European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - May 28, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                The Tiller which connects the rudder to the whip staff is located just below the poop deck. Continued from Page 3 stitching More than 10,000 Square feet of sails for the ship. Running a sometime actress from Norwich England joined the project with her dutch Boyfriend a couple of years ago. Like most of the paid workers running Learned her current Craft at the Batavia Yard under a training program financed by the dutch government and the european social fund. According to Batavia foundation spokesman Loop Hardenbol the Job training funds Are the Only government financial support the project receives. In addition to the paid work Force More than 400 volunteers lend their support in a variety of ways from guiding tour groups to fund raising and Manning telephones. One of them is Dick Schut a retired Steward for Holland America lines who gives Tours in dutch and English. One of the first problems the project faced Schutt said was the fact that 17th-Century shipbuilders did not use blueprints. Quot the master shipbuilder had it All in his head Quot Schut said. Vos and his design Crew studied books and etchings from the period As Well As the remnants of the original Batavia and another ship that Sank in Stockholm Sweden the same year. Despite the Yard Crew s Access to modern Power tools the construction phase of the project has progressed at a glacial Pace compared to the 17th Century. In those Days the East India company Yards turned out a ship in eight to 10 months. There Are several reasons for the disparity Schut said including the numbers of workers and their experience. In Sharp contrast to the current 70 workers Many of them trainees Between 300 and 320 experienced craftsmen worked on each East India company ship. Because of their production volume the East India a wooden Sailor sits in a Carpenter s shop until its place aboard the ship is  company Yards prefabricated some parts. Quot they had factories and other places delivering the materials. We have to do it All ourselves Quot Schutt said. This included having to go to Denmark to select individual Oak Trees with the right curve for the ship s Knees and Corner braces. A tour through the Batavia during work hours is a Little like a vision of hell Complete with fire and smoke and the deafening Din of steel slamming onto steel. But despite the noise Progress toward completion is painfully slow. Each individual Oak Plank a 40 feet Long and 4 inches thick a is heated for hours with a Torch on one Side while it is sprayed with water on the other then Bent into place. Quot there s no straight Board on the Hull. Nothing Quot Schut said. The Hull is four planks thick. In addition below the waterline it will be covered by an additional Cedar skin to protect against ship worm. When it is finished the three master will weigh around 750 tons including the cannons installed in All the Large merchant ships. Its Mast will Tower More than 150 feet above the deck. True to the original the rudder will be connected to a whip staff a a giant Tiller. The ship s wheel was an innovation that did not come into general use until two or three decades after the first Batavia foundered on great Barrier reef. According to current estimates the final Cost of the ship will be 10 million guilders about $5.4 million. Some of the Money has come from corporate sponsors but most has been raised by charging an Entrance fee of 12 guilders. Though it is at least a year from completion the ship is already a huge attraction drawing 250,000 visitors last year. Television specials and print stories about the project have appeared in Many countries around the world. After the launching originally planned for this year but now tentatively set for the summer of 1993, the project will enter a new phase. Quot then comes another chapter Quot Hardenbol says. Quot and that is to train the people to sail the  tentative plans Call for the ship to serve As a floating Netherlands tourism promotion office with its Home port at Lel Ystad. The Hope is to sail the ship to Australia in a partial recreation of its precursor s Only voyage. Like the original Batavia the finished ship will be adorned with some 400 woodcarvings. One will be a joker standing near the whip staff. It will Bear the inscription Quot be More careful this  4 stripes Magazine May 28, 1992