Waiting for the Shipment

December 11, 2024 
Unfortunately, in the couple of weeks prior to our arriving in La Paz we had noticed that our batteries were losing voltage quicker than they had when they were brand new four weeks ago, and it seemed like a much quicker drop than it should have been.  We did some tests of our own and then went to talk to the battery dealership in La Paz.  They were very helpful and said that they would send a technician out to our boat for free to check out our batteries for us.  The next day Jason went into the marina with our tender to pick up the technician and his English-speaking helper.  They came on board and checked out our batteries, and told us that they were all good.  When we explained our concern to them all they really said was that they all tested good.  We were unsure how to proceed, but we asked about the possibility of getting another battery to add to our already new battery bank, which would give us more amp hours and therefore hopefully less voltage drop overnight.  We had been hoping to leave La Paz on Wednesday, December 4th, but we were told that a shipment was coming in on Friday and that the battery that we wanted might be on it.  Might?  Well, there were a few other things we could do in the meantime, and the beach was really nice, and we thought it would be good to add the battery, so we decided to wait until Friday and hoped that our battery would be on the shipment. 
On Thursday, December 5th, we were contacted by the dealership and told that the good news was that the battery was on the truck, but that the bad news was that there had been some issues and the shipment wouldn’t arrive until Monday, December 9th.  We were very disappointed, but once again we decided to wait. 
Monday arrived, but when I messaged about when we could pick up our battery we were told that they did not know where the truck was, or why there was an issue, but that our battery would not be arriving. 
Later in the day we got told that Wednesday, December 11th, was the next chance of arrival, and that by this time they did not want to promise us anything.  Strong north winds were forecasted for Tuesday and Wednesday, and although we had hoped to be out of La Paz for these winds, we also wouldn’t be going far so it didn’t really make a difference where we waited them out. 
We decided to wait one last time.  We would depart on Thursday, December 12th, whether we had the battery or not.  
On Wednesday morning we went ashore to the El Magote beach and had a lovely, long, stormy beach walk. 
It was a beautiful day, but with an unusually thick cloud cover and strong north winds it was also rather chilly, around twenty degrees. 
After getting to an old wreck that was washed up on the beach we went up into the sand dunes to sit down and to let Falcon have a snack before we headed back.  We found a sheltered place in the warm, dry sand facing the sun and got warmed up.   
There was so much salt in the air that it had almost a misty look and with the cool air it almost felt like a summer day on the coast of BC when the fog drifts in and out and you spend the day hoping that the fog will clear and that it will get hot.  
It was very neat on the walk to see where the high tide of the night and the large waves had pushed the water.  The large flat area that we often played frisbee and kicked Falcon’s soccer ball around was totally flooded and the beach had been washed clean, with any remaining debris pushed right up into the dunes.   
When I messaged the battery place about picking up the battery, we were told that it would be ready in two hours.  We went home for some lunch, and then headed into town.  We got our battery, and soon after getting home we had it added to our battery bank. 
We were hopeful that the next morning we would notice an improvement in our battery-bank voltage. 
 
We left La Paz on the morning of December 12, 2024, seven days later than we had planned.  

 

Comments

  1. ColleenJanuary 12, 2025 at 5:13 PM

    I guess that is what they call living on Mexican time. One thing about waiting there, it is beautiful and there is always a good beach to play on.

    ReplyDelete

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