Roberto to the rescue!

I’ve mentioned before our depth sounder doesn’t work and Dick’s efforts to fix it were unsuccessful. In mid-March, he ordered a replacement and had it express-shipped (the shipping cost equaled ¾ the cost of the depth sounder) using FedEx with an arrival date 4-6 days later at the Marina Singlar office. Five days after it was shipped, it arrived in Toluca Mexico, cleared customs, and was released to the “local authorized agent for delivery.” FedEx doesn’t actually deliver to Guaymas, so it handed off our package to Multipack, a Mexican company. The tracking information available to me online ended at this point. I checked daily in the marina office, but no package day after day. Toluca is 1000+ miles south of here - was it coming by burro? I called FedEx, they had more information on their computer screen, asked me for clarification of the address, and assured me the package would “arrive tomorrow.” After several days of this, they began telling me to call Multipack, so I did. Multipack said they had tried to deliver the package but the address was wrong, so I gave it to them … FOUR days in a row. Oh, the frustration!

Yesterday Roberto asked if he could try to help us. We gave him the tracking number and all the phone numbers we had.  In the meantime, Dick decided to work on an old depth sounder he’d been given by a cruiser who was replacing all his electronics. The problem involved was the connection between the transducer and the display had been cut. The wire to replace it had to be a radio cable which one local radio shop said was not available in Guaymas. But Dick found one, made a successful connection, and got it to work.

In the late afternoon today, Roberto came to the boat WITH the package! He’d been on the phone all day insisting Multipack find and deliver the package that day. He went to their local office and met the delivery truck as it arrived. When he walked in the office, the staff greeted him with “You must be Roberto!” and handed the package to him. Our hero!
 

Now we have two depth sounders and we can begin our final preparations for departure … except that it’s Semana Santa (Holy Week). Many businesses, the marina, and all government offices are closed until Monday 9 April.