Funny Video

This video was NOT taken by us, it is amazing enough to share with all of you!

Octopus with a mind of its own!

Birthday Breakfast

 

Tomorrow is my Papa's big day which means that my mom has the mixer going this afternoon! Not making a big cake, but the family famous Oatmeal Crispies. These little oatmeal butter cookies have been a breakfast tradition for my Dad's birthday for years. (Legend has it this was his birthday breakfast as a child, too.) They are delicious!

What happens when?

This photo was taken a few months ago and for some reason never ended up on the blog! We were anchored off of St. Thomas for a few days and suddenly found our anchor fouled in a stray fishing net. The net was about 10' x 10' and came complete with a deflated mooring ball which you can see in the top right corner. We had all our scuba gear but no tanks as we had loaned those to a friend. Red Hook Dive Center let us borrow a tank for a few hours to free ourselves. This is Sasha in the process of sorting out the chain from the mess.

New Approach to Poach

Last Sunday I tried out a new idea while poaching eggs for breakfast. Place each egg you wish to poach in a pouch made of plastic wrap add in herbs, peppers, bacon, etc. then tie the top with a long strip of plastic wrap. You can then poach multiple eggs in the same small pot of water. This sounded too good to be true as I often find myself poaching 14 eggs at a time (2 eggs/person @ 6 guests + Sasha = 14). The first attempt went pretty well, until I tried to pull them out of the water. The bottom side of the bags had become too hot and melted a bit. The eggs still made it to the plate, but some ended up on the counter, too. Next time I'll add extra water to the pot and leave a little air in the bags so they float above the heat source. The other problem is that it's hard to tell when they are done. 4 minutes was the recomended time, but they were still really soft (just the way I like them, but I had to put Sasha's in a pan for a few minutes). I'm sure more experience will prove to perfect this new approach to poach.

More Improvements!

After a fun and enjoyable charter with a wonderful French family, we were psyched to knock out some projects. First on the list was repainting the new hydraulic motor for the main winch. The paint used by the manufacturer was clearly unsuitable for the marine environment. We sanded off all the rust and loose paint, and covered it with 2 coats of primer and 2 coats of spray epoxy. Should be good to go!
Another project I am very happy about completing is I finally installed a dedicated hose to wash the tender and flush the engine. It is so easy to do now!!

Tara spent the day deep-cleaning one of the cabins that always smelled musty. We determined that there must be a leak, and sure enough, the caulk in the hull-to-deck joint above that cabin was failing and allowing water to seep in. I scraped out the old caulk, cleaned the joint well, and let it all dry before applying new caulk around the entire hull-deck joint.Happy times!

Party Poi

Though we also enjoy spinning fire poi, when in crowded areas our glow poi are a much safer way to go. Here are a few pics from Leverick Bay a few weeks ago. SO much fun!!

FRESH!! FRESH!! FRESH!!

Believe it or not there are growing seasons for produce down here, too! The mangoes and avocadoes are getting a little heavy on the trees these days. Aragorn over in Trellis Bay is also rolling out beautiful tomatoes, arugula, basil, etc. I've been playing around and growing my own sprout mixes on the boat- which has been fun and much easier than I thought! Grab a few loaves of fresh baked bread fill them up with the freshest veggies on hand-- voila!

Peepshi?

Thought a few out there may enjoy this festive little idea!

PEEPSHI!

Bunny on the Boat?

HAPPY EASTER!

It's true- the Easter Bunny does swim out to visit boats, too! One question, why is it a bunny that comes to hide eggs when we all know that bunnies don't actually lay eggs? This was the question at breakfast- anyone have the answer?