Excerpt From: Pacific Luxury Living

Not that long ago new home, developments, and commercial projects were being produced left and right. Lately, it might not be as common place to see an excess of building but the market is still creating a demand and builders, architects and designers are answering the call. Without the need for such a fast turn around, workers are able to dedicate full attention and time to creating some of the most magnificent new buildings.

Although there is something to be said for the charm of old plantation homes, new luxury homes can be built to perfect modern specifications including green standards. Whether these new homes are LEED certified or simply a little more eco-friendly, new construction has the ability to pioneer and encourage green practices for the future. Most importantly, the best in new construction insures that buyers can confidently purchase a home as-is and won’t have to deal with the hassles of a “fixer-upper” for a vacation home or primary residence.

Although still in the building stages, this new construction masterpiece designed by Gary Tobey will surely live up to the projected finished product. Six separate square pods inter-linked with exterior entrances, total 3,676 sq. ft. of enclosed living space. With three bedrooms, a master suite, and two additional guest bedrooms with private lanais that feature outdoor shower, bath and garden, this home is ideal for taking advantage of Hawaii’s island style living. Because the design is meant to enhance outdoor living, the walls are primarily floor to ceiling glass with privacy from blue stone walls which enclose the property, with the exception of the rear view which overlooks the awe inspiring valley below.

Hi there. I’m Brett Buchanan and I help Sean with his website. I couldn’t help putting the following email from Sean to myself onto the blog. He sent this to me thinking it would make a good addition to the site. I couldn’t agree more. Read what he has to say. It makes me want to find a skydiving outfitter and go jump out of a plane…

Brett, the sky diving outing was the most invigorating experience I’ve had in some time. My daughter Lauren wanted to sky dive on her birthday, so rather than try talk her out of it, she talked us all in to going. Six of us to be exact. Lauren jumped first. She took off out of salt pond airport after her tutorial and safety class. She was jumping with her classmate Lai Nani.

It was the most incredible day, absolutely clear with very few clouds. We video taped Lauren and Lai Nani as their plane slowly gained altitude to 10,000 feet. We stood watching until we got the message from the plane, “Jumping in 10, 9, 8, 7, 6…” As the ground crew directed us to the whereabouts of the plane, we could see the two, shining objects falling to earth, and then two big beautiful red and yellow parachutes opened after a few seconds.

Floating gently down, circling making soft turns, we could hear Lai and Lauren talking and howling to each other they were having a blast. We watched them all the way down. They both touched the ground with similar grace, as you might see a mighty seabird do after a long voyage. Both girl’s faces shined with exuberance. I don’t think they could grasp quite yet what they had just done, going to take a few moments to sink in. We all rallied together to pick the next two to go!

What do Skydiving and quality custom pools have in common? You can spot a quality custom pool by PICS Inc. from 10,000 feet up while you’re skydiving over Kauai, that’s what!

Check out Sean Newbold free-falling above the salt pond airstrip in west Kauai. He’s up there getting a bird’s eye view of his pool installations on the ground below. Or maybe he’s just having fun. You be the judge…

Of all the visitors that come to Maui by sea and air none is more anticipated or welcomed than the Humpback Whale. We just had our first Humpback sighting in Maalaea. From PacificWhale.org -

First Humpback Whale of the Season
Sighted Off Maui’s Coast

MA’ALAEA (MAUI), HI (October 20, 2010) — The humpback whales are back in Maui County waters! Maui’s first reported humpback whale sighting of the season took place today about two nautical miles off Ukumehame (located between Ma’alaea and Lahaina). The whale was a lone subadult.

Following up on a call from Captain Chris Howard of the Alii Nui, Pacific Whale Foundation’s vessel Ocean Explorer was able to locate and view the whale at 11:15:37 a.m. According to Captain Tiffany Thomas, the whale was milling at the surface, with average downtimes of 10 to 15 minutes.

Pacific Whale Foundation’s vessel Ocean Quest was also able to observe the whale at 12:45 p.m. at the same location. The whale was still milling at the surface, and not moving in any particular direction. Passenger Gary Erbeck from San Diego, CA was able to photograph the whale. (See photos at right.)

“This whale sighting is exactly on time,” said Greg Kaufman, Founder and Chief Scientist at Pacific Whale Foundation. “Last year, the first sighting was also on October 20.”

“October is the time we expect to see the whales,” he notes. “We have records dating back to 1998, which show that 9 of the 13 first reported sightings took place in October; the others were in late September or early November.”

“Needless to say, we’re all thrilled that the whales are back,” he notes. “We’ve missed them all summer.”

Kaufman explained that the first sightings are often subadult whales. “Subadults are whales that have not yet reached adulthood and sexual maturity; they appear first, along with mothers and their yearling calves,” he notes. “Mature males and females arrive later, followed by pregnant females.”

The humpback whales that migrate to Hawaii are part of the North Pacific humpback whale population. During the summer, Hawaii’s whales feed in nearshore waters along the west coast of North America near Alaska. Seasonal cues may trigger their migration to warm water breeding areas. An estimated 10,000 to 12,000 whales are believed to swim to Hawaii each year, a distance of about 2,500 to 3,000 miles.

Read the full article

This article was sent to me by a business associate at ClearWater Tech. Personally, I found the story absolutely captivating as I read it the first time. It seems that in Westminster, Colorado something was making lifeguards at a local indoor swimming pool mysteriously ill and initially no one could figure out the cause. That was until two stricken lifeguards visited separate pulmonary specialists and were diagnosed with Hypersensitivity Pneumonitis (H.P.), a respiratory illness that is very unusual and difficult to diagnose.

But the cause was still the issue. And it took an entire task force to discover the culprit At this point, the task force formed to solve the mystery looked to the water as a possible culprit. The group suspected that contaminants from the pool’s water, when aerosolized through the water features, were being inhaled, causing H.P. Supporting this were endotoxin readings for the City Park pool, which were higher than other area pools tested. This indicated that the chlorine used to disinfect and oxidize the pool water was ineffective in this particular pool. Using an ozone-based water disinfectant system was suggested as a possible solution.

Download the PDF file below to read the original article…

[gview file="http://picsllc.com/wp-content/uploads/ozonelifeguards.pdf"]

Are you considering a salt water pool option? Unlike a traditional chlorine pool, salt water pools can really benefit you and your family. There are a number of advantages and disadvantages, as there are with just about every pool option, but here are the best benefits:



Over time, you will save money. While the best pool options are initially a lot more expensive to put in, they’re a more cost-effective system in the end. Converting your traditional pool to a salt water pool is not terribly expensive. Even with the extra expenses, you’ll make up for that loss after about two years. For many, this is one of the advantages. Chlorine is very expensive, and as compared, the amount of salt you’ll use during a year is very inexpensive.



There are still chemicals in a salt pool, but the best pool systems that are well maintained are a lot less harsh than traditional chlorine pools. The salt water makes its own chlorine, so you don’t have to handle potentially harmful chemicals, and the levels of chlorine in the water are low while still being effective. This also means that you won’t have to deal with dry skin, green hair, and fading swimming suits anymore.



Salt water pools are, in general, easier to manage once you learn the system. The water in your pool will run through a control box system that automatically electrifies the water as needed, producing chlorine. It also tests the water for salt levels and alerts you if something is wrong. One of the best attributes is that they don’t support algae so you’ll spend less time dealing with that problem and the pH levels bounce less frequently, so you’ll spend less time with that problem as well.

Last evening as I reclined poolside on a lounge chair I stared out over the blue Pacific ocean and thought to myself, “This is nice.”

The smell of plumeria blew in on the soft trade winds that wrinkled the water’s surface of my new pool. A few minutes later my wife brought out the obligatory glass of wine in anticipation of a what would prove to be a memorable sunset. She sat on the lounge chair beside me and we watched the sun sink low over the western horizon. Soon it was gone and so was the light.

We slipped into the jacuzzi and shook off the stress of the day. There’s nothing like a nice warm liquid massage to calm the soul. A second glass of wine later and the conversation had slowed. Only the soft hum of jacuzzi jets and bubbling water were heard over the sound of palm fronds rustling in the trade winds.
“Best investment we ever made,” my wife said.
There was no need for a response.

http://www.houzz.com/photos/pool/hawaii

PICS Inc. is proud to announce our recent expansion on the Internet with the improvement of our website. We’ve integrated today’s best technology that connects our site with the social networks, all the major search engines, and showcases our projects. We’ve even added a Newsletter sign-up form for those of you who want to stay in touch with the islands.

Some of the interesting additions to our site are the Equipment Page and the Portfolio Page. Have a look and enjoy. Sign up for our newsletter or check us out on Facebook and Twitter. Aloha, and we hope to hear from you soon.