Butch Cassidy, Overwhelming Generosity, and the Chief Commander of the Armada Argentinean

Butch Cassidy

Local kayakers have nicknamed Marcus "Butch Cassidy". For he was wanted. Dead or alive.

Well OK, OK, OK, wanted at least :) The Argentinean kayakers tell stories of the Prefectura Naval coming to the boathouses [a week before our arrival] with a picture of Marcus – printed from his web site – asking for news of his whereabouts. Some caved and shopped Alejandro for being involved. Fingered, Alejandro became an expedition accomplice and went "on the run" until he got a hold of us.

All is well now. Butch Cassidy showed up [everywhere he goes, people grin and say "Maa-aarcoo-oos!", his reputation goes before him], our letters have surfaced in the Armada's hands, and we've spent two days at the Armada Argentinean Base Naval Ushuaia. We'll be there tomorrow there too – presenting our final plan after a trip to Ushuaia Hospital for a certificado de buena salud.

Which brings me to the matter of our plan. The plan that we telepathically agreed and stated in the Chief Commanders office today. And our start point. And the boats.

Overwhelming Generosity

I believe we mentioned that since we arrived in

Ushuaia, we've received the warmest of care from our Argentinean friends, Alejandro, Virginia, and Walter. The rest of this story is going to sound like we made it up. Read on.

Every day as Alejandro, Virginia, and Walter come to our hostel and pick us up, the first thing they ask is about the boats. Alejandro really wants to see the Nemo. And the three of them are as involved in our saga as we are. Believe it or don't believe it, they care as much as we do.

Yesterday as we walked from the Armada Argentinean Base Naval towards town, Alejandro firmly told us, that he did not believe our boats would come. Without waiting for our complicity, he and Walter proceeded to exhaust their [international] cell phone credit and batteries to call boat manufacturers and friends. We couldn't follow the conversations – held in shop doorways in the rain – too well, but there were many words, many calls, and much discussion between Alejandro and Walter. The two of them indicated they had options for us but that they still had work to do.

Within an hour – as we drank café con leche in a coffee shop in downtown Ushuaia – Alejandro received a phone call. He told me the outcome of the phone call, and when Marcus came back from the bathroom, he asked me to relay the message to Marcus. I said it very quietly and from Marcus's expression, Alejandro was worried that something was wrong. The message that Alejandro had asked me to relay was that he had secured two free boats from one manufacturer, and that Walter would also provide two free boats. From Buenos Aires. To Ushuaia. By Wednesday.

Given that Marcus is the heart of this expedition and I’m the head, he cried first. But once he did, I was toast. We paid Freight Quote / UPS so much money to ship our boats here that I’m embarrassed to write it on our blog. This week we've received emails explaining how they can't meet their contract, how it is our fault, how there will be extra charges. In parallel with that, we've come to Argentina, met three people, and been so overwhelmed with their generosity that we cried in a coffee shop in Ushuaia. There are many things to mull over about that scenario. Many, many things. Just one is that it's an act of kindness, not an act of hostility, that will bring another human to their knees.

The Chief Commander of the Armada Argentinean

Tomorrow – among many more – the story of the Chief Commander of the Armada Argentinean :)

For now, know that our start date looks like Thursday or Friday. Our start place looks like Ushuaia. We will be using Argentinean boats.

xxx

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid