March 2006 was a busy month at the desk of Project Director Captain Kevin Gray. It started with getting the BVI High School and the Education Department's Youth and Sports Division on board for more students to get involved in building Endeavour II. The commitment is moving along and the JVD Preservation Society will be filing a budget to Youth and Sport Department for their commitment to help fund the “Earn and Learn” process. They have committed to helping fund up to four students for the rest of this fiscal year.

The first two female students to join the project are going to assist in the administration of JVDPS sloop project. Their duties will include a special project that has been long talked about -- producing a coloring book about the building of Endeavour II. It will be available to the Primary School children for the start of school in September. Other projects include the recording of stories about the nine sloops that were based in Jost Van Dyke through the first half of the twentieth century. The history of these boats has yet to be formally recorded, though the knowledge is still in the minds of some elders on Jost Van Dyke.

Volvo Penta USA has come onboard this month and offered to supply the auxiliary engine. The commitment was sponsored by Brian McDonnell of McDonnell Marine in New England. The serial number will be registered as an educational engine in Volvo’s master system, so that no matter where the sloop goes, her service and support will be easily tracked by any Volvo dealer.

The mast is in the works with the help of Chuck Handy up north. Chuck is heading over to the Condons Lumber Yards in up state New York to hand pick the fir to build the forty-five foot hollow spar. The mast is to be round and tapered, 10” at the step and 6” at the masthead.

The keel is going to be cast here in JVD by an old friend who is a traditional blacksmith. He has offered to come in September for a few weeks and do it with the students.

Final measurements have now been completed for the sail plan and are in the hand of Custom Canvas, the North Sails reps in St Thomas. They are looking forward to the challenge of building the first set of JVD 32 sails to carry the number “JVD 01”.

Watch for the next update as the students build the sheer clamp and glue up the back bone of Endeavour II on their Easter Break -- one year later and they are all still with it!

All the best to you out there in cyber space, from all of us here at the JVDPS.