Time to Board or Missed the Boat

 Valentines Day. This is the day of embarkation to the ship or not. We have a day of wine tasting and after lunch we will be taken to the ship.  We are to be packed a meet our driver Victor today at 8:30 AM.  Dan who likes to be early and ready set the alarm for 5:30.  So up, dressed, packed, checked out, luggage stored in Victor’s car. and set off by 8:35. We head to the Casablanca Valley. The area between Santiago and Casablanca is hilly as we go through the coastal mountains. Grapes are planted on the hillsides.  The weather in the area is similar to San Diego coastal in that there is clouds, overcast, and fog as well as sunny days. Of course the first winery we get to at 10am was only developed in 1985.  The area blossomed in the new government regime and continues to grown. This is an area for whites and some Pinot noir because of cooler climates. Today it is cool and overcast. A lot like our June Gloom.  

10 AM is the first tasting and a group of 5 friends come in. Coincidentally one couple from Escondido who love reds.  But don’t go to Temecula Valley for wine. They have been exploring the Ramona area. They are doing a land tour that was organized by one of the 5 who had come to Chile multiple times in the past. 

It turns out the guide that organized their tour developed the same itinerary as our guide.  We are going to the same wineries and even the same restaurant for lunch. 

Our lunch is the 6 courses with one pairing.  There were a couple of the wines we really enjoyed but were not available in the wine shop on site.  I think we can manage  The sun has come out and is warm so a great day to site on a patio for lunch.

This is where our South American cruise embarkation plans literally could have gone south without us.  After lunch we to arrive at the port and board the ship.  When we made the tour reservations I thought the ship left from Valparaiso.  The tour operator organized the tour along those lines.  When the final itinerary came in turns out the ship left from San Antonio.  I thought I confirmed this change with the tour operator but due to communication errors on both our parts we arrived at Valparaiso with no ship.  

It turns out the port of San Antonio is  1 1/2 hour south of us. So what could have been an easy transfer since it is much closer to Casa Blanca is now are we going to make the ship?  Victor calls his boss. I am calling the ship. The security will close the embarkation process at 5:45. Victor is driving over the speed limit and by rights we should not make it  I am looking at Google trying to determine how far the next port will be where we can meet the ship  it is 11 hours by car.  Dan is really starting to worry and I am anticipating a change in plans.  

We arrive at the port at 5:50. The ship is to leave at 6PM. The security and staff are moving our bags put them in a small truck and say let’s go. It is a 1/4 mile to the gangway.  So yes this is one time we really almost missed the boat.   They actually delayed the push off for almost 30 minutes.  I do think we were the last to board…