he started with plates of steel. But of course he did not build the whole boat only by himself. A walk through a small dirt road, stray dog-filled neighborhood in Benavidez will reveal those who helped to build this boat. The boat itself sat in the 
front yard of a family that wanted to earn a few extra dollars. For three years they watched welding, sawing, and painting as well as their grass turn to a brown mud pit. Jesus, lives next door to the yard that turned to mud. He had already built five steel hulled sailboats, prior to Quijote, so his knowledge in just about everything was essential. He is a perfectionist when it comes to the steel hull. Just before the boat was launched I saw a guy at the marina come up and knock the hull to see if it was steel or fiberglass – a HUGE compliment to anyone who has built a steel hulled boat. Jesus lives with his tools. His workshop is an extension of his home, or possibly the other way around. Jars of washers sit between the fridge and stove and next to the bread. Boat plans are pinned up over his bed and sailing magazines rest next to the toilet. Jesus knows what he is doing, but also needs some nudging now and then to actually start the work. Often times the flat screen TV, bought with a bonus for finishing the keel of Quijote can often become an easy distraction.
Let’s continue through the neighborhood. Ricardo, another neighbor, does car upholstery for a living. While sailors are supposed to be good at sewing, we left the upholstery on Quijote to the expert. The couches in the main saloon (eating area) have a beautiful leather set of cushions on them. Ricardo also made the mattresses, which had to fit the beds that have no right 
angles (this tends to happen on a boat where every bit of free space is used). All of the pieces got delivered in his old (very old – see picture) Ford pick-up.
Continuing down the street, there is a little old woman who lives in a small house with a shop window (I wanted to end that sentence with the word shoe – to the little old woman lived in a shoe). In the front room of her house she keeps a small shop of essentials – bread, pastries, cans of tomatoes, beers, plastic toys, thermoses, tea, and hamburger patties. Her shop filled our bellies many days. I’m sure Q4 revenue will drop now that the boat is finished.
Alberto, Claudio, and Sergio live a short drive away. For one and a half years they built the inside of Quijote. Two years ago she was an empty hull of steel. Alberto led the transformation with the initial framing up to the final touches of each closet door. Alberto used to work for a shipyard, but after an injury works for himself. Claudio, his son-in-law joined him, where together they worked on another boat, Antarcticos. And now after the economic downturn, Alberto's son is back from working in Spain and is the helper around the boat – sanding painting, doing whatever odd jobs need to be done.
Gaston also lives a short drive away. He is the electrician and he is a talker. He has proved his Italian ancestry, doing just as much hand waving as lip moving. He ran all of the wires for everything from the steering system to the sonar to the toilets. A miracle, after kilometers of wires were run, nearly everything works.
A friend from the sailing club does refrigeration work. He installed the refrigeration, which is built into the galley cabinets and runs down into the keel for effective cooling.
Hugo doesn’t live in the neighborhood, but swings by to join the “club” whenever he can. He is also building his own boat and brings encouragement and support. Also in the “Club de Jesus” is Nestor. He is building his own boat in the backyard of the family on the other side of Jesus. Nestor graciously ran many errands often claiming a store was close to his home, when he would often drive halfway across town.
And then there are the family contributions. Fede’s dad helped fund the engine, wanting his son to start his boat right with a good new engine. Fede’s Aunt provided the Aft cabin bath towels. My mom donated $500 from her winnings at Bingo that went to purchase the battery charger. Fede’s mom will be purchasing a small dingy. I donated my safety award points to buy the sonar . WesternGeco unknowingly has donated many used ropes and shackles (not to worry – all were expired as per their certifications, meaning they would have been thrown in the trash by westerngeco – RECYCLING!!).
Also a note should go out to our worldwide logistics hubs. We have one based in Oakland, MD (ie mom and dad) and one based in Zurich Switzerland (Fede’s brother Tomas). As items have popped up on ebay or super special sales on UK sailing websites, Fede has purchased and shipped items around the world.
Fede, of course, spent nearly every waking hour of his five weeks off for the past three years working on the boat. He planned the whole construction, the position on each cabin, each pipe, each screw. He worked side by side with Jesus each day welding and building the hull. He installed the entire engine system and all of the plumbing. He drove around the entire greater Buenos Aires picking up LED's for all the lights, oil for this, oil for that, flooring for this, pipes for this, connectors for that, hinges for this, and dropping off lights at the mast man.
Yes. He built his boat.
After three years of building his sailboat, Fede successfully started the engine and motored away from the marina on September 11 2010.
For even more information about Quijote, check out her website: http://syquijote.com/
