Back in La Paz

The trip from Kingston to La Paz went better than I had hoped.

At the Morales Hacienda we all got about an hour's sleep then woke up in order to leave the house at 2.20 AM to meet the Airporter bus transport at Paulsbo at 3 AM.  Fortunately I had completed the bulk of the packing by mid afternoon so all I had to do was to wake up at 1 AM so that I could shower and pack the last minute things.  The two US Navy duffle bags that I had purchased early in my visit turned out to be perfect for the job.  I was able to set out with the two bags, weighing 38 lb and 43 lb (50 lb limit) for the cargo hold and my backpack and computer as carry-on.

Denver the Dog knew that somebody was leaving and looked sad.  I dropped into doggie mode to say goodbye on his terms, and apologized for having bitten him on the tail so hard.  He seemed a bit mollified.  I thanked Sandra for taking such good care of me and she told me to be careful and always tether myself on the coming sail.  Then Arnold and I set off for the pickup point and we arrived early enough to have a good cup of coffee and a chat.  Then the Airporter arrived and it was time to get into travel mode.

I was dropped off at SeaTac airport just before 5 AM and boarding began at 6.30  AM.  I was grateful for the early arrival because I needed most of that 1.5 hours available to me.  At the baggage checking I expressed concern that there was a span of exactly 30 minutes between the arrival of my flight at LA and the departure of the next flight to La Paz.  Indeed, as I would be landing, boarding would start.  The lady asked me if I had put together my own bookings.  I replied that I had selected the option that Alaska Airlines had offered.  She said that 30 minutes was a bit tight and usually they have a 1 hour minimum, and would I like to leave on a later flight?  I put the ball back in her court by stating that I would rely on the expert advice of AA.  She checked and confirmed that my flights were a standard AA offering.  Fine, I asked, will the connecting flight be on the same terminal?  She couldn't answer.  She checked in my bags and told me that I'd be OK.  I knew that if the connecting flight was in another terminal I would be in big trouble.

We got  into LA a few minutes late and while we were waiting for the OK to disembark I noticed that the airplane docking facility at the right was labeled "30".  I knew that I needed gate 32 so with luck I was on gate 31 and the connecting plane was one gate over to the left.  And so it was.  Because I was at the back of the incoming plane I was one of the last to emerge. I headed for gate 32, the agent asked "Mr Morales?", I said yes, presented my boarding pass, then they unlocked the gate door asking me to inform the agent at the plane that I was the last passenger.  So I have to credit AA with knowing what they are doing.  I suspect that the plane to La Paz would have been held up for me had I been later.

 The next hurdle was Mexican Customs, and I expected a long delay.  I went in figuring that emptying my bags and going through every item was their problem and not mine.  I had plenty of time and was prepared to display and describe every item of my luggage. The bags went through the scanning process and the official, who spoke good English, asked me about the equipment in the box.  I replied that it was a heater for my boat and presented my TIP (Temporary Importation Permit) which allows me to bring in boat items duty free.  She asked how much it cost and I replied about $180.  She asked if I had an invoice and I produced the one that Mark had provided me and pointed to the price of $182.  She asked if I was captain of the boat.  I replied that I was indeed captain and owner (or why else would I have been given a TIP?).  On that she waved me through without physically inspecting any of my luggage.  There was no discussion of the new GPS in my computer bag, the many yards of spinnaker halyard, the carbon monoxide detector,  the storm jib, etc etc etc.  This was all to the advantage of Customs because ultimately I was entitled to bring these items in duty free, so they had saved themselves a lot of trouble.

Duffle Bags in Cargo, Back Pack and Laptop in Cabin

Fitted Seat Covers

The taxi dropped me off at the Marina de La Paz at 3 PM and  I found everything to be in order. First of all, there had not been a hurricane and the marina was carrying on in peace and harmony.  My bicycle was next to the gate untouched, and somebody had cleaned outside of the boat.  Noe had left a welcome message in Spanish.  Inside, the first thing I noticed was the marvelous fitted covers that Bob Carrol had produced for the cabin settees.  I didn't waste much time in connecting Pachuca to electric power and internet, then unpacked the duffle bags.  It appeared that everything had survived the journey intact: e.g. 16 pairs of new glasses, the new boating equipment, the sprouts, the 9 lbs of almonds, etc.

When I returned to the boat after purchasing an 8-pack of cold beer I noted that the cabin temperature was 103 degrees which explained why I had been wringing wet in sweat since arriving at the marina.  The beer would give me energy to write this blog and get out some messages, then I would head for the shower followed by a meal at the marina restaurant.  After that I hoped to return to the boat, crash out, and probably wake up in the morning feeling that my exciting four weeks in the Northwest had been just a dream.