We had a slow start this morning, but finally got around. It was a gorgeous start to the day, clear blue sky’s and a light breeze.
As we waited for 9 am, when Bob had to have contacted Baja Naval about coming up to San Diego and bringing the part back down, we had breakfast and read our books. Then I checked with Bob, and Baja Naval was not sending anyone up until Wednesday. So, that part of the plan fell apart. He had been given another name and number, but we had to wait until 11 for her to call back.
By 11, Renee’ and I had gone ashore to make sure that we had the contact info for the lady who make the trip from Ensenada to San Carlos. So, we got the dinghy ready and had the important stuff in the dry bag and lunch in a cooler got in the dinghy and headed in.
As we approached the beach, we put the wheels down, these are a great addition to the dinghy! They extend below the prop so that they hit the sand and keep the prop out of the water. They slow the boat down some, so most of the time they are up out of the water. The track they ride in is an interesting device, it is a pair of bars with a slot on the inside for some small tips on the end of the bar that connects to the axel of each wheel part way down the bar are two longer tips that stick out and fit into a notch at het top or bottom of the track. If they are out of the water, they are in the top notches if under water they are in the bottom notches. This is repeated on the other side of the boat. We timed our approach to be with the minimum waves and got it a bit wrong and I wound up in the water as the dinghy was sideways to the waves just as we got to the beach. We got the dinghy part ways out of the surf, but still had about 4 inches of water in the bottom of the dinghy. Way too heavy to pull any more. So, we bailed the water out, and got some help from a local to pull the dinghy further out of the water.
Then we sat there waiting for Orelio and his son to get back from getting lobster to find out the contact info for the daughter/sister in Ensenada. We were able to use the Satellite phone to keep in touch with Bob. We were somewhat frustrated with our inability to communicate or find out what was going on. We had our lunch.
Orelio and his son came in and we walked up to their house to use their internet. I called the rigger and found out that the part was there and ready to go! (Yeah,, I already knew this). No, they did not know any way to get the part to Mexico, (Bob already knew all of this). He had almost no luck contacting the lady that he had been referred to, he called the number and the message was in Spanish (he doesn’t speak it). We could not call, even with WiFi as our phones are not setup to use WiFi calling. (They were on Verizon but not on AT&T, a VERY long story). We could not call from our phones, or text non Apple devices. So, we were stuck with Renee’ using her phone to get her email off the WiFi, and me on the Satellite phone texting and getting no response. I occasionally swapped over to the WiFi and was able to check my email and we paid some bills, including the invoice for the part we need.
We were ready to give up, and go back to the boat, and then Bob said he got in touch with her and found out that she could not help. So, now we have more frustration. Bob then said he had a courier who could get the part to Ensenada by 5 pm. He sent that text just as I was shutting down the Iridium, so I had to start it back up and coordinate that. The situation at this point was that we had a part (yeah!) it was in San Diego and we had a way to get it to Ensenada (yeah!) but we had not yet talked to the lady about where to get the part and how to contact her. Now Renee’ is talking to Orelio Jr. and he is using two cell phones, apparently only one is set up for WiFi calling (the bosses?) and he finally gets in touch with her. Renee’ is texting her at the same time, and we get her phone number and her husbands phone number to Bob who gets it to the courier. Now there is nothing to do but wait for things to happen.
We head back to the boat, Orelio Jr. helped us get the dinghy back in the water and Renee’ and I headed back out. By the time we got to the boat, the winds had picked up, probably in 25 knot range. We put the dinghy away, which means we took the outboard off, and picked the dinghy up and put the cover on tied everything off. This took about an hour maybe a bit longer. Then we came inside the boat and hooked up the Iridium again and found out that the part had been picked up and was headed to Ensenada! About 3:30 we heard that the courier was an hour away from the lady in Ensenada and they had been in touch. About 5:20, we got the text that the daughter had the part in hand! So, all that is left is to get it down the coast to us. About 150 miles or so. With the last 40 ish miles being a dirt road off highway 1. Orelio Jr. said when the part is here they will deliver it, I am not sure if they will bring it out tonight or wait until tomorrow AM.
In any case, we have had a long day, some frustration and some awesome news! The part is on the way, prayers definitely work. I think we will probably head to bed sooner rather than later. But it is only 6;40 now.