We are on the last leg of the trip to Ixtapa. The anchorage at Caleta Compos was much nicer than we had anticipated and we actually picked up about 7 hours of needed sleep. We will be sure to hit this cove again on the way north to explore the little town and its seaside Ramada’s or restaurants.

Currently we are having a grand sail and making way at 6.5 knots or about 7 miles per hour. There is no moon so we can’t see a thing except for a couple of falling stars, the shore side lights and the occasional passing ship. The Garmin Chart plotter has been working flawlessly over the last couple of days and Lisa is in love with it again. The sail couldn’t be more perfect.

ETA to Isla Grande and hopefully some rest and a real rum drink served in a fresh pineapple, 4 PM today. That’s it for now. Have a great Saturday; Monday will be back to the grind.

Spent the night last night at Punta Cabeza Negra, or Black Head Point, nice name, lousy anchorage.. Actually the small cove that we stopped in had some very nice homes but the vibe that was given off kept us from going on shore.

Arriving in time for cocktails we set the anchor and watched the sun go down. After dinner we were off to bed as tomorrow was going to be a long trip and we had hopes again of arriving before sunset. Sometime after we climbed into the bunks the boat began to roll sideways to the waves and that continued for about 5 hours or till just about the time we had to get up to leave.

We guess we picked up about 3 hours of sleep total so we are kind of running on empty today. All is well on board but needless to say Cabeza Negra is not on our re-visit list.

After the worst trio of meals we have had in Mexico we are finally underway. On Tuesday we took a trip to the Capital of the Mexican State of Colima, strangely named Colima. The trip itself was fantastic and we do have a lot of pictures to share. Unfortunately we are underway and just can’t send the pictures through Ham email.

After picking up the rental car we headed out looking for breakfast. Lisa found the most popular place on the street with plenty of customers so we figured it was a good choice. If you like pork for breakfast, not eggs and pork or even eggs and bacon, but just plain chopped pork on a tortilla, then Rica’s on the malicon of Manzanillo is for you. We prefer a little more variation so not the worst breakfast ever but certainly the worst we have had (and it was our choice) in Mexico.

After visiting the Turtle Hatchery in Cuyutlan, we ventured another 50 miles to Colima. Colima is a colonial town meaning that the Spanish actually set it up and the architecture certainly shows. The downtown area was happening and very pretty. Bill even mentioned that he loved the downtown garden, so either he is getting real old or the place was stunning to him.

For lunch Bill had a hamburger. In his words it was one of the plainest, thinnest hamburgers he has had so chalk it up as the worst in Mexico. Lisa did much better with her Fluanta’s which were “quite tasty” to her.

Next on our quick tour of the state was the Temple or pyramid of Chanel. Small pyramid but gorgeous grounds and really quite a site to see with all the prehistoric foundations of a very lively community. Funny in the States, there would have been gift shops and soda stands all about touting “Chanel” as the largest pyramid in the state, but here there was just a nice young man taking $2.00 a head to come and see a bit of history.

As we meandered back home we thought we should stop at Los Antonio’s which was a restaurant we saw early in the day that served Paella. We are not experts with Paella but guess that the saffron rice should be fluffy, the lobster tasty and any other ingredients able to hold a taste similar to what nature intended. At $50 US for two plates and a couple of beers, we expected a heck of a lot more, or perhaps we got it. Absolutely the worst meal we have ever had without getting sick. If Los Antonio’s is on the Michelin guide, skip it.

So off we go. Heading for Ixtapa and should arrive in a couple of days. We are hoping to day hop but due to swell we may have to go direct and through the night. So far the sailing is lovely. Enjoy your commute.

Well it didn’t take long for the mood around the boat to change last night.   We had just finished up our dinner and completed a movie when we thought we would take one last look at our Chart Plotter to see that it still worked.   According to my Technical Representative, we should turn the unit on and off quite a bit to confirm this anyway.

We pushed the buttons and instantly got the Garmin Splash screen as usual.  After about 30 second of just seeing the splash screen we began to get concerned and then 5 minutes later we began to write a letter to Garmin again regarding the issues with the GPSmap 4208.

Lisa has been looking at flights and bus fares to States since last night as we are not about to wait another month to try and get something through customs in the usual “expedited” way, so we will eventually go to Arizona to collect the part, or at least that is the current plan.

Bill has been on the internet doing research on Garmin issues.   It appears we are not the only ones with a Splash Screen issue as can be attested to by the number of comments on the web.   Sadly nothing has made our “Garmin” screen go away, so now at least we are not plagued by intermittent issues as for hours now all we have been able to bring up is “Garmin”.

We will be moving back to Barra de Navidad either today or Monday.  There is not much we can do but sit and wait again since Garmin is not at home during the weekend.   Hopefully next will we will have a good unit working and be back to traveling.

Martin Luther King must have known that we would be stuck for 31 days waiting on Garmin and UPS to get it together when he said, “Free at Last, Free at last, thank God almighty we are free at last”.   Well said my brother.

So today we did receive our part.  Currently we are testing it so tomorrow we could be doing another update that says we have yet another problem.   We swear it feels more like a month than just 31 days, but who’s splitting hairs on this one.   It feels great to be able to move about the country a little more freely.  Chances are we will only move another couple of miles but when you are held against your will to stay in one place you really miss freedom.   We know, it’s not like being in jail, or on restriction from using your new I-phone, but we privileged folks need a little reality every now an then to keep in touch with what happens to others not so fortunate.

Anyway, Bill will comment more on how the relations with Garmin and UPS stand later in the week.   We are preparing for the Superbowl and then for a little inland travel so that Lisa and quench her need to see volcano’s and pyramids.

While sitting and waiting for our package from Garmin to arrive from UPS we thought about some of the entertainment experiences we have had here in Mexico and especially in Santiago.   Though the video we are posting is not a full fledged “Curious Productions” videos, we thought it made a good addition to the library of video’s we have on line.   As usual all you need to do is to go over to the side bar (that is just to your right of this article) and scroll down to the Beyond Reason Video Gallery.   Click on Entertainment Santiago Style.  If you are still challenged you can just click here as well and it will take you to Veoh which is were many of our videos are also posted.

The video will be best if you turn up the volume and turn down the lights.   It is short so you won’t have time for popcorn, but if you are watching this at work you will most likely have time to view it before you boss comes back around.

Enjoy the video then think of why you spend $60 to $100 to go to a Jimmy Buffet, Tom Jones, Van Halen or any other concert.   Ritchie Valens eat your heart out.

Guess what Bill wants for his Birthday?

Both the Chicks and the Dudes sites have been updated.   We are both surprised that Sparky has actually beat us to the punch as the most recent updater, but then again he is sneaky and although we guard the amps used by the computers closely, he is home alone on Pirate Watch a lot more than we like to admit.   Enjoy.

Still waiting on the Garmin Package we had expected last week.   The card is currently in Guadalajara but expected to deliver into Barra de Navidad sometime tomorrow.  That means that Bill will be taking a Bus into town and then a bus into Barra to pickup the card and return via Bus back to Manzanillo and then by bus back to the boat.

We are not expecting the new map card to do much as we have tried the Chart Plotter both with and without the card and we still have the same issues.   We are troopers though and if Garmin wants us to stand on our heads, we have nothing better to do than do so and then ask them for another new chart plotter to replace the bad one that we have.  We both have are fingers crossed.

On the positive side we are in a lovely anchorage free from most bugs and less rolly than some others we have been in.   The liquer locker is full and we have a chicken in the freezer so how bad can waiting really be.

Sparky has updated his page and Bill is sure to do the same soon.   Lisa is working on a novel so keep your eye’s peeled for that.

Diving has not been good on the Mexican side so nothing more to report there.   Enjoy your day commuting can be fun.