What a Difference a Day makes . . . well, actually, 14 days but who is counting

Hello everyone!  It has been exactly 2 weeks since our last visit to the Sack of Crabs and all we can say is "WOW"!!  We will let the pictures do the talking.



Ronnie and Pogie (the builder) checking out some of the details

Dana, Frank and Susie on the dinner deck (Go Hokies)



Ronnie talking with the one of the "trim" guys in regards to the wainscotting on the breakfast island, stain or paint, hmm?

Living Room

Looking our from Kitchen into Living Room (left) and Dining Room (right)

Master Bedroom Upstairs

Master Bathroom upstairs

Half bath on the stair landing between 1st & 2nd floor with transom window and decorative alcove above

Master Bathroom on First Floor

Jack and Jill Bathroom on First Floor

The plan is to close on Friday December 2nd @9:00 and have movers and furniture delivery late morning. . . .the trick will be getting everything to go as planned!!??!  Until next time, sea ya!!

xoxox

Kim and Ron

Pogie and Team Shift into "High" Gear

The Collins and Stutts went down Saturday (Oct. 15th) to check out the progress on the Sack of Crabs and to witness first hand the damage left by Irene.  It has been about 60 days since we were last down and about 45 days since Irene hit Rodanthe, Waves and Salvo.  Irene came on shore August 27th, cutting 3 new inlets and disconneting the tri-villages from the rest of the world (unless you were fortunate to be able to travel by boat).  The estimated impact from Irene on the completion date of our cottage was approximately a 3-4 week delay.....nothing compared to the residents that lost a lot of personal affects and are dealing with damaged homes caused by 3-4' of moving water.  The towns are working hard to clean up the debris left.  Unless you see it first hand you truly cannot imagine the debris that is left behind in these types of situations.  Some of the items that were relocated by the waters of Irene anywhere from 50 feet to many miles away from their place of origin were mobile homes, decks, TVs, jet skis, boats, insulation, more insulation, fences, refrigerators, washers, dryers, soda machines, fruit stands, road side kiosks, trailers, road ways, asphalt, concrete driveways. . . I could go on and on.  Unfortunately, it looks like some of the business owners will not be re-establishing their businesses.  However, there were no lives lost and I am convinced the tri-villages will rebuild and prospers while establishing personal bonds stronger than ever before amongst their residents and businesses.  On a real positive note, the TOP DOG Cafe made it through Irene with minimal damage and was open for business!!!  We were thrilled to see that and enjoyed yet another great meal at out favorite cafe.

As far as the cottage goes, Pogie and his team have shifted into high gear!  We were so excited to see that the Sack of Crabs has all her shingles on, drywall hung and the first coat of paint (inside) on.  The exterior doors do not have paint yet.  This week (10/17) they will be laying all the flooring (upstair's hardwood, bedroom carpet and laundry room/bathroom 12" tiles) and then the following week (10/24) it is the cabinetry and trim work.  We will be going down in a couple of weeks hoping to see more of the exciting progress.  We are planning for a November 30th or December 1st closing which is only a 1 week delay at most.  Pogie and his team are amazing!!  Below are a handful of pictures.  In all the excitement we neglected to take a lot of pics - promise to have more next time!

Front and East Side of Cottage

 

Front and West Side of Cottage

  

Ronnie taking a picture of Frank taking a picture of Ronnie taking a picture.....you get the picture! 
This is the top floor dinner deck off the dining room.

 

Dining Room. All rooms are now painted but not trimmed out.
All windows and 4" floor molding will be in white semi gloss trim.



Kitchen - pantry is structure on left.  Sink will be under window. 
L-shaped knee wall will be the island.



Top Floor Master Bathroom - The color throughout the house is "Cottage Yellow".

 

Living Room/Kitchen.  The paint color is more of a beige with yellow undertones - hard to tell in these pictures.

Until next time - Sea Ya!!
xoxox
K & R

We're Baaaaccckkkk!

Irene has certainly taken her toll on Rodanthe, Waves and Salvo (also known as the tri-villages).  After 40 days and 40 nights of incredible efforts and a new 600ft. bridge span by the NC Department of Transportation, the Civil Corp of Engineers and Dare County it looks like we will be able to get to see the progress, first hand, on our beach cottage by mid October!

Irene hit the tri-villages on August 27th  cutting 3 new inlets and preventing the residents, merchants and seasonal renters access.  By Labor Day weekend Pogie (our builder) was busy making arrangements to get his contractors there by boat and finding them housing since getting to and from by car was not possible.  Miraculously, by the 3rd week of September work on the Sack of Crabs had begun again after inspections required by the county.  She now has all her cedar shake siding on, insulation complete and dry wall is going up.  We are waiting for an estimated close date, however, I suspect even with Irene, we will be in our new beach house before Christmas thanks to the work ethics and tenacity of Pogie and his crew!! I have included some pics of the home below. 

If you are interested in seeing the aftermath of Irene and the progression of the recovery efforts, the NC Department of Transportation has done an incredible job covering the efforts and keeping the residents, property owners and business owners up to date.  Here is the link - it is truly worth checking out:  http://www.ncdot.gov/travel/nc12recovery/

She held up well during Irene - missing some wrap paper and a few shingles but all and all pretty good!

The Porta-potty was no match for Irene :-)

Re-wrapping and putting on the remaining cedar shakes

Cedar shakes almost complete!



Living room and Dining room insulation is up



Kitchen is insulated!

Working on the stairwell/landing

The Sack of Crabs is coming to life!

Dry wall is going up - one of the bedrooms on the 1st floor

Upstairs master bathroom

Dining Room

Stairwell/half-bath/landing

East side of her.  Jet out is the half-bath on the stair landing

Back wall of Living Room and then kitchen is on the left.  Behind living room is the upstair master bedroom and bath.

We hope to get down to see her the last weekend of October.  We want to give the local residents/merchants some time to spend on their homes and businesses before we head down.
Until then - SEA YA!!
xoxox
Kim & Ron

Irene has left the building!!

.....but not without some destruction.  Anybody know where we can get a really good deal on a boat?!  Thanks to Irene our home is now accessible only by water!! 

In all seriousness, Dare County is underway working on the solution to replace the road in the multiple places where Irene picked up the Pimlico Sound and carried it to the ocean.  I have included a couple of pictures.  Pogie has already sent pictures of the Sack of Crabs and everything looks good.  She is a little wind beaten but no real damage.  Below are a couple of pictures of Highway 12, the only access to Hatteras Island.

This is approaching Rodanthe.  Left of the picture is North.  You can see a small portion Hwy 12 in the upper left quadrant and then another small piece of Hwy 12 resuming on the far right of the picture at midpoint.  All of Hwy 12 inbetween is gone.

This is another broken section of Hwy 12 further north of Rodanthe.  No commentary needed on this picture.

Another look at the entrance to Mirlo Beach/Rodanthe.  You can see the telephone poles leaning towards the ocean along what use to be Hwy 12.  Our cottage is about 3-4 mile south of this picture.

The Collins and the Stutts are headed to the beach for a well needed, week long, vacation in the Outer Banks.  We have rented a home in Nags Head but will not be able to check on the cottage.  The county is running a ferry for emergency personnel and vehicles.  Hopefully, sometime in the near future they will have the ferry available to residents/property owners.  I am not sure how long this will delay the construction of the Sack of Crabs.  The most important thing is that there was relatively minimal damage to the Island and it's residents when all said and done!

Until next time - SEA YA!!!

Kim & Ron

Irene is in the house!!

As if a 5.8 magnitude Earthquake on 08/23/2011 wasn't enough to shake things up a bit, Irene is determined to not be out done!!

Irene is proving to be one tough hombre!!


Pogie and his team are working very hard to get the house "weather" tight in anticipation of Hurricane Irene.  The plan is to have the siding up before she hits.  Pictures below are from 08/24/2011. 

Rear of cottage

West side - top floor

About half-way done with cedar shake siding.

I will keep everybody updated as I get information.  No need to worry about the house as you cannot waste your energy worrying about things you have no ability to change, just pray that Irene does not do too much damage to the island and its residents and that everyone is kept safe.  

Until the next update, take care!

K & R

Duct, Duct, Goose!!

Work has moved to the inside of the house.  The HVAC team has been busy doing their "thing" this week as well as the plumber.

 Living Room

 Kitchen

Landing between 1st & 2nd Floor

Laundry Room

First Floor Master Suite

Off to the beach again this weekend with Dana & Frank.  Picking out flooring and meeting with Pogie's Super "Danny" on site.  Walking through the house to confirm lighting and plumbing.  Looking forward to seeing the progress on the house and having lunch at the Top Dog Cafe. . . . fish taco anyone??!!!!

We will post the pics from the weekend soon.  Until then, take care!

K&R