Building Our Yurt

We found Chris and Katie while we were in Guatemala. Considering the possibilities of building a yurt on Gabriola, most of the options involved buying a kit.  The buyer describes the type of yurt that is wanted with the specifications and additional options and the company puts it together and ships it to the specified location. Chris and Katie live on Gabriola Island and would build the yurt for us on right here. We were excited about using islanders and also about being involved in the creation and construction of our new home.

Chris and Katie are sailors. By building our yurt, the fees they would receive would make it possible for them to make plans to take off for a month or more. Though they had never built a yurt for anyone else before, they had constructed several for their use and for friends and family. They were enthusiastic about the job during our Skype meeting in February and we all made the verbal commitment to work together.

Spending the winter months in Central America and then visiting New York and Toronto before driving across the country, we arrived on Gabriola in early April. It was cold and wet. What a beautiful surprise to arrive on Whalley Road, our car overstuffed with belongings, to find a temporary 16 ft. yurt waiting for us. Our new friends had gone away for a week, but made sure we had a temporary yurt to live in while our new home was being constructed. The wood stove and the round canvas walls embraced us and warmed us immediately.

We had our first face-to-face meeting with Katie and Chris on April 9^th. During that meeting, we viewed photographs and considered various options of what to include in our design. We talked seriously about how the collaborative process would be possible. We wanted to participate and be closely involved.

Paul and I had our hands on every part of our yurt’s birth. We helped clear the land to make an appropriate space. Paul helped mix and pour the concrete for the foundation. Each day we drove the short distance to Chris and Katie’s to clean the lattice work that would become the walls, and gently apply the linseed oil to protect the finish. Each roof rafter pole was also carefully oiled.

We watched in awe as Katie sewed the canvas, and as she approached the final stages we would often see her delicate head peeking out of the circle in the middle of the layers and layers of fabric sprawled around her.

Instead of screws to connect the wood lattice, Chris pounded about 300 penny rivets to secure the wood lattice pieces to each other and yet still provide the flexibility of accordion-like movement.

Once the foundation and deck structure were secure we began laying the natural fir flooring. Each piece of tongue and groove wood carefully fit together. Paul and John worked together to round the edges to accommodate the shape of the circular foundation. 380 square feet of roundness was eventually ready for the mounting of the canvas.

After 7 weeks of creating the parts, Chris and Katie came over for the big build. They worked all day Friday, and, with Shabbat dinner prepared, stopped only for a late night ceremonial dinner. We shared our Friday night practice with them and ate. The next day, Saturday, we thought they would be here early to finish, but, I guess they decided to take Shabbat seriously… the day of rest. They did come back after sunset and worked until the wee hours of the morning making sure the canvas roof, windows and doors were secure without leakage.

Once our yurt was completed, we welcomed the opportunity to apply our mezuzah to the doorpost. Our first night in the yurt was magical.There is a profound feeling living in a round home. With four windows each facing one of the 4 directions of our earth, I often find myself confused in the middle of the night. “Where am I, and which direction do I need to go?” It gives me reason to stop, and think, and decide.

The yurt is extraordinary, no doubt! We love it. We love living in it! And most of all, the experience of building it together, of getting to know and love Katie and Chris, and acknowledging that we can continue to live just a little bit off the grid and still be warm, is the best!

 

Thank you Katie and Chris!!!!! Happy sailing!