Island Time: Hornby Island, that is...

This is preparation entry number two.  Cap'n says the first mate can only post about how much fun we are having.  So this week on Hornby Island (pop'n:  1084) has been fun.  It is kinda like the caribbean....

There are sandy beaches, gentle protected anchorages with little waves, 15 knot winds, but it smells very different here, of seaweed and briny oysters.  Today is the only day I took my phone along (did not pack a proper camera!) and also is the first overcast day, so no pics of the crystalline blue waters and sky.

Our generous host Anders correctly pointed out shortly upon our arrival that Mr. Gucci was superfluous, and should be given a rest:  the only time that is important is Hornby Time.  I obediently and promptly put my watch away, and discovered the true meaning of Hornby time earlier today.  

We are hosting friends of Jen and Ander's for Caribbean night tonight:  jerk chicken, rice and peas, and coleslaw, taking over as we are wont to do as guest chefs.  So the cap'n was insisting that we take a walk to the Hornby central market to pick up the last of our provisions.  The first mate replies that she is not a sherpa, we have a perfectly good all wheel drive Dodge machine to cart the ginger beer, rum and limes for the Dark 'n Stormy's, and hence, a deal was set to use the machine for the heavy lifting and then hike in a provincial park just as soon as the jerk sauce was made and the chicken (grown on the very farm where we are staying) was marinading.  

Razorback Red Snake

After our expedited chores were complete, we set off to Helliwell Provincial Park.  The 5 km walk was prolonged, as there were pods of Orcas and lots of sea lions to watch.  They were too far out to get a good shot with a camera phone.  However, a quick walk morphed into several hours of fun!  This was truly Hornby time!


We did get a good shot of wildlife though, on the homeward trail we met this friend: 

And just 100 metres from the sea there are trees like this!  They don't make them like this in the Caribbean!

Our visit coincides with the Hornby Festival, and we look forward to seeing the African Showboyz, a drum group tonight,  and a funk band tomorrow night, Papagroove, both playing at a picturesque farm, lying beside the ocean.  

August 8, 2013  Update

As soon as this entry was written, I looked out the window of our farmhouse to see two friendly horses and their riders cavorting around the orchard, accompanied by a friendly neighbourhood deer.  I have a nice picture but am currently using the (non-functional) mac and can not post it.  

There is a great deal of heretofore unrecognized charm to waking up on a farm.  For example, the baaing of sheep in your front yard is a very easy way to be roused, and the braying of Dove the miniature Burro can be quite amusing.  

I have had a request for recipes for the aforementioned meal, from people who said they enjoyed the meal and would look at the blog if the recipes were posted, so I will do my best.

For the jerk sauce, there are many variations, and we just whipped one up from a jamaican tourism website.   We made from scratch on Hornby because we could not buy sauce in a jar (and we had already found cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice in the cupboard--thank you to our hostess, Karen, who enjoyed a gift of sauce in exchange)!  The first mate has found nurse Nadeisha's authentic Jamaican family recipe (not tried yet, but recommended as authentic!):

Nadeisha's Jerk Sauce:

You will need the following ingredients to prepare enough jerk chicken for 4 people:-

6 sliced scotch bonnet peppers (I use more or less depending on the spice tolerance)

Thyme (Fresh)

Ground allspice
Cloves garlic, finely chopped
Medium onions, finely chopped
2 Tbsp. sugar (or to taste)
2 Tbsp. salt
2 Tsp. ground black pepper
A little of
-ground cinnamon
-nutmeg
-ginger
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup soy sauce
Juice of one lime
1 cup orange juice
1 cup white vinegar
I also add a little ketchup

Method
Chop the onions, garlic and peppers. These do not need to be chopped too fine as they will be liquefied in the blender.
Blend all of the ingredients (excluding the chicken) in a blender to make the jerk sauce.
Rub the sauce in to the meat, saving some for basting and dipping later.
Leave the chicken in the fridge to marinade overnight.

Rice and Peas for a Crowd:

2 Cups caribbean rice (or chinese, or spanish.  basmati is all we had and was eaten with gusto despite it's least preferential status).

4 Cups of liquid, including:  juice from the can of beans (we use kidney, but pidgeon or other peas are fine); 1 can of coconut milk (or 12 oz water and 1/2 C. coconut cream, which keeps for a long time unrefrigerated); water 

One I4-16 oz can of beans (previously drained)

large sprig of thyme

1/2 tsp of salt

1 whole habernero pepper (other if necessary):  we improvised with jalapeño, but cut it in half and added the seeds 

Boil liquid.  Add rice and peas and spice.  Cook on simmer for 20 mins.  Serve.  We used a rice cooker on Hornby (Ist time, worked like a charm for you landlubbers.  No such luck at sea, when our propane simmer is too high for rice cooking, and one needs to light and ignite and douse repeatedly.  I will buy a heat diffuser, which should help with this problem).  Discard thyme and habernero and serve to happy others.  

Caribbean Coleslaw (Modified from Petty, the Trini cooking Goddess's recipe)

shredded cabbage

mango

red peppers

green onion

(i used shredded carrot)

Canned or fresh pineapple (can add crushed to the dressing)

chopped cilantro

Dressing:

Mayo (i used homemade, made with lime)

My adaptation uses half mayo, half greek yogurt (make it yourself, drain reg. yogurt in a strainer through cheesecloth if you are fancy, but paper towel is fine).

squirt of honey (tsp or more, depends on the crowd!).  

more lime, to taste

salt and pepper

Enjoy!  

We are Salty Dawgs Now!

For our ocean crossing route, we are pleased to be joining the Salty Dawg Rally, leaving early November from Hampton, Virginia, and arriving in Tortola, British Virgin Islands.  We are very happy to be joining this group of boats, which will include two Hanses from TO, Happy Chaos, sailed by Sean and Michelle, and Unknown Island, sailed by Peter and Amanda, and their children (a crew of 5 that they seem to split amongst them, though they have their own bunks!).  

We look forward to enjoying the seminars preceding the ocean crossing, the fantastic weather reports and also to have the opportunity for GPS monitoring  (you too can see where we are) and morning reporting, just to make sure all is well, and we are still alive.  Yes, you can follow us on the website, and the first mate will try and be funny, while avoiding any references to avoiding death.  

This because, the Captain thought my second posting was very bleak, and he suggested I should write about how much fun we are having, but we've just been doing chores, to the first mate's reckoning.  And people did die in the Caribbean 1500 in 2010 and 2011, so I don't think I'm so dour when I worry about preventing death.  I am realistic, sorry Captain, for being dark again.  

On the bright side, 

In addition to Grumpy and Sleepy, out crew will be finely rounded out with steadfast Brian, who wants to wear his harness!

Devilish Charles, who says that he is a very safe guy, and agrees to clip in!

And we hope to be joined in the BVIs by the hotties, Marina and Petty, who await Brian and Charles's safe return.  

Two months to go.  More later.  

Preparation

Preparation

This is simple.  Bring buckets of money.  Perhaps more than three times your budget.  Then add a sprinkle of time, possibly more than you have.

Next.  Add a little anxiety.  Read books on very bad storms. Lose a bit of sleep.  Imagine yourself in the midst one of these storms.  Ask, what will kill us, if one were to inadvertently occur whilst we are in the middle of the ocean, despite the best intentions to avoid same, and the best weather forecasting available?  

Death seems to be most likely to occur if your boat rolls over,and usually this only happens if you have the misfortune of experiencing a breaking wave.  This is fairly rare.  And then one of two categories of events can happen that prevent you from living.  First, if water is allowed to enter to a terrific extent, this will impede the boat's natural inclination to upright herself.   In preparation for this, you better make sure that your companionway doors are well sealed, and they provide the opportunity for the crew down below to egress and the crew up above to escape the weather by going down below and lying ahull if necessary (this is when you decide the safest place is to hide down below with no sails up).  How is it that one can buy a Lloyd's certified ocean going vessel and a secured companionway is not part of the equation?   Apparently, flying companionway doors are also an awesome (horrendous) way to get scalped, per a reliable source, Dave T.  Best to also be able to lock on either side, from outside against thieves and the inside, just in case.  Sadly, there are very few commercially available systems to purchase, even though the UK racing rules (m'lord, the things you learn when you are Dr. Not Death), require this!  I'm searching, and time to prepare to be not dead is soon running out!

The second most obvious way to die if your boat rolls over as a result of a breaking wave, is if your batteries, which are heavier than the average strong man likes to carry on his own, fall on the crews head.  So you had better see that they have some good stainless steel strapping to prevent that from happening.  There is a lot of stuff to store but most of it will not kill you.  We are trying to secure everything we can. 

Now the first mate believes that the third way to get dead is to be silly and to not wear your life jacket and keep yourself harnessed in, even when the seas are calm.  In the middle of the ocean, who wants to go pick you up?  How long does it take?   In St. Lucia, we just said goodbye to a brand new Hanse hat, worn once, b/c it landed in the water and then was very far away in very little time.  

To buy a drogue or not to buy a drogue, that is the $1500 question.  It could save your life.  You will probably never need it. We can probably run warps too (long lines, much cheaper, probably keep us into the wind if necessary.   If I was rounding either of the capes I would definitely equip the boat with a drogue.  I would also have a different, more seaworthy machine.   I think we'll pass this time and be hopeful.  Perhaps now that the first mate is sewing full time with her new industrial machine, she will make a drogue for one of those unplanned, 6 years in the future, retirement storms!   This knowing that sewing 135 cones and weaving them into a line would be exponentially more tedious than today's task, which was making 24 fabric sleeves for bottles and cans to ride in the bilge, so they can crash around and not make noise.  

Next up:  Plans for the journey (and the captain commands less darkness:  are we having fun yet?  Not that much lately, but accomplishments are good, and we are planning to have fun soon!)

Working is for the Others....at least for a while

This is Volver, our Hanse 370, the trusty vessel which will take us on our escape from this, her slip in Toronto, to the Caribbean.  She was shiny, new, and unnamed here, but is a little better used now.  Her name means "to return" in Spanish, and we aim to do that.

This is us:  Todd and Kelly.  Captain and First Mate.  

We were young once.

Serious.

But always....

We were sailors.  

We have sailed in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, St. Lucia, the British Virgin Islands, and don't forget the Thousand Islands, but we have never undertaken an ocean crossing such as we are embarking on.