Skipjack Joe
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Desert shack design
On my first visit to Calamajue, 12 years ago, I was impressed by the poverty and squalor of those shacks people lived in on the beach. "They don't
even have enough material to finish the job", I thought.
Boy, was I wrong about that.
I was sitting in the shade cast by my camper when I noticed that the boy was gone - again. I found him, later, sitting in his folding chair in the
wood shack next to the camper. He insisted that I stay there and I did, for an entire week.
The building had most of two opposite walls missing and the front door went from roof to the sand below. In fact, the building was half gone.
However, if you placed your chair in the shade and near any one of the openings you had the coolest place in the area. No matter what the temperature
(it was over 100) there would always be a cool draft that passed through the building. Even with all the windows open and the camper positioned to
catch any breeze it could never match the comfort of that shack. And it was surprisingly clean.
The photo shows a whale bone in the doorway, Alex, and our boat far behind.
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Skipjack Joe
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It was a 110 out there and he was doing this. I felt hot just watching.
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rpleger
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Mood: Was good.
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Thats what I wanted to build and live in when I came south.
Things change.
Now I live in a house with all the goodies of a home in the states including a dishwasher.
A woman can do that to you.
Oh well!
Richard on the Hill
*ABROAD*, adj. At war with savages and idiots. To be a Frenchman abroad is to
be miserable; to be an American abroad is to make others miserable.
-- Ambrose Bierce, _The Enlarged Devil\'s Dictionary_
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Oso
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Ever heard of a breezeway? The venturi principle? Cross-ventilation?
Traditional Maya houses in Yucatan, whether old-style ovals or more modern rectangles, always have the front and back doors aligned in the middle of
the structure. Don Pablo, the caretaker of La Perla campground just south of Requeson on Bahia Concepcion, used this principle in his shack. Years
ago, I stayed there, renting a 3-sided palapa that was more pleasant than my van. But, Don Pablo's plywood shack had an advantage. Perhaps security
was one consideration for 4 walls, 2 doors (all plywood) and no windows, after all, he did need to lock up when he was away. But, the two doors were
in line, parrallel to the coastline, and when he was home he would sit in the middle of the house with both doors open, enjoying a breeze that was
definitely stronger than anything you could feel outside anywhere else in camp.
The venturi principle, used in carburetors when we had them, is fairly simple to understand. Air, like water, seeks the path of least resistance in
its flow. When it comes up against an obstruction, like a wall, it either has to go around it or through it if there is a hole for it to go through.
Since a larger volume is hitting the wall than can go through the hole at the same time, the air tries to push itself through the hole faster in order
to move more volume. One door or window won't produce this effect since the room fills up and presents about the same resistance as a wall. But two
doors or windows in line is the same as a hole all the way through, and that's why the flow is faster than outside.
You don't need high-tech equipment to obtain reasonable comfort in many parts of the world, just a shack and the knowledge of which way the wind
blows.
All my childhood I wanted to be older. Now I\'m older and this chitn sucks.
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4baja
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looks like the water was calm allso, was the fish camp still occupied? will be there in november on quads with a bunch of buddys.
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Dave
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| Quote: | Originally posted by Oso
The venturi principle, used in carburetors when we had them, is fairly simple to understand. Air, like water, seeks the path of least resistance in
its flow. When it comes up against an obstruction, like a wall, it either has to go around it or through it if there is a hole for it to go through.
Since a larger volume is hitting the wall than can go through the hole at the same time, the air tries to push itself through the hole faster in
order to move more volume. |
Well, almost.
The venturi effect is the result of the Bernoulli principle and it's reduced pressure that sucks, not pushes, the flow through. (Least that's how an
old girlfriend described it.)
This is probably more than you, or anyone, needs to know.
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Skipjack Joe
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4baja
| Quote: | Originally posted by 4baja
looks like the water was calm allso, was the fish camp still occupied? will be there in november on quads with a bunch of buddys. |
The fish camp was completely deserted. There was one fella there with his group of dogs that watched over the entire area. He was expecting some of
the fishermen the following week.
I don't know if it will be windy in November or not. It was flat calm every day when we were there (late June) - even when we saw lightening flashing
across the Cortez on the mainland.
The night sky was something I will not soon forget.
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Oso
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Dave's right, I was being overly simplistic. Anyway, it works.
All my childhood I wanted to be older. Now I\'m older and this chitn sucks.
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Skipjack Joe
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venturi principle.
| Quote: | Originally posted by Oso
Ever heard of a breezeway? The venturi principle? Cross-ventilation?
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You're right, Oso.
Yesterday, I was driving down the Ventura Fwy and when I rolled down two of the windows I felt a draft.
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MrBillM
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Daniel Bernoulli 1700-1782
Bernouli's Principle (in Layman's terms)
The front of an airfoil, the thicker part, is called a leading edge and the thinner rear of an airfoil is called the trailing edge. As the airfoil
travels through the air the thicker leading edge forces the air on top to rise. This makes the distance the air has to travel on top longer than on
the bottom which is flat. Because the distance the air must travel is greater over the top it must travel faster to reach the trailing edge at the
same time as the air traveling along the bottom.
Bernoulli's Principle states that the faster a fluid (air is a fluid as is water) moves the less pressure it exerts across the direction of travel.
According to Bernouli's principle, the pressure on the curved top of the airfoil will be lower than the pressure on the flat bottom of the airfoil.
This is because of the longer distance across the top and therefore the higher speed. The higher air pressure below the wing will lift the wing which
is said to fly.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
For a more scientific analysis:
http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/pber.html
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
More on Daniel Bernoulli:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Bernoulli
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Dave
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For years I thought that Bernoulli was Italian because sailors use the phrase, "got the Italians working" to describe good sail trim. Turns out that
Bernoulli is Swiss. Maybe that's why they now hold the America's Cup.
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SEATWILL
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The air going over thr top of the wing causes a vacuum(lower air pressure) which lifts the wing,not the air on the bottom pushing it up,at least that
what it said in my flight training manual
If you come to a "Y" in the road,take it....
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MrBillM
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A Difference of Perspective
Actually, my Flight Training Manuals ALSO phrase it that way, but other publications say the opposite. The bottom line is that the pressure on the
top of the airfoil is less than the pressure on the bottom side. Either way you look at it, the result is the same.
Bernoulli, of course, wasn't even thinking of airfoils. His words, as I remember them (from many years back) were: " When in a Stream Tube, the
velocity of a fluid increases, the pressure decreases." That's It.
[Edited on 7-31-2005 by MrBillM]
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