Five and a half months of eating my own cooking everyday has me trying some new recipes and looking for some new ideas.

For Thanksgiving we caught 4 white bass, Steve filleted and sauteed them; they were so much tastier than the canned corned beef which was our other option. Served the fish with brother-in-law Stan's curry pumpkin soup allowing the meal to feel a bit Thanksgivingish. We had 70 degree weather that day so it was a lovely Thanksgiving.

Curry Pumpkin Soup

1 large onion, diced/minced

1 can pumpkin
1 can low fat milk
2 TBS honey
1 TBS curry (or more to taste)
1 clove grated garlic or some garlic powder or garlic salt
1 TBS olive oil
Saute onion and garlic in the olive oil on low heat until the onion is fully cooked and soft. Stir in curry powder cook for a few more minutes. Add canned pumpkin, canned milk and honey. Heat gently, adjust seasoning to taste.



What to do with a cabbage?

I've seldom cooked with cabbage at home and really don't like coleslaw all that well but with only a small cooler and limited food storage keeping salad ingredients on board is a challenge. Cabbage is pretty darned durable and will keep for a couple weeks stored on a shelf with the canned food so I have been doing my best to explore the world of fresh cabbage. So far the grated cabbage, carrot, and raisins, dressed with olive oil and vinegar has been the best. I realized what I didn't like about coleslaw is the mayo dressing and mayo needs constant refrigeration once opened so we don't carry it on the boat. But with the oil and vinegar dressing and lots of raisins coleslaw is pretty good.

I tried a canned corned beef and cabbage stir-fry which was OK and used up the rest of a large cabbage but can't say it was all that interesting. Not bad, but no bragging rights. If anyone has recipes for fresh cabbage salads or stir-frys do send them along.



Fresh Coleslaw

1 cup grated cabbage
1 cup grated carrots
½ cup raisins
Olive oil and vinegar dressing or honey mustard dressing (see below)
Or use the peanut sauce as a dressing and substitute peanuts for the raisins.


Jicama
When I visit my sister in Colorado she often adds jicama to the relish tray or salad. I remembered liking it but had never bought or prepared one but there it was in the grocery store so back to the boat it came. To me they taste a bit like a cross between a radish and an apple. Durable, fresh and tasty; I wish more of the grocery stores had them. They keep for a week or more with no refrigeration and don't bruise in storage. They are easy to peel, I just cut in to bite size pieces and eat plain or with a little oil and/or lemon and salt and pepper. I also put them in sandwiches or salad greens when we have them.


Peanut Sauce

¼ cup peanut butter
2 TBS soy
1 tsp sugar
1 TBS hot sauce
2 TBS lemon juice (or vinegar)
small handful unsalted peanuts chopped
1 tsp mince garlic (or some garlic powder)
1/3 cup hot water

Stir/whip til blended. Great on chicken, fish, rice and even cabbage salad.


Honey Mustard

This is kind of a silly recipe and probably obvious to everyone but me.... Looking into the food box at much the same ingredients that we have had on board for months I was missing the honey mustard that comes in the glass jars (which we never bring on board) and is so good as a veggie dip or on a chicken sandwich or salad. I thought, hey we have mustard and we have honey..... mix them together and voila, that easy.



Equal amounts honey and mustard (adjust ratio to taste)
Add olive oil to make it a salad dressing.


Pozole (kind of....)

During the southern portion of our trip we have ended up shopping for groceries at Dollar Generals a number of times. They have a moderate selection of canned food and frozen prepared items but no fresh fruit or veggies. They had canned pulled pork which I had never seen before, hominy and green enchilada sauce so...... with apologies to folks who take hours to cook wonderful pozole with fresh ingredients here is the on board quickie version.

1 medium onion, diced
2 TBS cumin powder

1 TBS chili powder
Garlic (fresh or powdered)
1 can pulled pork, drained (I think the can was about 12 oz)
2 cans white hominy, drained and rinsed
1 can enchilada sauce (I like green but suspect red enchilada sauce would work just fine)
½ cup water?
Red pepper flakes or hot sauce to taste

Saute onion until soft, add garlic, cumin and chili powder, cook for a minute then add the canned pork, stir and cook for a few minutes. Add the enchilada sauce simmer for a few more minutes and add the hominy (and maybe ½ cup water if you want if you want it more soup like), heat for a few more minutes til everything is hot. I don't add any salt as the canned items already have a lot of salt added.


For us, the first few days back from a big grocery store are easy cooking, lots of fresh ingredients and even better if we catch a fish to add to the menu. After that we look to the “durable fresh veggies and fruits” that can be store without refrigeration for 5 – 10 days and can be combined or added to dried or canned items. Modest cooking time is also pretty essential as we carry a 10 lb propane tank and getting the tank refilled is sometimes a challenge. We have some back up cooking options but try to make the propane last 3+ weeks. So with those parameters, recipe suggestions?

Thanks!

The Suwannee River is just grand! We were here about 10 years ago and I loved this wide, slow moving, wild river. I was a bit worried when we returned, would it be as wonderful as I remembered? Yes it is! The river has a large salt marsh delta as you enter from the Gulf of Mexico, two marinas as you began to head up the river and then mile after mile of undeveloped National Wildlife Refuge shoreline with channels headed of into the back country, fish jumping, ducks and birds everywhere, wow!


About 20 miles up river is my favorite river community so far, Fowler's Bluff. Maybe 75 houses/cottages/trailers/camps on the river and a terrific “fish camp” restaurant Treasure Camp. We pulled up the dock on a cool day, went in, there was a fire burning in the potbelly stove and lunch was delicious!


For carefree cruising on the Suwannee one thing is essential, a shallow draft boat. The marked channel coming in from the Gulf is shallow, reported to be at times only 2 ½ ft; larger boats can come in but need to do so at half tide or better, Most loop boat skip the Suwannee for this reason. Also, the river is usually fairly deep, except for when it isn't. Going up river we regularly saw 4 ft depths. For us this is not a problem as we have a 2 ft draft with the engine down, so exploring the Suwanee was carefree. Thank you Seaway we love our seaworthy shallow draft boat!

Libbey and I are celebrating the new year in Englewood with her mom Gloria and sister Mary. Gloria will be spending the next two months at the resort and Mary will fly back to Denver next week. Libbey and I will visit for a week or so before striking south. Over nighting at the resort docks is not allowed so I'll push off from the dock and anchor out at night. Logs and observations follow with photos at the end.

#Day 137 12/18 Suwannee River. Lunch and Wifi at Treasue Camp in Fowlers Bluff. Cool and breezy-wood stove in restaurant was welcome. Anchored down river DE3533

Day 138 Suwannee River Overnight temp in 30's, 50's during day. Breezy, we'll be windbound for another day or two. Cat fish for dinner (Hard heads) DE 3538

Day 139 Suwannee River Cool and breezy, tried for trout and reds in delta, no luck water still warm out on the flats. Dinner and dock at Salt Creek Restaurant. DE 3543

Day 140 to Crystal River. Sunny SE 5-10. Marina prices jumped to $2/ft plus $5 for electicity. Anchored out. Received wrong part for windlass. DE 3614

Day 141 Crystal River. Cruised Kings Bay. Tied up at Pete's Pier and walked into town for groceries and Thai lunch. DE 3617

Day 142 Crystal River. At anchor. Warm gray day. Manatee watching by kayakk in Three Sisters Spring outlet. Crowded!

Day 143 To Tarpon Springs. Partly cloudy and calm. Crowded harbor. Lunch at Greek restaurant-great gyros and soulvaki. Walked from restaurant dock around town, bought sponges-locally harvested. Anchored by Anclote River Park below town. DE3693

Day 144 Christmas. Hot and sunny. Walked in park after breakfast, then motored downriver to Dunedin Harbor where we anchored and swam. Phone calls with family, leftover Greek, Cointreau night cap. DE3708.

Day 145 To Tampa Bay. 75 deg with light wind. Extremely heavy boat traffic, lots of poor seamanship observed, mostly passing too close (often less than 15 feet away and boats larger than 30' LOA) at high speed. Found wild secluded anchorage on SE shore of Tampa Bay by Rattlesnake Key. DE 3749

Day 149 At anchor. Kayaked into Miguel Bay SE 15-20 85 deg. Caught 18” Spanish Mackerel-excellent on the grill

Day 150 to Whites Beach 10-15 SE. 75 degrees. Anchored by Sisters Key. Kayaked up Bishop Bayou for groceries. Current guide book inaccurate-store closed 3 years ago. Ice at nearby restaurant. DE3762

Day 151 to Bird Keys, L. Sarasota Bay. Sunny with light breeze. Heavy and reckless boat traffic again. DE 3784

Day 152 to Englewood. 80 degrees and little wind. Anchored off Indian Mound State Park and kayaked ashore for groceries. Anchored inside Stump Pass. DE 3805

Day 153 Cruised Lemon Bay returned to Stump Pass anchorage. Mostly sunny and hot with light breeze. Chatted with Minnesota loopers in Rosbourough 246. Caught 4 catfish DE 3816

Day 154 New Years Day. Hot and sunny. Offshore to fish artificial reef and fish haven. Small sand perch and jacks, lost nice spanish mackerel at boat side.

Anchoring out

“Did you spend the night at the marina or did you anchor out?” That's a very common question loopers ask each other when they chat. As I mentioned in an earlier post, it seems lots of folks mostly spend their nights tied up in a slip at marinas and a few like us mostly anchor out.

I know of two ways to find an anchorage. First is to use an anchorage that somebody else used and you learned about from a guide book, website or word of mouth. This has the advantage of some prior experience and with a good description can greatly aid your cruising plans. However the information may well be inaccurate or may or may not be relevant to your boat or the conditions you face on the night of your trip - boater beware!. On our passage down the Tombigbee River we picked up a list of suggested anchorages at the marina in Demopolis that some boater had shared. Suffice to say, my taste and safety considerations for anchorages differ greatly from the author.

The second way to find an anchorage is to discover it for yourself and this is what I almost always do. This doesn't necessarily mean you'll be first to anchor there, lots of good anchorages are pretty obvious and you'll sometimes end up sharing with another boat. That's no problem, simply give each other as much space as possible and help maintain the peace and quiet particularly at either end of the day e.g. turn off your generator Moondancer.

To find an anchorage a number of tools are handy. I use a chart or map, a tide table if on the salt, a depth sounder/chart plotter combo unit, and a weather forecast. Google Earth would be handy in finding anchorages that have the wild shorelines that I prefer but I've only used it that way a time or two.

Leaving the scenic considerations aside for now, I'll share my thoughts on safety and comfort, focusing on inland waters for this discussion. There are times when a sheltered anchorage is essential and there are times when maximum exposure to the breeze are welcome particularly since Laughing Gull lacks air conditioning. Boating across the Erie and Trent Severn Canals in the heat and bugs of August we often sought wide open anchorages. Spending a night in a sheltered anchorage or marina would have been really unpleasant. I never anchor without considering a current weather forecast.

Safety concerns focus on protection from wind, current (and the debris it may carry), and other vessels. This last consideration was largely new to me on our loop. While of course I never anchored in a busy channel I'd never had to consider heavy barge traffic. Starting at the Chicago Sanitary Canal and extending to the Gulf of Mexico, barges and their attendant tugs (more accurately push boats but most folks call them tugs) travel the waterways 24/7. These “tows” are often 100 feet wide and in excess of 600' long depending on the number of barges coupled together. Obviously these tows are “restricted in their ability to maneuver” and always have the right of way while underway. Anchoring where the tows don't go is essential to a good nights sleep at a minimum. Except when mooring, tows always operate in the main, often marked channel.

Needless to say, anchoring out of the channel is the best solution. One of my favorite strategies is to anchor on the shoreward side of a buoy hopefully far enough inside that the boat can't swing into the channel with a breeze. Early in the trip while anchored shoreward of a buoy on the Illinois River I asked over the radio a passing barge skipper if I was in his way. In a strong cajun accent “long as you anchor outside the buoy line you'll be fine” was his reply. Sometimes a bit of current can help but I try to avoid exposure to the main thrust of the current because the inland rivers often carry downed trees which can be a hazard. Fortunately the current was mild when the Tensas River lodged a 30' tree on my anchor line one fine November morning. Thanks again to the crew of Leeloo for standing by while I cleared the line.

To find an anchorage on the rivers I would look for islands on the map which might offer a back channel. Generally only the main channel is marked for navigation so even deep straight back channels are good choices. Another good choice are bends in the river. Tows, the strongest current and debris tend to travel to the outside of the bend so anchoring on the inside is best, hopefully behind a buoy. Often a shallow sand bar will form on the upstream side of the inside of the bend. The downstream end of these bars often make superb anchorages.

A final type of anchorage are less traveled tributaries-streams, bayous etc. Because their depths are usually uncharted, explore slowly and against the current or wind. Because only the main channel is mapped for depth on most of the rivers, leaving the channel has to be done slowly and cautiously with a sharp eye on the depth sounder. When boating down river and I spot a likely back channel or bend to spend the night at I go past and then proceed into the current. Its a lot easier to un-ground a boat when the current or wind helps push you off rather than onto whatever you're stuck on. I like to find a depth where a change in depth can be accommodated. We anchored one night on the Tennessee River when the water dropped perhaps 2 feet. A month later we anchored on the Tombigbee river when heavy rains were predicted to raise the water level by 8 feet (didn't happen). In tidal water the range of the tide must also be accommodated.

Another factor in anchoring is whether the anchored boat will “answer to” i.e. point her bow into, the wind or the current. Its more convenient if both are going in the same direction but that is often not the case so it is a good idea to find protection from one or the other. If the wind and current are opposed and of equal effect the boat will lie cross wise and rock in the chop. These forces also come into play to affect your view and comfort. The course of the Tombigbee River crawls across the Alabama landscape like a snake. We cruised the river during an extremely warm spell and often saw temperatures well over 80 degrees, hot by our Maine standards. We quickly developed the habit of anchoring where the current flowed north. This put the bow into the sun and allowed us to enjoy the shade of the wheelhouse and a glare free view of the river over the transom.

I favor over sized anchors. Laughing Gull's Manson Supreme weighs 25 pounds and is rated for a 45' boat (LG is 24' LOA). While I generally deploy the standard 5:1 rode to depth line, I find great comfort in knowing that I can safely shorten the scope in a tight anchorage or still be okay if the river rises in the night. I use 15 feet of chain and carry 600' feet of 8 plait Brait rope. A Maxwell HRC-8 windlass, again oversized, retrieves the rode and anchor. As I write this, wind bound on the Suwanee River, I have learned that a pressure plate for the windlass is an essential spare. I have two pressure plates (one replacement, one spare) and a mechanic waiting for me in Crystal River tomorrow. Hauling a 25 lb anchor and chain by hand is doable but not my idea of a good time.

Skinny Water

Growing up in Maine, many of my early experiences on saltwater were on Passamaquoddy Bay on Maine's eastern border with New Brunswick. The waters run deep and tides run strong there. Depths of 100-300 feet within a few hundred yards of shore are common and every month on the full moon the tides exceed 25 feet in range. Hand lining for cod and haddock from the family dory was one of the great times of those Maine summers.

After I took early retirement from Maine's Bureau of Parks and Lands in 2007, I spent the following three summers working as a wildeness saltwater fishing guide in Alaska's Tongass National Forest out of Ketchikan. The waters of this inside passage are even more dramatic than Passmaquoddy Bay. I knew a spot where I could put the bow of my guide skiff ashore and the depth finder would read 300 feet of depth from the transom mounted transducer. Again the tidal range approached 30 feet.

While I've done a number of Florida boating trips, my experience is mostly in the south, ranging from the Ten Thousand Islands through the Everglades to the Keys. There is certainly skinny i.e. shallow water there. This is where I was first advised that it was so shallow I'd need to stay up on plane to get where I wanted to go-a thoroughly frightening concept for someone with my background. Suffice to say, I'm more comfortable with a nice bit of water under my keel.

However Florida's Big Bend is super skinny water. From Carrabelle around to Tarpon Springs its necessary to run miles off shore when paralleling the coast. The shore can only be safely approached from within the confines of a marked and usually dredged channel. While this makes for inconvenient boating and requires good weather, I'm sure that these shallows have done much to protect the character of the area. There are miles of lovely wild shorelines and the towns tend to be smaller and have the old Florida feel to them. St. Marks, Suwannee and Tarpon Springs are easily some of our favorite towns so far on the trip.

They say that in this part of Florida the water gets a foot deeper for every mile you go offshore. In a funny sense this is often true. A number of times I noted that to boat in three feet of water I needed to be 3 miles from shore. Beyond that the water often dropped to 8-10 foot depths but of course once you're beyond the three mile limit you're not in Florida anymore.