Southern Patagonia 2005

We finally make it to the ferry crossing at Bahia Azul before dark and there's thankfully a little diner to relax in before the next ferry. Good also to have someone to speak with since there's no definitive posting of the ferry crossing schedule. The waitress says the next crossing is at 10pm. Bit of a wait since it's 7, but at least we can enjoy dinner. And there's lomo on the menu.

As we're waiting for our food, a ferry pulls up. Cars come out of nowhere and start loading. Weird, it's still a couple hours before it crosses. It's actually getting a bit full, so I better go load the car on to ensure we get a spot. I grab a fateful final swig of my beer run outside to pull the car onto the ferry.

I park the car on the boat, turn off the engine and step out just in time to notice a porthole next to me. Through the porthole I see what looks like moving water. I turn around to see the giant gate of the ferry closing behind me. 

I'm trapped!

My dinner!

Mary!

My dinner!

I must have been a site to see running up to the ticket guy gasping in broken Spanish "No Vamos!!! No no no!". The ticket guy calmly listens to my plea and assures me that there's no problem. We'll turn around and be back soon. That's all great for 30 seconds until I get my best fit translation and realize he's telling me that we'll be back in 2-3 hours after we cross the channel.

After a bit more discussion, he basically says "bummer your amigo will have to wait". Ok, now I see that he doesn't understand my problem and I let him know that we need to go back and get my amiga. He's suddenly a bit more understanding and suggests I head up to the bridge and talk with the captain.

Just as I make it to the bridge, I notice the captain has apparently taken notice of the commotion and gone down to the deck to talk with the ticket guy. So I run back down to face the only person that can save me. After a bit more discussion, the captain agrees to save my bacon and turn the boat around.

Against the background cries of "arriba arriba, chico" from the crew, I sprint off the moving barge up the dock and back to the diner. I burst in yelling to Mary to grab her stuff and run to the boat and do my best to spring the waitress into motion. Well, the waitress was cooperative. Mary felt the need make sure I paid immediately for letting her sit there and watch me, the car, her clothes, all our money and the ferry sail off into the distance without her. Once she felt I'd paid a sufficient emotional price, she jumped up and ran to the boat.

As I settled up with our waitress and asked about the schedule shift from 10pm to 7pm, she offered up the apology "Yeah, I'm new here."