Uruguay Again, Repairs Again

We are arrived at the mechanic’s shop in Colonia Valdense, Uruguay. 

Adrián has parts ordered and he has been preparing GANNET2 for the parts that have been shipped. We’ve moved into his guest unit while GANNET2 is stripped and disemboweled.

I am exhausted after discussing parts and making decisions and planning as well as shuffling our life into the cottage. Rusty is very happy to be in a house. 

And has been sticking to his bed with only occasional forays into the garden.

The shop is in the country which is pretty in Uruguay. 

So here we are possibly for two weeks. We have some errors to repair and some money to spend and it’s frustrating. But we will have a well appointed van I hope with modern electronics when we are done. 

The plan is to throw away the second alternator and replace it with a DC charging system off the starter battery. Then we want to install a shore power charging system for 110 volts or 220 volts so we can plug in and charge our batteries in any country. We are also hoping to figure an installation for a 2 kw gasoline powered heater for the cabin. The parts so far amount to $5,000.  Massively annoying but we are hoping this will be the last time for a while we are going to have to tackle this. The parts come from the US and are expensive. Adrian seems capable a retired Argentine Air Force engineer who is studying our systems with an eye to improving the half job done in Brazil. Fingers crossed.

We are both ready and eager to be traveling again but this time we plan to head off into winter with a fully functional house.