clinging to the wreckage

Goodnight Irene, come on down Katia!

2011-09-02T12:41:00.000-06:00

Goodness time does fly when you are busy dodging hurricanes!

September is the BUSY month where these whirling dervishes are concerned and Irene kept us on our toes as she headed towards the eastern seaboard of the U.S.A. We took down the main sail (Needs some repair work anyway), took down the dodgers and the bimini. Secured everything else. Filled up with water, diesel and petrol. Ran the engine to get the batteries charged and....settled back with a good book whilst the chicken roasted in the oven!

As it turned out Irene made her turn to the north and we were left with just a day of 25 knot winds as she passed well to the east of us. But what a mess she made from North Carolina up to the Canadian borders. Boy are we thankful that we never made it that far North this year.

And now Katia is lining up, too early to see which way she will go but we won't be putting any canvas back up until the end of this month.

I am having great fun with my cooking, more to follow soon. TBH is mostly left sprwled on the sofa replete after yet another gastronomic experiment. Yesterday was Country terrine with a potato and green bean salad, really yummy!

Living in style!

2011-08-15T09:06:00.000-06:00

The son has just returned from filming in Turkey. He had to slum it for a couple of days on a 446 foot motor yacht as guest of the owner! It's a tough life...

Meanwhile back on the range...we have been fixing leaks in our dinghy! After 12 years of hard use the heat has started to take it's toll and every morning we are greeted by a somewhat flacid rubber duck perched on the cabin top. TBH is awaiting delivery of some glue and then we should be buoyant again.

Put's life in to perspective huh!!

The Fresh Market

2011-08-04T11:39:00.001-06:00

What a treat! I have just been taken to 'The Fresh Market' a gourmet supermarket here in Savannah. Oh Boy...
I had to be forcibly restrained from spending the entire month's budget on fresh baked basil foccacia, lemon pound cake, fresh racks of lamb and soooo much more!

I just ate one of these, it was truly scrumptious. Naughty me didn't save even one tiny crumb for TBH!

Emily commeth...

2011-08-03T09:56:00.000-06:00

Bit of deja vue going on here. Emily is the hurricane we narrowly escaped in Trinidad some six years ago and here she is possibly after us again!

I am not going to panic, I am NOT going to panic!!!

Exhaust and self-sufficiency.

2011-08-01T09:24:00.000-06:00

Like all jobs on the boat fitting the new exhaust pipe turned out to be a far bigger job than we had planned on!

We knew it wasn't an easy one. We've done it once before and the access is, to be blunt, f...g appalling. Plus the pipe has to make a 90 degree bend. Then you have to take care not to pull the engine off it's mounts. And this time we are at anchor, in the hurricane season, in an area know for it's volatile weather. Not my ideal scenario. Can't think why...

Of course the entire boat has to be turned upside down, beds disrupted in the search for tools, saloon destroyed whilst the pipe is thtreaded through, galley out of commmission whilst TBH assumes positions of eye watering complexity as he struggles to insert his body into spaces designed for a 2 foot child with 6 foot arms! Do boat designers EVER try and envisage the problems that some of their design features cause us poor boaters?

Using an ingenious arrangement of ropes and pulleys we managed to complete the task in the allotted one day, and that included replacing a large aluminium elbow that connects the engine to the pipe. Fortunately we had a spare aboard as the old one pretty much disintegrated in the pulling and shoving that was going on.

My quest for greater self-sufficiency on boat is progressing in leaps and bounds. It's so easy in this land of stuff to provision that it's important to remember that soon we will be more than a short stroll from a good supermarket, without a decent refrigerator. So the canning is very important. Meats, veggies, wonderful Summer fruit, it's all making it's way across the stove. The herbs are back in production and I have a nice range of pots in a specially constructed holder in the galley. Sprouting seeds are starting up and the bread making is going well...

Next it's time to sow the selection of lettuce and green leaves that will be ready to pick in about three weeks, they are supper once we are away from civilisation again. I gow varieties that are cut and come again and usually manage to provide us with 1-2 meals a week. There is something very special about fresh veg once the stores have been depleted!

It's 4 months now since we last plugged in to a power source. The batteries are doing just about OK, really is time to replace them I think....

Mad dogs and englishmen...

2011-07-26T12:01:00.000-06:00

Quite an extraordinary thing, it's raining here, and during the day no less!

So we have walked down to the library where there is internet access, for free, air conditioning and secondhand books for sale.

The place is buzzing, all the computer stations(10) are taken. A group of kids are being entertained in one corner with songs. People are browsing the latest editions of the newspapers and periodicals. Amazing for a small provincial library.

...Oh and we are the only people to have walked here! They don't seen to do walking in Georgia! Not that I can blame them it is god awful hot and you daren't rest for long or swarms of bitey anty things get chomping on your ankles. Still we're mad dogs of Brits and always head out in the midday sun.

The exhaust pipe is inhabiting the aft cabin like an overgrown anaconda, tomorrow is the day to attack that little project and I am canning green beans and grape tomatoes. Not at the smae time you understand!

Time, Opera and cooking.

2011-07-18T12:40:00.000-06:00

Goodness we have been busy this week. Time is passing very rapidly and we really have to get a move on if we are going to get north before the winter sets in...

TBH has finally kicked all the leaks into touch, yeah!! Now we are servicing the windvane steering gear and still have to fix a new exhaust pipe to the engine. The old one has developed a rather nasty leak.

Whilst he is busy with the mechanical and technical side of life I have been preparing for a few weeks with no stores, no Publix, boo hoo. I have been canning meals so that we are not reliant on the refrigerator which is a bit hit and miss these days. Whole chicken breasts, spaghetti bolognaise sauce, chicken curry, pork tenderloin. I have made mango chutney and peach jam. Feeling pretty virtuous I can tell you.

Mary, my new best friend, has been a gem. Driving me to the Farmers Market, letting me take over here washing machine. It even washes with HOT water! We haven't had that experienece for years, everything is looking so clean it's spooky!

During the week Mary and husband Bill took us off to the local cinema where they were showing a HD recording of The New York Metropolitan Opera production of 'La Fille du Regiment'.It was superb...made us a little sad at all the 'cultural' events we have missed since leaving England. Only for a minute or two though!

My job this week is to find some charts of the areas that we are heading towards, challenging stuff here!

Counting my blessings.

2011-07-11T09:36:00.000-06:00

I must admit to feeling somewhat overwhelmed this week.

It's been a difficult month, my health problems, lots of sailing, an ever growing list of jobs on the boat that need doing. It had got to the point where I woke in a sweat in the early hours worried about every small potential problem that my unconcious mind could imagine...

Then on the YBW forum somebody asked what a morning at anchor was like...

This morning was wonderful, dolphins and calm and muffins and a good cup of Twinings tea. The boat is afloat, we are doing what we dreamt of for years. Aren't we lucky I thought to myself.

Sometimes I just need a good shake to remind me that we are the most fortunate people that I know. By 10am ALL the kids had rung to chat and we were on our way out to catch up with a myriad of tasks.

remind me not to moan again, well at least for a little while!

The week of the ants.

2011-07-05T09:20:00.000-06:00

Well really it's been the week of repairing the damage the ants have caused.

Our aft cabin has been leaking like a sieve. We knew that we had a serious ant problem from the Rio in Guatemala but thought that we had got to the root of the problem. No way. During our trip up to the USA the drips in the aft cabin became steadily worse until it was more like a gush. After many long weeks of attacking the little blighters with every chemical I could legitimately purchase we have finally got down to repairing the damage..

The little sods have chewed holes right through the fibreglass decking, creating a sieve!!! TBH has stripped off the roof lining, dug out all the crap and fibreglassed and epoxied all the damage. Today was the ultimate test. Him lying below decks with a headtorch whilst I poured water over the offending deck area. Yes!...well er no actually. Just one small drip but we will deal with that as soon as the water dries out again.

Amazing that I haven't read about others having this problem and am wondering if it's because we have so much wood on board that they were attracted to us in the first place.

So if you see an ant on your boat beware, the little blighters can cause a lot of damage..

Hospitality Savannah style.

2011-06-28T08:22:00.000-06:00

Hurrah! No anchor dragging for nearly a week now, no tangled lines either. Maybe we have got it right this time?

Life in Savannah has been surprising in a number of different ways. We have been overwhelmed by the kindness and generosity of the people here. From offers of cars to free dockage and everything inbetween.

Bill and Mary, an ex-cruising couple, have really taken us to their hearts. They have insisted on driving us to any place that we want to go, TBH has made visits to West Marine, Home Depot and, of course, the local breakfast joint. Mary drove me to the local farmers market at the weekend,that was a real treat. It's the height of the fruit season here and the famous Georgia peaches and blueberries were a real bargain. Needless to say I have been cooking and canning ever since!

They have made their wonderful washing machine(one that does a hot water cycle) available and prepared us delicious meals. Aren't we the lucky ones!!

TBH has been down cleaning the bottom of the boat which was covered with the most disgusting gloopy stuff, it looks like big tadpoles in egg sacks, yuck! Anyway it's all off now and hasn't come back yet! One or two big repairs to make, a leak in the aft cabin and an overhaul of the monitor self steering and we are off again to parts northerly, and hopefully cooler!

I am almost healed now and feeling better than I have for years, maybe I'll take up mountain climbing next!

High winds and anchors

2011-06-20T09:13:00.000-06:00

Well life was just getting back to normal when the Gods decided to visit the weather furies on us! Last week we had a night of high winds and rain, bit nasty but not too bad then Saturday night blimey!

From nothing to 60+ knots in a matter of moments at around midnight.TBH was up on deck and as the boat lurched violently to one side I was dressed and up with him in a matter of moments.
The strength of the wind and rain made it really hard to breathe, let alone see. Haven't experienced anything like that since our brush with hurricane Emily back in 2005.

We had three anchors out, it's narrow here so we had the 65lb CQR on the bow with 100 feet chain out; the 45lb CQR on the aft with 40 feet chain and 40 feet octoplait and a 25lb Danforth off to one side with 40 feet chain and 40 feet line. It wasn't enough, all THREE dragged and we were fast approaxching an unplanned visit to the marina!

TBH went forward with a couple of fenders, by now we were 10 feet off a large motorboat. I got the engine started and threw it into reverse. Holding my breath as we slowly stopped the forward motion and inexorably began to inch backwards away from the marina. All the while lightning was crashing around us, unbelievable stuff, flashes that lasted for minutes at a time, if you get what I mean! Cracks of thunder, explosions as trees, buildings and more suffered hit after hit. Sirens wailing as the emergency services obviously struggled to cope with a deluge of calls.

Within an hour it was over, we escaped unharmed and without damaging ourselves or anyone else. We reanchored in the river and finally fell into bed around 2am. I was freezing and needed the duvet to get warm again. Man what a night!

You always, well we always, feel that we must have made terrible errors when we drag and suffer traumas but as we awoke and began to look around we realised that we had got off very lightly! There were boats stranded on the marshes, docks overturned, trees down, canvas shredded.....

Yesterday we upped anchor and went north half a mile of so where we reset everything, this time trying a Bahamian moor with the kedge on the aft on a REALLY long line to, hopefully, act as a slow brake but allowing us to swing with the wind. We think that was the main problem on Saturday, being held broadside on to the gusts, maybe this will help! We may find out tonight as there is a forecasted chance of heavy storms again in the area....

Florida, the Gulf Stream, Surgery and Savannah!

2011-06-15T08:56:00.001-06:00

As you can see from the title of this entry life has been far from booring!!

In fact, in many ways, it's been rather too exciting....
Still let us begin at the beginning.

Our trip from The Cayman's to Key West went well,no wind at times and then too much from the wrong direction but hey it's sailing right? TBH has mastered this saily business pretty well and we managed to do a couple of long tacks in order to enter into Kay West early on the morning of 11th May. We didn't even see Cuba as we passed at night and then too far off shore for a sighting.

We sailed right into the anchorage at Key West, got the hook down and made our way shorewards prepared to survive our confrontation with US Coastguards, Border patrol and any other security agency that was bound for our boat. What a let down! Not a soul was interested. No teams of hardcore guys in dark glasses with sniffer dogs and bulging weapons! Just a mild request to present ourselves at the airport to see customs and immigration.
We did as we were told and after parting with $19 we were good for 6 months in the good old US of A!

On top of that our taxi driver, J.R. no less, took us under his wing guided our forays around Key West and even had us over to his place for dinner one afternoon!

There's many a tale to tell but internet time is limited and I have to get this down before you all think we have disappeared from the face of the earth.

Two glorious weeks later and off we go again, this time bound for Georgia and the ICW. We found the Gulf Steam and zipped along at speeds previously unexperienced on our little vessel. Highest was 13 knots!!!! The boat, and us, are still in shock at that one.

One night of distant squalls that I insisted we alter course to avoid and before we knew it we were making our entrance in St Mary's Sound to the ICW. Wow! It's like the canal system on steroids! What we weren't really prepared for was the isolation of the place, no riverside restaurants, no marina's, no towns. Just miles and miles of salt marshes, wide blue skies and countless dolphins,yes dolphins, it was a big surprise but wonderful bonus.

We motored and sailed, depending on the depth and width of the waterway. We decided to head for Savannah, provisions were getting low, fuel was needed and we had a contact here.

Then I went ill. I mean really ill, agonising stomach pains, incoherent ravings and all the rest. TBH was a star. He single handed us ,navigating and steering(no mean task on the ICW) through shallow waters and narrow creeks until we made it here, Savannah. By this time I was not only raving but had gone a wonderful shade of yellow! We got to a hospital and within a couple of hours I was under the knife....Yup that middle-aged woman thing the Gallbladder. Which, thank goodness is no longer with me!

TBH meantime had found an old shrimp dock up a back creek that had a kinda marina now and had got the boat alongside. The great American spirit had swung into action and he was beseiged with offers of help, free dockage, car loan, meals....

Four days later I am back on the boat, healing nicely and recovering from every cruisers worst nightmare , the medical emergency!

Thanks to all who wondered what had happened! We will remain here a couple more weeks, hoping for no early hurricanes, allowing my wounds to heal and then head North again....

Hallo and goodbye.

2011-04-30T11:16:00.000-06:00

Well all we need now is the right weather window and it looks like Monday or Tuesday may be it...

The fuel and water tanks are full, we are just doing a bit of provisioning. The charts are ready the route entered in the GPS. All the laundry is up to date.

I have been checking entry requirements for the USA and hope(!) I have them right.
So farewell again for a couple of weeks until we ready land again, somewhere in Florida we anticipate.

Shake, rattle and roll.

2011-04-28T10:33:00.001-06:00

Well we are waiting for a weather window in order to continue our voyage north. Of course as soon as you think the time is right in comes the wind- from the wrong direction!

A couple of nights ago a really nasty Southerly swell came rolling in to our anchorage making life onboard very unpleasant. Almost putting the rail in the water on each roll. We took to the sea berths and spent an uncomfortable and sleepless night trying to brace ourselves against each lurch whilst listening to the contents of each cupboard clatter wildly in the movement.
It was a little scary too as our mooring buoy was in pretty shallow water and the beach was rather closer than we would have liked. And just to add a little spice there was an old wreck close by too. It didn't make for comforting thoughts! As soon as the sun rose we were off, notified 'Port security' the all seeing movement authority here, and headed to the other side of the peninsula.

Actually it turned out to be more of a trip than we had thought, winds up to 20 knots and then a shallow entrance through the reef. It certainly was worth it though. We are now quietly at anchor in a very exclusive neighbourhood. All multi million dollar homes coming down to the waterfront that now have a wonderful view of our knickers dying in the rigging! Ah well we like to think that we bring a little realism to these folks lives...

Today we have walked over to the nearest mall.let me just say that there is a Sotheby's real estate office here and a La Prairie beauty salon and you'll realise that this place is well out of our league! Still it's nice to look....

Forgot to bring the camera to the coffee shop so you'll have to wait for pictures, some of them are great. The water quality here is superb. Best we have ever seen.

The Land of Stuff.

2011-04-21T11:18:00.000-06:00

The Caymans appears to be the ultimate consumers paradise and it has left me gasping for breath!

Just a short walk from where we dock the dinghy (free of charge on the Government Wharf) is a large USA style supermarket. It actually makes me go all hot and faint the moment we walk inside. Thank goodness that there is air conditioning or I expect that I would be lying on the floor at regular intervals. So much to choose from that usually we come away with very little. It is fascinating how so many years in central America has altered our buying habits!

As we woke this morning there were 5 cruise liners anchored just behind us. Their passengers already being ferried, at 8am, ashore so that they could spend, spend, spend. From the jewellers to the production line diver experiences to the pirate ship tour of the bay. Most of the occupants of these ships don't seem to know what to do when they get ashore, they wander aimlessly from store to bar and back again.... Sad really.

The water here is wonderfully clear and on a quiet morning, wave wise, it is possible to look directly to the ocean floor some 12 feet below the boat and see the individual fish swimming around. It is mesmerizing and on those days breakfast tends to be a little late. Yesterday 12 black and yellow cuttlefish drifted past and there were a couple of lovely blue fish swimming around the anchor. It is very impressive that the quality of the water here is so good with a town just ashore and many liners visiting every day.

We won't be staying here very long for a couple of reasons, one is that it's VERY expensive and the second is that the hurricane season is fast approaching. We need to head north before that starts in earnest, 1st June. So we are currently looking at the weather ready to depart for the USA. Another world of stuff!

Cooking is a joy with wonderful ingredients to buy. Fabulous beef from the USA at good prices so we are working hard to rectify the lack of red meat in our diets and gorging on steaks and beef. Sunday we had a real english roast. Roast beef with yorkshire puddings, roast parsnips(our first in 6 years), roast potatoes, broccolli and carrots with rich brown gravy. Slurp, sorry that's the sound of me dribbling!

Hello sailor!

2011-04-07T10:00:00.000-06:00

I can finally say that again as we have completed our first ocean passage for rather a long time. And it was hell!!!

I demanded a helicopter to take me off the boat at regular intervals and gave the boat away a number of times until....we got here. and then like childbirth it was quickly forgotten in the euphoria of land fall.

But I get ahead of myself. We left Guatemala on the 22nd march the first time, yup that's right, the first time.
Everything prepared for a 500 mile passage to windward and off we went. Straight into a nasty storm of over 35 knots straight on the nose. We were expecting 20k from the SE and got 35 from the NE. Ah well such is sailing!
It was OK until the engine ground to a shuddering halt with a lot of cursing from below decks from TBH, I was on watch, we switched everything off and looked at each other with resigned despair. Oh well it's a sail boat we'll just have to do a whole lot more tacking.

That proved to be easier said than done. The wind continued to rise. We now had two reefs in the main and just the staysail up. The waves were short, steep with no back on them which meant that we were slamming into the water on every 3-4 waves. Really nasty stuff. It's like tobogganing down a concrete mogul run, yucky!

By now we were only 20 miles off the barrier reef of Belize and getting concerned about our safety.
TBH went below to get some sleep and as I picked up the next weather forecast, deteriorating conditions, I decided that we needed to turn back. I gnawed on my nails as I waited the four hours for him to get some sleep. Finally he woke and immediately agreed with my decision. In light of the forecast, our position and lack of engine the wise decision was to return to the safety of the anchorage we had left from 3 days previously. We could repair the engine, get some rest and then set out again. The relief was tangible i can tell you.

We turned the boat around, reset the sails and settled back for a 36 hour run to safety. then of course the wind died! Totally and utterly! Not a breathe from any direction!

We wallowed in the swell, tried to be laid back, read, cooked, ate, talked, slept and then as TBH looked over the side he saw a BIG yellow fished net and rope, all around us! So that had been the cause of the engine failure, the whole boat was wearing the marine equivalent of a fishnet stocking. Doh!

As the rope cutter did it's stuff we gingerly fired up the engine again and voila! Off we went.

Two days later we left again this time clawing our way along the Honduran coast into the wind in an attempt to get as far East as we could. I cannot say that it was an enjoyable trip, on the nose winds again, short steep seas. Not pleasant. We even had rain showers. That's just not on I thought!
We stopped for the night to shelter from a strong East wind only to find that the bloody thing swung to the west at 1am leaving us on a dangerous lee shore. So...off we went again. Finally arriving 24 hours later in the shelter of French harbour on the island of Roatan.

We refueled, re-provisioned, topped off the water, met up with some old mates and set off again. Determined to make our destination this time come he;ll or high water. 330 miles to Georgetown, Grand Cayman. And we did make it. Even though we had to motor sail ALL the way. A big blow to our diesel budget, we have used a years supply to make this trip, not a good carbon footprint.

We made a dramatic entrance into the bay here in 25 knot winds, reefed down and dodging the dollops of spray that were crashing over the boat. What a relief to hear the sonorous voice of the Port authority welcoming us in dulcet English tones.

What bliss! And now we are kicking back, enjoying the well stocked supermarkets, the restaurants, the bars and sorting out the post voyage mess.

It's great to be here in the Caymans!

Ants and anticipation.

2011-03-15T04:16:00.000-06:00

I find my emotions oscillating quite wildly this week. Perhaps I can put it down to my 'age'!

As we prepare to sail to pastures new I begin to experience the nervous anticipation of the passage. It's not that I am fearful but rather that I have a VERY vivid imagination...quite honestly I do think it's a bit of a woman thing.

TBH is relentlessly masculine(thank goodness, no pink crocs on this boat) and is busy changing oil, running repairs and gleeful anticipating offshore life.

I, on the other hand, find myself distracted by the awful situation in Japan, thoughts of mortality, will the ants take over the boat and so forth. To explain-we have discovered an infestation of ants in the aft cabin and heads. I am assured by those wot know about these things that it is not a serious problem. We have removed and are currently replacing one piece of headlining, hope we have staunched the leaks that ensued and are poisoning the shit out of the little bastards but still I worry....I can be found late at night patrolling the boat with a flashlight and can of ant WMD (weapon of mass destruction) a can of Raid! Certainly the numbers are massively reduced but I can't get over the fact that I feel I have 'let the boat down' Sigh.

We are provisioned, the tanks are full of fuel, the propane bottles full, charts prepared. Today I checked the lifejackets, prepared the safety harnesses and started scrutinizing the weather charts to look for the next window. Gulp!

The power of water.

2011-03-11T18:15:00.000-06:00

Yesterday we were sailing up river, coming across a lake, when totally out of the blue, well murky grey, a squall caught us with all the canvas up. We lurched over, nasty moment! fortunately everything was well stowed and after furling the yankee off we went again.

Looking over my shoulder 10 minutes later I saw one of those evil black systems that make you gulp.
Get the main down I suggested to TBH,
You sure he said.
Absolutely I replied!
Within another 10 minutes the system was on us. From a 10 knot head wind we had some 40 knots up the bum, driving rain and zero visibility.

Thank goodness we had the dinghy on top of the boat. I am a bit obsessive about that, we never tow it anywhere. I have seen far too many nasty moments to risk it and boy was I right yesterday.
We crept slowly along the river bank, fortunately I know it well after all this time but it still amazes me how quickly you can become disorientated in low visibility.
The wind howled, the rain was like needles through my shirt. Good old TBH dashed below and got the oilies. A gods send as I was beginning to get pretty cold.

The whole thing lasted about an hour . Nasty and chastening. It really caught us with our knickers down,

..and then we woke this morning to the dreadful news from Japan. How do you begin to cope in a situation like that?

Our daughter was in Tokyo at Christmas staying with her boyfriends sister. I gave thanks that she was not there now. Her hosts had flown out from Japan just yesterday for a holiday.. in Hawaii! They telephoned home this morning to say they had been evacuated to high ground in preparation for a tsunami. What can you say?

Mother Nature is a powerful force.

Lovely Piratey story from the Daily Mail

2011-03-01T16:40:00.000-06:00

The REAL pirates of the Caribbean: Divers recover 17th Century cannons belonging to bloodthirsty buccaneer Henry Morgan

Six guns possibly from The Satisfaction found off in river in Panama
Notorious Welshman's flagship sunk in 1671 by the Spanish

Archaeologists have revealed that six cannons that belonged to the bloodthirsty British pirate Henry Morgan have been recovered from a river in Panama.
Swashbuckling adventurer Morgan sent three ships and a crew of 470 men to capture the Castillo de San Lorenzo el Real de Chagres, a fort that guarded the approach to Panama City, the capital, in 1671.
But the notorious buccaneer and his men were sailing up the Chagres River to join them when his flagship, The Satisfaction, and at least three other vessels crashed on Lajas Reef, sinking in shallow water.

Fire power: Archaeologists examine the decayed cannons that are believed to have come from fearsome bucaneer Henry Morgan's ship, the Satisfaction, which sank in Panama in 1671

Members of Morgan's force paddled upriver and walked overland to reach Panama City, leaving theire wrecked ships to looters.
Now a group of Panamanian and foreign archaeologists say that cannons found at the mouth of Panama's Chagres River, the site where Morgan's flagship was wrecked, may have belonged to the pirate.
'Every school kid learns about Morgan's activities, but we have never seen any of his materials,' archaeologist Tomas Mendizibal told the Los Angeles Times.

Swashbuckling: Morgan was born in a small Welsh village and went on to become a notorious pirate

'If these are indeed his cannons, it would be a first.'
Henry Morgan was born in the small village of Llanrumney in south Wales and went on to become legendary buccaneer who battled the Spanish for control of the Caribbean.
Although he is said to be a pirate he was actually working for the English Commonwealth to secure trade routes to the New World.
The wreckage in Panama in 1671 proved a personal setback as the city was later burned down and looted in violation of a peace treaty between England and Spain.
Morgan was forgiven by King Charles II was later sent to Jamaica where he became a planter and respected member of the ruling class before he fell ill and died in 1688.
But in Panama, the legend of the swashbuckling buccaneer has lived on and he has become one of the best known pirates in the region.
Divers led by top archaeologists have mapped the site of the wreckage on the the banks of the Rio Chagres since 2008.
The cannons were measured and photographed in 2008 and studied by Dr. Ruth Brown, formerly with the Royal Armouries in the UK and an internationally renowned early cannon expert.

Weapons: Experts said the size and shape of the cannons appear to be a close match with the characteristics of small iron cannon of the Seventeenth Century

The size and shape of the cannons appear to be a close match with the characteristics of small iron cannon of the Seventeenth Century. A more detailed identification of the cannons will take place after they are treated and years of encrustation and corrosion are removed in the laboratory.
Last week they finally confirmed that they had recovered the cannons from a shallow reef damaged by treasure hunters, whose blasting and dredging had exposed the fragile iron cannons to possible damage and loss. This led to the decision to recover the cannons.

Mission: Henry Morgan sent three ships and a crew of 470 men along the Chagres River to capture a fort guarding the approach to Panama City

The archaeological survey was coordinated by the Waitt Institute with collaboration with Panama's National Culture Institute.
Mr. Raul Castro Zachrisson, Secretary General of Panama's Instituto Nacional de Cultura said: 'Panama's National Institute of Culture (INAC) is committed to the preservation of our cultural heritage. We strive to maintain it in the present and bestowed for the benefit of future generations.
'I am honored to be a part of this important historical find and look forward to a continuous working relationship with all the institutions and professionals involved in the conservation of our sub aquatic cultural and natural resource

We have been to Panama, anchored under some of the old forts, read the tales of pirates, and privateers so a lovely story to bring home the history of the place.Not too sure of the accuracy of the map of where these were found though! Still damn the facts lets go with the romance...

Wonderful day...

2011-02-27T17:49:00.000-06:00

Just had a wonderful down wind sail. Those don't come along very often in our experience!
After a swim in the pristine waters of our anchorage, just surrounded by tons of birds we left on a leisurely trip.
With the Yankee out and roaring along at 4-5 knots for three hours of blissful sailing. TBH positioned himself at the mast, in the shade, and sat back to enjoy the scenery and watch the wonderful set of the sail. She did look superb, must be my helming I kept telling him.We even anchored under sail, things were going that well!

We snacked on freshly made shortbread and drank gallons of lemon squash.
Now we are relaxing after a supper of sticky sweet and sour ribs.The wind is still blowing pumping up the batteries and the sun is beginning to set. Great day...

Happiness is...

2011-02-26T14:47:00.000-06:00

Waking to a flat-calm anchorage.

Time to bake with no bouncing of the boat.

Time to swim without being slapped in the face by waves.

Wind that blows up after noon, turning the wind generator and making lots of lovely electricity.

Rain that falls after dark in sufficient quantities to keep the tank full of fresh clean water.

Full tanks to have long heavenly showers at the end of another idyllic day.

Wind that drops well before midnight so there is a nice flat anchorage to fall asleep upon....

It's been like that here for the past few days, can't last though can it???

Totally awesome muffins.

2011-02-22T07:51:00.006-06:00

To celebrate the success of the engine repair I made a batch of muffins this afternoon as a thank you to TBH.
A new recipe to me and one that will most certainly be repeated over and over again. I cannot begin to convey the lightness of crumb, the intensity of flavour, the sheer 'orgasm on a plate' sensation of eating these little beauties.

Strawberry and sour cream muffins.

2 1/2	cups flour
1	tablespoon baking powder
1/2	teaspoon baking soda
1/4	teaspoon salt
1/2	cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
3/4	cup sugar
1	egg
1	cup sour cream
1	teaspoon vanilla extract
2	cups chopped fresh strawberries ( 1/2 -inch pieces)

1. Set the oven at 400 degrees.
2. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
3. Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg and beat until combined. Blend in the sour cream and vanilla.
4. Stir in the flour mixture just until combined. The batter will be thick. Gently fold in the berries.
5. Divide the batter among the muffin cups; it's fine if the batter rises above the cups. Bake the muffins for 14 minutes. Let them cool in the pan for 5 minutes. Turn them out, right side up, onto a wire rack.

No pictures 'cos we wolfed the whole lot down..We are currently comatose on the sofas and have decided not to have supper this evening!

My wonderful husband....

2011-02-21T09:48:00.000-06:00

...has mended the engine(we think)!!!

What a man, what a paragon, what a star. I could go on but I'd have to pass out the vomit bags and you'd all hate me for ever.

Yesterday he set to with a purpose. Out came the box of electrical goodies, screwdrivers, pot of vaseline, can of switch cleaner. On went his headtorch, off came the clothes and down on the floor he went.

Oh the power was mind boggling. A rippling torso smeared with sweat and grease. Got my blood racing I can tell you.
First he cleaned all the relevant connections on the engine side. Then he took apart the consul in the cockpit and cleaned all the connections from the temperature gauge. THEN we fired up the engine.

He stayed prone on the floor beside the mechanical beast listening to the note, feeling the outer temperature and watching for any leaks.
I braved the heat of the sun to stare at the temperature dial, watched the water outfall from the exhaust and listened for any change in tone of the engine sound.

Twenty minutes and holding, thirty minutes and I am starting to go cross eyed but the needle is holding firm. Every five minutes or so a concerned face peered out of the hatch to ask if all is OK. I answered with a thumbs up.

Its really hard to stay focused on a sound for forty minutes but despite the distraction of bungee jumping off the nearby bridge and waterskiers around the boat I didn't let my concentration falter.

Forty five minutes and holding, could this be it? Could success be ours? After an hour the gauge was still showing it's usual temperature and not a trace of a flicker. I let out my breathe. Wow looks like he may have done it!

We await today when we start up again and see what happens, fingers crossed.

One tired but happy husband....

Tenacity and Tart.

2011-02-19T10:51:00.001-06:00

It's a frustrating time here. For the umpteenth day in succession TBH has the engine in bits. I hate it. the mess. The worry.

First an impeller blew, that's not too bad. It was replaced quickly and on we went.
Then the engine started to overheat. Well so the gauge said, in wild fluctuating swings of the needle..
I, of course, panic, every time.

There began the current epic struggle.

So far we have replaced the engine thermostat. We actually bought two new ones and then found the original was fine so put that back in place.
Still the overheating begins after 40 minutes or so of engine running. Next we cleaned and inspected all the contacts, dirty but cleaned up well. Still the overheating starts.
Now the fuel filter is to be changed....
The thing is we don't think that the engine really is overheating and we are running out of options,grrrr.
We removed the thermostat completely and low and behold no overheating. My hair is being pulled out in clumps.

TBH continues with his usual tenacious determination that he will find the problem and solve it. Thank god he is like a fierce terrier in the face of a challenge is all I can say!

I am doing my bit by providing tasty and tempting culinary marvels to reward his struggles,nothing like a bit of dog training(choc drop rewards) to keep this man focused!!

One of the delights is this Strawberry Ricotta Tart. Makes the boat smell like a very upmarket French patisserie as it is baking and it tastes even better..

Make a shortcrust pastry and blind bake in a tart pan then..

1 cup ricotta

1/3 cup reduced fat cream cheese at room temperature

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

6 cups strawberries hulled, and sliced on the thick side

1/2 cup strawberry jam

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
2. Mix your ricotta, cream cheese and sugar together. Add the eggs one at a time, beating until smooth after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl occasionally. Stir in the vanilla.

3. Pour the filling into the prebaked tart shell and bake in the middle of the oven for 30 minutes, or until the edges have puffed up and toothpick comes out clean. Cool to room temperature on a rack, then chill in the fridge for 1 hour.
4. Just before serving, put the strawberries in a bowl. Warm the strawberry jam in a small sauce pan over low heat, then toss and coat the jam over the strawberries. Arrange the sliced berries on top of the tart and serve immediately

Danny MacAskill strikes again..

2011-02-18T09:39:00.000-06:00

..we may have been out of touch for a couple of weeks but son James is very much at the forefront of the latest internet news.

He has a new documentary going live on 20th February about the amazing cyclist Danny MacAskill... You can see the trailer here.

There is a nice piece on the front page of the Telegraph this morning as well...,

The Aftermath.

2011-02-03T07:10:00.000-06:00

Videocam view from Townsville, Queensland.

2011-02-01T21:02:00.002-06:00

If you follow the link on the screen it will take you to the live webcam, that is until it goes off line. until an hour ago(1200GMT) we were watching a cam over the centre of Townsville, that then went off line so this is the next one i could find, not such a great view but hey this is amazing to be able to access live streaming video from the other side of the world during a Cat 5 hurricane. Blows your mind!

Am also watching the twitters from an amateur Meteorologist who is bunkered down in Cairns. They started to feel high winds just over an hour ago...
Live streaming video by Ustream

Cyclone Yasi, horrific...

2011-02-01T19:09:00.000-06:00

My thoughts are with the folk of north Queensland tonight. With just over 10 hours to go until the projected landfall of Yasi I cannot imagine the fear and trepidation of anyone in that part of the world.

Chinese night

2011-01-19T09:26:00.002-06:00

You know sometimes, just sometimes, I think that TBH and I may be spending too much time together...

Take last night, deprived of our regular eastern fix it was determined that we needed a 'cultural immersion' evening. Do you ever do those? No I guess not. It takes a bit of a sad old git to understand the desire to transport oneself to exotic places when you are already sitting in a REAL exotic location.

Be that as it may the desire came over me and I was off..

Being a complete foodie there was no place to begin but with the food.
Pretty obvious really.
So out with the recipe books, on with the internet and a delightful trawl began through the worlds culinary masterpieces. It so wonderful to be able to pull up a recipe, any recipe I can imagine.
Then of course the down to earth bit when I realise that I don't have, and have no hope of buying, many of the ingredients needed for the more exotic dishes. Right now there isn't a tin of cornstarch to be had for love nor money and kaffir leaves, well you can forget that!

From time to time TBH peers over my shoulder to see what I am looking at. I know he's there 'cos a puddle of drool starts to pool on my left shoulder, yeuch. He's a terrible dribbler , say no more. Guess that could be termed too much information. Sorry!

Anyway to get back to the important issue here, food.
Chinese was the chosen theme. I already had some super spare ribs in the fridge and planned around that. What else is in the fridge? Aha some ground pork and theres a bowl of rice left over from yesterday. Bingo!
From that moment my voice took on a singsong quality. Weird. TBH even said that my eyes narrowed but I think he's exaggerating...

Sticky spare ribs, lion pork balls with a chilli dipping sauce and special fried rice. I did contemplate lemon chicken as well but that was a step too far in terms of quantity.

First step is to marinate the ribs, longer you leave them the tenderer they get, well within reason. wouldn't want any that had been marinating for days, nasty.
I mix together soy sauce, rice wine, chinese five spice, honey, salt and pepper, tomato puree and mustard. Cut the ribs into smaller pieces mix with the ribs and set aside.

So on the night of the deed the ribs get popped in the oven at it's highest temperature for 1-2 hours,keep a close eye on them to make sure they don't burn and turn regularly.

Then onto the lion pork balls. This is a new one for me. they have this name as the balls are rolled in rice, making them look like a lions mane, well that's what the book said!

Mix a pound of ground pork with 1 tsp chinese five spice powder, 2tbsp chopped fresh coriander, a spoon of flour, 2 cloves crushed garlic and a tbsp rice wine. Form into walnut size balls. Actually before doing this you need to soak 3ozs sushi rice, the sticky stuff, in water for two hours.
Roll the balls in the drained rice and then steam for 20 minutes until cooked.

Whilst they are cooking mix up a special fried rice, any kind. I use what ever is lurking in the rack. last night it included bacon,red pepper, carrot, spring onion, ginger and broccolli.

TBH set the table, including chopsticks! He also selected the entertainment, a mystical Chinese film- Hero starring Jet Li.

So the scene was set, TBH dressed in his Chinese silk smoking jacket(don't ask), me in my satin Chinese pyjamas and the evening commenced.
God alone knows what our neighbour made of the discordant Chinese music coming from the boat and my dulcet tones shrieking ' Waaaa yurrr name? 'at TBH in a fake Chinese accent.....

The film was stunning. The cinematography quite breathtaking and outstanding soundtrack by one of my favourite composers, Tan Dun....

Anyone up for the next event? TBH fancies Italian with Cinema Paradisio!

Bananas

2011-01-17T08:56:00.002-06:00

Bananas, those yellow sweet fruits that we all know. My time in Central America has taught me a LOT about bananas, the different kinds, how to cook them, where they are grown and so on. I have driven through vast banana plantations in Costa Rica, picked fruit from the side of the road, haggled over bananas in the market. I mean here we are in one of the original Banana Republics!

What I have also learned is the story of the exploitation of the indigenous populations by the big Corporate boys who along with the CIA overthrew Governments and manipulated nations, all through bananas!

The history of the United Fruit Company is well documented in the book BANANAS by Peter Chapman.One of the most interesting stories that I have read about the intrigue, money and power that circles around this seemingly harmless yellow fruit. Yet fortunes have been won and lost in this game, political power wielded and nations exploited.For most of the twentieth century United Fruit dominated a dozen countries, it was more powerful than than many states and a law unto itself....

The Dole company now dominate the market, a US company that has attracted the attention of the worlds press with a court case bought on behalf of a group of Nicaraguan banana workers.

The documentary Bananas, directed by Fredrik Gertten follows the story.

Today bananas are the worlds fourth major food after rice, wheat and milk! I no longer see them solely as a fruit but as an instrument of power and corruption. Put's a whole new slant on a banana split I can tell you.....

Monkey Bay Marina...

2011-01-13T21:25:00.001-06:00

...cruisers and other animals.

TBH and I are not very social animals these days. It's quite a surprise as most of our previous lives were spent 'moving and shaking' in the social whirls of life. These days we tend to say that we are not stand offish, just socially independent! Don't think anyone believes us though...

So we don't really get in to conversation with a lot of the other cruisers, beyond the niceties of a quick good morning or polite decline of invitations to potlucks and other 'group' events. It's not personal just the way we are.

It probably doesn't help that we are in work mode these days too. Not busy doing boat jobs or planning passages (well only in my mind). It means that we don't have a lot in common right now with the folk that surround us.

One of the reasons we enjoy Monkey Bay Marina so much is that there is no bar, no restaurant, no pressure to 'join-in' activities. I find that all a bit too much like practice for the dribbly farm! There have been more than a few social bullies on the Rio this season, the ones who 'insist' that you really will enjoy whatever it is they are planning to organise next. Yuch!

But every so often somebody pops up who enthralls me with their conversation. One of the recent additions to my 'passion for life' category is Joe. Joe is a big guy, tall and well built with surprisingly delicate facial features, a neat clipped white mustache and a twinkle in his eye. Married to his high school sweetheart Cathy for 51 years they are here on their sailboat Sundog.

Now Joe was a biologist before his retirement. he worked in Alaska and his great passion in life was the Char, a surprisingly interesting fish. I sit mesmerized as Joe guides me through the geological upheavals on our world that have let to the division of the species of the Char. His explanations of the adaptability of this fish fascinate me. And just as delightful is to hear the passion in his voice as he describes the research that he undertook.

Most mornings I wander across to the palapa that sits over the river, right now the mimosa tree that abuts it is alive with hummingbirds, flitting from bloom to bloom gathering nectar with their needle like beaks. I can sit for hours watching them at work. Joe has taken some wonderful photographs of the animal life here at Monkey Bay and kindly has allowed me to reproduce them. You can see how lucky we are to enjoy surroundings like these.

The hummingbird is a variety call 'rufus tail' , that refers to the colour of the tail and it is a common variety from Mexico down to Venezuela. being from Europe I find it all very exotic!

You can actually hear the sound of the wings humming as they are flapped at incredible speed.

Amazing! In case you can't work this one out it's a snake swallowing a rather large frog. Joe said that the frog nearly got away a couple of times but ultimately became just another lunch....

33 million can't be wrong!

2011-01-10T08:36:00.004-06:00

What a joyful piece of film, made me smile, a lot. Hope it does you too.

Happy, happy Monday morning everyone...

If you want to know more visit this site

Jeanne Socrates

2011-01-07T19:38:00.000-06:00

Oh my god the poor woman...

You may remember that I have followed Jeanne for some time on her quest to circumnavigate without stopping. Her first attempt came to an abrupt halt just 100 miles short of completion when she lost her boat, Nereida, on a beach in Mexico.

Jeanne is no spring chicken but she certainly wasn't going to accept defeat. A new boat was commissioned, built and launched and off she went again! This time thwarted by a series of mechanical problems(worrying in a new boat).

Recently off she went again, can't keep a good woman down! I was horrified to hear yesterday that she had been knocked down and lost her boom, amongst other things, just off Cape Horn. Thankfully she is safe, albeit battered and cold. The photographs of the boat make your heart bleed...

Here is her blog entry for the last couple of days, makes you realise what a treacherous place the ocean is.

Wednesday/Thursday 5/6th January 2011

Wednesday 5th January

The NW winds of 30-35kt of Tues evening were up to 36kt, gusting 41kt, by midnight with seas of 5-6m, occasionally with sections of breaking crests. Hit by waves often and frequently surfing to 11-12 kt..... By early morning, it seemed to have calmed down a lot, with a weak sun trying to get through a thin layer of cloud and wind down to 24-30 kt. Among the prions I spotted a white-chinned petrel and there was a pair of black-browed albatross. Checked in to Patagonia Cruisers' Net with Wolfgang - asked him about ice situation - he felt it was OK and in chatting to someone else, it seemed that within 200 miles S of Chile, there was no problem.

By midday, with occasional waves hitting us and washing the decks, I was beginning to feel decidedly concerned, with the wind back up to 35-37kt, forecast to increase, and big seas to match, we hove to with triple-reefed mains'l and stays'l. Changed the running backstay over and centred the mains'l kies, some rain. We were well heeled, and there were plenty of big seas...and suddenly, near 2.30pm, while I was fortunately leaning against a wall in the head, all hell let loose - and everything that could move was re-located to a starboard side of the cabin.... Water was pouring in from under the sliding hatch and there was chaos everywhere.

Slowly we righted and soon after I looked to see what damage there was - clearly there was some - no instruments, for a start!.. but I could not budge the hatch to open it - try as might...! I had to climb out of the aft cabin hatch to access the cockpit - which I'd already seen enough of to realize the boom was broken in half and the canopy/dodger over the companionway was missing, along with its framework ..... there was safety glass everywhere. I soon realized why the hatch wouldn't slide open - the halyard bag full of heavy wet lines, was lying on top and was soon removed along with several lines lying loose... Going down below, I noticed the perspex hatch was cracked in half vertically - a worry if we should ever get pooped. Next, I got the instruments working - a connection in the aft cabin had been hit by flying/sliding objects...
.
In brief, I didn't know where to start... Tried to clear up a bit on deck - not much I could achieve there... down below - impossible to clear up wet things ( all pillows and bedding were sopping wet at their end.. still beam on to oncoming seas... not good ... another knockdown imminent??- I tried eveything I could to get us to head downwind... a bit of genoa plus some stays'l... downed the remaining main as much as I could.. tried to tie it but that got dangerous in the big seas running, so was forced to abandon that... Later decided to reduce all sail since series drogue shouldn't need any - furling line on stays'l broke - sail unfurled totally and flappes madly and violently - whole boatvshook with bthe violence... not good ... what to do? Had to lower it - and keep it inboard and low and together in the strong wind, not easy... As it flapped, it caught the pole and broke it in half .. Things were going from bad to worse...!

Once finished on deck, I returned below to the awful,dripping, wet mess there - even the chart table lid had clearly been flung open and its contents had been thrown across to the galley, to mix with spilled items there, including toiletries from the head - wet paper all over everything else... impossible to deal with and not drying in the cold, damp air. Decided I'd better let the authorities know of my plight - not yet life-threatening but not good... Here I was in the Southern Ocean ... and fore-reaching south in the dark at over 2 knots!

- - - - -

To cut a long story short, the Chilean Navy and Falmouth CG both got involved - it was lovely to get the friendly, helpful Falmouth phone calls - an English person at the other end of the phone - no language problems!!! Helping with all that was Bob McDavitt initially - deeply appreciated, Bob - and the American Maritime Mobile Net on 14300 kHz - Bill (KI4MMZ) in particular, with Fred (W3ZU) helping with relay. Good for my morale was chatting to the Pacific Seafarers Net also.

A fishing vessel, Magallanes III, came along, ready to tow us to safety ... the winds not expected to ease much until next day...and seas later...

Conditions were pretty strong then and for a time after - no sleep until early morning (3hrs). I felt another knockdown was only too likely since we were beam on still to the seas - makes for feeling very vulnerable! The only ray ogf light was my realization that we had an engine - I tried it in neutral - it worked!! Slight problem was two lines I'd seen overboard - one I retrieved but the other was jammed in something - the prop?? ... or the rudder??

Thursday 6th January

Been a good day since waking up to clear skies & bright sun after 3 hrs sleep this morning - and then getting engine going OK. Removed wire on gear shift cable with some difficulty - but I finally won out and was delighted to find there was no problem with the propellor, having thought a line might be caught around it. (There's a sharp rope-cutter on propshaft near to the prop so it could have been cut away) End result was no tow was needed.. sigh of relief on my part - no worries about additional resulting damage..! The fishermen, who'd been not far away all night, didn't seem to mind too much losng the income from a tow and sent me their best wishes!

I'm making a straight line for the Horn now - the sunny, clear skies of this morning have slowly clouded over and there's invariably an albatross of one kind or another not too far away. Swell has slowly been dying down - hardly noticeable now - just an occasional one bigger than usual.

When I retrieved my series drogue, my suspicions were confirmed ... Looks as though the fishing vessel, when approaching and circling us in the night, cut the line with its prop - of 125 cones, only six are now there with a very reduced length of line... and no chain, of course...!

I've been contacted by Falmouth CG and the Chile Navy by satphone, and have had regular radio contacts on 14300 over the day - all very supportive and friendly - very many thanks to all of them. (The Chilean Navy phone me for 4-hrly position updates from Puerto Williams!)

I'm also looking forward now to rounding Cape Horn in daylight and in good conditions! The reason for heaving to in the strong winds and big seas of Wednesday was to let that system pass so as to be on the shallow shelf near the Horn in reasonable conditions - now and for the next two days. Should be at Horn around 1400Z on 7th and in to Beagle Channel early on 8th Jan. - have slowed down to avoid arriving too early in morning but lookd as though I'll need to anchor for a few hours at least.......

24hr DMG to noon UTC: Wednesday: 140 n.ml. Thursday: 69ml (supposedly hove to!) (See maps showing track & position via links on my website 'Travels' q
page)

At 1200 Wednesday UTC: 55:40S, 072:34W. Cape Horn 180 ml; Chile (nearest point) 58 ml ; N.Z. (S.Island) 3916 ml 222T; Mexico (Cabo S. Lucas) 5080ml

326T.
At 1200 Thursday UTC: 56:33S, 071:15W. Cape Horn 137 ml.

Happy New Year

2011-01-01T17:32:00.000-06:00

2011, amazing! Let's hope it's a great year for us all...

We sailed to an isolated bay yesterday. haven't anchored here before but it's wonderfully peaceful. Not a sign of life on the shore and loads of curious turtles surfacing around the boat.

We saw the new year in on deck under the most amazing canopy of stars, truly magical.

Now we are have a lovely time reading and catching up on small jobs on the boat. Life is good, hope yours is too.

'Twas the night before Christmas...

2010-12-24T15:57:00.000-06:00

..and all through the boat we are summoning up the spirit of the season!

The turkey is boned and stuffed with a pork,sage and parsley stuffing. It's covered in butter and bacon and sitting patiently in the fridge ready to go. Bread sauce is made. Pate is in the fridge, bread in the freezer. Vegetables ready for peeling and just the dessert to make. No Christmas pudding this year sadly.

TBH has just put the carol cd on and we are listening to I'm dreaming of a white christmas! Actually it's raining here this evening...

And now it's time to put up the decorations, unearth the tree that has traveled the oceans with us, wonder if the lights will work this year? Time too to open the vino and sit back to think of you all, where ever you are and what ever you are doing.

Merry Christmas to you all.

Bread Making

2010-12-23T12:48:00.000-06:00

I love making bread, particularly on a cooler morning. The smell as the dough rises and the warmth of the oven make the boat feel very cozy.
The delight of taking the crusty loaves out of the oven and that first hot slice covered with melting butter, mmmnnn!

After the excitement of the pig killing yesterday I settled down to make my usual white crusty farmhouse loaf but decided to have a go at a new, to me, recipe for green onion and sage bread. It sounded like just the thing for those turkey sandwiches that I am anticipating later this week! Boy was it good....

This is the recipe I used. I didn't have any wholemeal flour so used all white, no fresh sage so I substituted one and a half teaspoons of dried sage. Two loaves are in the freezer waiting for the turkey and we've already finished the other one...

Dan Lepard's green onion and sage loaf recipe

475g strong white flour, plus more for shaping 150g wholemeal flour 1 tsp fast-action yeast 2 tsp fine salt 1 tsp sugar 50ml olive oil 1 medium egg 250ml warm water 6 medium green (spring) onions, finely chopped 20g sage leaves, shredded Sea salt flakes and olive oil, to finish Put the flours, yeast, salt and sugar into a large bowl and toss with your fingers. In another bowl, whisk the oil, egg and water until smooth, stir in the onions and sage, then add to the flour bowl and mix to a smooth, soft dough. Leave for 10 minutes. On a well-oiled patch of worktop, lightly knead for about 10 seconds, then return the dough to the bowl. Leave for 10 minutes, then repeat the light kneading twice more at 10-minute intervals before leaving it at room temperature for 90 minutes. Divide the dough into three, shape each into a ball with flour, then sit them touching like a clover on a baking tray covered with nonstick paper. Cover, leave to rise for about an hour, then brush with oil, sprinkle with salt flakes and bake at 240C (220C fan-assisted)/465F/gas mark 9 for about 30 minutes.

Digital McCarthyism.

2010-12-23T08:09:00.000-06:00

A really coherent interview with Julian Assange on the dangers to the first amendment and the American Constitution.

Pig Killing day!

2010-12-22T09:15:00.002-06:00

'Gerry'

....the voice wafted through the hatch sometime before dawn this morning. It was dark, chilly and starting to drizzle. I was already up and dressed, not warmly enough but at least I had some clothes on!

John, the manager, stood bundled up in a big jacket on the dock.
'C'mon it's pig time!'

Ephrine, the guardian here, and his family rear a couple of porkers every year. Today was D day for one of them. We cruisers were offered some of the meat to buy but we needed to be on hand once the butcher started his work as, how can I put this, butchery isn't quite what we understand here in Guatemala!Their cuts are somewhat abstract to say the least!

We carefully made our way in the gloom down the boardwalk to the rear of the marina property where Ephrine and his family live, in amongst the swamp. Man those mosquito's were biting!

The slaughter had taken place around 2am right there in the jungle, the pig had been scalded and flayed by the time we arrived. It's quite a communal event. Two other cruisers arrived to point out the cuts they wanted and a convivial time was spent discussing 'animals we had butchered', 'hunting in Alaska' and ' strange joints I have cooked'!

The butcher was a scrawny little guy armed with a large knife and a lump of wood to use as a mallet. He worked away down in the grass under a lamp in the dark, sawing and pulling and chopping away at the fast diminishing corpse.Buckets and pans were pressed into use to contain the various cuts and the rest of the family busied themselves weighing and bagging and working out the cost of each parcel on the mobile phone!Young Allan, the eldest child(12), was contemplating the delights of a roast leg and various relatives were claiming the joints they had ordered.

It is quite different here to other 'pig-killings' what I have attended! In Portugal the occasion was a village event, all the women got together to process the carcass,making salami, blood sausage, tripe, brawn and all manners of delicacies. Not a piece was wasted. That doesn't appear to be the case here. No bacon curing, ham smoking or sausage making that I could see. I wonder why that is, maybe the lack of refrigeration in such a humid climate ?

I claimed a pair of 'patas', trotters and yup, you've guessed it, I am going to make another mammoth pork pie! For now though the meats in the freezer, that's a job for after the Christmas holidays.

Nothing like a choirboy for Christmas...

2010-12-21T17:48:00.001-06:00

oh lordy the tears are starting to flow! Memories of the son as Senior Chorister at his Prep School, so many years ago,,,,

Christmas...

2010-12-20T15:48:00.000-06:00

Son James, took this last night from his window in a tiny, snow covered village in England....Brrrrrrrr!

Jolly Olly

2010-12-18T08:03:00.000-06:00

I was reading yesterday about young Olly Rofix as he gets ready to set sail on a round Britain fundraising attempt in an 18 footer!
Recovering from a near death experience with a particularly rare form of Leukaemia he has set a target of recruiting a thousand new donors to The Anthony Nolan Trust . A most worthwhile challenge.

I have been pretty scathing in the past about some of the attempts at long distance sailing that you read about in the 'sailing comics' BUT this one looks like a well thought out, well prepared and praiseworthy challenge. I wish Olly lots of luck.

If you feel like sponsoring him or donating please do this looks like an excellent venture. I will be following his experience with enthusiasm. It's going to be quite a challenge in such a tiny boat but good on Olly!

Over the top Christmas lights...

2010-12-17T19:49:00.000-06:00

Paul Tudor Jones, one of those infamous hedge fund supremos goes over the top at his home in Greenwich, Conneticut.Displaying how one of the richest men in the world likes to spend his money....

Boy I bet his neighbours just love this in their exclusive cul-de-sac!

Assange speaks on his release.

2010-12-16T12:34:00.001-06:00

As Julian Assange is finally able to walk from his solitary confinement he had these words for those waiting to greet him on the court steps.

Listen!

Justice, Assange, Sanitary towels.

2010-12-16T07:09:00.002-06:00

Just heard Julian Assange has been released by the Judge. At Last.

These are The Royal Courts of Justice in London where Julian Assange is having his bail appeal hearing this morning.

It is Britain in all it's Gothic splendour.
Fingers crossed for him that finally justice will be done and he will be allowed to leave his confinement later today.
Sadly the Judge in this mornings case, Justice Duncan Ousley, has ruled that twitter will not be allowed from the court. Why not? Actually it just confirms the arcane and ridiculous attitudes of British Law. For goodness sake lets not live in the 21st century it's all far too scary for the learned lawyers, I ask you!

The High Court is a intimidating place. Many years ago I had occasion to appear in a case there(civil not criminal!) and I can tell you from personal experience that the echoing stone corridors and severe architecture of the place is quite a sight. Shiny leather benches line the corridors and they are littered with gown clad 'briefs', surrounded by piles of documents all tied up with red ribbon. Their little white wigs perched on top of their heads all add to the surreal experience. I wonder what Julian thinks of it all?

The courts themselves are lofty rooms, sunlight from high windows and old wooden fittings. I remember a dusty smell of old papers and mold!

On a lighter(!) note an ad for sanitary towels has gone viral in Pakistan it reads:

"WikiLeaks, Butterfly doesn't"

Love it!

Can you believe this...

2010-12-14T12:33:00.002-06:00

The WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange, is to remain in jail after the Swedish authorities decided to challenge a decision by a British court to grant him bail on allegations of rape in Stockholm.
A judge in London granted Assange £240,000 bail with strict conditions, including a curfew and the surrendering of his passport.
But when counsel for the prosecution indicated it would appeal, the judge told Assange he would remain in jail until a hearing at a higher court within 48 hours.
Assange's lawyer, Geoffrey Robertson, had asked the City of Westminster magistrates court in London for bail on five conditions: £200,000 in security, surety of £40,000 from two people, a curfew, daily reporting to police, and surrender of his passport. The judge agreed, to much rejoicing among Assange's supporters.
But elation turned to anger as lawyers representing Sweden challenged the decision.
Speaking outside the court, Mark Stephens, one of Assange's lawyers, said: "The prosecution is doing no more than taking instructions from Sweden.
"They are continuing to persecute Mr Assange ... An innocent man is in custody."
The decision followed two hours of confusion as Stephens first said he understood that the prosecution would decline to challenge the court's decision.
Sweden's decision means that the next legal arguments will be heard at the court of appeal. No time has yet been fixed.

From The Guardian

Pretty appalling

2010-12-14T11:14:00.000-06:00

So he is released on bail of £240,000. Held to a curfew of 10am-2pm and 10pm-2am, has to report to a police station at 6pm every night . And all this for a man who hasn't even been CHARGED yet. Disgusting. What a wonderful example of 'British Justice'. Not.

Oh and he's not actually free yet as they have to deposit the money in CASH. How antediluvian is that?

Assange gets bail.

2010-12-14T09:28:00.000-06:00

With conditions he's released. Thank goodness. he has to reappear on 11th January.

It has been quite extraordinary to be able to sit here on a boat, in the jungle and watch the twitters from inside the courtroom as the hearing unfolded. What a change in news reporting!

I have been following Alexi Mostrrous of the Times, the Guardian and Heather Brooke a freelancer....

Woohoo!

2010-12-12T19:33:00.000-06:00

Well done James and Gramafilm, over 4 million views of the Danny MacAskill film....

Gramafilm Gramafilm

Danny MacAskill film breaks 4million views http://go.gramafilm.com/macaskill & remains top of the viral charts http://go.gramafilm.com/111

Justice for Assange

2010-12-11T22:29:00.000-06:00

What more can one say?

Deck the halls...

2010-12-09T07:23:00.002-06:00

Dream on, TBH!

Justice for Assange

2010-12-08T12:20:00.000-06:00

... and now the T-shirt. Vote to see our design produced, here: http://tinyurl.com/2dxyxyq

(If threadless.com have the guts to accept our submission!)

All proceeds will go to Assange's defense fund.

Justice for Assange.

2010-12-07T09:51:00.000-06:00

As the news breaks that Julian Assange has been remanded in custody until 14th December I am ashamed to be British. This decision shows the contempt for democracy that our Government has.

I believe that we need to stand up and speak out for what we believe in. It is hard at times to do that, particularly when fear and threat are rife. When the foundations of free speech are removed in such a flagrant and outrageous fashion we will only have ourselves to blame if we stand to one side and allow these things to happen.

I believe in Assange's actions.
I believe that transparency and honesty are the way forward.
I believe that this is a pivotal time for the future of our world.

Antidote to stress.

2010-12-05T08:48:00.000-06:00

The delightful Dylan Winter is still working his way, slowly, around the coast of Britain in his tiny boat, The Slug. This is a soothing piece of film from one of his wonderful video logs that are available on Keepturningleft.co.uk.

Make yourself a coffee and settle down to enjoy the sights and sounds of one mans journey.

Death in El Diamonte

2010-12-04T17:37:00.000-06:00

El Diamonte is a well sheltered lagoon on the mainland of Honduras. It's a safe well sheltered anchorage that many boaters use when making their way east.

We have made use of it's protection on a couple of occasions, sitting out strong Northers with 40knots plus of wind in complete safety.Well we will no longer be able to rely on it's safety.

Last night at around 9.30pm a Canadian boat Adena was boarded, the captain shot dead and his daughter(25) left frantically calling for assistance.

Just last week in the adjoining bay a french boat was boarded and robbed by six men carrying guns and machetes.

More news here.

Wikileaks : Making it safe to talk.

2010-12-03T08:06:00.002-06:00

We live in extraordinary times and this has been a hell of a week.

There's no doubt that the global economic meltdown is not just a minor slump or merely another double-dip recession but a one time event in the history of mankind. More and more of our traditional businesses and institutions are stalled or failing. Banks and countries are teetering on the point of bankruptcy, huge manufacturing companies are collapsing. Heath care systems are in crisis, education is in disarray and so it goes on. It really feels as if we are on the brink of revolution

And just as all this is happening the internet, which for so long seems to have been "a solution in search of a problem", a technology in waiting, seems to have come of age.

Books like the recent management bestseller "Macrowikinomics: Rebooting Business and the World " tell hopeful stories of collaborative developments in manufacturing (Local Motors), health care (PatientsLikeMe), and regulation (wikileaks )

As a former reporter I am riveted by the unfolding saga of WikiLeaks and (I expect like everyone else) quite divided. On the one hand, I am not at all surprised by the breath and depth of worldwide corruption. On the other hand, I am left wondering where it all ends.For example, we know our financial institutions are bankrupt. Of course they are not going to "mark to market" their assets. Is it better to remain in blissful denial or to tumble into the precipice that awaits us?

I am particularly appalled at the death threats and persecution of Julian Assange, the front-man for WikiLeaks. I do understand the surge of patriotic feelings in the hearts of the nationals of countries that are having their leadership exposed. However I cannot, currently, even begin to come to terms with the attitude of those governments attempts to strangle the free speech from around the world.

There are some aspects of the USA that I don't particularly like, nevertheless I have always believed that their first-amendment adherence to freedom of speech was admirable. Well, it seems they lied about that. I am shocked to the core. The Australian government should be ashamed of its attitude to Julian Assange (one of their nationals).

Shame on these governments, shame on their politicians and shame on all those that support attempts at silencing critics.

I found this speech of JFK very helpful. It explains why this is so important to all of us.

What does it all mean? Where to now? I wish I had some answers. Currently I am struggling to keep up with the deluge of information coming out, the rhetoric of the worlds powers and the chatter of ordinary people like you and me.

My gut feeling? This is a revolution, a change that will impact all our lives. A moment when we see through the veil of polite chatter and glib spin of modern life. We have an opportunity to make a difference, but will we have the courage to take that chance? I truly hope so: to each learn, and weigh, and balance our own views in order to contribute to the future that we want to see after this amazing event

TBH unearthed a book that he read decades ago "Straight and Crooked Thinking". It shows us how dishonest most of this propaganda is, and how to tell the difference. It was written in 1930 and is about to be re-published! You can currently download or read it online HERE (note: it is a pdf file just under 1MB in size, so it may take a minute or two to download). I really encourage everyone to arm themselves with the skills to discriminate between truth and fiction. Our future could depend on it.

Lets move from leveraging phony financial instruments to leveraging our integrity. Wouldn't that be an amazing change! Keeping secrets doesn't necessarily mean that you are covering up some dishonest act; but keeping your honesty secret is self-defeating.

From a dribble to a gush; Wikileaks

2010-11-28T20:14:00.000-06:00

Well since the dam opened at around 3pm our time I have been glued to the computer watching the 'leaks' start to spill around the world.

Absolutely fascinating. The Guardians journalistic coverage is unbelievably excellent. Whatever you may think of the subject matter the superb presentation of the information and the in-depth coverage of individual aspects is something the like of which I have never seen.
And to think that these documents will continue to made public over the next few months, it's mind boggling.

I have been randomly looking at the available documents, since Wikileaks came back on the net after an attempt to block the site at the initial release, they quickly fought back with a new website...

It's too soon to formulate an opinion on the basis of what I have read BUT I have no doubts that there is some interesting stuff to come that will make many sit back and reassess their attitude to Government, both their own and those of other nations.

At one point Twitter output mentioning the subject was running at 60-70 twits per second! Made my head hurt.

One I particularly liked was ' Well I guess the Ambassador will need a shitload of Ferrero Rocher chocolates to sort this mess!'.

(An old TV ad that I include below for those not familiar with it)

Parental Pride.

2010-11-27T00:50:00.002-06:00

The youngest daughter, Lucy, and her significant other, Alex, were proud winners of the Bournemouth restaurant of the year award on Thursday night. Along with their partners they opened the restaurant just a year ago and we are delighted for them!

Koh, is a Thai tapas restaurant and bar and if you are in the area (Boscombe) do go along and try it out....

Are you watching Wikileaks?

2010-11-26T20:14:00.000-06:00

http://twitter.com/wikileaks

Around Cape Horn.

2010-11-25T02:06:00.002-06:00

Wonderful piece of film from the BBC....

Robin Knox-Johnston, Ranulph Fiennes, John Simpson and Skip Novak. Four of my greatest heroes on a boat,amazing!

Unexpected gifts...

2010-11-23T15:23:00.000-06:00

It's one of the twice weekly Casa Guatemala days today. The visit from the store run in aid of the local orphanage that delivers fresh fruit and a selection of frozen meats and dairy products to the boaters scattered around the Rio.

We have been customers as long as we have been here. The pork they sell is exceptional and I enjoy trying out my appalling Spanish on the ever patient Jose and Esperanza who roll their eyes at my dreadful pronunciation and politely laugh at my weak jokes!

It is only recently that they have started to bring along fresh fruit and the odd veggie for our delight but it is a great success. Strawberries, papaya, pineapple, grapes and sometimes one of those unidentified tropical fruits that cause me to wrinkle my nose and ask questions....

I will try anything on the culinary front so they delight in breaking open something new and watching my reactions as I tentatively nibble the fruit. Mostly its great but just occasionally I struggle to suppress a grimace..

This morning Jose was enjoying a small yellow plum like fruit that he peeled and offered me, it was lovely, really sweet and succulent. I shall be looking out for that in the market later in the week.
As I was leaving Esperanza beckoned me back and held out a peculiar drab brown offering, about the size of a large avocado.

' Sapota', she said.
Oh for me?, I asked,
Si un regalio(a present)

How sweet! By now some of the other boaters had regrouped to see what was going on and Esperanza dug out another fruit pulled it apart and offered it to the crowd...I tried a bit first, sort of sweetish and dense, not too good to be honest. The others pulled back and pointed out the wriggling maggots in the fruit. Yuch! I discretely grinned and thanked Esperanza for the gift and rushed to check that I didn't have any maggots stuck between my teeth....

Sapote

alternate names: Mamey colorado

Characteristics: The dark brown exterior and shape of this fruit make it look like a giant almond, but inside, there's a fragrant, rosy pink-orange flesh, which gets creamy, smooth, and sweet, like sweet potatoes, when ripe. Unlike many other fruits and vegetables that find suitable growing environments throughout the world, mamey remains in the New World, grown throughout South America, the Caribbean, and in Florida. Although mamey is typically eaten raw, its culinary applications are expanding; it's used to flavor ice creams, shakes, and desserts such as flan and mousse. Final note: It's pronounced "mah-MAY sa-PO-tay."

Heads you lose!

2010-11-20T15:37:00.000-06:00

Thank God it was TBH who blocked the heads. It means I can maintain the moral high ground as he stands up to his ankles in evil-smelling shit (his own) whilst swearing and cussing more than I have ever heard.

To compound this unpleasant experience the weather has decided to add insult to injury by absolutely pissing down! Ah well such is life. It means the hatches are shut, the smell is EVIL and I don't know where he's sleeping tonight but I hope its some distance from me!!

Social week.

2010-11-16T06:58:00.000-06:00

Goodness, it's hard to believe that it's a week since I last wrote anything here. Guess that time flies when you are having fun.

We have been busy, gunkholing, provisioning and..visiting the dentist. Yes TBH's teeth are on the agenda again. We headed into Morales on the chicken bus,'room for one more'. The twelve seater van had 25 on board at one point, cosy! I love Morales, not a gringo in sight and the vibrancy of the Friday market is amazing.

There is a flood of returning boaters to the Rio, the ones that head to their home countries for their summer months. That has meant a lot of socializing as we catch up with old friends.

One particularly fun occasion was entertaining our Brit friends David and |Linda on their 40th Wedding anniversary. Forty years! Blimey I've never been married to anyone for that long...
we dined on champagne, duck a l'orange and strawberries with ice cream. Sometimes life is good!

Decisions...

2010-11-07T11:24:00.002-06:00

Once upon a time I was a normal housewife. You know one of those with a washing machine, dishwasher and refrigerator. From time to time I even had a lovely girl who did the housework too!

This week has delivered a new challenge. About three days ago the refrigerator stopped working. There I was running the engine, to charge the batteries and cool the fridge, when the old girl(engine) started to work really hard and emitted a blood-curdling squeal from somewhere in the bowels of the boat. Before TBH could yell I had the thing turned off and we looked horrified at each other.

My first thoughts are total catastrophe, I know it's boring but I always think the worst. TBH was convinced that it was the refrigerator. We had trouble a couple of years ago with the compressor and he was adamant that it had finally seized.We let the engine cool right down, switched the refrigerator off, restarted the engine and no squeal. Turned the refrigerator on, 1000 dying cats in the bowels again...

We are anchored in a lovely quiet spot, enjoying the solitude. We had to make a decision would we go back to town, buy ice and order a new part or be hardcore and live on the edge, sans cold box? What a choice. Well when I tell you that I have spent the last three days cooking up a storm you'll realise that we decided to stay here. The refrigerator stayed cold for about three days so I have been using up the perishable food as quickly as possible.

It's been a bit of a challenge! The meat went first and we have dined superbly every day..the finale yesterday was roast pork, roast potatoes and Brussel sprouts followed by lemon cheesecake. The bacon and hard cheese have turned into an assortment of flans and this morning I have been using up the fast liquefying butter by making fruitcakes with a good long shelf life.I have managed to use most of the ricotta and cream cheese but so far am fighting a losing battle with the yogurt and sour cream. Actually just had a thought, I can do dauphinoise potatoes tonight that'll use the sour cream up!

So the next few days we will be into pizza's and all those lovely lentil dishes that use no refrigerated ingredients. Then it will be back to civilization again and see if we can repair the fridge. Wish us luck!

Do I miss the past life of domestic ease? I'm not telling!

More nasty weather in the Caribbean.

2010-11-02T08:08:00.000-06:00

As the boats line up to head out of the Rio on their travels there are a couple of nasty weather systems lining up to kick some butts....

Just hope that patience is one of their virtues!

This chart shows the wind/wave forecast for 72 hours time. Not nice.

Retiring Richard..

2010-10-25T06:29:00.002-06:00

TBH was right, yet again, grrrr.

Richard turned North, making landfall 20 miles south of Belize City yesterday. We had one squall at around 2pm. maybe just over 20 knots of wind and a lovely downpour that filled our tanks with water, thanks Richard.

I celebrated with a long hot shower bliss!

Hurricanes hardly happen...

2010-10-23T10:03:00.000-06:00

...in Hertford, Hereford and Hampshire....and Guatemala. but being a bit of a nervy type I am keeping a very close eye on Tropical Storm, soon to be Hurricane Richard.

We are told that there has never been a hurricane hit the Rio but I really, really hate it when people say Never. Certainly nobody here seems too concerned and the thinking is that we are likely to get a great deal of rain but little wind. Certainly that is what we have experienced in the past. And yet...

So I have made sure the batteries are charged, extraneous equipment on deck is well lashed down or bought below. We are anchored in a reasonably sheltered bay with all our chain out and no boats nearby. TBH refuses to consider taking down any canvas and in my heart I am sure he is right but I am a woman and it's my duty to panic from time to time!

This is the latest projection of this troublesome weather systems path, looks like Southern Belize is in line for the major hit.

Happy Birthday...

2010-10-22T09:29:00.000-06:00

..to TBH!

Yes it's the great man's birthday and NO I am not going to tell you how old he is...I value my life.

We had hoped to be in the salt water today but with Tropical Storm threatening to become Hurricane Richard we have decided that discretion is the greater part of valour. So we'll stay put until the current nasty has decided which way he is headed and when.

There have been a couple of good downpours at night so we have managed to top up the water tanks. Fresh food is still going strong. I picked up a tip reading another blog about keeping celery fresh and crisp. We get great stuff here but within 24hours its gone all limp and floppy, even in the fridge. Well all you do is take off any leaves and wrap the stalks tightly in kitchen foil. IT WORKS really, really well. just wish I had bought more of it!

So I am off to bake a cake for the beloved and look at the latest weather updates...

Pears and repairs.

2010-10-17T16:22:00.002-06:00

We had a lovely sail down river. Just enough wind to blow us along at a gentle 3 knots, no waves, not too much sun. Sometimes a plan comes together....

For now we are anchored in our favourite spot, enjoying the cool weather and getting to grips with the little niggles that always arise after weeks at the dock.

So far TBH has serviced the main bilge pump that suddenly stopped working. Never an easy one this as the heart of the thing is almost inaccessible in the main lazarette. But after three goes at emptying the locker it finally succumbed to his ministrations and is working better than ever. Note to self to buy another couple of service kits, that was the last one!

A new starboard side kicking strap. This is our 'insurance' line that stops the boom suddenly swinging from one side to the other and either decapitating one of us or ripping the boom in half! A new line that require a very complex splice, cored rope you see always difficult. Fortunately TBH is a master with his 'fids'(special metal tools for splicing rope).

My job? Cooking and keeping the captain happy!Well somebody has to do it...

So yesterday his lordship having rejected the pears I had aboard I looked around for a suitable recipe to use them up, this is the one I used.

Chocolate Pear Pudding.

4oz butter
2tbsps soft brown sugar
3 pears, peeled, cored and poached in sugar syrup till soft
1 oz walnut halves
4oz castor sugar
2 medium eggs beaten
2oz cocoa powder
3oz flour
1tsp baking powder

Heat oven to gas 5/ 375C
Butter 8 inch sandwich tin
Sprinkle brown sugar on base.
Arrange pear haves,cut side down and fill gaps with walnut halves, flat side down.
Cream butter and castor sugar till light and fluffy
Gradually beat in eggs.
Stir in flour.
Sift cocoa and baking powder together and stir into mix, adding a spoon or two of the poaching liquor to make a soft dropping consistency.
Spoon mix over pear halves.

Bake for 25 mins until well risen and top springs back when pressed.
Remove from tin and invert, pears uppermost.

Serve with lashings of cream!

The captain approved...

The sponge is a bit like a brownie and the sugar caramelizes to coat the walnuts. No calories at all, NOT!!

Looks like a YES!

2010-10-12T13:24:00.000-06:00

Well the provisions are onboard, the heads cleaned, the washing up to date and TBH has just gone to fill up the petrol cans...

We will lift the dinghy when he returns and then tomorrow morning we are outta here. Scary or what. Of course just as we prepare to let go the lines Hurricane Paula spins up in the NW Caribbean but she's not going to come anywhere near us, are you Paula! And I am running a temperature, that I am putting down to excitment.

Looking forward to some sailing and maybe even some salt water under the keel at last. See you....

Will we...

2010-10-08T14:56:00.001-06:00

...manage to leave as planned on Wednesday?

Your guess is probably as good as mine BUT we did start to clean the outside of the boat this morning!
Detergent and scrubbers in hand we were on deck at the crack of sparrows fart, trying to avoid the frazzling tropical sun. With a concerted effort we got all the way from the bow back to the cockpit. A holocaust of spider deaths, good job I'm not buddist, all the rellies wiped out in one swipe!

The old girl, the boat not me, is starting to look like an ocean going vessel again. We are cleaning the green slime away and checking the boat hardware as we go. The teak deck is looking a bit sad, it's really starting to wear. A lifetimes work for TBH to replace the worn planks, mind you we have what seems to be a whole teak tree onboard, cut to just the right size. His current excuse is that the Stanley Plane he needs to complete the work is waiting to come out from the UK with the next visitor, humm.

Currently the dinghy is full of cans waiting to be scrubbed so I must get back to work...

Bragging rights...

2010-10-06T09:25:00.003-06:00

Yeah, I know, my kids hate it when I do this, but thought you might be interested in this short clip of film currently being directed by the son. Dead chuffed to see all the nautical bits and boy do I wish I had this guy's sense of balance.

If you'd like to see more of James' work take a look at his site Jamesmh or Gramafilm

BBC World Service.

2010-10-03T11:57:00.003-06:00

Ooh so excited! TBH has managed to install a link to the BBC so that I can listen to the World Service on the blog. How amazing is that? Choices of news, documentaries and so much more...

Scroll down the blog and you'll find the link just under TBH's Twitterings.

This morning I have indulged in 'The Archers', the quintessential English radio soap. Made me realise how long it is since I last listened, many of the characters have aged beyond belief! Phoebe, last known to me as a babe in arms is now a truculent schoolgirl and Jill Archer is about to celebrate her 80th birthday. Cripes.....

PS. Both TBH and I recently read 'The Poisonwood Bible' by Barbara Kingsolver. It's a fascinating novel that centres on the culpability of western Colonialism in Africa. The BBC World Service is currently broadcasting an audience with the author that makes for interesting listening.It will be available to listen to for the next six days. I recommend it to you.

Rum, Sodomy and the Lash.

2010-09-30T09:08:00.001-06:00

We have a standing tale in our family of a conversation when the eldest daughter Charlotte was at the Royal Naval College in Dartmouth. TBH and I were attending a parade that she was taking part in and were chatting to the Commanding Officer. He asked us how Charlotte was getting on and whether she was enjoying the experience.
Quick as a flash I came back with 'Well the rum and the lash are going okay but she's having a bit of a problem with the sodomy, can't get the cat to keep still!'

(The story goes that after being told by an indignant member of the Admiralty that the conversion of the fleet from coal to oil would scuttle its tradition, Churchill replied: 'Don't talk to me about naval tradition, it's nothing but rum, sodomy and the lash.')

Well he roared with laughter and she turned scarlet with embarrassment(a common condition for our kids). All ended well though as he certainly remembered her as he saw her around the college.

The reason for this story being Rum, sodomy and the lash... that was the least of it: 19th century Royal Navy medical journals reveal the perils of a life at sea , that I read this morning, have a look it's fascinating about the dangers of sailing in the Royal Navy in days of yore.

Seven-foot worms in the stomach, tarantula bites and lightning strikes made life at sea a dangerous activity in the 19th century, medical archives revealed today

Strikes me that not a lot has changed, we still have the big spiders aboard and the lightning strikes, the snakes and the malaria. Thank God no seven foot worms in the stomach yet though....

Stonesoup.com

2010-09-29T09:45:00.001-06:00

I guess that by now you may have realised that I am a pretty keen cook, bit of an understatement that!

What I am also interested in is cooking without all those 'wonderful' appliances and gizmos that the marketing world seems determined to sell us. The rice cookers, breadmakers,egg boilers et al.

Much as I am tempted by some of them, no lets be honest here many of them, there is no way that we can supply the required power on our boat to generate them.

So when I stumbled upon this site, STONESOUP I was delighted. Here's a wonderful guide to cooking simply but well with minimum fuss. Just what you need on the boat. You can download a FREE e-cookery book here and I can vouch for the excellence of the contents...

My family's crazy gap year.

2010-09-26T18:31:00.004-06:00

Just caught up with this series from the UK, My Family's Crazy gap Year. First set of programmes followed a couple on an amazing jaunt around the world and this set follows a couple on their sailing adventure...
You'll find all the episodes on YouTube.

!

OMG that first episode had me cringing in my seat, and yet we too were that inexperienced once!
But with two small children in tow, certainly not for the faint-hearted. I can empathize with their wonder at how quickly conditions change, how fear arrives and the speed at which you can recover.

I was so pleased that they finally slowed down and started to smell the roses, what's the rush? Just a chase to get miles under the keel or a truly life changing experience.Their learning curve was immensely steep and with potentially lethal consequences, thank goodness they all survived.

You can read their blog here.

England to Marquesas in eight months. Not for me. I love the slow pace of life, the understanding of a culture that can only be experienced over time. maybe it's my age!

What struck me was how new their clothes looked and how many white ones they had when they started and how as time went by the colours became significantly darker!! Think I need to do some internet shopping...

A raggedy sort of week...

2010-09-23T18:13:00.000-06:00

..one where the days are filled to the brim but at the end of them I just am not sure what I have been doing all day!

TBH has been busy with some extremely complex computer work so I have been trying to keep out of his way. Let me tell you that's not easy on a 40 foot boat, even if you are in a marina. So a lot of the time I have been perusing ,my selection of cook books and trying out a few recipes, both new and old ones that haven't been used for a while.

Coronation chicken was a great success, original recipe from Constance Spry back in the 50's. The light creamy curried sauce and apricots combined with chilled moist chicken breast went down a treat in the hot and steamy climate here.

A baked lemon cheesecake turned out far better than I had hoped. I am not a great fan, often find them a bit sickly but this one had just the right 'tang' to it, not even crumbs left on the plate.

And the climax of the culinary week was a full Chinese meal. Something that we have been fantasizing over for a while. Sweet and sour ribs, lemon chicken and egg fried rice. Pretty good though I say so myself. Didn't quite get the ribs as tender as I would have liked but I have plans for a rerun.

It was great to thumb through my small collection of cook books again. Space being at a premium on the boat I still dedicate more than a fair share to my cookery library. Elizabeth David is my favourite. Such a literary writer I can read her books like the best fiction. I am looking forward to the next visit from the UK so I can get my hands on the copy of English yeast and bread cookery that I bought on ebay recently. Yum.

Rick Stein gets space, of course. Fish is a great thing for us so his wonderful pictorial guide to preparing almost every monster of the deep is well thumbed and a little stained these days. (As an aside I first met Rick some 45 years ago when we used to stay next door to his family home in Cornwall,the boy has come a long way since then. My family now live close to Padstow in Cornwall and we have been fortunate to eat at his famous restaurant a few times. It's good. I look forward to returning on the boat one of these days, tying up in the harbour and walking over for a meal!)

Copies of an old 'Farmer's Weekly' collection of recipes, including one of mine. It's also filled with nostalgic tips for making your own furniture polish and hair setting gel!!

There are quite a few more too...

Avast there ye landlubbers ye!

2010-09-19T08:42:00.000-06:00

Twas on the good ship K..... I did spy this fore noon an ancient and barnacl'd old salt aloitering aroun' the forstay of me ship.

A hangin' thair in me riggin' repelling boarders, dragonflies and any man a downwind o' him!

His swarthy countenance makin' me girlish heart a swoon wi desire, okay so I don't get out much...
'Ahoy there me hearty' says I. 'come below wi' me and I'll show yee sum fancy knotting!'
'Belay yur blatherin' wench and get thee t' galley. It's vittals that a pirate o' these parts is wantin, damnation to the knottin' I wants me grub!'

Oh well such is life... Let's be grateful that 'Speak like a Pirate Day' only comes round once a year.

And this lovely dragonfly stopped by to observe the strange habits of humans who have been alone on a boat just that bit too long...

A sobering video.

2010-09-19T08:20:00.001-06:00

Left me with tears, just imagining the horror of losing your boat....

Fujiwhara effect.

2010-09-16T09:29:00.001-06:00

Ooh goody, something new to worry about on the weather front!

Have you ever heard of the Fujiwhara effect? No, me neither. That is until I was perusing the YBW site earlier this morning.

It seems that with the current pile up of Hurricanes Igor and Julia in the Atlantic conditions could be conducive to the formation of this rare and potentially lethal phenomena.

When the cyclones approach each other, their centers will begin orbiting cyclonically about a point between the two systems. The two vortices will be attracted to each other, and eventually spiral into the center point and merge. When the two vortices are of unequal size, the larger vortex will tend to dominate the interaction, and the smaller vortex will orbit around it.
The effect is often mentioned in relation to the motion of tropical cyclones, although the final merging of the two storms is uncommon. The effect becomes pronounced in these storms when they approach within about 1,450 km (900 mi) of each other and are at tropical storm strength or stronger.

Seems that makes predicting the path that much more difficult. It'll be interesting to see what happens with these two...

Morning Dew.

2010-09-15T07:27:00.000-06:00

Monkey Bay Marina.

2010-09-14T19:17:00.000-06:00

A little bit of heaven here on the Rio.

This is one of my favourite spots to sit. Gently rocking under the soothing breeze of the ceiling fan.

Watching the patterns on the water, the boats going about their business...

And listening to the squawks of the parrot from the neighbouring property who thinks it is a duck!

Cruisers gather here in the evenings to spin a yarn, meditate, share a drink. There's no pressure to take part.

The choice is yours...

This morning I took a stroll around the gardens and buildings here, it was HOT, humid as hell and with the sweat trickling down my back I stood and looked at the tiny gem of a property that makes up the marina here at Monkey Bay.

Raised pathways keep your feet out of the mangrove swamp and the owners have done a wonderful landscaping job.

I love the huge jungle versions of the plants that I used to raise so carefully in the hothouse back in the UK.

Butterflies, dragonflies, bees, beetles and even a domesticated hermit crab!

All these and more can be seen feeding on the plants and vegetation around the property.

Humming birds a-plenty, the occasional glimpse of a bright green snake in the bough of a tree and a frantically paddling freshwater turtle down in the swamp.

We have been to a number of places here on the Rio but like that old saying goes - 'They don't make diamonds as big as bricks'. That's certainly the case with this little beauty. If you're looking for a base on the Rio it doesn't come much better than this. BUT the slips are all full so you'll have to wait, Ha!

Calabash and coconuts, wonderful vibrant colours that change with the progress of the day.

And all within just steps of the boat.

It's going to be REALLY difficult to leave this place...

Talk like a Pirate Day.

2010-09-13T23:04:00.001-06:00

This Sunday, 19th September, will see those of us with romance in our souls join in the talk like a pirate day.

I can promise you wild pictures of Mad Dog in his complete pirate attire. Including, wait for it, his Johnny Depp look-a-like hair and hat. Be still my beating heart!

You may even hear such immortal lines as 'Prepare to be boarded.'
'That’s the finest pirate booty I’ve ever laid eyes on'

And as the day continues songs may be heard drifting across the sweet waters of the Rio....
When the day draws to a close we'll be drinkin' rum and watching Pirates of the Caribbean, what else could you possibly do?

Bet you can hardly wait! Me neither. TBH isn't quite so sure.....

Pork Pie Heaven.

2010-09-13T12:59:00.000-06:00

It worked! Well mostly, the decorative finish maybe needs some refining but it tastes great, came out in one perfect piece and has transported my tastebuds back to England.

A bit of a performance though.....

Day One.
First was the making of the aspic to top the pie off with when it had been baked. This is where the pig's trotters came into the equation. Boiled for HOURS in a pan with celery, carrot, onion, peppercorns, bay leaves. Strained and left to cool.

Day Two.
Started with finely chopping 2.5 kg pork, 250g bacon into tiny pieces. Of course I had to do it by hand, would have beeen easy-peezy in a processor. But hey I'm out cruising...

Swiftly followed by making the hot water crust pastry. The recipe I used calls for lard but you can't get that here, or at least I don't know what to ask for so I took a chance and used Crisco, it's a vegetable shortening. I googled to see if it would be ok but found no definitive answer. What the heck I used it anyway and it was perfect!

Few dicey moments as the pastry has to be worked when it's warm and moulded into shape. Filling in, top on, cursory decorations(I'll try harder next time) and into the oven.
Fortunately it was a lot cooler yesterday as we endured 30 minutes at Gas 4, followed by 90 minutes at Gas 3. Quick paint job with beaten egg and back for another 30 minutes.

Break for wine, for me not the pie!

Out she came golden and perfect, I couldn't believe it.
Final stage was filling the voids in the pie with the aspic. That was warmed till liquid again and at this point I lost my nerve a bit. With such high temperatures here I decided some help was needed and I added an envelope of powdered gelatine in to ensure a good set.
Putting a small funnel in the center of the pie I started to dribble in the golden liquid, man did that smell good!
But is was SO slow! I thought I was going to have a lot left, however I persisted until finally, 2 hoiurs later, I had the thing full.
Then let it all cool down until putting in the refrigerator overnight....

Day Three.

The unveiling... Heart in mouth I sprung the clasp on the tin and out she slid. Perfect, golden, complete!

The knife slid through the resistant but not tough pastry case slicing the succulent filling and seperating the well set aspic.

Oh My God! It tastes wonderful. It was a lot of work, there is a lot of it but it was certainly worth it.

Must go a slice awaits me!

This is the recipe I used from Nigel Slater.

Pork pie

1kg boned pork shoulder
250g pork belly
250g streaky bacon
2 bushy sprigs of thyme
2 sage leaves
½ tsp ground mace
½ tsp ground white pepper
2 good pinches ground nutmeg

For the pastry:

200g lard
220g water
575g flour
1 beaten egg
1 x 20cm cake tin

For the stock:

bones from the pork (left)
2 pig's trotters
1 onion
1 small carrot
1 small bunch of parsley stalks
1 rib of celery
6 black peppercorns

DIRECTIONS

Make the filling
You need to chop the pork into small cubes, about 5mm in size. You could mince it, but the texture will be much more interesting if you can bear to cut it by hand. Or you could chop half, then whizz the other briefly in the food processor.
Finely chop the bacon.
Remove the thyme leaves from their stems, add the sage leaves and chop both finely. Mix the herbs into the chopped meats together with the mace, white pepper, nutmeg and 1 tsp each of salt and coarsely ground black pepper.

Make the pastry

Put the lard and water into a small saucepan and bring to the boil. Sift the flour with a good pinch of salt into a large bowl. Pour the hot lard and water into the flour, mix with a wooden spoon, then leave until cool enough to handle. The pastry must be warm when you start to work it.
Set the oven at 180C/gas mark 4. Lightly grease and flour your mould or cake tin (with removable bottom). Pull off a quarter of the pastry and roll it into a lid that will fit the top of the cake tin. Roll the remaining pastry to fit the base of the tin. Lay it in the bottom, then firmly push the dough up the sides with your hands. It should spread quite easily. If it slides down, leave it to cool a bit more. Make certain there are no holes or tears. This is crucial, as the jelly will leak out. Spoon the pork filling into the lined cake tin and press it down. It should come almost to the top of the pastry.
Brush the edges of the pastry above the meat with beaten egg. Lower the lid into place and press tightly to seal with the edges. Poke a small hole in the lid to let out the steam and put the tin on a baking sheet. Bake for 30 minutes, then lower the heat to 160C/gas mark 3 and bake for 90 minutes until the pastry is pale gold. Brush with the beaten egg and return to the oven for 30 minutes.

Make the stock

Put the bones into a deep saucepan with the onion, carrot, parsley stalks and the celery rib. Cover with water and bring to the boil. Lower the heat to a simmer and leave the liquid to cook for an hour, watching the water level carefully and topping up where necessary.
Remove from the heat, decant the liquid into a bowl and leave to cool. Refrigerate overnight. If it has set very firmly, simply remove the fat from the top of the stock, transfer to a saucepan and bring to the boil. If it is still on the runny side, then remove the fat as before, pour into a saucepan and boil hard until it is reduced to about 400ml. Season carefully with salt.
When the pie is ready, pour the stock into a jug and then pour it carefully through the hole in the top of the pastry. A funnel is invaluable here. Leave the pie to cool, then refrigerate overnight.

Twitter ....

2010-09-11T08:08:00.000-06:00

TBH has started to twitter, does that make him a twit?

He is trying the thing out to see what all the fuss is about. I am not convinced, I guess if you don't have time to read, trawl the net etc yourself it's a quick way to gather knowledge from others but there seems to be an awful lot of dross out there. I mean who can take in info when, as some are, you can subscribe to thousands of feeds. All becomes just so much hot air doesn't it?

Anyway if you want to see what he is thinking about, catches his fancy etc you can find him at https://twitter.com/geoffreymh

Me? I'm off to defrost my trotters ready to begin the great pork pie challenge! Wish me luck...

Now that's a BIG wave!

2010-09-08T17:48:00.000-06:00

I have been known to shriek 'BIG WAVE' in moments of stress on board, but I can see that I have never had anything to worry about after watching this piece of video...

A cruise liner caught off the New Zealand coast, oh my.

The Devil made me do it....

2010-09-05T10:15:00.000-06:00

...well TBH's desire for cake actually. Still as this is my 666 post on blogger I think the devil may have had a hand!

So Tres Leche Cake, THE celebration cake here in Central America. Served chilled it's rich but not sickly, simple to make and oh so moreish!!

Ingredients

1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
6 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract, divided
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup milk
1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1 (12-ounce) can evaporated milk
1 1/2 cups whipping cream
1/4 cup powdered sugar

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Grease and flour a 13- x 9-inch baking dish.
2. Beat butter and sugar at medium speed with an electric mixer until fluffy; mix in egg yolks and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla. Combine flour and baking powder; add gradually to butter mixture, stirring to blend.Whisk egg whites until stiff and then gently combine with the mixture. Pour batter into prepared dish, and bake at 350° for 30 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Pierce cake with a fork all over.
3. Combine the 3 milks, and pour on top of cake; cool to room temperature. Cover and refrigerate until well chilled, at least 4 hours or overnight.
4. Beat whipping cream, powdered sugar, and remaining vanilla at medium-high speed with an electric mixer until thick; spread over cake, and serve.

I am afraid that we may never walk, let alone dance again after this very successful effort at a local recipe!!

N'Kosi Sikeleli, God Bless Africa.

2010-09-04T09:47:00.002-06:00

Last night it was TBH's turn for an emotional musical ride...

As we were looking through our vast collection of DVD's we turned up the copy of Paul Simon's famous concert Graceland from back in 1986. A time when Nelson Mandela was still imprisoned and apartheid was very much a part of life in South Africa.

TBH was born in Africa, in a place that was called Nyasaland, it's now known as Malawi and is on the eastern side of central Africa. His birthplace was the town of Blantyre some distance from where his parents lived in Zomba. It was here that his Dad was a bigwig in the colonial police force of the day. TBH's Mum used to tell me stories of their lives there. Very few white families, TBH was raised pretty much by African wet nurses, he loved to tease his Mum about that!

He says that he remembers sitting around the campfires in the evening being fed mealie-meal and fish by the staff when his parents were off on one of their many official engagements. To this day he has nightmares about hippos and elephants, a result of the dire warnings that he was given as a child not to leave the compound.

Returning to the UK aged 6 he remembers driving to Cape Town via Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe.They came through the Kruger National Park and there he experienced his FIRST taste of Coca-Cola and peanuts. Not a good combination on a long road trip.

He recalls traveling to and from the UK on the Union Castle Shipping Line.He traveled on the Arundel Castle and was often to be found visiting the engine room. Some things never change! Even at that age he says he loved the roll of the ocean!

The picture is of that ship in Capetown (I just love the internet).

They say that the call of Africa never leaves those born on that continent and this morning he surprised me by saying, 'That's my country'. I have never heard him identify with any geography before, having lived all over the world he is a real gypsy. So I was a bit shocked by his statement.

Later in life he returned to live and work in South Africa, at the goldmines and then in Alexandria a predominately black area of Johannesburg. His work took him into Soweto, this was just before the riots...

I've asked him if he wants to go back and his answer is that he would find returning to Africa too heartbreaking.

So that's enough musical memories for a while, my emotions can't stand the ride! Red eyed and exhausted by the memories. The DVD's are firmly back in the box as we concentrate on creating a new set of memories to pull out in the future. I wonder what they will be?

Let's Dance!

2010-09-02T08:33:00.002-06:00

Diddley, diddley dum. Diddley, diddley, deee.

Guess what we did last night?

Can't guess?
OK I'll tell you.

We watched a DVD of Riverdance! Remember the amazing stage success that was an offshoot of the Irish half time display during one of those interminable Eurovision Song Contest TV specials?

It certainly was awarded more that Nil points (has to be said with a strong French accent), and went on to be a massive international phenomena.

This is a video of that original performance back in 1994, from that six minute entertainment came the whole show!

Oh my it was wonderful, my feet were tapping, tears misting my eyes as those irrepressible Irish lads and lassies twirled across the stage of Radio City in perfect formation (the envy of many a drill-sergeant), hair whirling and feet moving faster than the speed of light. Must be my Irish blood coming to the fore...

Anyway rampant emotions aside it opened a maelstrom of memories, and kept me awake half the night as I relived them all. When I really get down to thinking abut travel and wondering what it means to me there are a number of avenues that my mind can take me down. The iniquities of wealth and poverty, the cultural imperialism of my country, but the avenue that brings me most pleasure is that of music.

My first visit to the South West of Ireland began with a wild ride from the airport in Cork to a local ceilidh and an immediate introduction into the Bacchanalian rites of Irish Dance. I danced my feet off, whirling and laughing,struggling to keep up.Handed from person to person,trying not to trip over my own feet. Partners from the youngest to the oldest members of the community. It was wonderful. Everyone joins in, they all know the steps and the invigoration of social interaction was intense. Mind you I could hardly move for days after, sweet memories.

Countries will be forever associated with musical events in my head. The soulful singing of the drunken fishermen in Portugal. They were sitting in the only bar in the village where we were anchored, their voices floating down the hillside to our cockpit. Sad, slightly off key but immersed in the words of their culture. It made us think of the continuity of village life.

Spain where the rhythm of flamenco lit the fire in my blood, the drumming of heels on the wooden stage, the violence of the staccato hand claps. The intense sexuality of the dancers , creating extraordinary forms of the human body, writhing and whirling across the stage. Did you know that the female flamenco dancers often dance their way to orgasm?? A round of applause from the troupe, a glass of water and a quick sit down to recover from the event and they are off again. Fascinating.

Gibraltar where the 300th birthday of the Nation was celebrated with a concert by Elton John. We sat on the deck of the boat in the drizzle with a bottle of wine and sang along to 'Saturday Night', 'Crocodile Rock' and all the other wonderful classics.

The Caribbean islands with their gospel and steel bands. TBH's Dad always claimed that he was one of the sponsors of the first steel bands in Trinidad, where he lived back in the 40's, donating his dustbin lids to the cause of music making!

Central America with it's wild Latin beat, even the music in the supermarkets gets your hips swaying. Little kids sashay across the room with that Latino strut that makes me smile every time.

And Cuba! Ah what can I say about Cuba. Music everywhere, dance, classical, latin, contemporary. All accompanied by the infectious sound of laughter and the wide smiles of the Cubans. If ever there was a place that could win over your soul it is here.
Walking across the town late one night TBH and I spied a group of local youths clustered around a bench. Oh Oh , could be trouble. Were we ever wrong. The dozen local lads were practising their Beatle numbers to the accompaniment of a lone guitar. Magic, pure magic.

The cry of the muezzin early in the morning as the faithful are called to prayer in Morocco. It sends a tingle up my spine just thinking about it. So foreign, so alien to where I come from, so evocative of the heat, the desert, the vast continent of Africa.

Oh and drums, and kids singing and and. I could go on and on.

It made me sad too. I can't remember the last time I danced . Too old, too fat, husband with no sense of rhythm, bless him. But that's gonna change!! You are never too old, so they say and as the newspaper's are telling me that 54 is the new 40 my time has come. Stand back world!

Glad I wasn't there!

2010-09-01T08:19:00.001-06:00

..and the Virgin Islands...

I love...

2010-08-31T20:22:00.000-06:00

...the sound of rain on the cabin roof, reminds me of camping when I was a kid.

Waking up to a blue sky over my head EVERY morning, then remembering that the raincover over the hatch is sky blue.

The gentle caress of a warm breeze floating down the hatch as I lie in bed, until it turns to stinging tropical rain.

TBH curled up in slumber, blonde hair standing on end, until he snores like the 12.22 express from Paddington.

I love the luxury of ice cubes in my glass of water, until they melt in zero seconds flat 'cos it's so friggin' hot here.

The elegant origami like egrets that fly across the boat, til the bastards crap on the sailcover.

I love the surprised look on a cormarants face when it surfaces next to me in the water, aagghhhh!

Hold on to your hats...

2010-08-26T19:44:00.000-06:00

...looks like this could be the first biggie of the season.

I was looking at a sailing forum that I like today where a poster was asking advice about safe places for hurricane season. To my horror a number of posters were suggesting that various islands in the windwards and leewards were possible if in a hurricane hole!!!

Quite honestly words fail me. Either they are idiots or simply have no concept of the power of these things. We were 60 miles from the centre of Emily a few years ago and that was plenty close enough for me. The Rio may be hot and humid but there have never been records of a hurricane getting this far inland. I know what I'd rather take my chances with...and it's NOT the hurricane!

Keeping it in perspective.

2010-08-23T11:33:00.002-06:00

My state of mind really seems to affect how my day goes, not to mention week. It's been an odd few days, being the 'dog days' of Summer again and the 21st anniversary of my last husband's death I have been feeling a bit down. Even as you remember all the good times that you had it causes the opening of old memories and wounds, thank god TBH understands how irrational I can be during this time of year.

Just love this picture, is your glass half full or half empty???

I spent yesterday chatting to the kids and losing myself in memories, self indulgent I know but hey, it's only once a year right.

Then the computer that TBH uses for his work started to play up. The screen wouldn't come on although we could hear the innards working away, then the disc stopped working. This kind of problem sends me into a tail spin. I guess it's because I feel totally out of my depth in this area of life. Computers are like a black art as far as I am concerned.

Surgery commenced, connections checked. Damn, the thing is only two years old. Then to top it all we found that the hard drive containers that we carry for just such an eventuality(mean we can get the stuff off the memory) don't fit this computer. F...g hell why does everything have to be so difficult. TBH remains calm, as he so rightly tells me it's only a computer, we will survive, we have another one, nobody is dead....I really must learn to keep things in perspective.

Makes me feel vulnerable though.

More pie sir?

2010-08-20T15:53:00.000-06:00

In preperation for the 'great pork pie' challenge scheduled for early next week I decided to try my hand at something similar but different, if you know what I mean!

Cleaning out the refrigerator I had an assortment of goodies that really needed eating up, some filo pastry, ricotta cheese and a bag of baby leaf spinach. One of my favourite tricks is to add the word recipe to this list and see what that nice Mr Google comes up with. Such a clever chap he is!

Well this time sure was a winner, surprisingly simple to make it turned out brilliantly and we thoroughly enjoyed eating the result, definitely something to add to my repetoire...

kg (2lb 4oz) spinach, washed and destalked
1kg (2lb 4oz) leeks
175g (6oz) butter
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
75g (2¾oz) grated parmesan
500g (1lb 2oz) ricotta, drained of any water
4 large eggs, beaten
300g (10½oz) feta, crumbled
1 tbsp dill, chopped
300g (10½oz) filo pastry
Put the spinach into a large saucepan with the water that clings to it after washing. Cover and set over a low heat. Let the spinach wilt for about five minutes, turning it over a couple of times to make sure it doesn’t burn. Leave to cool.
Slit the leeks lengthwise so that they open up like fans. This makes them easier to wash properly. Clean under running water, making sure all soil is removed. Trim and discard the bases and slice finely. Heat 75g (2¾oz) of the butter in a heavy-bottomed saucepan, add the leeks and season. Throw in about 30ml (1fl oz) water, cover with a lid and sweat the leeks over a low heat until they are really soft. You’ll need to stir them every so often. Check the leeks don’t burn and that they stay moist, adding a splash of water if not. It will take about 15 minutes for them to become soft. Once they’re soft take the lid off and turn up the heat to boil off any excess liquid.
Squeeze all the water out of the spinach – you can do it in your fists, or press it between two plates. This is really important or you’ll end up with a watery pie that won’t set. Chop roughly. Heat 25g (1oz) of the butter in a pan and add the garlic. Sauté till soft but not coloured, then add the spinach. Turn round in the butter, season and add half the parmesan. Set aside.
In a bowl mix together the ricotta, eggs, feta, dill and the rest of the parmesan. Season.
Now assemble the pie. You can make it in a spring-form tin 26.5cm (10½in) across and 5cm (2in) deep, or in a tart ring set on a metal baking-sheet. Melt the rest of the butter. Keep the pastry under a tea towel as you work with it, otherwise it becomes brittle and breaks. Brush the tin with melted butter (no need to line it with paper), then use two thirds of the pastry to line it as follows: first lay four overlapping sheets on the base to cover it completely, then place sheets like the spokes of a wheel, radiating from the centre of the base, with each sheet covering the sides of the tin and hanging over the edge. Brush each piece with butter after you have placed it in the tin. Lay the spinach on the base, then spoon on half the leeks. Put the cheese and egg layer on next, and top with the rest of the leeks. Now pull the dangling bits of filo over to cover the filling, brushing them with butter. Use the rest of the pastry to cover the top, overlapping the sheets and tucking them in down the sides. Brush the top with lots of butter. Don’t worry about it being neat – it will look great once it turns golden.
Put in an oven preheated to 200°C/400°F/gas mark 6 and cook for 50 minutes. The pie should be golden. If it is getting too dark, cover it with foil. Leave it to sit for about 10 minutes to firm up a bit, then carefully remove the ring around the pie and slide it on to a warm serving dish. Since there is a lot of greenery in it, serve a colourful vegetable such as roast squash or red pepper on the side.

It was just as good eaten cold, maybe even better than when it was hot, savoury, light and wonderfully crisp. Yum!

Turtle soup anyone?

2010-08-19T13:09:00.000-06:00

We have just come back from shopping in Fronteras, quite an expedition this morning as I was getting low on a lot of staples like flour, rice etc.
Bob(the dinghy) neeeded a bit of inflation, he was looking a tad flacid early on before the day heated up. We try and leave early and beat the heat, ideally getting back to the boat around 10am. TBH was raring to go today, I couldn't work out why until I remembered that I had said we would have breakfast in town after the shopping was done! Honestly you can get that man to do anything for a meal...

We tie up at the dock for the supermarket, yes most people do their shopping by boat here. We pushed our way through the heavy lanchas that were already there and after locking good 'ol Bob to the wooden post we trudged up the road to the store. It's always a bit hit or miss here. I arrive armed with a list but accept that dependent on weather, season, exchange rates, staffing or phases of the moon I will most likely be making some adjustments to our provisioning!

It was not too bad today, flour well within sell by date(you always need to check), nice fresh garlic and delivery of well dried onions. Excellent. TBH then takes the haul back down the hill and loads the dinghy. Making his way by water to the dock at Bruno's whilst I head off down the main street to buy the fruit and veg and visit a couple of specialist stores that have those little extras that make life such fun. We are talking FOOD here!

Not a good day on the veggie front, rather tired looking broccolli that I passed on but some superb mint and cilantro went into my backpack. One tienda had some sundried tomatoes in olive oil. A big jar at a big price but I find them invaluable when we are out at anchor. Once the fresh tomatoes are finished these are superb on pizzas...Jars of pesto, excellent and even a big pot of mediterranean sea salt. Yes!

I popped in to the Casa Guatemala store to thank them for my pigs trotters, they remembered me, what a surprise! And finally loaded down with bags like a burro (donkey) I met up with TBH as he lounged in the shade, watching TV, replete from his Desayuno Americano. Eggs, bacon, potatoes and fresh fruit. Washed down with coffee and a strawberry milkshake. See he's not always the one doing the work!!

With a well loaded dink we headed back downstream. In the water I spied what looked like an animal head. TBH altered course to bring us alongside and I was surprised to see that it was a large (12lb ish) turtle floating on the surface. I made a grab for him but we were moving too fast and I only got to touch him with one hand. He was BIG. I think that maybe he had been hit by a boat and was a little stunned. We made another attempt to land him but that seemed to shake him from his stupor and he dived away from us and headed for the shore. Darn there goes my opportunity to try making turtle soup. (Only joking).

First time I've actually touched a turtle. Not an experience you have heading for Sainsbury's back in the UK!

The trotters have landed...

2010-08-18T14:55:00.000-06:00

..Hurrah! A small black bag arrived on the dock yesterday with THREE lovely little trotters inside. I was so pleased. Jose and Esperanza had tracked then down in the city and they came all that way(5 hours) to enable me to make my pork pie...

I guess I may have been able to get them closer but I am delighted that my ordering actually worked. Not so much joy with the belly of pork though. Does anyone know the Spanish translation for that cut? The patas are resting in the freezer until I am ready to attempt the masterpiece, in a day or two.

San Blas and Scotland...

2010-08-17T12:00:00.003-06:00

I do so love it when a new piece of knowledge is added to something I already know to round out a more complete story! Let me explain.

A few years ago when we were sailing in the San Blas islands in Panama we came across a Scottish boat. Getting to know them we found that they came from Caledonia and were very excited to be visiting the tiny village of New Caledonia in the island group. A few days after our meeting we saw them again. They were upset at the reaction to their visit with the village chief. Their hopes had been to forge a link between their village school back in Scotland and the villagers, maybe to offer support and cultural interaction...Their gifts of Scottish shortbread and pictorial tea towels were met with a degree of contempt by the chief. They put the reaction down to the over generosity of a group of American cruisers who had just gone through the place handing out largess in the form of sails and equipment for fishing.

We all tut tutted at the cultural contamination and went our way...

Then yesterday I found this reference to a new play about an event back in the 1600's when Scotland attempted to settle this very place! It ended in tears....

A little over a year ago the National Theatre of Scotland invited me in to talk. They said they wanted to do a play with me and we narrowed it down to the banking crisis or nationalism. Or both. I went away thinking I was going to write a contemporary political play, which is what I normally do. Then I happened to stumble across a mention of the Darien disaster . I thought “That’s one of those South Sea Bubble-type stories that hasn’t, to my knowledge, ever been told on the stage.”

I began to read up about it and was knocked out by what I found. As a result of this failed quest, between 1698-1700, to establish a colony called New Caledonia on the Isthmus of Panama, a demoralised and bankrupt Scotland was pushed into the Treaty of Union with England in 1707. The episode wiped out half of Scotland’s national wealth and destroyed 2,000 lives.

It’s a story of one man’s vision – the trader and banker William Paterson (1658-1719), who ended up founding the Bank of England – and also of widespread hubris and incompetence. Those involved in the venture underestimated all the dangers – the disease, the possibility of a trade embargo by England, attacks by the Spanish. In a way, it’s a parable about mass national delusion.
There were bonfires along the east coast of Scotland when the fleet left from Leith. People crowded on the headlands to catch a glimpse of the ships, which they thought would mean Scotland was going to have an empire. They sent out 14 ships. Only one came back. The others were either captured, destroyed or sank.
Paterson was one of the few people behind the venture who actually went, and his wife died out there. Going on a ship in those days was incredibly life-threatening. They lost about 20 people on each ship on the way over – and that’s referred to as rather good for a voyage of that length. Hundreds died on the way back.
What’s extraordinary is the thoroughness of the record-keeping. Every bag of salt that went onto the ships was logged. All the names of people who died, and what they died of, are listed – many of them were very young, as young as 12. It was quite painful to read some of the details.
There’s a wonderful collection of documents from the 1690s in the Glasgow University library. I ended up doing so much research I had to crawl out from under a mountain of material to make a play. The result, Caledonia, tells the story as a tragic adventure, but it’s also a political play.
The parallels with today are extraordinary, right down to one of the early scenes, where we see Paterson wining and dining at vast expense key members of a parliamentary committee to get their vote. I even found the menu for the supper they had that night, and have used a bit of it.
Paterson was very persuasive. They thought they had discovered a guaranteed road to riches. The new institution at the time was the joint stock trading company. You could say it was the credit default swap of its age. People thought you could get rich without any real risk. There was also a belief that a small nation could become powerful overnight.
It’s a big departure for me as a writer. It’s a historical drama with satirical edges – quite an odd beast. I’ve slightly simplified and modernised the language so that it feels accessible, and I’ve found a lot of ballads from the period, some of which I’ve used and some of which I’ve rewritten. There’s a lot of music.
I hope it’s an epic story told with verve and wit. If you pushed me I’d say I hope it makes people sceptical about anyone offering instant wealth; and sceptical, too, about some forms of nationalism.
The story of the Darien scheme is a forgotten tale. Very few Scots know about it, and those who are aware of it seem to know about it only vaguely. The only person I’ve bumped into who immediately knew what I was talking about was Menzies Campbell.
I don’t think it’s a conspiracy, but at some level it’s an awkward issue for Scots. For a long time Scotland had a grim Presbyterian defeatist aura. It’s only a hypothesis but I think maybe Darien had something to do with it.
Alistair Beaton was talking to Dominic Cavendish
'Caledonia’ opens at the King’s Theatre, Edinburgh (0131 529 6000) on August 21

Isn't that amazing? Just shows you we often have no idea of the history of events in many of the places we visit...

Disappointment and a rescue.

2010-08-15T08:51:00.000-06:00

Sadly no pigs trotters arrived on the Casa Guatemala boat yesterday, ah well we will live to fight another day. Jose and Esperanza, who are in charge of boat deliveries, shook their heads sadly and said they didn't know about the order and the 'senora' from the store had gone to the city. Anyway they assured me that they will do their best to get the required porcine patas for Tuesday when they do their next round....

Pushing my Spanish further than it was ever meant to go I also asked if they could get some belly of pork. They must really wonder where this strange gringo is coming from! Asking them for cuts of meat that most self respecting cruisers never touch! Much gesticulating towards my, rather copious, belly reduced Esperanza to a fit of giggles and Jose to a blushing state of embarrassment. Esperanza is similarly gifted in the 'belly' department whilst Jose is slim and fit, the bastard!! They promised to call on the vhf if they found some belly. That should be an interesting conversation for the rest of the fleet to follow...

On a completely different tack, we were headed into town on Friday aboard our trusted dinghy 'Bob". Suddenly a cayuco with four people turned over, we have never seen that before. As we changed course towads them another local boat also arrived and gave them something to hang on to. There was an old man, a husband and wife and small child. The child was swifly plucked from the water whilst the others clung to the boat in a state of shock. It's no easy matter getting a water logged person over the side of a small boat. The cayuco, basically a hollowed out log was upside down and almost totally submerged by this time. We wedged ourselves behind it's crew and pushed as the other boat heaved them aboard. The woman, clad in traditional Mayan garb was in a hell of a state, deeply shocked and waterlogged.
We manged to round up the drifting paddles, sandals and assorted floating debris and after assurance that they were OK went on our way.

Lobscouse and Boiled Baby!

2010-08-10T11:48:00.002-06:00

I am starting to wonder what effect this time in the Tropics is having on my psyche!
I find myself setting some challenging culinary challenges, a full English roast in 100 degrees of heat is a real challenge!

My next objective is to make a traditional English 'Pork Pie', from scratch. And yes that does include creating the aspic from pigs trotters...

Yesterday I visited the store in town run by Casa Guatemala, the local orphanage. It is their boat that visits the marina a couple of times a week delivering excellent pork, chicken and dairy products. Some produced on their own farm and other stuff bought in from local producers. My mission was to order a couple of pigs trotters as the first step to completing this challenge.. Trotters? Hum that doesn't have a translation is my small and dog eared dictionary so we went for 'little foot of pig'! That got the woman excited.

Ah Si Si Muy bueno...and she launched into a dissertation, some of which I understood, of the various Guatemalan recipes for this delicacy.
Boiled with carrots and onions and parsley to make a gelatinous salad, deep fried and sliced(!). Not the salad the trotters.
After much mutual lip smacking and appreciative nods I THINK that two medio sized porcine tootsies should be on the boat for delivery to me on Saturday morning. We shall wait and see what arrives! I have learnt that what I think I have agreed to may well be somewhat different to that which arrives...

TBH is convinced that I have lost the plot, he may well be right! I have been trawling the internet for recipes and instructions. Ideally I would love one of these intricate Victorian moulds but my springform cake tin will have to suffice. The original beauties sell for hundreds of pounds and there aren't a lot of purchasing opportunities down here. I can't think why.

So the whole project has led me to some wonderful sites, particularly those concerned with historical food. After watching Hornblower it set me to thinking about food on ships and what I could learn. Maybe even adapt for our own enjoyment.

TBH isn't too keen on weevils in the ships biscuits but is a fan of welsh rarebit. Basically cheese on toast, mixed with beer and mustard. It was a great favourite of Captain Jack Aubrey's from the wonderful Patrick O'Brien series of books.

"The gunroom feast for the Captain was if anything more copious than that of the day before. The gunroom cook, by means known to himself alone, had conserved the makings of a superb suet pudding of the kind called boiled baby in the service, known to be Jack Aubrey's favourite form of food, and it came in on a scrubbed scuttle-cover to the sound of cheering."

We have yet to try 'boiled baby' or 'lobscouse' but I now have the recipes. Maybe you won't want to accept an invitation to dinner over the next few weeks as I get this out of my system!

Horatio Hornblower.

2010-08-07T13:52:00.000-06:00

We have spent the last couple of evenings enjoying the old TV series "Hornblower'.The tales of derring-do are enthralling and have kept me on the edge of my seat. Will Horatio save the day? The answer is of course yes!

I am finding the regular sinking of ships a little stressful though. It is at least one per episode, and last night we suffered as two went down. Sitting in our cosy saloon, our oil lamp swinging over head, the sound of creaking timbers from the movie there is an added identification with the picture on the small screen.

Last night it went a bit far. As the characters were struggling in stormy sea with rising waves the wind noise seemed to go through the roof and I was even starting to feel a little queasy. Leaping upright I realised that we were in the middle of a big squall with howling winds in our own rigging, torrential rain and the boat bobbing around in the swell. No wonder I was feeling sick! Our own movements were out of sync with the movie and it made for a most uncomfortable hour or so! Very realistic though, maybe I should have chucked a cup of saltwater at TBH to complete the experience....

Spilt coffee...

2010-08-05T12:36:00.000-06:00

I started off so well this morning! Up early, ropes soaking in a bucket to fight off the green slime attack. Then I thought I would get some washing in to the machine at the marina, make some coffee and run up a batch of scones to have with the coffee.

So I pop over with my bag of laundry, somebody beat me to it, oh well I'll sit and wait under the cooling electric fan. No problem. Other cruisers appear, general chatter, then the man with the pest control fogger. Oh dear! As cruiser no 1 struggles to explain would he(Foger guy) please not spray in the workshop as he has some varnish work drying TBH arrives with a message from the marina owner to say they will be fogging today so stay out of the Palapa, doh!

Back I trot to the boat. With the rising flood water climbing on and off is becoming a bit of a struggle for my short fat legs...I put the kettle on for the coffe, washed the pot. Made the scones and got them in the oven..Excellent everything coming together nicely. That was my mistake! Bang, over goes the now full coffee pot, emptying the entire contents over the stove, the sink, the floor, me...

What a frigging mess. Coffee grounds are just the worst, especially on the boat, getting stck in all the cracks and crannies.

Oh well could be worse. Got there eventually. Now I have to have a sleep to recover from the trauma....