Waiting

We bought our Promaster on the cusp of evolving  battery technology and since we had GANNET2 outfitted, you may be surprised to learn, electrical systems for RVs have advanced quite a bit further than our four year old layout which relies heavily on 110 volts. I have to say though that we pioneered one idea that manufacturers are now adopting for commercially built campers, principally ditching propane gas. We went all electric in 2020 which raised some eyebrows at the time as lithium batteries were new and very expensive.  

Living with electricity alone for heating cooling cooking and lighting means you need a lot of battery power which used to mean lugging around a generator but our builders, Custom Coach Creations of DeLand Florida went instead with a second alternator to provide faster charging for our batteries. That was great until the second alternator stopped working and a replacement regulator cannot be found in Chile. The factory alternator is doing fine at the moment so we can drive as normal which is nice. We just can’t burn electricity with gay abandon in the living quarters which is a drag. 

Layne is in Key West at the moment picking up the part for our alternator shipped to a friend’s house by Nation’s Starters and Alternators in Missouri.  Indeed she has her hands on it as I write, as well as the spare we decided to order at the same time as a precaution against a future failure. Lovely things the tiny plastic $20 regulators that are critical to engine battery charging:

The problem was we had to get them this week as we are hoping to load ourselves and our van into the Esperanza ferry next Monday for a four day sail to Puerto Natales 1200 miles south of here. Had we decided to have the parts shipped directly to us there was no telling when they might arrive and pass through customs and so on. So Layne flew to Florida where she is seeing friends, going to see a play in Key West, (I’m jealous) while enjoying 60 degree days in a proper Keys winter. Rusty and I are twiddling our thumbs in the cabin outside Puerto Montt.

It’s not a bad place to stay and Rusty loves the absence of competition from other dogs and he loves sunbathing on the gravel (weird dog) and rolling in the grass while ignoring the chickens. It’s a pastoral life.

I spend my days reading and having lunch with our German neighbors Christoph and Monica. They are waiting for a new axle for their Mercedes Unimog expedition vehicle to be sent from Germany. It’s been a month and the part has now arrived in Santiago where it faces scrutiny by the inscrutable customs inspectors and that could take days. As it’s 7 feet long and weighs 250 pounds it’s not something you can fly to Germany to pick up and stuff in your pocket. They may have their truck back in a week. Or not. Sigh. 

I have lunch with them and we talk about travel, families, European and US politics and spare parts shipping. 

Then I read and my plan is to finish off a paperback I picked up at the Rome airport last year, a biography of the conquests of Alexander the Great  who fought his way from Greece to India. Layne wondered why we were hauling around this thick green book and it was  about time I read it. I’m at page 300 of 440 with two days to go so I should get it done and go back to my Kindle.

I generally prefer reading on my ebook  as I get the benefit of reading electronically with a lightweight back-lit library in my hands but without the distraction of the Internet. The book is heavy and the pages flap but it’s great story. And with the state of affairs in Russia it seems as though I may have missed my window to drive the Silk Road so at least I can still read about it.

Meanwhile here we are in Chile, land of unpredictable weather. It’s been sunny and pleasant like a summer day in Seattle and then suddenly with no notice at all it starts slashing rain which either stops equally suddenly or persists all night dropping temperatures to make it fell less like Spring an feel much more like winter. 

Rusty has some idea when the rain is about to start so when he goes indoors I pick up my chair and follow him and sure enough the waterfall begins. He has got used to the rain on the metal roof of the van and he sleeps through the heaviest rains these days where he used to tremble when we started out living life in a van. The heavy rain on the in insulated cabin roof bothers him not at all and the old dog likes his naps. 

Layne gets back Tuesday and then we get the alternator fixed and then we take a drive to check it and then we get on the ferry out of here. 

Meanwhile I’m off back to Central Asia to see if the plot to overthrow Alexander is going to succeed. It’s unlikely as his biography has 140 pages to go…