Friday - Didn't quite make it out of the marina today

I hope you had a happy 4^th  of July! The marina is very quiet tonight. There is a big 4^th of July beach party at a beach about 20 miles from here.  Most of the boats here belong to US citizens who are at the party. I had other priorities for today so I didn’t make it.

I had four things lined up for today. As usual, I got only two of them done.

First accomplishment: I wanted to get permission to use my amateur radio equipment in Mexican territory in case I end up in Mexican waters again after I pass Cabo San Lucas. Fortunately, I am in the state capital of Baja California Sur where they have an office of the Secretary for Communications and Transportation (SCT). The state capitals are the only places outside Mexico City that can grant permission. The normal procedure is to apply at an SCT office. They do all the paper work and send it off to Mexico City. Sometime around a month later, paperwork arrives granting permission. I have been told by several sources that the receipt that SCT hands me would be evidence that I have permission to operate.

With this in mind, I dressed up in pants and a collared shirt, stuffed my papers into my backpack and started walking. I started a bit after 9 AM and the temperature was already in the upper 80s with humidity to match. It is about a mile and a half to the SCT office. By the time I got there, I was soaking wet with sweat.

The SCT building is a big white building with excellent air conditioning and not very many people in evidence. I approached the guard at the front door of the SCT office, Spanish phrase book in hand and asked for the amateur radio office – my best guess at what it would be called. He looked at me like I was speaking a foreign language – foreign to him, not me. After a couple of tries, I handed him the book and pointed to the words I was trying to use. He still looked puzzled. He was very polite and somewhat embarrassed at not knowing what I wanted. He made a short phone call and a cheerful looking middle aged woman by the name of Adriana appeared who spoke English. She very quickly figured out where I should go. She quickly began filling me in on her background as we walked to the appropriate office. She learned to speak English when she lived in Ohio some years ago and hasn’t used it much since she returned to Mexico over 20 years ago. Her English was quite good.

I had been told by another American radio amateur that a woman named Beatriz was in charge of the office and spoke very good English. Unfortunately, she was not in and the young woman filling in for her did not speak English. Adriana asked if I could come back on Monday when Beatriz would be in. When I told her I would be leaving La Paz this weekend, she conversed with the young woman behind the desk who rolled her eyes and pulled out a file folder. Adriana was quite happy to stay and act as translator.

The woman behind the desk made numerous phone calls. Another woman popped in several times from somewhere in the back to help and then disappeared. A man dropped in a couple of times with comments, apparently humorous since the women laughed a lot.

It took close to an hour to figure out what to put in the boxes on the form. A significant portion of this time was spent figuring out which of my names was my first name, middle name and last name. This despite the fact that my passport contains the Spanish words for the names. Apparently names are structured a bit differently here. Adriana explained that she has similar problems because her father has a French name. I’m not sure how that makes a difference but apparently it does.

At length, I was handed an invoice requesting payment of 1,314 pesos – about $103 US. I expected this. I was also told that I would have to go to the local Bancomer office to pay and then bring the receipt back to this office. I was expecting this as well. Apparently, Bancomer handles the money for the Mexican government offices. Adriana cheerfully gave me very detailed directions to the closest Bancomer office – about a mile back in the direction I had just come from.

So, back out into the heat and humidity. It seemed that it had cooled off a bit – or maybe it was just because I was walking into the faint, but noticeable, breeze. It also helped that the first part was down hill.

I found Bancomer without too much trouble – only one wrong turn. I pulled out my papers and joined the short queue to the tellers’ windows. Upon reaching the window, I handed the teller the invoice and my credit card. He looked at it and said something that I didn’t understand. I replied with my well-worn “Lo siento, hablo poco Espanol.” (I’m sorry, I don’t speak much Spanish.) He turned to the next teller who did speak English and who informed me that this credit card could only be used to get cash from the ATM. I explained that it was a normal credit card and I couldn’t get cash with it. No go. They wouldn’t take it.

I gathered up my papers and walked back out to the lobby where the ATMs resided. I used my debit card to withdraw cash, then went back to the line. I got a different teller this time. She accepted the cash. Then, incredibly enough, another round of trying to figure out my name ensued. Once that was resolved, I was handed a receipt with my last name first. I left hoping that it was acceptable.

Back to the SCT office – down wind and uphill. It hadn’t gotten any cooler. The sky was overcast, threatening to commence the daily afternoon thundershower. By this time, I would have been happy to be drenched with rain but all that fell was a few second’s worth of fine mist.

The guard recognized me, handed me my security badge and waved me on toward the office. Adriana showed up a few minutes later. Another set of long, intense exchanges ensued along with phone calls and drop in advisors. Apparently the bank was not supposed to put my last name first. Adriana laughed and shook her head. “Muy loco.” Even I could understand that.

Eventually, I was handed a receipt attesting to the fact that I had successfully applied for a permit to operate my radio in Mexico. However, there was nothing on it about what I would use for a call sign. After some discussion and looking at applications that had been processed recently, it is my understanding that I can use the call XE2/AG6YW. The XE2 prefix to my normal call tells the world that I am operating from Mexico.

I bid them all farewell. Adriana walked me to the front door. She spotted my empty water bottle and volunteered to fill it with cold water. How wonderful!

Out the door and on to objective number 2 for the day – go grocery shopping. The Super Mercado where I have been doing my grocery shopping was on the way back from the SCT office. I filled my back pack with potatoes, onions, apples and some canned goods. Two loaves of bread and a dozen eggs went into my shopping bag.

The mile or so back to the marina was as bad as all the rest put together. I was carrying the fairly heavy back pack, the wind had died entirely and the temperature had gone up. By the time I got back to the marina, I was not only soaked with sweat, but red faced and tired.

Nonetheless, I pressed on with objective number three for the day – check out from the marina. I am paid through today so my plan was to check out and then move out into La Paz Harbor to a safe anchorage. I needed to go to the office right when I got back because it was approaching the 4:30 closing time.

I must have a guardian angel of some sort. The woman who met me in the office explained that I had until noon of the day following my last paid day to check out – just like a hotel. What a relief! I walked out to the boat, dumped my baggage, put on a pair of shorts and headed for the shower house. I stood under the shower for at least 10 minutes. The best I could do was to get cool water – not cold – but it might as well have been a mountain stream - refreshing!

Back on the boat, I pulled out a cold beer. That may not sound remarkable but you may remember that the refrigerator quit while I was back in California. Since I got back, it has worked in an on again, off again fashion but enough to cool the beer. That’s all I really need.

I tried to use my new call sign this evening and check in on the Pacific Seafarers Net. Conditions were not good. Stations were fading in and out. I made brief contact and asked to be added to their roll call before they all faded away. Hopefully it will be better as I get out onto the Pacific. I would like to be able to get weather updates. I can get FAXs that are transmitted from Pt Reyes with some weather information but it is in a form that I have to evaluate and translate to guess at the wind direction and strength. I’m not all that good at it.

My final objective for the day was to fill the water tanks. It will wait until tomorrow.

I have been able to do Google video chat with Judy that last couple of evenings. It is wonderful to be able to see and hear her from this distance. Tonight was probably the last chance to do it. While I am in the marina, I have a wired connection to the Internet that is pretty decent. When I leave here, I will be back to using wireless and most of the free wireless connections I have run into so far are not good enough.

Tomorrow I move out – for sure. I will only move about a mile and anchor while I finish getting things stored away for the trip. Sunday should see me on the way!