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Captain's Diary # 3, 9/3/02, by Paul Harmon

The Qala Yampu remains moored in the Strait of Tequina. We have brought on board a new master totora boat builder. His name is Justino Cacasaca Bautista. Among others, he has constructed the Titi and Wiracocha. He works with the Catari Family. We conducted a thorough analysis of the boat together. The analysis revealed/confirmed things that we already knew or discovered. The rudders are too small to drive this boat and need to be connected with a secure platform. We nearly doubled the size of the rudders and drove posts into both sides of the boat, directly through the totora, to support the rudders properly. As I already stated, since Paulino never made center boards, I used oars for dagger boards. We made real dagger boards, equally as large as the new rudders. Paulino provided a sail too large for our mast. We added 2 meters to our mast. Since we almost lost our mast Friday night, we anchored this mast in a much more secure manner. Now we are using one mast instead of two. And the sail fits perfectly. Guess what. Justino is guaranteeing all his work!

We brought in 4 experts from La Isla del Sol. They are fisherman and sailors. We are about to approach the most treacherous part of our trip. The water is deep and resembles the ocean. Waves are larger, and in some places the land and water create dangerous whirlpools. Freddy, Alfonso, Simeon, and Ignacio (see their photos) are experts and know the waters well. They are also powerful rowers. Their job is to keep us moving when we have no wind at our back. They immediately came in and improved the oars that were provided by Paulino. The whittled and sanded them down to make them lighter, They reshaped them so that they would not spin when being used. They are also making more effective braces on the boat's gunwales to support the oars. That all have the right attitude. They love the fact that people think we cannot do this. They told me today that in their minds it is already done! By the way, these are some of the same guys that built the ramp in Copacabana and moved the 9 ton stone.

Last but not least I have Froilan Choque Loza on our team. He has been the biggest surprise. He is the owner of my favorite trout restaurant in Huatahata, Sol Andes. When it came time to put our 12 ton boat in the water, he immediately emerged as one of the leaders making sure everything was done safely. He coordinated the film crew's chase boat and followed us for days, assisting whenever we needed it. He recommended our new master boat builder. And now he is working to put our boat improvements in place. He is a "Jack of all trades".

Our plan now is to set sail Wednesday afternoon. We have an ultra aggressive schedule. We are going to try to be in Copacabana Sunday. We are going to travel 24 hours a day through the most dangerous part of the trip. Including my team of volunteers who have done such a wonderful job so far, Alexei, Rebekka, Kenji, and Chris, we now have the right team on place. They all share the same motivation. They all understand the voyage ahead. And most importantly, they all believe it can be done!