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.
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| Dividing wall between classroom and crafts area made of sticks allows for ventilation |
The main mast is just a fairly straight skinny tree trunk wrapped with epoxy-impregnated fiberglass cloth. The mainsail rides up the mast inside a length of 1/2 inch waterpipe enclosed in a U-shaped wooden molding with a slot cut in it for the sail. Works just as well as expensive sail track and slides. Battenless main and jib were made by Lee Sails of Hong Kong and they did a great job. The main boom is another tree trunk and rides over 7 ft above the deck so no chance of hitting heads. The yellow awnings were made locally from the same material used for the roofs of the 3-wheel motor taxis seen throughout Latin America. There is 8 ft standing headroom as the boat is intended for tourist daysailing here on Laguna Azul near Tarapoto.
The biggest problem so far is that Bondo the dog likes to eat the balsa-wood deck. Photo shows the seating in the starboard hull with storage lockers below, also the hardware-store grade standing rigging. Low traffic areas of the deck are just split bamboo, grows very plentifully here and is strong and light. As you can see we are pulled up right onto the beach. Not bad for a 33ft boat. Still to build are a roof over the steering station and a swim ladder on the bow.
