Chapter 30

September 2004

The house on Windmill Island wasn't quite done yet, but they were down to fiddle pieces and details, most of which could be done while the Newtons were living there. From a distance it looked like something out of a story book, at least to the untrained eye, but a second look belied it. The cedar shake shingles on the walls, the roof and the tower were still new and unweathered, a rich, warm brown; in a few years they would have weathered to a gray that would make the windmill look like it had stood there for many decades. A still closer look would still show a lie, for the sails were a high-tech polymer material that didn't have to be furled, just feathered like no English or Dutch windmill had ever done.

Getting the sails up to the top of the tower along with the associated machinery and cap was an interesting experience for Clark Construction. Even Don had to mostly stand back and watch as the Newtons, a couple of riggers, and some people from the company that had done the fabrication took charge. There was no way to get a crane big enough to do the job out to the island, and using the hot air balloon had been a stroke of genius, as far as Randy had been concerned. It was something to remember, and something that Randy hoped he never had to be involved in again, but it had worked well.

The job was cumbersome, and the work had to be done nearly at dawn when the air was still. The first morning they used the balloon, Randy paddled his sea kayak out to the island well before dawn, in fact it was still dark when he got on the water. Once out to the island, there wasn't much to do but stand around sipping coffee with Don and most of the rest of the Clark Construction crew that had showed up early to watch the show before they got down to their normal work. It was just starting to get light when Dave and Stacy began to inflate the balloon, which when laid out flat, covered a good part of one side of the island. A big propane burner was involved, and Randy just couldn't see how Dave and Stacy could inflate it without burning everything to a crisp. They'd done it many times before, though, and as the sun came up the balloon was floating low over the island.

While Stacy rode the balloon to handle the controls as needed, the balloon was kept tethered to the ground. The backhoe was used to keep it from floating away, and there were several lines attached that allowed them to lift the hub section up to the ring that had been one of the first things erected. Bolting that into place took some time, and since things were still quiet it was decided to try and get at least one of the sails up. It was impressive to watch the balloon pick up the sail, and quite a bit of maneuvering back and forth was required before it was aligned and the riggers could bolt it into place. By then there was a hint of a breeze, but still they decided to try the second sail while they still had the chance.

This took a little more maneuvering, as the balloon had to lift the sail from the other end and take it higher. There were a few anxious moments when the breeze picked up a little, but it died back down again long enough for them to get the opposing sail bolted into place.

By then Dave and Stacy figured there had been enough betting on the wind for one day, so they brought the balloon down and let the hot air out. They started again early the next morning, with Randy and Don watching again, and got the other two sails and the cap into place, along with the fantail that would turn the windmill into the wind automatically, then landed the balloon and began to pack it up.

Dave, Stacy, and the fabricator crew had spent much of the rest of the day getting the mechanical parts of the windmill hooked up. As soon as the final piece was in, they let the fantail slowly swing the sails into the wind for the first time and released the brake on the sails. Much to everybody's amazement, it really worked! Though the sails turned slowly, the DC generator was geared up and shoved amps into the batteries in the basement of the house – they had been a real pain to bring to the island since they pushed the limits of the raft's capacity. And now, the output from the batteries was run through an inverter to give them usable AC power.

Dave and Stacy stayed around for several days to make sure things were working right, and while they were there the Clark Construction power tools were being run by wind power. Randy was busy with other things by that time, but he still thought it was pretty neat.

But that was in the past, now – all more than a month ago. There were a few minor items that needed to be done yet, and some of them would wait for the slow days of the winter. Still, since it was before winter set in and the leaves were at their prettiest, Dave and Stacy had decided to hold an open house for the Clark Construction crew, their friends and families, and anyone else involved in the building of the unique, isolated house.

Thus it was that Nicole, Rachel, and Jared rode the raft to the island on one of its final trips before being dismantled and hauled away; Randy met them at the landing, where his sea kayak was pulled up on shore. It was in the afternoon of a particularly nice day, with puffy white clouds overhead, the trees turning color, and a steady breeze turning the sails of the windmill in a stately manner. Nicole and Rachel had only seen the windmill from the shore before, and now they got a good look at it. "That," Rachel said, "Is quite a house."

"It's far and away the wildest thing Clark Construction has ever built," Randy agreed. "But it came out better than I expected, and the Newtons are very satisfied with it. They're planning on spending quite a bit of time out here in it this winter."

"How are they going to get back and forth when the ice is thin?" Nicole asked. "That really worries me, and I don't think they'd want to be stuck here for a month or more."

"Actually, they're looking forward to it," Randy replied. "Their jobs are winding down and they're looking forward to some down time. But if they want to get off the island while the ice is thin, they're getting a hovercraft. Then the ice won't matter."

"A hovercraft? One of those things with fans so it rides on an air cushion?"

"Yeah, they out-teched my thinking on that, too," Randy shrugged. "That was one of those things I should have thought of, but I never did."

"They think of everything, don't they?" Rachel commented.

"I hope so," Randy replied. "They sure have thought of a lot, but it's the things that you don't think about on a project like this that concern me. I just hope they don't get surprised too badly."

They walked up the path to the front door, where Dave and Stacy waited to greet them. Both of them had met Nicole and Rachel before, and they were giddy with excitement about their dream house. Since there were a lot of guests, Jim Wooten had been pressed into service as a tour guide – he was the only Clark Construction man who had been on the project from start to finish. The backhoe had only been floated back to shore a few days ago, but Jim was just about as proud of his involvement with the project as the Newtons were.

Jim led them through the house, pointing out some of its unique features, and then led them up into the tower, which contained bedrooms and an office. It was interesting to stand in the bedroom high in the tower and see the sails of the windmill sweeping by about once a second. "That might take a little getting used to," Rachel commented.

"It's what they wanted," Randy told her. "I agree, it would bother me too, but to each his own, I guess."

As a final part of the tour Jim led them out onto the catwalk around the base of the tower. The view was particularly fine – it was a great place to take in a beautiful fall day, and the shadows of the sails sweeping over them made it seem even more exotic.

"I guess I'd better get back down there," Jim said finally. "I can see the raft coming with more folks, so that means I'm going to have to do the tour all over again."

"Well, thanks for giving us a good one," Randy told him.

"Yeah, well, this has been a really interesting job," Jim replied. "It's going to be hard to go back and dig footers and drain lines again."

"Goes with the territory," Randy smiled. "We can't do a job as off the wall as this all the time. It would be nice, but footers and drain lines and that kind of thing happen to be our bread and butter."

"Yeah, but still," Jim shook his head. "I guess we'd better get going."

"Do you think we could stay out here for a while?" Rachel asked; she knew Jim slightly from the office. "It's just nice to stand here and take in the view."

"I guess it would be all right," Jim said cautiously, "So long as you stay on this side of the tower and away from the sails. They don't look like they're moving very fast, but they are, and if you got hit by one it could knock you into the lake from here. The wind is pretty steady, but if the sails start swinging toward you, just get inside."

"It's all right, Jim," Randy said. "We'll be careful, and we won't be long."

"All right, I guess," he said, still not very happy about the idea but willing to concede the point. "Just be careful."

In a moment he was gone, leaving the four of them standing there taking in the view. "That Jim is sure a nice guy," Nicole commented.

"Yeah, he is," Randy said. "He's only been with the company three years, no, four years now, but he really knows his stuff and how to make a backhoe sit up and talk. We couldn't have built this house without him. We were real lucky to get him. He had a nasty divorce, his wife was a drunk, and he moved up here to keep her from bugging him. He's apparently enjoying the bachelor life up here in the woods. He's usually laid off in the winter, and he spends it ice fishing and snowmobiling and the like."

"And probably a relief at that," Nicole grinned. "It's nice to take some time off, but it's nice to be back to teaching, too."

They stood there a while longer, just taking in the view, until Rachel commented out of nowhere, "This is really nice, and it caps off an interesting day."

"How's that?" Randy asked.

"I had a call from Pat Roberts," she replied. "He's the one handling the divorce on Joel's side. It turns out I'm not going to get anything much as a settlement."