Red Tape
03 June 2008 | Villamil
Randy
I jumped in the water first thing to see if there was an obvious problem underwater. There was. The prop was gone. I quickly called Duncan, the owner of Saint Francis Marine, to get specs for a replacement. Our boat manual lists a Flexofold prop which was no longer used on our boat. We needed a right handed 18" Varifold prop for a Yanmar Saildrive but I wanted to be exact given the $1,800ish price tag. Duncan agreed to help but it would be tomorrow before we would get the information as it was 6PM his time and 8AM our time.
We got out the SCUBA gear to do more reconnaissance. Examining the drive leg revealed a more catastrophic problem that I had originally though when snorkeling in the murky water. The prop had not just fallen off. It had sheared in two. The prop nut and hex bolt that secure it were still in place. They were securing the insides of the prop hub to the shaft but the outside of the hub and the blades were gone. The zinc was loose also.
I check the starboard side and everything was secure and tight. I can only suspect the genset vibration as a possible source of the discrepancy. It also looked as if something from the prop or something from the outside may have snagged between the hub and the zinc. I was now hoping that the saildrive had not been damaged.
As I began to unbolt the remainder of the prop hub the officer from the port captain came buy again on a Taxi after visiting Chantefoc, a new French flagged arrival. While there are water taxi's here (two from what I understand) things are so quiet that they don't work long hours. You can try them during daylight on 16 and they will generally be around but not always.
The officer had brought a friend. They hopped aboard and waved off the Taxi. I looked at him inquiringly from the water with full scuba on and tools in hand. He seemed surprised I actually had a problem. Fernando (Carmella's gopher on San Cristobal) and Victor (Carmella's husband) will tell you that you can visit other islands for a day or two by simply saying you have a diesel problem. This speaks to their integrity and the skepticism of the Isabela officials when you claim a mechanical difficulty. All of the port captains are in contact and the San Cristobal guy is the big boss since that is the official capital (even though Santa Cruz is much larger population wise and economically).
I indicated that I was in the middle of something and inquired as to what they needed. He said something I didn't understand and I asked them if they minded waiting. They did. So I got out of the water changed out of my wet suit dried off and attended them.
The official was saying something I couldn't understand but for the most part it seemed they wanted to gawk at our boat and hit us up for beer. I left the repairs of my boat for this. The new guy, young, took pictures of the saloon of our boat while the older guy continued on in Spanish, knowing we didn't understand. Then they asked for a beer. Hideko gave them two from the cold box. The officer suggested we should give them colder ones. I told them that was as cold as we had and that if there was nothing else I'd like to get back to fixing my boat.
He agreed and told me to take them ashore. They pounded their beers so as not to be seen ashore drinking. Seeing no end to the abuse of power in sight, I dried off the rest of the way, got a shirt and took them to the dock. As they departed I was assured that all was in order and that I would just need to stop by tomorrow to finalize some things. That would make three days in a row dealing with officials who didn't even give me any new paperwork (he told me to use the Zarpe from San Cristobal).
I don't mind official who are formal and do official business. I don't mind official who are informal and want to relax and have a beer and a chat. I do mind official who use their station to trump up phony fees, unnecessary visits to my home and other trivialities. So far I have not been impressed by the Ecuadorian brass.
On the way back to the boat I met Julian on board Chatefoc. He is a very nice single hander who was looking to stay in Isabela for a day using the old maintenance ploy. I warned him that these officials were a hassle and that I had paid $170 to stay, and I really had a problem. He told me that he had cleared in himself in Santa Cruz and only paid $130. He also said it was crowded and more touristy than Isabela.
If I had it to do again I might just come to Isabella and leave it at that. Pay the fees (less than San Cristobal) and see everything on one island, then move on. Isabela has everything San Cristobal has plus volcanoes, penguins and much more in a more natural peaceful setting.
I offered to give Julian a ride as his dinghy was stowed. He hopped on and I motored by Swingin' on a Star to see if Hideko and Nobu wanted to visit the town while we waited for Julian to clear in. The response was positive so the four of us set out for the stone pier. I figured I had been through twice so perhaps I was ready for the challenge. The surf was considerably larger today. As we approached I could find no one spot without a break. Everytime I had though I found the pass a wave would come and crash down and the pass moved 5 meters to the side. After a very slow approach I decided to retreat. We motored back to the anchorage and then followed the line of fishing boats anchored on the perimeter of the bay around to the town dock.
A friendly local showed us where to tie up. The people of Ecuador are wonderful, kind, warm and friendly (with the possible exception of the officials). The dock is modest but beautiful and set into the mangrove lined volcanic shoreline of the bay. As we walked up to the road another official stopped us. We informed that we didn't ablo espaniol. He went of for some time about a problema. We told him that we were going to the capitania. He still went on, saying we needed to get Carmella to get us new Zarpe, among other things. Finally we got a tour guide (these guys always speak English) to help us. The official finally let us go.
At the capitania the official I had been dealing with asked why I was there. I said that I was just dropping another person off when an official told me I had a problem. He said no, you have no problem. Just come back tomorrow with a picture of you broken prop and you can take 9 or 10 days to fix you problem.
We left Julian to his fate and walked down the pier to the little bar at then end. Isabela is truly remote and gorgeous as and island. Repairs and officials aside it is a spectacular place to visit. We played on the kids playground on the beach and waded in the tide pools fringed with black lava as we finished our large cervasas from the pier's beach bar. The sunset was magnificent but it spurred me to see what was keeping Julian as we didn't want to have to dinghy about at low tide in the dark.
Exasperated he had waited for 2 hours to no avail, the official that he needed was not around. We all took a leisurely walk back to the dock and began a careful idle around the bay with new rocks popping up through the low water everywhere toward the center of the bay. As we passed by the outer rocky islands we spied some big lumpy birds on the shore. I turned the boat and puttered over. They were Galapagos Penguins. They were so cool. We couldn't wait to watch them go into the water in the morning when they feed. It was our last big check box for Galapagos Fauna completed.
As we neared the anchorage, the official who had previously stopped us on the dock was returning. He stopped us again in mid water. You can't set eyes on these guys without them announcing some self important business it seems. They aren't organized enough to get anything done in one stroke. Julian it seemed had to return to shore with him. We said goodbye to Julian and told him that we would listen on 16 if he needed a ride.
Having gotten nothing done all day due to the ridiculous official interruptions we returned to Swingin' on a Star for dinner. Shortly thereafter Julian called on 16 and asked for a pickup. Nobu and I carefully puttered along the fringe of the bay to get him. Once aboard he indicated that they wanted money or his immediate departure. He offered his immediate departure. We were sad to see Julian go and promised to look for him in Tahiti.
Late that night we were running the genset to fill up the water tanks and do some laundry so that we would not have to do either underway. At about 9PM we began to notice a eerie red glow on the horizon. Cerro Azul was erupting. Speachless, Hideko, Nobu and I sat on deck and stared and the flowing red colors that lit the black night sky. It was an experience that completely wiped away the frustration of the day and made us once again realize how small a price a little adversity was in exchange for sight few ever see with their own eyes. I called Julian on the VHF to tell him to look back but he had disappeared into the night.