Internet from La Paz

Arnold and I went ashore with our laptops in hand. Fortunately my little acer fits nicely in a zip lock bag which then goes into the computer carrying case which then goes into a big garbage bag which then goes into a splash resistant laundry bag. This is the sort of care I must take to protect that vital piece of equipment from the dangers of salt water when I take it on the Zodiac. Arnold took similar measures with his laptop.
The first order of business before visiting the internet cafe was to drop by Lopez Marine for that marine wire for our starter button. I purchased 12 meters of 10 gauge marine grade cable, coated red.

We then visited the internet cafe which was very modern and comfortable. Unfortunately the internet service was up and down like a yo-yo. One of the staff rebooted the router twice but Arnold and I could see that the problem lay beyond the internet cafe. A local patron later told us that for the last week there had been problems associated with a damaged fiber optic cable.

Nevertheless I was able go get through my email and publish a few photos on the blog. I tried uploading a video but after watching the upload creep along for close to 45 minutes the upload abruptly stopped and it was all for nothing. Arnold then left and I went upstairs to call Brenda in Australia via Skype. We had a very good conversation with camera images and all for about 20 minutes and ... then ... the cafe lost electric power and everything dropped dead. I packed up and as I walked along the street I could see that the entire building had lost power.

Arnold and I had our usual afternoon lunch at the marina cafe. I ordered fillet of fish with garlic, the waiter asked for the dish number, I scanned across to the beginning of the line and said "99" which was off by one line so I had my first octopus in memory.

We returned to the boat at about 4 PM to relax and have a good night's sleep in preparation for the switch rewiring job the following day. Our plan had been to take the power for the push button starter switch from the bus bar behind the breaker panel. However, I later realized that this would violate the principle that all engine starting power emanates from the "starter" battery bank. If we proceeded as planned the starter switch would rely on the "house" bank and the rest of the starting system would rely on the "starter" bank. That would work fine but could lead to problems and confusion in the future. Our plan was altered to trace all of the relevant wiring, draw a schematic, and try to power the switch from the "starter" bank.

Arnold made a reservation with Alaska Airlines to fly from La Paz directly to Seattle on April 12. So we will return to La Paz on the 10th or earlier to make sure that Arnold catches that flight. As I have outlined already I will then stay in La Paz for a few more days re provisioning and preparing the boat then will make my exit from Mexico and head for Costa Rica.

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