Aye Caramba, Trouble in Paradise

After concluding our business in the US, we headed back to Mexico for more sailing adventures. Unfortunately, we were in for an unpleasant surprise upon returning to the boat. The hatch board had been cut with a torch to remove the lock hasp and gain entry. We immediately informed marina security, they appeared as surprised as we were. After each level of security checked it out, we got new and more senior level of security. Everyone seemed to think "this can't happen here". Tell  that to our computers, telvisions, and handheld radios and GPS's. Though not entirely inconceivable, this is a part of travel in a foreign country with a lot of stuff. I went to the justice department wirh the harbormaster, and several levels of security guys the next day to file a formal report. We have been hanging around waiting for a detective to come investgate for about a week now. It is very important that we be here to complete the process. We are getting our slip for free until this happens.
It is just as well, as I have determined that our inability to stop the boat with reverse power appears to be a transmission problem. When we had the local gringo mechanic take a look, he pointed out a coolant leak likely caused by a corroded exhaust manifold. He proposes that we pull the transmission and engine, and take it to his shop for evaluation. He has never seen a saildrive like we have before. Honest, I didn't mean to punch that tarbaby again and again, but we appear stuck for the moment. A local mechanic is coming by today after lunch to disassemble it and assess the damage. We have a few options at this point, but they will all take some time to happen.
Local mechanic comes by, takes a look, and asks how long I will be here. Upon explaining that we want to be on our way soon, he recommends a friend who can mess with it now, as he is in the middle of a big job and has little time available. The other guy shows up in a couple of hours and looks in the transmission and sees that now and then the gears don't quite slide into place but hit on edge and go no further. The gears have flattened edges from wear and could be replaced if you could find them. In the absence of that, the solution is to  put it in neutral and try again. He takes the manifold off to check for leaks and takes it with him to check and clean the heat exchanger core. We don't see him for three days until visiting day on Thursday.
On thursday, we get two groups of crime scene investigators, detectives and photographers to chronicle what went on with the robbery. In between the two groups the mechanic shows up at the end of the dock, hands me the mainfold all clean and freshly painted, and says ne needs to find O-rings to re-install the heat exchanger. About a 2 minute interchange and he is gone back on the boat and the second group of investigators shows up to check out the boat. Altogether 15 officials visited us and took the details of our stuff, where it was on the boat and where we thought it might have gone. Now we have done our civic duty and the management of the marina will meet to determine fair compensation for our trials and tribulations.
Meanwhile back in the engine room, nothing heard from the mechanic for the rest of the week. On Saturday, the mechanic shows up, but without o-rings as they are made of a triangular material instead of the usual round stuff. We settle on a nice coating of high temp silicone on the old ones and put the engine back together. Alas,the control cable doesn't fit with the new controller, and we need to find another one. So off they go to find a cable and they will come back on Lunes (monday). I tell them they never come when they say and he tells me "hey, it's Mexico, land of manana". I give them my saddest look and say it would please me if they would actually show up on monday.
The guy comes back on monday amazingly, and we see that the new cable doesn't fit either. Turns out to be operator error, I couldn't tell whether the throttle was pull type or push type,  so I just guessed and I guessed wrong. When we sorted that out and switched the controller connection, the throttle worked fine. The new cable is much smoother than the old one, so it is all good.When we fired up the engine, there was a leak at the exhaust elbow. On closer examination, there was a hairline crack in the weld, which we had all overlooked. He came back the next day with a fresh weld on the exhaust elbow, we installed it and everything looks good. Total cost for the repair was about $200us. Pretty amazing as the first guy to come to the boat wanted to take it all back to his shop and charge us aobut $4-6000 for a bunch of stuff we didn't need. "Hold on to your wallet" is my mantra when dealing with Americans in Mexico from now on.
Meanwhile back at the Marina, the local management seems to lack authority to make a final determination, so we will be waiting on the big guns in wherever they hang out to figure it out. We were asked to stay 6 more days and for certain it will be a done deal. Seems like a Mexican standoff, but who knows. Maybe they are hoping we will just leave, absolving them of responsibility, or the police will find our stuff and return it. We still have a little more to do, so we may keep playing a bit longer, and get a few more things off our boat improvement wish list. Sorry, I can't seem to upload pictures without a pc at this time, so use your imagination.