Great Equipment

It is no different with the lowliest visitor to another country than with the mightiest army: transportation and logistics are of paramount importance.  In my case the transportation heroes have been both my "Jetty Express" fold-up bicycle purchased for me by Brenda at West Marine in San Francisco two years ago, and the "Mountain Designs" back pack that Brenda brought from Australia on her last visit. 

Day after day that bicycle carried me all around La Paz - and in one case well out of La Paz - without letting me down.  (I had only one flat tire and a problem with a pedal that was easily resolved.)

Bike, Duffle Bag, Back Pack at Right

It is difficult to understate the importance of the backpack.  Many times I carried enormous loads in it, and I worried that a strap would go or maybe the fabric might tear.  Had either of these things happened I would have been at a serious disadvantage in transporting my supplies to the boat.  But everything held up, including every zipper in the pack.

Honorable mention goes to my two US Navy duffle bags which survived the trip from the USA crammed with equipment and loaded with 20, 25, and 30 kilos of supplies during my provisioning of the boat.  The bags have survived without the slightest problem.

I have sold the bicycle and will hand it over to Robert of the boat Moonbeam next week.  It was just too impractical to take back to Australia.  But the bags will remain a big part of Pachuca's inventory of equipment.