At about 9 AM I began the work on the compass light switch. The first task was to remove everything from the port quarter berth which turned out to be a relatively easy job with Arnold putting things away as I handed them out. We soon learned that the cockpit anchor winch switch was wired with thick tinned marine grade wire all of the way to the foot switch at the bow. This was the switch that we replaced with one in the cabin several months ago. We cut these cables behind the port settee, tied off the ends of the section that proceeds to the bow, and pulled the aft section back to the main panel at the navigation table. We connected the red wire to the 10-amp "flood light" breaker that services non-existent flood lights. We connected the black wire to the white wire that goes under the cockpit sole and up the binnacle to the compass. Everything went well. We have separated the compass light from the Navman depth sounder and have the switch for the compass light in the cockpit where it belongs, and most of the wiring being tinned marine grade.
Trying to do rational wiring work on an irrational system was challenging. For example, I discovered that the non existent "cockpit light" is wired to the "fans" breaker. The fans are wired through the "cabin light" breakers because whoever installed the fans was too lazy to do a proper job and just piggybacked the fans onto the nearest lights. And of course none of this litany of miserable work has been recorded in the annals of Pachuca, no doubt due to shame. I told Arnold that I'm thinking of drawing up a plan of all of the electrical facilities on Pachuca and engaging a professional in Fremantle as a consultant to guide me in ripping most of the existing wiring out and rewiring it properly on a modern panel. This professional will have to offer me tricks that I don't know: such as, as I have indicated, a modern panel, and proper channeling for the wiring - the kind that we had in the computer industry where you can take the whole side off and gain access to the wires running on several levels. We'll see.
After a celebratory beer I restored the boat to order and we had lunch. Arnold surprised me by having a nap himself. We tasted the water that Arnold had purchased ashore the previous day and it tasted OK to us so we emptied the 15 liters from our containers into the starboard water tank. We then went ashore and eventually wound up in the inner sanctum of the small desalination plant and purchased 20 liters of water for 20 pesos. That's less than ten cents per liter which I consider great value for good pure water. At the tienda we purchased two dozen eggs and a loaf of Bimbo Bread. Then came the disappointment of the day.
Arnold and I quickly got ready and went back out to the rough beach side cantina where the lady had led us to expect other yachties, seafood meals, and beer on this Saturday night. We arrived to see a few locals at the only table not showing any sign of expecting us to come in, probably because there were no spare chairs. The lady we knew was at the back. She eventually came over where Arnold and I were standing around and we asked for two cervezas Pacifico. She said that there was no beer because there had been some sort of party somewhere else the night before and all of the beer was gone. I asked her about comida (food) and she said that she was preparing food for tomorrow's breakfast but there was no food tonight. If we wanted pescado (fish) she suggested a boat that we could approach. This is all well and good, but it was she who had volunteered just a few days previously that Saturday night was the the night when they served food and we could expect a bit of a crowd. We had told her that we would come back on Saturday night. Well, maybe there was a language problem, but it was very disappointing.
The consolation prize was that they could offer bottles of harder stuff so I purchased a bottle of Bacardi Rum and one or El Jimador Tequila. Arnold gave the lady some candy to give to her children, we patted the dogs onelaast time, then we took to the Zodiac where mercifully we did not get seriously wet during the upwind ride back to the boat.
After dark a man visited Pachuca in a Panga offering lobsters at 100 pesos each. They looked small and appeared to be a ripoff to us. We politely declined and we arranged for him to visit with fish the following night. We think that the lady at the makeshift cantina sent him and Arnold and I were not pleased at what we perceived to be an attempt to take advantage of us. I have in the past been generous with my tipping and have been willing to pay more than the asking price if I thought that fairness warranted it, such as when I gave the man 200 pesos for sewing the end of my main halyard when he asked for only 80. But the flip side of that is that my Mediterranean temperament is totally ruthless in reaction to any perception of unfairness.
Last night we watched "The Boat". Tonight we'll probably watch "The Perfect Storm" and will be braced for stronger northerly winds tomorrow, when we expect to be boat bound.
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1 comment:
Tequila is great with lemon,,,but can have some exciting incidents to follow if you drink heaps!!!
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