MdP - Formal Entry Completed, Electrical Gear

M&M and I headed for the health department at 9.30 AM to get their clearance. The office was fully functioning, in contrast with the week earlier when there was only one person who was a stand-in and shut the office early. We were processed in parallel by two different people. The man dealing with me was very pleasant and I noticed that he had to use carbon paper which I had not seen in years. The document that I received had 5 different stamps on it and of course the signatures. At the end he asked for 100 pesos which I handed over, but I got no receipt. Afterwards I asked M&M if they had been asked for 100 pesos and they had. I told them that I was uncomfortable with handing over money with no receipt but like me they were willing to pay just to get on with it. I asked why if we could hand over 100 pesos in cash they forced us to go to the bank to pay 50 pesos. Marianne told me that they were told that the stand-in was wrong and there had been no need for us to go to the bank and waste 2.5 hours. I'm not terribly upset by the way it was handled because I've come to accept a sort of "tourist ignorance overhead" in my travels.

The Aduana was more efficient and professional, except in one respect. We agreed that they would visit our boats between 3 PM and 6 PM and nobody ever showed up. He did say that if they didn't show up they'd come another day, but I doubt it. What is the point?

So now the Pinta and Pachuca and their crews have formally entered Argentina.

Afterwards I tagged along with M&M where we visited an interesting fisheries shop that carries a lot of ropes, cords, and shackles that will be of interest to me in the future. There I purchased an Argentinean flag which is a little larger than I would have liked but looks good flying over Pachuca.

We then went to a hardware store where Marianne helped me to enquire about a plug for shore power at the slip. I had done my homework and drawn a sketch of the plug, showing round pins with the lower ground pin larger than the other two. I even put a piece of paper over the shore plug and punched through to the pin holes to make sure that the distances were right. They did not have what I needed but directed me to another place specializing in industrial electrics and there I got what I needed. It was an interesting shop. There were two remotely controlled access doors and they had to buzz each door open from the counter to let me in then buzz each door to let me out. Given that arrangement and the fact that everything is behind the counter I suspect that their theft rate is 0.

I then walked a block to Edison and found Delta Computers where I had no trouble getting an Argentinean plug for my Acer netbook power pack.

On the way back I dropped by the grocery store and picked up big round loaf of unsliced bread and a bottle of "Balbo" Cabernet Sauvignon 2010 from Argentina. Wines seem to be cheap here. I paid $16.58 pesos for the bottle of wine, which equates to about $3.70. OK, it was bottom of the range (typical of me) but has proven to be quite drinkable. Next time I'll go upmarket and pay $5.00.

On the way back to the boat I dropped by the nice little place by the foot bridge and the young girl told me brightly that today they did have papas fritas, and I ordered my usual. While at the table I struck up a conversation with a local man and managed to tell him in Spanish about my passage from La Paz. I told him about my sail and rigging problems and he confirmed that "Pato" Salas at North Sails can is a very nice man (as several others have said) and can make my sails. Regarding the rigging, he says that swaging of end pieces cannot be done in Mar del Plata and the thing to do is to take good measurements and order the stays from Buenos Aires. (I was amazed. A swaging tool is small and very portable.) I cleaned the table and took the plate to the kitchen to pay the girl and she finally complained that I should leave the plate on the table because it is her job. I got the message and agreed. She asked if I liked the food and I replied that I've been here 3 days in a row, haven't I?

I wanted to dig out my electrical cabling so that I could mate the Argentinean plug with my Australian cable, but I wanted to keep the cabin neat for the Aduana (Customs). So after a nap I hand washed my light US Navy jacket, Musto foul weather trousers, and "Mountain" foul weather jacket. The foul weather gear as served me well and I took great pleasure in lovingly washing it in nicely scented clothes detergent. The "Mountain" jacket had a seized zipper which I freed up with little problem. Seized zippers no longer worry me.

While doing this work I saw Alfredo and said hello. Soon he came over and we started talking. I told him about the horror tales from Antonio and that I wasn't willing to try to sail to Buenos Aires. Alfredo assured me that he has crisscrossed the estuary many times and will show me on a chart on how to make the passage safely. It is very, very difficult to make a decision when some much conflicting information is coming in. Alfredo came on board and looked at my rigging problem and told me that he can show me a really cheap and easy solution using galvanized wire, probably tomorrow. I've got no problem with galvanized wire to get me back to Australia, because I know that it is in fact stronger than stainless steel wire. Better still, galvanized wire is more honest than stainless steel in that it lets you know when it is deteriorating, whereas with stainless steel it is usually sudden death. I mentioned the problem of Chinese wire to Alfredo and he didn't think that it was a problem because the wire used by riggers is produced in Argentina (whatever that means).

I finished the day looking forward to Alfredo's galvanized wire solution and a haircut. Martin had taken a couple of photos of me with my beard and now I felt free to shave it off (it will be painful!) and get a haircut.

Looking a bit farther down the track, I'm thinking about making contact with Pato about the sail work. The man at the cafe told me that Pato speaks English which will be a big help. I'm hoping that given all of the work that I'll be able to throw his way, Pato will be able to assist me with the rigging and electronic work to the point of arranging transport between here and Buenos Aires. He may even know of a local rigger who can take the measurements of the stays. (Otherwise I'll do it myself, probably dropping the good D1 stay and doing a measurement of the inner forestay using a tight cord. The replacement of the upper shrouds is still a very open question.)

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