We were recently reminded of the old cruisers adage, that “a cruiser’s plans are written in sand at low tide”. Little did we know that this was a foreshadow of what was to be the story of our April & May.
If you’ve been following along, we’ve been hauled out of the water (dry storage) in the boat yard in Puerto Penasco for the summer. With the plan of April & May to complete some boat projects and ensure we are prepared for next season’s Pacific crossing. We had rented an apartment not too far away from the marina so that we had refrigeration and a change of scenery after long hot days working in the dusty yard. We had also purchased a lot of gear and supplies that were being shipped to our house in Tucson to make those projects come to life (i.e. 100’s of parts to do a major service on boat engine).
Plan A: I purchased a car online at Carvana. It is a sensible low milage, non-descript VW Jetta. Something we could reliably make the 250 mile drive between Puerto Penasco and Tucson. Something that had a big trunk to haul stuff around. Something that we could use to get to and from the hardware stores.
So, the day after we hauled the boat out, I took a shuttle to Tucson. I picked up the car and picked up our first of many parts and drove back the following day. Upon return to Mexico, the car would wouldn't start about 30% of the time. I was suspecting that the immobilizer was failing and decided that having a car here that is not totally reliable would be a big liability. There are no VW repairs shops here. And towing a car to the US is likely not easy.
Okay, so Plan B: Jeanne drove the car back to Tucson where we had scheduled an appointment at the VW dealership. She would stay at the house for a couple of days while the car is repaired and then drive back to Mexico, pick up the next car load of supplies and run a bunch of errands.
Upon reaching Tucson, she was able to get the car to the shop and the good news was that we found my diagnosis of the car was validated and did indeed have a faulty immobilizer. However, the bad news was that the part was 3 – 6 months back ordered and needed to be made in Germany.
Well, so Plan C: Good news! Carvana does provide a warranty on the car. The warranty company (Silver Rock) was able to locate a used part that should work. Great! We just needed to wait for the part to be reprogrammed and get shipped to the VW dealership in Tucson. So Jeanne adjusted her plans to stay in Tucson for a second week. She ‘filled’ orders from the boatyard making daily circles with a borrowed car from Home Depot, Auto Parts store, Mailbox, and repeat. Our friend Amy was able to fly down and join her while she ‘waited’.
I resolved myself to being on foot and walked about 5 miles a day between the marina, apartment, and various stores in an attempt to get as much done on the boat as I could without the parts Jeanne had in Tucson.
We had to be out of our apartment by the end of April and then move all our things to another apartment across town. I was contemplating how to make this move on foot and taxi. (Oh and to move the cat…) We have a lot of stuff!
Plan D: The part arrived at the VW dealership, but after several more days (they don’t work the weekends of course) it was determined that the used part was not going to work. Because of programming issues, only a new part is going to solve the issue. So with the car back in the shop, and no ETA, we had to figure out a way to get Jeanne back to the boat with tons of gear.
So, finally after 3 weeks of waiting, Jeanne rented a car and drove back to Mexico. You might ask why didn’t we rent a car earlier? Well, only one rental company rents cars that can go to Mexico and you need a corporate account to rent. So we had to create one, pay for additional Mexico insurance, etc. etc. and it is very expensive. Jeanne would then stay in Mexico for 3 days – long enough to drop all the gear, change apartments and then head back to return the car. She could then pick up the next load of necessary parts (albeit a smaller load) from Tucson. Then she would take the shuttle service back to Mexico. We’d be without a car in Mexico, but could rent one locally for a day or two if we needed. We'd figure out how to get back to Tucson later...
Plan E: As Jeanne was getting ready to head back to Tucson to return the car she went to schedule the shuttle back. However, because we are nearing the end of the tourist season here in Puerto Penasco, we found that the one-way shuttle service back to Mexico had been discontinued so after returning the rental car, she’d again be stuck in Tucson. There was one shuttle out of Phoenix but that would require multiple additional hotel nights and was quite expensive. Perhaps Jeanne could stay in Tucson; I could finish up the boat work then find a ride back to Tucson in early June? But there were some parts that were arriving soon, that need to make it to Mexico so I could finish the engine project. There are also a lot of things that the two of us can do together that are easier. I would also be on foot in Mexico with our new apartment further away from the marina making my daily walk around 7 miles in the Mexican sun and dust. We could find a ride with another cruiser? No one is going that way. We could rent a car from Mexico? Nope. They didn't have any available this week. We could buy another car? Too expensive and ridiculous.
We were running out of plan options. Thankfully, my brother graciously agreed to let us borrow his car for 2-3 weeks (thank you Dave and Niki!). So, Jeanne and I returned the rental car back to Tucson together. We spent 48 hours there picking up more parts (including a handful of parts for other cruisers here in Mexico). We had our pet-friendly apartment managers watch Leia in Mexico while we were gone. We swam in the pool, had lunch with Dylan and drove Dave’s car back to Puerto Penasco.
As of this moment, our current plan has us finishing our work here by May 20th. Assuming we work 7 days a week, 10 hour days. At which time we'll lock her up and put her away for the season. We will then drive back to Tucson and transition from boat projects to house projects.
As they say, a plan is written at low tide, and the tide really does change every 6 hours. If you can’t deal with change or uncertainty – I’m not sure you should take up this cruising lifestyle.
oh my, would be hard pressed to find a more complicated plan each day. Missing you both.
😁
Very entertaining Dan. What a great life adventure for you both!!!
-Christian