The answer is the garlic!

"I've got the answer!" Zach exclaimed as I woke up.

"Oh?"

"The answer is the garlic" he said referring to the garlic we bought at the side of the road yesterday while we were fishing to see if anyone might be willing to sell us some diesel.

It was still early. I needed another hint.

"There's a fuel shortage but these guys made it all the way here. They didn't drive all the way around Lago General Carrera, they..."

"...took the boat from Chile Chico!". Indeed. Zach was right. It was an alternative we hadn't considered. We only thought about going north or east. Going south didn't even enter into our minds and yet, this gave us a lot of options within our "fuel-radius". Most importantly, it gave us the opportunity to refuel.

The answer was the garlic...kind of. Fate has a funny way of taking you down strange roads that only partially resemble your plans. The day actually went something like this:

>We eat an uninspired hotel breakfast before checking out and hear about the looting that occurred at the grocery store in town last night. Seriously??? You're just hurting yourselves there kids!
>We acquire information about the boat to Chile Chico. Tickets can be purchased at Puerto Ibañez which is a 2hr drive away and the boat leaves at 19h30. There is really no need to leave town before 16h.
>We walk back to the town centre and I dared Zach to ask the cops if they knew where we could buy diesel.
>The cop lets us know that four fuel trucks are due later this afternoon!!!
>We stop for lunch at cool sushi restaurant where I sample my first veggie sushi roll and didn't die. (See...I am a work in progress and am evolving all the time!)
>Zach wonders about the time the ticket office in Puerto Ibañez closes and calls to confirm that it's too late to drive there and make their office hours so we have to go back to the Coyhaique office here to buy them which re-opens (after siesta) at 15h.
>We're still mulling over information from the police...is it still worth going south?
>We waffle back and forth.
>We waffle forth and back.
>We go to the ticket office to buy the boat tickets as an insurance policy. Timing is getting tight here.
>We get stuck behind some guy buying about a hundred boat tickets (presumably for a tour???) and we wait and wait and wait.
>While we are waiting, one of the employees needs in to the yard and Babe is in the way.
>Zach moves Babe and, as has become a habit, he asks the guy if he knows where we could buy diesel.
>The guy replies that there would be fuel at the central Copec station in a few hours.
>Pardon me??? Zach asks him to repeat what he just said.
>100% seguro - fuel available this afternoon. That jives with what the cops said. Hmmmmm....
>After a quick team huddle and weighing the options yet AGAIN, we abort the garlic-inspired plan to head back south to Chile Chico.
>We move on to Plan Q...or was it Plan X???!!!

Right...so after that our new friend helped us find a mechanic to solder the radiator mount (again). That kept us busy for about an hour. We then headed into town to suss out the fuel situation at just the right time!

There, right before our eyes were two amazing and unbelievable sights that we wouldn't have seen if we'd left town any earlier or not talked to the police or been held up in line at the boat company!

The first sight was a shiny silver fuel truck unloading the fuel it was carrying in the Petrobras fuel tanks. The second sight was a queue literally around the entire block and wrapped up on itself two lanes wide!!!

Here is Babe in line for fuel. The guys hanging out on their car are at the front. We're starting the second lap around the block!!!

The carabineros had to show up to direct traffic to keep the peace and everything in order! Wise move!

It took an hour to get around the block to refuel. Babe was being cranky with the on-off-idling so we had to push her part of the way.

In the end we were victorious!!!

Cue: a huge sigh of relief, a happy dance and a very happy Happy-Hour! Hurrah!

Now the answer to the problem we'd been wrestling with is clear. We go north tomorrow morning with a full tank and carry on as planned! That was the best-case scenario we were both hoping for.

And while the problems in Aysen are complex, here's one solution for many people to think about to help avoid situations like the one we were in: