69 Bacardi Lane Seymour Arm, BC                                

  This little cabin sits on 37 acres in the wilds of Seymour Arm, British Columbia, Canada. It was purchased in the late 90's as a getaway and an investment. It is 1.2 kilometers (3/4 of a mile) from Bughouse Bay at the northern end of the big Shuswap lake and 900 meters (1/2 mile) north of Hunakwa lake. It is just north of the newly designated provincial park named Anstey Arm / Hunakwa Lake Provincial Park. Hunakwa Lake is said to be the largest low level lake in BC that doesn't have road access. We (Phil Luttman & David Hatfield) started building the cabin in the fall of 2001. We had the sub floor down just in time for winter. With a tarp covering the entire floor, we were ready for winter. No thought was given to the 4 plus feet of snow that would accumulate on it! I guess there wasn't too much Ron  consumed during the design stage, as no damage was done.  In the early summer of 2002, we started to build. With a limited budget and even less time, we have finally completed the cabin. Seymour Arm has no power, or phone. If you drive to the correct spot, your cellular phone will work most of the time! There is a floating store on Bughouse bay, which stocks Bacardi, ice, mix, and even food! We have 4 solar panels and a wind generator which charge a large bank of batteries. A DC to AC inverter runs  the lights and the stereo. The stove and refrigerator run on propane. We also have a remote start  generator we use to charge the battery bank when it is discharged. We have a pressurized water system, which is fed from a plastic rain barrel. Thanks to John of Tri-Crown RV, we have hot water. The propane water heater is lit by pushing a button on the wall!  The barrel, which used to contain the quasi-toxic liquid called Pepsi, is filled by the rain water that runs off the cabin roof.  We also get water from the creek. Our custom built outhouse, built by Pat Luttman, is a thing of beauty. It is greatly appreciated by the ladies! When using the outhouse for the first time, the user, while exiting the outhouse, must yell "Thanks, Pat" at the top of their lungs. Because of our dedication to conserving the environment and the preservation of our forests, we decided to make the porch railing out of recycled materials. Phil & David scrounged through all the dumps from Sorrento to Seymour Arm, and failed to find suitable materials from which to construct a proper railing . We were sitting on the deck one evening after a hard days work. While having a quiet drink of Bacardi, we hit upon a fantastic idea. A porch railing made out of recycled Bacardi Rum bottles! As we had no empty bottles, we set out to empty some to make a railing. Many drinks later, we had the material to make the railing. We have become quite attached to the taste of Bacardi, and have amassed many more bottles. We are considering building a fence around the entire 37 acres, using only Bacardi rum bottles.  Thanks to Jonathan Hatfield & Richard Darby, we have a new  road to the cabin. To show their appreciation for the use of the cabin, they had the road put in. In the past, we could only drive in during good weather. Sometimes in the spring it got pretty bad. There is no TV or VCR in the cabin. We do have some books though! It is very quiet and peaceful here. We hadn't considered using the cabin in the winter, as none of us are "into" winter. We came to the cabin one winters day, just to check on things. It was even nicer than in the summer. The snow on the mountains and the trees was beautiful. The crackle of the fire, the peace and quiet was awesome! We have spent more nights at the cabin in the winter than the summer. The view in the winter from the porch is great. The Hatfield clan spent the Thanksgiving 2003 weekend at the cabin. Benjamin had fun fishing with Heather. The Luttman clan spent a few days at the cabin during August of 2005. They used it as a base to ride their Quads from. Sometimes, we use the deck as a place from which to shoot at passing objects! When visiting the cabin you are required to leave us a note in the  log book. Now that we have mounted a large corkboard, you are ask to leave us or send us a picture to commemorate your visit! Thinking we were close to the end if civilization, we were quite surprised to find a Census questionnaire hanging on the Bacardi bottle that sits on top of the gate post! We have finished a small guest cabin. It has a queen sized bed in the loft and a single hideabed. The propane fireplace is fed from the master propane tanks in the powerhouse. Two 2.5 inch ducts connect the two cabins, containing two electrical lines and a generator control cable. The generator can be controlled from both cabins. The water system consists of a changeable five gallon water bottle under the sink. The electric pump is activated by a switch on the countertop. In the spring of 2006, we built a 8'X8' building to use as storage for the batteries and propane. It has the solar panels on it's roof. There is a three inch underground duct running from it to the main cabin. The AC power cables as well as the propane line runs in the duct.

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