Fun Times at a Junk Yard

Los Hermanos. Best junk yard ever.

I know I said that Bettie survived our three-month absence totally unscathed, but all was not completely good in the hood. For one thing, leaving a boat for an extended period of time can gum up your electronics, which in a corrosive environment absolutely have to be used. So Vlad had to spend a day fiddling with our electronics and engine before getting everything in tip-top shape again.

He also discovered that our choke cable, which is how we stop our engine, was hopelessly corroded. We had known this day was coming, but three months without use killed the cable for good. We did look for a new one at various auto parts stores, etc. but, alas, with no luck. That's when we heard about the junk yard.

Now, Vlad and I both really love junk yards. Why? It's mysterious, I know, but a junk yard is one of those places where you can find just the right thing with a little perseverance and a little luck. It is truly reusing at its finest. Plus, giant piles of used car parts - rows of carburetors, stacks of dirty windshields, towers of metal and pipes and hoses - are visually just plain fascinating.

But I digress. Our friend Dan, who was up for a bit of an adventure, offered to drive us to Los Hermanos, a junk yard located just after you drive into Puerto Vallarta. After a few wrong turns and discussions with various Mexicans on just where this place was, we found ourselves at the most awesome junk yard ever. It's run by a guy from San Diego, and the place was immaculate, at least for a place filled with busted Chevys. The giant warehouse was completely organized from floor to ceiling with the innards of thousands of cars.

And Vlad got to have a bit of fun tearing into one of them, removing the trunk cable that we are going to use as our new choke cable. Yes, we did find one on the internet for about 12 bucks, but this whole experience was WAY more fun.

On a completely unrelated, and somewhat paranoid, note, we actually went into town yesterday for the express purpose of getting cash out of the ATM just in case the American Congress doesn't vote to raise the debt ceiling causing a default causing a precipitous slide in the value of the dollar. It sounded like a completely reasonable outing to me, and I even brought the idea up, until one of our non-American friends on the dock asked if we were going to stock up on canned goods and guns as well. Ah, the joys of overseas travel.