Moai Bar-B-Que Pit

The beginnings. Visiting with cousins in Miami around 1965. Me, the small seated kid with the white t-shirt next to my mom in her yellow capris. Behind the group, on the right is seen my uncle's concrete 8 FOOT EASTER ISLAND MOAI HEAD B-B-Q PIT!!! It had it's mouth open and the grill was in there and he vented out the top. It was the coolest thing this kid had seen. Cooking at dusk, it was great, it glowed red out the mouth. The infection began here. Trying to find out if any other family members have any better shots, but it was a great rendition of a Moai.

WOW, just WOW! Would love to see more pictures!

Is your uncle still around to give you some details? That's sweet!

BUILD ONE!!!!! :lol:

It'll weigh a ton!

Or even a smaller chiminea would be cool. For those cold nights.

With something like that in your yard EVERY night would be a cool night! :)

We've been talking for years about reproducing it. My uncle is long gone but I am hoping some of my cousins have some better shots. He did a great job on it. I have the moai chiminea to hold his place until we ever get around to making another one.

Robotiki
Mira Mar League of Extraordinary Gentlemen

[ Edited by: robotiki 2014-02-21 14:25 ]

Wow, that is cool. I wonder if that is an old plan from Mechanics Illustrated, or one of those magazines?

Looks like Tiki Farm made some Moai Chimineas back in 2006, according to Ooga Mooga. I want one!

I tried searching for plans, but no luck. I guess you would use poured concrete, but would you use a mold? Or build up the shape in situ? Interesting!

Maybe using wood and chicken wire, get the shape of it done. Slowly pour concrete section by section from the bottom up, making sure to have it tightly wrapped around with canvas to prevent spillage.

Or, cut up some plastic barrels and create a big mold using rivets. Then cut away when cured.

Hey Robo. That Moai is so cool!
Do you have any recollection on what else was on the property?
Mahalo

Just the glimpse of Moai eyebrow in that pic is awesome!

Do you have any details as to how your uncle acquired it? Did he purchase it? From where? Did he build it? From instructions or diagrams... that could be purchased? Or what?!? What an intriguing mystery!

So many questions for such a cool... memory! How incredible would it be to have a personal memory like that?!?

Mahalos for posting!

Great pic.

What did he call it? did he refer to it as a tiki? A Moai? Was he into to polynesian decor?

On 2014-02-22 01:01, ErichTroudt wrote:
Great pic.

What did he call it? did he refer to it as a tiki? A Moai? Was he into to polynesian decor?

We always referred to it as the Easter Island Barbeque Pit. My uncle Bob was quite an adventurer. He had a huge trimaran in his back yard for sailing around the world, also a building on railroad tracks which would move to reveal a very large telescope for his astronomy. I always got the impression he made the Moai after ones he has seen in person on one of his transoceanic journeys. Their house was decorated with other relics from his travels, but not anything else tiki that I can remember.

He built it himself, any plans he came up with himself. It was concrete troweled over a mesh covered rebar framework. The central hearth area may have had a red brick foundation. I don't know what happened to it after the house was sold.

Unrelated, my uncle's company helped build the surface running Nautilus for Disney's 20,000 Leagues.

Robotiki
Mira Mar League of Extraordinary Gentlemen

[ Edited by: robotiki 2014-02-22 06:41 ]

[ Edited by: robotiki 2014-02-22 06:44 ]

What a great item and what amazing memories of it.

Just out of curiosity, and perhaps this has been mentioned and I missed it, but is it possible the BBQ is still standing? Have you looked on GoogleEarth at the address and tried to see if its still standing?

Great story on the history of your Uncle. The Easter Island BBQ is awesome...hope you get some other pictures and find the plans.

Way kool