The following are my "Captain's Diary" entries just as I wrote them from the trip. Click on the icon to read each section in its entirety. Some are long. You decide what you want to read. Enjoy!

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Captain´s Diary #1, 8/27/02, by Paul Harmon _Click here to see this entire journal entry!

We originally intended to have our boat in the water on Sunday, August 25, by 12:00 noon. Moving the boat took longer than expected, but it was a remarkable feat to watch. Nearly 70 people helped as we moved the boat, meter by meter, to the water. There were some close calls, and one of Paulino´s adobe walls was crushed by the boat as it started to slide. Four hours later we were successfully in the water.

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Captain´s Diary #2, 8/27/02, by Paul Harmon _Click here to see this entire journal entry!

We sailed very close to the mouth of the strait of Tiquina. But once again, as if laughing at us, the wind shifted strongly. We again dropped anchor, and again the anchor did not hold. We lost all the ground we made. We have nicknamed the mouth of the strait "The End of the Rainbow" because you can never reach it.

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Captain´s Diary #3, 8/27/02, by Paul Harmon _Click here to see this entire journal entry!

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...

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Captain´s Diary #4, 8/27/02, by Paul Harmon _Click here to see this entire journal entry!

As I already stated, we were moored in Tiquina for several days while we were repairing our boat, and actually completing the boat. Our goal was to set sail Wednesday evening, sailing West toward La Isla del Sol. It is important to describe how the wind works here. Usually the wind blows from West to East about 15 hours a day. This makes it extremely tough to sail toward La Isla del Sol.

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Captain´s Diary #5, 8/27/02, by Paul Harmon _Click here to see this entire journal entry!

What a great day! The team from La Isla del Sol started working around 7:15 am and moved the stone close to the end of the ramp. My team of volunteers then brought the boat around to the ramp. There was a little concern that the ramp was to low for the boat.

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Captain´s Diary #6, 8/27/02, by Paul Harmon _Click here to see this entire journal entry!

On the count of three, continuously, we all pulled or pushed, and moved the stone and inch or two at a time. When the stone was no longer on the ramp, and not yet on the boat, in the middle of the bridge of posts, the boat did not sway.

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Captain´s Diary #7, 8/27/02, by Paul Harmon _Click here to see this entire journal entry!

It has been a little while since I wrote. We expected to leave on the 10th but all kinds of things happened. Almost every member on the team got sick. We had 3 crews join us for the return trip, and then back out before we ever started sailing. There was a tremendous amount of fear...

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Captain´s Diary #8, 8/27/02, by Paul Harmon _Click here to see this entire journal entry!

Chris, Rebekka and I jumped on a motorboat around 11:00 am to catch up with the Qala Yampu. I had received a call from Alexei earlier saying that they had already reached La Isla del Sol and made the turn into El Lago Mayor. This was huge news! This was supposed to take 2 days. They did it in 10 hours!

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Tiwanaku

Map of Our Voyage
See the course we sailed during our project.
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