After an exhausting day of finishing touches, scorching sun and general frustration, Lady Puchica pulled away from the dock for a sunset cruze. Due to gail strengh winds, 7-10 ft seas and 6 passengers the sail was wasn’t raised.

The seas were not a problem for Puchica’s sturdy hull, but she did break her motor mount. All thats left to complete the Lady Puchica is repairing the motor mount and installing the deck!

Weather is not looking great for the next couple of days. Not great for extended journeys, but perfect for break testing. (NOAA Weather Chart - 24 hours)

Yesterday we prepared everything to go sailing this morning. David finished a new rudder, I rigged the sail, Anna mounted the Bow Spurt.. all that´s missing is the water.

¡VAMOS!

It is late in the afternoon, later then desired as always, and we are preparing our vessel for the water. We have given up testing the sail today and settled on a motor and water test in the harbour.

Gathered at the La Ceiba Shipyards with us are several friends whos opinions of us vary from ‘crazy fools’ to ‘insperational’. Among the ranks are our constant supporters Joe and Michelle Haller, fountain of advice Tony Stone and friends Ricardo Flores and Carlos Martinez.

At the launch ramp, a few hundred meters from our work area, I am preparing the outrigger (ama and yakas) for the launch. Watching with a mixture of interest, disbelief and scorn are a group of fisherman from the other boats in the area. Their opinions that are mostly shared amongst their group in Gariffuna, but frequently peak to questions about the exact purpose of mission or the origins of our design. I can only imagin that they vaguely recognize the main hull as the type of cayuco they sailed at their home villages, and the ama as the small fishing vessel they use for lobster fishing.

With all the lashing in place, Arturo slowly backs the traller with the main hull into the water as we support the attached yakas and ama. When the boat starts to float, Dave and I climb abord. Anna ops to let us take it out first this time. Her first experience has left her with a little more caution.

The boat moves easily away from the ramp with paddles, but I am eger to try our newly repaired and mounted motor. After a few more pulls then I apprechiated, and a few jeers from the shore, it starts!

After picking up Anna, Joe and Michelle at the dock, we have a highly successful cruze around the harbour, venturing as far as the edge of the breakwater. Due to the number of passengers and the stinging rain, we decided against exiting into the waves at this point.

While we only ran the motor at low speed due to it’s recent overhaul, it performed very well. We may need to get a larger propeller, but we will do some more testing first. Stay tuned for photos of the journey!

As it appears that building a main hull from scratch will take too long and cost a lot, I have been searching for Cayucos to use as a base. A cayuco is essentially a dug-out canoe that varies in length, type of tree and quality.

After searching extensively for along the coast near Ceiba I finally found on a friends island in Cayos Cochinos. I have been waiting for several days for a price.. its not looking good.

In the mean time I just made a trip to Guanaja with my friends Tony and Hope. Sailing there on Tony’s speed boat was a blast. After stirring up trouble for the weekend I came away with an old 30hp motor, good pictures and some much needed rest.