is to cook what works and I will not know that until I've lived here through the tourist season.

The town of Rincon is small and other than restaurants, hotels, surf related business and services, has only the basics of stores; hardware, pharmacy, grocery, a few gift shops and art galleries. There really isn't much else. Any store we would open would have to cater to the swell of tourists who come during the high season and hope for some business from the locals during the off-season. A bike shop would be succesful here, but I really don't have the capital for such a large enterprise. We've thought about a pet supply store and several different service business', such as pool cleaning, but once again, the need to know what we're dealing with here is the key to any success and that will take some time.

I think of Rincon a lot like a new frontier, there are plenty of opportunities, but we have limited resources and the key to success will be using those resources wisely. Rents are relatively low, as are wages, but it's a seasonal town. Almost all the restaurants are closed for the whole month of September. For now, I'm meeting a lot of great people and getting some good advice about what to expect, but I also believe that Cyndi and I have a different and fresh perspective on the town and that is our biggest advantage.

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

I guess I've written so much about how great Rincon is, it's time to make it real and tell you a few bad things you might want to know before you make the move. We spoke to a few people from Puerto Rico before we moved here and the biggest issue that always came up was the "island" way of doing things. This means that sometimes things move very slowly here and you have to be patient. Coming from Los Angeles this could be quite an adjustment as people in large cities, like LA tend to expect promptness and the freedom to move through their day and tasks with speed and a certain sense of urgency. Yeah, that's not going to happen here.

I really don't know all the reasons for the slower pace, but weather definitely plays a role. The daily rains of the hurricane season break into the day and although its not oppresively hot, the heat and humidity make a siesta seem like a great idea. Also most of the roads are small and cannot be travelled at high speeds. When you get in a car in Puerto Rico it's best not to be in a hurry, enjoy the ride, chances are your destination will still be there whether you drive 60 or 35 mph. Because the roads are smaller, roadwork makes more of a disruption, a lane closed can mean your errand will tke twice as long as planned.

There are other related issues; when we went to register our car at the DTOP (Puerto Rico's DMV), we waited in line to get the right paperwork, then had to go to a different building to pay the fee, before returning to the DTOP to get our registration stickers. While we were waiting to pay the fee, the computer system went down, apparently it happens a lot. By the time the system came back up and we had paid the fee, when we returned to the DTOP, the office was closed, seems they close at 12pm during the summer months.

So the biggest issue: time, if you can't adjust to Puerto Rico's schedule you will make yourself go nuts. On the other hand, living in the Caribbean tends to make you more relaxed and the time issue becomes a way to meet new people and when all your days end with a beautiful sunset on a sandy beach, it's hard to feel too stressed about anything.

For me, the worst thing about Puerto Rico is the endless fast food restaurants that line the streets of the bigger towns. Anyone expecting a Caribbean paradise of small quaint towns with nothing but local authentic cuisines is in for a big disappointment. Mc Donald's, Burger King, and Wendy's are here in force, sometimes all right next to each other. Luckily, Rincon only has one such fast food place, a Burger King on the edge of town. There's also a Quizno's in a mini mall, but I think that's about all the chain type places around.

The language could be an obvious problem for many people. Spanish is the official language and all the street signs and official notices are in Spanish. However, many people on the island speak English and there is usually someone in each store or government office that speaks English. We've met people in Rincon who have lived here for over 10 years and are proud to say they've never learned Spanish, but I really don't think you'll be able to enjoy the culture and traditions of Puerto Rico without some Spanish knowledge.

There are other things; a stray dog problem, some graffiti, trash on some of the beaches, a difficulty finding some of the things we loved in LA (Trader Joes), but these are minor and could be a problem wherever you choose to live.

I really can't think of much else bad to say about our town, Rincon, and the island of Puerto Rico. Maybe 2 months here isn't a long enough time to see the uglier side of things, but I honestly believe that whatever comes our way, as seen through our sunset tinted glasses, nothing will be enough for us to question our decision to move to the "Island of Enchantment".

The 411 on the 413

Everyone knows PCH, California's coastline highway, but I'm here to tell you about the 413, Rincon, Puerto Rico's own coastline highway. It's really not a highway, just a 5 mile stretch of 2 lane road that circles around the point that holds Rincon's best beaches. It's called, "The Road to Happiness", at least on the stickers you see everywhere here in town.

But it really is the road to happiness, not only because of the amazing beaches, but also because of the views from the hills above the beaches, the sunsets from El Faro (the lighthouse), and the all the quirky roads, businesses and people that line and branch out from the 413.

It starts just outside the main plaza in town, a north west spur off highway 115. Just past the marina, which is basically just a small boat landing, the first few beach areas you come to, Tres Palmas and Steps, are part of the Tres Palmas Marine Reserve. These beaches are protected areas, hold plenty of tidepools and coral and are ideal for snorkeling, but can also get big surf in the winter months. A bit further, the 413 splits, to the left is a road that leads past the lighthouse and dead ends at the old nuclear power plant, but holds some of Rincon's best surfing spots, Dogman's, then Maria's and just south of the lighthouse, Indicators. North of the lighthouse is Domes, and then Spanish Wall, named for a remnant of the Spanish struggle to keep invaders off the island.

To the right of the split, the 413 travels up to an area known as Puntas and then 3 other roads off the 413 lead down to a couple more exceptional surfing spots and beautiful beaches as well as some beach side bars with the most amazing sunset views you will ever see. In Puntas, the 413 winds through a residential area, populated by locals and North Americans. There are churches, schools, and small businesses lining the 2 lane road. The Lazy Parrot, Banana Dang, Mar Azul Surf Rentals and some small bakeries and guest houses are also on this stretch of the 413.

Our street, Sector Cuchillo Pina intersects with the 413 at km 5.3, near its end as it drops back down onto the 115 again, a few miles north of where it started. It's nowhere near as famous as PCH and never will be (hopefully), but where PCH has a romantic coolness, the 413 has a magical magnetism and truly lives up to its nickname as, The Road to Happiness.

It's a Dog's Life...

By law, Los Angeles county doesn't allow dogs on even one square inch of beach, ever. There are certain secret spots that we would take the dogs, but always with the threat of being ticketed. It's ridiculous. On our first visit to Puerto Rico we watched a surfer head out into the water and his 3 dogs follow him in. They paddled out as far as they could then came back and played on the shore until he was done. They were the happiest dogs we had ever seen and reminded me of Sancho when I used to drive him down to the Huntington dog beach.

I've been taking Sancho to the beach since he was a puppy. He loves the water and is fearless when chasing a ball or a stick into the waves. He's almost 10 years old now and his trips to the beach had become less frequent due to athritis in his front legs, he just can't walk very far. But in Rincon, we can put him in the car and go to the beach for a quick trip without having to make a full day of it. He spends about 15 minutes swimming and gets great exercise without putting too much strain on his old legs. It's made him a much more active dog and I'm assuming much happier.

Our other dog is Pud, a little over a year old, he has taken much longer to get used to the water. We couldn't even get him in the car to go to the beach, but he has started to follow Sancho further out every day, he's overcoming his fear of the water and even gets excited now when we jingle the car keys signaling a trip to the beach. Our neighbor, Angelo, has 3 dogs that he takes down to the beach every morning to run and hike. I don't see a big business for dogwalkers in Rincon because people have the time to do it themselves and a beautiful place for the dogs to get exercised.

California prides itself with having no privately owned beaches, supposedly the beach is for everyone. But I guess that doesn't include dog owners, at least in Los Angeles County. The attitude here in Rincon is that the beach really does belong to everyone and everything. The dogs and horses and yes, even tourists, who roam the beaches can enjoy them without worrying about being harassed. Pud and Sancho don't have to stay home, we don't have to drive miles and miles, they can enjoy the warm Caribbean water with us and the other lucky Rincon dogs.

Welcome to the Jungle...

When we bought our house it hadn't been lived in for quite awhile and the grasses, shrubs and vines were threatening to overtake the entire property and they did, at least the hill below the house anyway. The landscaping wasn't a priority for the first few weeks we were in Rincon, but soon after Cyndi got bored with the work she was doing in the house and wanted to tackle the jungle that was our yard. The first thing we did was to hire a machete man.

We see these guys all over Rincon, walking with their machetes, so through a friend we contracted to have Sergio, a blade for hire, come by for a full day's machete work for $45. Our friend told us this guy could clear our whole property in one day, so when Sergio got to our house I explained how far our property went and to cut down everything that wasn't a fruit tree. For the next few hours I heard chopping and chopping and still more chopping, but I couldn't see Sergio. Finally after about 3 hours I saw him taking a break near a tree. I put on my work shoes and carefully slid down the hill, through the vines and trash and leaves to see what he had done. Of course Sergio spoke no English so most of what he said I couldn't understand, but I did get that he saw Papaya trees, Mango trees, Coconut palms, banana palms and two other types of fruit on our property.

He gave me a small green fruit picked from one of our trees that looked like a lime and said it was a quenepa. He seemed very impressed with this fruit and when I obviously looked like I didn't understand he took one and bit the skin in half and then sucked on the core. I did the same. It had a large seed suurounded by fleshy fruit that stuck to the seed and tasted a little sweet, a little sour, but not unpleasant. They aren't really eaten so much as sucked upon. Since then someone has told me that quenepas have the same amino acid, triptophan, found in turkey that makes you sleepy.

He also gave me another green fruit that had a yellow glow and said this was parcha, (passion fruit) and this grew on a vine down on our hill. We then made our way further down the hill to where he had been working. He had cleared about half a football field where the hill leveled out and turned into a ravine, but was mostly level. There were giant palms and flamboyan trees covered with vines that formed a canopy shading the sun. It was beautiful, but so hard to get to. I asked him if maybe he could spend the rest of the day working closer to the house.

And he did, but about an hour later came up to say he was done and that tomorrow he would bring a helper and they would get everything cut back in 3 more days work for $100/day. We told him we could pay for one more day and that he would need to work close to the house, but we couldn't afford any more. So the next day Sergio and his friend cut back most everything closer to the house and they even cut a termite nest out of our beloved flamboyan tree, but there was still a lot of work to do.

So we bought a machete, some clippers, a hand saw, a rake, a shovel and a couple pair of work gloves. After the plants were cut back so much trash was exposed that had made its way down the hill we needed to clear the trash before we cut anything else back. There were all sorts of left over construction items, aluminum cans, plastic water bottles, toys, a sink, even a refrigerator. Then Cyndi took to clearing all the cuttings further down the hill into the ravine. Occasionally I would help, but Cyndi really did most of that work and the we actually felt like we were getting the upper hand on the jungle that surrounded us.

We made our way to the side of our house where the banana palms were and harvested the first fruits of our labor, a giant bunch of bananas that were still green, but big and ready to be ripened by the sun. It was nice to be able to offer our neighbors something in return for all they had given us. We've since harvested quite a few bunches of bananas and made shakes, pancakes, fried bananas and even frozen chocolate covered bananas. It's been about 1 month since we had Sergio machete our jungle and its starting to creep back up on us. We actually love the trees and shrubs, but the vines end up taking over and killing everything so its back down the hill, machete and rake in hand. I don't think we'll ever have a manicured landscape, I guess we're not hoping to control the jungle, just contain it.