Hello Everyone,
Guess what? We’ve got cockroaches now! If a DVD were made of our life, you’d find it in the comedy section of the video store. After two months of engine problems, one after another, we finally complete the repairs and the cucarachas appear. Fortunately cruising has helped us develop a laid back attitude toward life. This was epitomized beautifully by a turkey vulture on Thanksgiving Day. While Randy visited some friends, I took a walk on the beach and spotted a turkey vulture and a sea gull perched on the rocks. The gull had caught a fish and was tearing into it as the vulture watched, his ruby red head glowing in the afternoon sun. The gull was in no hurry, so the vulture waited patiently. Another gull zeroed in on the feast and the fish was dropped in the water in the ensuing ruckus. The second gull retrieved the fish and took his turn on the dinner rock. Again the vulture waited, occasionally fanning his wings into a magnificent four foot wingspan. A third gull flew in and this time the fish fell between two boulders. Big dilemma. Nobody could reach it. The vulture deliberately hopped closer. With a superavian effort the second gull hauled the fish free and tore into it with renewed vigor. At this point the vulture must have decided it was no longer worth the wait because he looked at me with a shrug, spread his wings and flew away. That about sums up our cruising attitude: Hope, patience and adaptability to ever changing circumstances.
We developed that attitude into an art form during the saga of the engine repair. First the lift pump went out at a remote anchorage and we replaced it with a spare. Two weeks later the fuel injector pump suffered an internal hemorrhage just as we cleared a reef. The engine continued accelerating, even though it was set at idle. I ran to shut off the fuel and the clattering of the runaway engine stopped, leaving a cloud of smoke in its wake. When we reached Santa Rosalia, Randy had to disassemble the entire port side of the engine to get the old pump out. He patiently researched various options and decided to exchange the old pump for a rebuilt one in Los Angeles. Upon his return, he discovered a tiny part of the throttle linkage had been left in the old pump. After a series of confusing telephone calls, we arranged for “Ooh pay essa” (UPS) to transport the part to a Mexican bus line which would then deliver it to Santa Rosalia. That was three weeks ago. The part never made it beyond Tijuana before being sent back to LA. UPS said, “Your package has experienced an exception.” Of course they are now sending us emails in Spanish, to help us with our exceptional package. Hope, patience, adaptability.
In the meantime, Randy drew a picture of the missing part, a ball-headed bolt (tornillo con bola) and brought it to all the auto and hardware stores in town. Nobody had it. Next we scrounged several dusty wrecking yards. (Isn’t the cruising life romantic?) I think the abundance of vultures in Mexico reflect a national trait. Those old cars were picked clean to the bone! Eventually Randy found a machine shop and had the head of a proper sized bolt machined into a 1/4 inch ball. The engine went back together fine, except for one injector flange. Evidently it had a hairline crack and snapped in two when it was tightened. Another trip to the machinist solved that problem. When we fired up the engine, it ran…. hot. Randy put in a new thermostat. It still ran hot, so we had the raw water intake scrubbed clean (as well as the rest of the hull below the waterline.) The overheating persisted until he replaced the raw water impeller and gasket. Now our engine purrs and we have cucarachas. Hope, patience, adaptability!
That attitude has also spilled over into our relationship. Two first borns who are used to being “right” tend to butt heads alot. One day Randy described himself as tenacious and me as stubborn! Fact is, we’re both bull-headed. Gradually we’re beginning to see that being right is pretty much a matter of opinion and it helps alot to understand each other’s opinion. At least we no longer think the other guy is quite so crazy!
We’re also developing a broader viewpoint of world events, thanks especially to our friendship with Sara and Francesco, young Italian filmmakers who live in a trimaran. We share pasta and movies with each other and drove deep into the desert to see some ancient rock paintings with them. They introduced us to the movies of Ron Fricke. If you have a chance, see “Chronos” or “Baraka.” There is no dialog, just achingly beautiful scenes of earth, architecture and people. Such things as time lapse sequences of tides washing around Scottish castles and a rain forest tree being felled.
Well, time to go get dem cucarachas. With love,
Gina and Randy