Category Archives: Bonaire 2017

Our trip to Bonaire 2017

27 March 2017

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 8 am devotions were at the site this morning, so we were able to start our work tasks by 8:30.  Yesterday, I mentioned that work seemed to go into ‘hyper-drive’.  Today that trend seemed to continue–maybe even faster as the newer members of our team learn where the various supplies and tools are located.

With all the interconnecting conduits installed between the three panels used for providing power to the 800 amp distribution panel in the power room, the process of installing the 500mcm (about 1″ diameter) cables began.  Two 500mcm cables are required per each of three phases and two for neutral.  This means there are 8 cables to be installed per run.  One run is from the 800 amp breaker to the ATS (automatic transfer switch and another run is from ATS to the 800 amp distribution panel.  There is also a run of 8 cables from the standby generator to the ATS but these are slightly smaller 350mcm (about 0.9″ diameter) cables.  Paul was the ‘work horse’ on this project–bending the cables by hand, or with a special bender at times.  I was kept ‘hopping’, just cutting the various lengths of cable as he needed them.
Meanwhile, Bruce was busy modifying connectors to attach the 350mcm cable to the standby generator.  The modifications were done and half the cables were connected by the end of the day.

Steven completed installation of the 18″ wide cable tray, and its supporting brackets, that run between the power room and the transmitter hall.  He and Lionel (a TWR Bonarian worker) had to design and weld the support structure for the last section of cable tray, which is a 90 degree bend into the power room.

While Ralph and I went to the duplex for lunch and a siesta, the rest of the team ate their sack lunches at the site.  By the time we got back, Paul had finished wiring up the two step-down transformers for the air conditioner condensing units.

Jim and Jake continued to make good progress on the multiple long runs of large copper tubing for the air conditioning.  For some reason, all the coupling and elbows are fitting tighter than normal on the copper tubing.  This is slowing the process of soldering the joints.

Philip and Brian installed conduits and 8 four foot lighting fixtures and in the transmitter hall.  These fixtures will use LEDs instead of fluorescent tubes.

Quitting time, 4:30pm, arrived quickly again, and I am amazed at how much has been accomplished in just two days.  Tomorrow, it should be possible to begin installing the much longer runs of cables.  I am glad that we have the six young men to help with this part of the project.  One of the cables is 100 feet long, about 2.5 inches in diameter, and heavy!  Actually, all the cables are heavy!!

We learned that the air handlers with their cooling coils for the air conditioning units are on the island, but no one is available to transport them to the site until Thursday.  Fortunately, we still have enough other work to keep us busy tomorrow.  Pray that these air handlers will arrive before causing any delay in the work.

I joined Steven, Paul, Phil, Bruce and Jake or a half-hour cool-off swim Bachelor Beach before supper.

Supper this evening was rice and chicken, peas, cole slaw, and pear halves.  Dessert was a Dutch wafer cookie called stroopwafel.  In addition to water, there was again ice tea and lemonade for drinks.  We really appreciate all the effort on the part of Maryjane and Virginia!

27 March 2017

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Instead of going to the site first thing this morning, it was requested that all 11 of us come to the office for devotions to meet all the staff there.  Ralph was asked to give a short devotional.  The Snyders celebrated the birth of their first grandchild by making a treat for everyone.  It was like a crispy cookie with little pink-and-white sugar-coated pellets (BB sized) on top.  Inside, the pellets were licorice flavored.

We got to the site about 9:30am and, with our additional crew of 8 young men, our work seemed to go into ‘hyperdrive’!  Paul and Jake worked with me and within two hours all three remaining panels (one 1,200 amp breaker, one 800 amp breaker and one 400 amp distribution) were all moved in and anchored to the wall.  Paul then began to install the 4″ and 3″ interconnecting conduits between the 800 amp breaker panel, the automatic transfer switch and the 800 amp distribution panel.  By using these conduits, it will be possible to keep the trenches under the panels clearer for the power company’s cables.  Brian helped by installing cable lugs on terminals of the two transformers and the automatic transfer switch.

Meanwhile, Steven began installation of the 40 feet of 18″ wide cable tray, and its supporting brackets, that run between the power room and the transmitter hall.  Jake began helping his uncle Jim with running the large copper tubing required for the air conditioning.  The others began to run conduits from the 200 amp panel in the transmitter hall for lights and outlets inside that part of the building.

While I brought Ralph back to the duplex for lunch and a siesta, the others ate their sack lunches at the site.

The work continued in the afternoon with installing additional conduits for the two transformers for the condensing units into the trench.  Circuit breakers were swapped around in the 800 amp distribution panel to allow for neater wiring.  The large cables from the standby generator were moved around in the 6-foot-deep by 1-foot-wide trench (that circumvents the room on three sides) to make the wiring look neater after all the connections are made.  Wooden supports were made to hold other cables off the bottom of the trench.  This will allow the power company’s cables to easily cross underneath.

Quitting time, 4:30pm, arrived quickly and all of us ‘younger men’ swam at Hilma Hooker Beach (http://www.scubadiving.com/dive-hilma-hooker), just across the road from the transmitter site gate.

Supper this evening was sloppy joes, beans, ‘glorified rice’ (http://allrecipes.com/recipe/22627/glorified-rice/), potato salad and lettuce salad with craisins and sunflower seeds.  Dessert was a snicker doodle cookie.  In addition to water, there was ice tea and lemonade for drinks.

26 March 2017

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All 11 of us went to the International Bible Church (www.bonaireibc.org) this morning for their worship service at 9 am.  The church has no air conditioning, but has large windows and doors to let any available breeze pass through the building.  The message on the finished work of Christ was such a good reminder that our salvation does not depend on our works.  The pastor reminded us that we should be concentrating on ‘renewing our minds’ rather than trying to do works in our own strength.

After church, Daryl and Carol Van Dyken invited us to convoy with them on a tour of the north end of the island of Bonaire.  We had a quick dinner at our duplex then met them at 1 pm.  We took the road north on the west coast to Gotomeer (lake with a few flamingos).  Since there was a cruise ship in port, there were tour buses and cars blocking all the scenic points.  We traveled on to the Rincon, the first town on Bonaire established by Spain in the 1500s.

We then arrived at the east coast of Bonaire where there are 12 large wind turbines.  The wind is almost always blowing out of the east, but like with any wind or solar energy source, there is still need for oil fueled engines on standby to make up for this power when the wind is calm or the sun doesn’t shine.

At the south end of the line of wind turbines are some undercut rocks with ancient paintings.  From there we traveled the shorter route back to Kralendijk, the capital of Bonaire.  It is the second, and only other, town established on Bonaire.

After arriving back at the duplex, most of us men went to Bachelor Beach to cool down before supper.

Since the internet seems to be working fairly consistently, I used Skype to make my usual Sunday evening phone call to my mother in Colorado.  We then Skyped Allan, Joyce and family and tried out our new webcam.

25 March 2017

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Normally no one works at the site on Saturday, so we took the day off to relax and recover. Since our whole team of 9 men will be here next week, we will request to be allowed to work next Saturday, unless we are way ahead of schedule with the work we want to do.

Six of Ralph’s grandsons (one is actually a grandson-in-law) arrived on the 1:30pm flight from Newark. They had all flown to Newark the night before (3 from Michigan and 3 from California) and spent the night in the Newark airport. Their names are Steven, Paul Phil, Brian, Bruce and Jake — ages 17 to 32.

Since the TWR Toyota Hilux pickup that we are using can only seat six people, Ralph rented another Hilux pickup like it (only newer) at the airport to accommodate our crew for the next two weeks. Maryjane and Virginia had lunch ready for everyone when we got them back from the airport. Even though our numbers only doubled, plus one, the amount of food eaten nearly quadrupled!!

After lunch, Jim and I took these young men by the transmitter site then on to the salt pier. The smaller ship that we saw yesterday was already filled and gone and another, even smaller ship, was getting ready to receive its load of salt. The two ship loads of salt that were taken hardly seemed to have even made a dent in the ‘mountains’ of salt waiting to be loaded.

We then went to Coco Beach, by the TWR office north of town, where we swam with Daryl VanDyken, the project manager, his wife Carol and two men that also just arrived from Alabama. Jim, Ralph’s son, taught all of his nephews the basics of snorkeling and ‘they were off’ to check out the beautiful fish found on Bonaire. All but the one who swallowed too much salt water through his snorkel were elated by what they saw.

Maryjane and Virginia had a huge pan of spaghetti, vegetables, and salad ready by the time we all got back from the beach, got the sand rinsed off in the shower at the back of the house, and then showered inside to get the rest of the salt water off.

After supper, everyone sat around the table and sang hymns. What awesome singing, with all the parts! Someone counted that 22 songs, nearly all hymns, were sung including all the verses. Rarely did anyone have to look up the third or fourth verse in a hymnal.

After not getting a good night of rest on their trip here, all the young men were in bed by about 9pm and quiet.

24 March 2017

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On the way to the site we decided to check out the ship at the salt pier to see how low it was floating in the water after being filled to near full-capacity. As we looked down the coast we could see that it was already gone. We did notice another smaller ship appeared to be heading towards the salt pier.Ralph and I had hoped to install the remaining three large breaker panels in the power room, but we had to change plans because the construction crew was installing the door on that room. Instead we began installing the new 200 amp distribution panel in the new transmitter room to replace a much older small one.

This is where I saw Ralph’s electrical experience at its best! By attaching a 2X4 to the side of the old panel, he was able to rotate the whole panel 90 degrees to the wall. All this time, the old panel was still providing power. Next we were able to install the larger panel where the old one had been. Then began the process of one-by-one switching each circuit from the old to the new panel. Individually, each circuit was without power for a very short time.

On the way home for lunch and siesta, we noticed that the small ship we had seen this morning was now at the salt pier, but the conveyor was not yet in place for loading.

In the process of installing the 200 amp panel this morning and in the loft directly above the panel, we noticed a huge jumble of conduits and wire duct that was connected to it. It looked like something that had evolved over the last 50 years!! We decided to remove this mess as 80% of it was no longer being used. When the rest of our team comes next week, we plan to have them replace this original ‘jumble’ with one conduit and a 4X4 junction box. Additional circuits will need to be added where multiple outlets and lights are all being feed by one circuit.

Since the internet was working at the site, I took the last hour of the day to read and answer the emails that had accumulated for the last two days.

Upon leaving the site this evening, we noticed that conveyor at the salt pier was extended for loading the ship that arrived around noon.

No swim this evening–the VanderWerfs and we were invited to the Bernard Oosterhoff family for supper. Bernard and his family are from Holland and he is the station manager. They had prepared a traditional Dutch ‘comfort food’ called boerenkool stampot (mashed potatoes and kale) with sausage and gravy. In addition they prepared a vegetable lasangna for those who may not care for the Dutch food. That would not have been necessary, as everyone had a second helping of stampot. Ralph, who came to the U.S. from Holland as a 10-year-old child, had at least three helpings!

Just before leaving the house for supper, we noticed the internet connection was finally working. So this report should not be delayed like the previous two day’s.

Tomorrow (Saturday) no one will be at the site, so the plan is to do some relaxing before Ralph’s six grandsons arrive on the 6:15pm flight from Newark. They are all planning to spend tonight in the Newark airport! When they get here things will get much livelier for the next two weeks!!