Well, I have an update on how this (IRIDIUM GO! failure) is working out, PredictWind (PW) does not ship to Mexico. Bummer. Need a work around on this.
So, the way this is working is:
1. PW will sell us a new one, deliver it our friends in Calif. When we send the old one back, they will finish the RMA process with Iridium, and when they get the replacement unit back, they will put it in their stock, and reimburse us for the cost of the device.
2. We will fly to Tijuana and walk across the border spend a couple of days in San Diego area and then reverse the process.
3. Advantages of this, we have about a dozen other parts that are lower on the priority list that are waiting for us in Carlsbad that we will be able to pick up while we are there.
One thing I want to stress: the support from PW has been very good. As an example, they pointed out that the full RMA process takes about 8 weeks (not counting shipping) but they suggested the other option where we buy a new one and get reimbursed when the RMA process gets finished.
They answer the phone quickly, and text messages very quickly etc. I have no complaints with that part of the issue, only with the fact that I have to know how the support works. The equipment should just work. That is IRIDIUM, not PredictWind.
We have paid for an extra day here in Marina Cortez, we will sail tomorrow morning and go explore an island or two or three and come back to La Paz in a couple of weeks. Book our flights and fly back to Tijuana and walk across the border to get our parts. In the meantime our location will not be updated while we are not in La Paz as it uses the Iridium GO! for doing that update.
We just ran out of propane on the inservice tank. The other tank is the one I use to BBQ, but since that has not been working we think that tank is very full. So, before we head to San Carlos we will have to go and get the empty one filled. This is a couple of weeks away. Of course it means no BBQing in the meantime, as we have to turn off the gas to the stove while the BBQ is cooking. The last time we got propane was Dec 3rd, about a month and a half for a tank of gas.
The issue with Propane, is that Mexico is fairly safety conscious, all propane filling stations are on the outside of town, so we will have to take an uber out there, or use the service here at the marina (about double the cost) to get it filled.