On the Street, Mrs. and Miss Iquitos
On the Street…Mrs. and Miss Iquitos
Sybila, Miss Iquitos, and her mother on the boulevard.
On the Street…Mrs. and Miss Iquitos
Bill Grimes, Dawn on the Amazon
January 25, 2009
The Sun Sets on Dawn on the Amazon III, Failed Salvage
The Sun Sets on Dawn on the Amazon III, Failed Salvage
I’m not having good luck. Chavir is supposed to be the “best” salvage company in Iquitos. They salvaged Felipe Letterstien’s wooden boat, and it had a rotten hull. Our hull was like new, so I was optimistic that they could raise the Dawn in a condition that would allow us to rebuild and restore her to her original beauty. That was not to be.
Part of the problem is because Peru ranks 5th of all the countries in the world in the volume of paperwork required to do business. Instead of starting the salvage within a few days, it took two weeks for the insurance company to investigate the accident, finalize the red tape, and sign off on the salvage operation. Then it took 3 days for the salvage company to arrive at the scene of the sinking. Most of those 17 days were an unnecessary waste of time. The only significant event during those 17 days was the water rose several meters, making the salvage operation correspondingly more difficult.
I was going to say Chavir Salvage could not have done a more incompetent job. That is not fair. Of course they could have…
There was one man in charge. I don’t know his name but he was the diver. The salvage crew did a good job following the divers instructions. Unfortunately his instructions consistently produced results designed to destroy my boat. The diver was a cocky showboat that knew everything about salvage except how to save a wooden boat. Maybe his style works for steel boats, but he personally finished destroying Dawn on the Amazon III.
I won’t bore you with all the details, but the divers crowning glory was when he ordered the salvage crew to pick the boat up out of the water upside down and shook all of the value out of the hull and into the river. All of the purple heart and blood wood planks, rails, furniture, carvings, tools, cabins…literally everything of value. The only thing left was the hull, which he had already mangled by repeatedly banging it up against the steel barge that the winches operated on.
I am trying to be a new man. I didn’t throw a gringo fit, raise my voice, or cause a scene. I called my motorista over in Dawncita, and Marmelita and I left for Nauta, and on to Iquitos. I knew that hull belonged to the insurance or the salvage company. That was not my hull.
Now we are waiting for the insurance company to pay us the full settlement.
Maybe I am a new man. I am trying to be patient.
The Sun Sets on Dawn on the Amazon III, Failed Salvage
Bill Grimes, new man
January 24, 2009
The Sun Sets on Dawn on the Amazon III
The Sun Sets on Dawn on the Amazon III
On January 4th, Captain Jhony ran Dawn III onto a submerged log. I was by the pilot house of the boat when the accident happened. There was no limb or twig sticking out above the water; no disturbance of the current to warn us. When we ran up on the log, I was frightened. It felt like we were going to tip over, but the boat righted itself, came down hard on the log, then slid on past. A limb apparently pierced the hull and ripped a hole.
The superstitious river people living in a nearby hut believe it was the same Giant Anaconda that turns their dreams into nightmares.
Whether log or giant anaconda, there was no chance to try a repair, or to pump the water out. The boat probably sank in 7 or 8 minutes. I was proud of my crew. No one panicked. We were close enough to shore that the Captain was able to steer to the bank, and we all had a couple of minutes to get ashore. I took charge of the passengers, made sure they had shoes, and got them off the boat. I was the second from last person off and the Captain was last. My crew quickly tied us off with ropes, bow and stern, but she sank anyway.
It was no one’s fault, just bad luck not to be two feet in either direction on a river over a kilometer wide.
We untied our jon boat before Dawn III sank so we were not stranded. We had plenty of gas and were only one hour from Nauta, a large village with the only road to Iquitos.
About 1/5 of the boat was still above water. I used an ax and chopped a hole in the part of the wall sticking up and we were able to save all of one guests luggage, but of course everything was soaked and some was ruined. The other guest’s cabins were under water but when we poked a hole in the window, one passport floated out, then a bag, and the bag had his money. We were unable to retrieve other bags of our passengers.
As soon as possible I sent our guests in the Jon boat with their soggy belongings to Nauta with one of the crew, who escorted them by the only road back to Iquitos safe and sound.
We called in a diver from Iquitos who arrived around 3:30 that afternoon. He was afraid the boat would roll over on him and was nearly worthless. Most of what was recovered was from our own effort, but it was not much. I lost all my cameras, binoculars, laptop, and pretty much everything. One of my crew risked his life underwater in my cabin and found my wallet, with my documents and S/ 500 soles, which I was happy to retrieve. That S/500 soles, was all the money we had to purchase supplies and negotiate our way back to civilization.
When I got off the boat I only had a sharp knife and a machete. I thought it might come down to survival. I wish I had taken the time to get my cameras and laptop, but in the heat of the emergency, I grabbed what seemed most important.
We got back to Iquitos around 3:00 the next afternoon, after a fairly miserable night. We hired a small boat in Nauta, then a truck, and returned with what we had salvaged. Not much.
My guests were anxiously waiting in the office for us. They were wonderful. Although we had only spent 30 hours or so together we made a close bond and they were happy with the way the crew and I conducted ourselves before, during, and after the emergency. Now they are more like friends than guests. We shared an adventure not many have experienced.
We are extremely upset. Marmelita is very sensitive. She is taking it hard. I am not taking it easy. We still cry a lot. We loved that boat. We put so much of ourselves into it. We dreamed.
The most important thing is no one drowned, no one was hurt, we are all safe and sound. It has been an adventure. Another chapter of my life story.
I believe I have the best insurance in the upper Amazon. The company is named La Positiva. Dawn on the Amazon III is insured for the maximum amount La Positiva allows. It is not the replacement value or restoration value, but if La Positiva honors their obligation it will valuable.
I wanted to start the salvage operation on January 6th, but the insurance adjuster told me if I did it on my own and the boat broke, it was my boat and they would not pay. If we wait for their red tape to clear, and they break the boat, they will pay.
I am trying to be patient.
The Sun Sets on Dawn on the Amazon III
Bill Grimes, dreamer
January 2, 2009
Help Me Build My On-line Community Using Social Media
Help me Build My On-Line Community Using Social Media as Satellites Connecting With My Dawn on the Amazon Home Base
My brother Jim and I started our web site Dawn on the Amazon Tours and Cruiseslate in the year 2005. We were clueless, but we got it on line. Of course no one could find us. I read everything I could find about Search Engine Optimation. Then we started over, not quite as clueless, but not at the head of the class. We were pretty proud of the second version but it was only marginally better than the first. We studied more SEO, added more valuable content, and the third, fourth, fifth, and now the sixth version ranks pretty good for many of my key words. Now the Dawn on the Amazon web site is built around valuable information that many travelers wanting to book a tour or cruise in the Amazon seem to find appealing.
The trouble with all web sites is they are static. A web site is the same today as it was yesterday and it will be the same tomorrow. We add a new page now and then. The latest is a FAQ page. Sure there is a Contact Us page, that generates a lot of emails, but a web site is by definition….static. They do not encourage imagination or communication.
We needed a blog!
My brother Jim and I started the Dawn on the Amazon Captain’s Blog, in December of 2006. We weren’t exactly clueless but a blog is not the same as a web site. It is more like a pet. You have to feed it, and take care of it. I love my blog like other people love their pet. People subscribe to my RSS feed, they know when I make a new post, they leave comments, they email me about articles, other web sites link to me with out me even asking, articles get published in other news media, travelers find value, and a community forms around the blog. Communication is enhanced by the comment section under each post. Travelers, readers, and interested people come back to a blog over and over because it is always changing, always growing.
Flickr Photo Gallery
The Dawn on the Amazon web site and the Captains Blog work good together. They form the on-line base for my business. One of the next best things I did to help build my community was when I joined flickr and uploaded two hundred of my best photos of the Amazon River, rainforest, and Iquitos Peru. I am still amazed at the response. One of those original photos has been clicked to enlarge it 2,892 times. Today I have 1,813 photos of the Amazon, Iquitos, and Dawn on the Amazon, on my Flickr Gallery. They are all about what we see and do on our cruises on the rivers, in the rainforest, and around Iquitos. They have been viewed 200,041 times. One photo has been clicked and enlarged 3,484 times. I know that is not much compared to many photographers, but I find it very gratifying that there is some passion for my photography, and that it increases my on-line community. Flickr is like a satellite communicating with my web site and Captain’s blog and sending traffic to them.
If you have experienced the pain of moving away from your family and life long friends you will know a little about how it is for me living here on the edge of civilization. The internet is great for reaching out all over the world to make new friends, to communicate, and to build a new community.
My most active community is on Facebook, where I have started two groups, The Amazon Explorers Club, and the Peacock Bass Club. If you are a member of Facebook, and interested in the Amazon, Peacock Bass Fishing, Iquitos Peru or any of my other activities, friend me, and we will be part of each others on line community. There is no telling what might come of that simple gesture of friendship. We might build a relationship, make other connections, provide value, have fun…
Linked In
At Linked in I am Bill Grimes, president and owner of Dawn on the Amazon Tours and Cruises.
friendfeed
I am dawnontheamazon on friendfeed.
MySpace
I am also on MySpace but do not have as much traction there and do not spend much time. Maybe you can help?
delicious
Check out my delicious bookmarks. I am also dawnontheamazon at Blink, Furl, Simpy, Stumble Upon and Spurl.
I am new to Twitter and Plurk micro-blogging, and still trying to decide if I like them or not. Maybe you can help? I am dawnontheamazon.
Flickr, Facebook, Linked In, friendfeed, MySpace, delicious, and twitter, are social media satellites pointing back to my home base at Dawn on the Amazon, opening channels of communication, connection, and community.
My brother Jim and I have also started some new web sites.
Amazon Golf Course and Blog
If you are interested in golf check out Amazon Golf Course and the Amazon Golf Course Blog
Peacock Bass Club, and Amazon Explorers Club
Two new sites that we are still working on will be up soon for the Peacock Bass Club and the Amazon Explorers Club.
I am passionately pursuing my hobbies and my profession. I am a member of the American Orchid Society, Bromeliad Society International, Heliconia Society International, Neotropical Bird Club, Peacock Bass Association, International Ecotourism Society, and the South American Explorers Club.
If we share some of the same interests, please subscribe to my RSS feed so you will not miss out on any of our Amazon adventures. Join my on-line community. Thank you.
Help Me Build My On-Line Community Using Social Media as Satellites Connecting With My Dawn on the Amazon Home Base
Best wishes for 2009,
Bill Grimes
January 1, 2009
On The Street, Fresh Flower for the New Year in Iquitos Peru
On the Street,…a Fresh Flower for the New Year in Iquitos Peru
Happy New Years Day. Meet Diane, fresh as her flower.
On the Street,…a Fresh Flower for the New Year in Iquitos Peru
Bill Grimes, Dawn on the Amazon
