We were anchored outside Hope Town, idly listening to the daily net (a radio broadcast to boats in the area) when they announced today was trash day. We could drop off our trash at a certain dock between 8:30AM and 9:30 AM, for free. We hadn't found a trash drop off since Long Island about 6 weeks ago.
The trash run was my new mission, my highest priority. I had to get to the trash drop! It was 8:30AM. All we had to do was launch the dinghy, walk the dog, get into the harbour, find the dock, and hoist it over. 1 hour. Totally doable.
Matt searches for shoes (a daily struggle). I ready the dinghy, knowing Matt will be surprised and delighted to find the task completed. The dinghy is so heavy I can feel the burn through my gloves. Matt's job sucks. Hastings and I are ready for Part 1 of the trash run adventure.
Matt appears and is surprised.....and not delighted.
"The dinghy is sinking".
"How about that".
Matt puts it back on the davits, hauls it (now full of water, much heavier), drains it and then inserts the drain plug. Handy how that works.
The clock ticks. Hastings wants to know why he is burdened with such fools. The dinghy is re-launched. We get to dog-walk dock. Walk the dog. He wants to linger. Doesn't this lane seem interesting? What about this bush? The trash run is not his priority. Finally get back to the boat. Grab the trash. Head towards the harbour.
The clock is really ticking now. 9:21. Will we make it? A loud water-shattering noise is heard behind us. It's the ferry, heading at full speed into the no wake channel. We move to the side, trying to get out of it's way. It pushes on. It's gigantic wake forces us out of the channel, hard aground, and then swamps us. The driver slows just enough to say "You should stay in the channel - there's no water where you are".
"How kind of you to mention it!".
We get out the oars and pole ourselves out of the mud and back into the channel.
9:27. It's all over for sure. We head into the harbour, dodging the ferry, which seems determined to run us down at every opportunity. We're looking for the dock. There! All the way accross! We make our way over, avoiding the boats at anchor, the boats underway, criss crossing the harbour, the boats not paying attention, the boats throwing beer at each other.
9:29. The dock is in sight. We ram into the dock's ladder. Heave the trash up. The trash truck is still there! Victory at 9:30!
How much work is your trash run? How many curses do the Abaco ferries receive on a daily basis?
A Boating Trash Run in Hope Town Harbour
3:00 AMCrispy Fried Ramen Noodles
3:00 AMMatt's Marvelous Mouthwatering Morsels on a Monday:
Crispy Fried Ramen Noodles
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| Look at those fresh green onions! Yum! |
And this brings to mind another win: A tip from the Boat Galley has literally changed my life. Green onions are one of my favorite ingredients. They always went bad in a few days :( But then, The Boat Galley told me that if I just leave them in a cup of water and trim them, they just keep growing! Talk about the perfect boat veggie! We bought this bunch of greens in Rock Sound two weeks ago, and they are going strong! Another win!
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| Working on my green thumb! |
2 packages Ramen noodles (noodles only, reserve flavor packet for future use or discard)
vegetable or peanut oil
1/4 cup chopped onion or white part of green onion/scallions
1/4 cup chopped bell pepper
1/4 cup chopped green beans or mushrooms or both
2 tablespoons minced garlic
2 tablespoons minced ginger
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/4 cup chopped green onions/scallions
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| Stir Fry: It's all about prep work! |
- Soak noodles in warm water and set aside. Don’t boil them. We don’t want them to get too soggy, so keep an eye on them. Once they are soft drain in a colander and squeeze out as much water as possible. Toss with a little oil and set aside.
- Cook the veggies: heat 1 tablespoon oil in a wok or non-stick skillet until very hot. Fry the veggies to desired doneness and then set aside. Note: if using dehydrated veggies, omit oil and add 1 part veggies and 2 parts water to pan. Heat until nearly all of the water has boiled off and veggies are soft. Set aside.
- Make the sauce: heat another 1 tablespoon of oil in the wok, fry the garlic and ginger until aromatic. Add soy sauce, water and sugar and boil until slightly reduced. Set aside.
- Fry the noodles: heat a final 1 tablespoon of oil until very hot in wok. Add noodles, press down into a flat layer and fry. Once browned, flip noodles and cook other side. Add a drizzle of oil if needed. Once noodles are crispy, add veggies and stir. Add sauce and stir. Plate and top with green onions.
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| Get those noodles crispy people! |
The Abacos: Little Harbour and Tilloo Bank
3:00 AM
We sailed about 60 from Meeks Patch by Spanish Wells to Little Harbour, Abacos. It was a great downwind sail to a new island chain! The best part? We re-united with one of our first Bahamas cruising friends, Ñandú. We first met in the Berry Islands in March and have been stalking them ever since.
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| A full sun dog and partial sun dog on our sail to the Abacos |
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| Pete's Pub at Little Harbour |
We then motored to Sandy Cay for snorkeling. A charter cat anchored literally right on top of us. This is going to be entertaining! We headed to Tilloo Bank to anchor, and several charter boats tried very hard to run us down. I kept alterering course to steer clear. I'd say they thought chicken was fun, but I actually think they just aren't paying any attention. There are a lot of boats in the Abacos, and a lot of them are chartered by vacationers who are having way too much of a good time.
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| Snorkeling at Sandy Cay - check out the Elkhorn coral! |
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| Nurse shark, Sandy Cay |
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| Water spout, off Tilloo Bank, Abacos |
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| Tilloo Bank, Abacos |
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| Dolphins, Tilloo Bank |
Current Cut, Eleuthera
3:00 AM
May 12, 2017
We departed super rolly Glass Window Bridge and peered at the obstacle, which was the path: Current Cut. This is a small cut, dividing Eleuthera from Current Island. Massive amounts of water squeezing through this tiny cut causes a crazy current: 6 knots at ebb tide and up to 10 knots during spring tides! One helpful Grumpy Captain reviewer stated "We went through at 14 knots (our top speed is 8). What a ride!"
Now, why not just go through at slack tide when there is no current? Great idea! When is slack current? This is like asking your family what they would like for dinner: blinking, silence, I dont know, followed by 5 reluctant and different answers. The general consensus: 1 -2 hours after Nassau high tide, and brownies. So is it 1 or 2? It depends on the wind, the temperature, and who got elected. Was it the yellow shirts with the rude hand signal or the red "It's The People's Time" shirts?
Oh, and you could totally just go for it and hope for the best, however, the channel is surrounded by rocks and sandbars, so if you have erred, it may be a costly mistake (hopefully you can blame your spouse).
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| Current Cut |
Surely there's another way? Yes, there is - but it would have required several more hours of bashing directly into the wind, just to go through another cut, that, because it is a Bahamian cut, is sure to inspire fear and loathing in it's own special way.
We were hoping that some poor sap would be in front of us and we could just follow them like lemmings, but alas, we were alone, hoping that our very vague "hope for the best" Bahamas navigation planning would work out OK. We ended up going through 1 hour a 45 minutes after Nassasu high tide, with 1.5 knots against us. Perfect. Sure, 0 current would be nice, but we'd much rather have a manageable current against us and be able to maintain steering vs. being even more at the mercy of the sea.
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| These rocks seemed really close! |
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| Approaching the final course |
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| Success! |
Now the saga was over, we headed to Meeks Patch for the night. We're sad that we didn't make it to Spanish Wells and Harbour Island, however, we didn't have the energy and didn't want to miss the weather window to travel to the Abacos the next day.
We barely had the energy to take Hastings to the beach, where the "why are so many tour boats landing on the beach" riddle was answered. A large pig emissary was sent out to check for food. Hastings sternly told the pig how stingy his parents are with food rations, and he was not about to share. The pig went away, off to check on the next batch of hapless sailors. We went home, to check on the next batch of drama: Abacos, here we come!
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| Meek's Patch Beach |
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| Beautiful final Eleuthera sunset |
Would you rather have 10 minutes of terror and get it over with or 4 hours of mild stress and aggravation and go the easier route?
Lucy's Chana Masala (Chickpea Curry) and Matt's Rice Pudding
3:00 AM
By request, Lucy’s recipes make an encore appearance today! But Matt adds a sweet finish because you can’t keep him out of the galley. In fact, if you start cooking this he’ll likely pop up and finish it for you, which is handy albeit annoying.
Chana Masala
1 large onion
2 cloves garlic
1 tablespoon garam masala* or curry powder
1 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon cayenne or red chili flakes
1 can of diced tomatoes with liquid
1 can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 cup vegetable broth
salt and pepper to taste
*Garam Masala is a handy spice mix to have aboard, but if you are like Matt and prefer having whole spices around (they last longer!) then you can easily make garam masala but tossing together a mix of coriander, cumin, cinnamon, and whatever else you might have. If grinding whole seeds to make the recipe, I recommend toasting the seeds in a dry pan before starting the onions.
Saute the onions until they begin to brown. Add the garlic and continue cooking until browned and aromatic. Add the spices and fry with the onions, making a thick paste. Add the can of tomatoes and deglaze the pan with the liquid. Add the chickpeas and broth; simmer for at least 15 minutes, but really as long as you like. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Remember if you used canned tomatoes and canned chickpeas it can be easy to go overboard on the salt, so you won't need much.
Serve with cooked rice, basmati preferred but any will do. Use a clean spoon and make a double batch of rice, because next you'll want to make….
Stovetop Rice Pudding
Remaining cooked rice (2 servings)
1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk or 1 cup evaporated milk + 1/4 cup sugar
2 cups water
2 tablespoons Birds custard powder or 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Add milk and water to the pan with the rice and stir. Simmer until thickened. If adding custard powder, mix the 2 tablespoons in a separate bowl with 2 tablespoons of water (make a slurry) then add to the pudding. Flavor with your choice of fruit, coconut, a dash of vanilla, or cardamom.
