A little over a year ago my wife and I were, unexpectedly, asked if we would be interested in going in on a, possible, a purchase of a relatively large plot of undeveloped land on the Island of Hawaii. We said, uh, maybe? Since the person asking was a very long time friend and business associate that I greatly respected, I knew that he would not pick a place that was not worth the effort. The timing was good, we had gotten to a good place financially and were looking toward some post-retirement ideas so, as you can imagine (or what would be the point of this post), we decided to join he and his wife, as well as another couple, this investment.
We are a group of DIY-ers and entrepreneurs so, needless to say, the plan was (and still is) to do the majority of the development ourselves, slowly, carefully and (as much as possible) with cash.
I am happy to report after a year we are making good progress for less money than we expected. I am now the owner of a large Case 530K backhoe/front-loader and a beater of a work truck. We have cleared a decent roadway and camp work space into the first few acres (out of 20) and built an off grid camp with solid solar power, two cabins, a bath house and a covered work area. We are well on the way to a very large permanent ‘shop’.
We decided to call the place Fiddlehead Trail, after the abundance of ferns that completely covered everything and the fact the we had to carve trails into the site to get started. It’s an amazing place and an exciting adventure that has allowed me to learn things that I never expected to be learning.
More to come on this topic, for sure.
