Estrella de Sauce building campaign

Heartfelt thanks go out to friends and family members in the UK, USA, Australia, Russia and Thailand who felt moved to donate during our Indiegogo 45 day fundraiser which ended Feb 28.

Richard, Greg, Rob, Hugh and Patricia, Peter, Leo, Paul, Boris, Sarah, Yvette, Abby and Daniel, we are really grateful for your support.  And thank you Robin for making the video and providing logistics from the US unavailable in Peru.

Your donations have enabled us to get roof and gutters completed, the bathroom tiled and fixtures installed, cement floor poured, a decorative wall of wooden sticks made (for ventilation) and our traditional dome-shaped bread oven finished.

A word on finances.  We were recently approached by a european NGO with a generous funding offer that would have covered all our expenses.  We decided to turn the offer down because in order to accept the offer we would have had to become an approved institution by complying with various requirements.  We did not feel comfortable surrendering freedom and sovereignty in order to gain funding.  We want to stay small, free, independant and low-budget.  The world of the NGO's seems quite murky to me and I instinctively feel like staying clear of them.

Bottom line:  Thanks to friends and family for helping us steer clear of murky bureaucracy so we can keep things simple as we offer creative educational possibilities here in Sauce and in Ceilan near Pucallpa.

Dividing wall between classroom and crafts area made of sticks allows for ventilation

Slow but steady advances on 'Skydancer' sailing catamaran

'Skydancer' is at present jacked up on wooden blocks while I endeavor to fix some leaks using epoxy and fiberglass.  I have built and installed the swinging centerboard and the twin kick-up rudders are built and ready to be fitted.  I plan to use a length of bamboo as a linkage to join the rudders, I'll turn wooden inserts on my lathe to reinforce the hollow ends of the bamboo.
Our volunteer Inti has been helping me paint the interior as I construct seating with storage for lifejackets and other gear under.  I'm also working on the installation of a solar battery to power two electric bilge pumps, one for each hull.  Bailing by hand gets a bit tedious and it's not called the rainforest for nothing - we get quite a lot of rain here.

Swing keel made of water-resistant wood called ana

Laguna Azul with Sauce in foreground

Next week I plan to start putting down 7/8 x 5 inch deck boards made of topa also known as balsa wood to finish the platform connecting the two hulls and after that will come raising the mast.  Under sail in April?  I hope so.

New soft top for the starboard hull, port to follow shortly