Tickety Boo, Tickety Boo, Barracuda Bob

Docks at Marsh Harbour.

When you meet fellow cruisers, one of the things you talk about is what kind of boat you have and what it’s name is.

Whenever I tell folks that our boat is named Tickety Boo, the menfolk raise their eyebrows and give Scott a look which means, “Wow, how’d your wife sucker you into giving your boat such a ridiculous name?” The women usually say something like, “Oh, that’s so cute!” Scott just hangs his head in shame.

So imagine how Scott felt when I told him that the name of our dinghy was Boo Boo. Yeah, he wasn’t impressed.

Now imagine how Scott felt when he had dinghied over to shore and had to call me back on the boat using our portable VHF.

“Tickety Boo, Tickety Boo, Boo Boo,” he whispered into the VHF so that no one would overhear him.

“Boo Boo, Tickety Boo. Switch 1-7,” I replied with a smile on my face because it sounded so darn cute when he said “Boo Boo.”

{FYI - That’s how you hail other boats and shore parties on the VHF in the Bahamas. You say the name of the party you’re hailing twice, followed by your name once.}

When Scott got back to the boat, he said that we needed to talk.

“There’s no way that I’m going to say Boo Boo on the VHF again,” he said. “Next time I call you from shore, I’m just going to say, ‘Tickety Boo, Tickety Boo, Shore Party.’”

“But saying 'Shore Party' is so boring, my little Boo Boo,” I said.

He winced. We don’t use pet names for each other and the thought of me calling him ‘my little Boo Boo’ was probably a step too far.

“Fine, let’s go with something else like Barracuda Bob,” he said.

I agreed. After all, marriage is all about compromise. By the way, don’t tell Scott, but I think “Barracuda Bob” is kind of a cute name. Almost as cute as Boo Boo.

So next time you hear someone say on the VHF, “Tickety Boo, Tickety Boo, Barracuda Bob,” you’ll know that’s us.

****

Honestly the whole Boo Boo/Barracuda Bob thing was the biggest highlight of the past several days of our time in Marsh Harbour. We’ve been stuck here forever due to a stationary front. The wind has been ridiculous. Pretty much all we’ve been doing is lazing about and replenishing Tickety Boo’s supplies of groceries, diesel, water and gas, as well as doing a load of laundry and dropping off engine oil to be recycled.

I don’t think we could have stood one more day of such overwhelming excitement, so when the weather finally took a turn for the better, we hightailed it out of here and headed out of the harbor as fast as we could, ending up anchored outside of Hope Town.

Doing laundry at the Classic Coin Wash. Only $2.50 per wash. Dryers were much more expensive, so we hung our clothes up to dry back on the boat.

One of the marinas at Marsh Harbour. We prefer anchoring in the harbour as opposed to paying to stay at marinas, although a hot shower would be nice.

Snappas - a very popular place to eat and drink in Marsh Harbour. We actually haven't eaten out at all since we've been in the Bahamas. We're quite happy cooking and eating aboard Tickety Boo.

Cruising Log | Thursday, 13 April 2017 – Monday, 17 April 2017

13 APRIL
Baked cookies and whole wheat bread. Figure the whole grain in the bread helps balance out the sugar in the cookies. Scott got diesel, water, propane and groceries. Topped up water tanks. Did some tidying up. Small spaces become disorderly quite quickly. Dinghy seems to be holding air. Nautical miles = Nil. Engine hours = Nil. Spending = $113.36 ($83.60 – 19.2 gallons diesel, $4 – 22 gallons water, $13.11 – groceries, $3.65 – pasty brushes, $7 -  propane)

14 APRIL
Not much to report except dinghy still seems to be holding air. Nautical miles = Nil. Engine hours = Nil. Spending = Nil.

15 APRIL
Still not much to report. Nautical miles = Nil. Engine hours = Nil. Spending = Nil.

16 APRIL
Changed the oil. Oil extractor was uncooperative. Made it sit in the corner and think about what it had done. Then it became more cooperative. Nautical miles = Nil. Engine hours = 1 hr 0 mins. Spending = Nil

17 APRIL
Did grocery shopping and laundry. Got gas and water. Turned on the engine at 12:15 PM and motored over to Matt Lowe’s Cay for the night, but too many boats there already and no place left to escape from the wind. Motored over to Hope Town and dropped anchor outside of the harbor at 2:45 PM. Hung laundry up to dray on the lifelines. Went for a quick dip. Dinghy patch not working, but the leak is now a slow leak. {Sigh} Nautical miles = 7. Engine = 2 hrs 30 mins. Spending = $73.78 ($57.28 – groceries, $2.50 – 1 load of laundry, wash only, $14 – 2.8 gallons gas, $0 – water free if buy gas).

Do you call your partner pet names? If so, what are they (G-rated only please)? Have you ever been stuck in a place for days because of the weather? How'd you cope?

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Wordless Wednesday | Conch Shells

Wordless Wednesday is supposed to be about posting a photo(s) without any words. But, I'm a rule breaker, so here are a few words:

1 - People in the Bahamas love to eat conch. People who visit the Bahamas love to eat conch too. Most people anyway. Me, not so much.

2 - I think conch tastes gross. I've tried it in the form of conch fritters. You would have thought all of that breading and deep frying would have been right up my alley. Nope.

3 - Conch are sea snails. I like escargot so you'd think I'd like conch. 

4 - If you invite me over for dinner and serve me conch, I might distract you in some way and hide it in my napkin. I hope you use paper napkins so I can discretely throw it away. It'd be a shame to have to throw away one of your nice fancy cloth napkins in the trash.
   
What words does this picture(s) bring to your mind when you look at it?

For more Wordless Wednesday fun, click here. 

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Indiantown Reunion In Marsh Harbour, Or Stalking People On The VHF

Marsh Harbour at sunset.

[Earlier in the day over coffee…]

“Did you hear that?” I asked. “That was Linda from s/v Toucan on the cruiser’s net asking when the lighthouse was open!”

“That British accent was a dead giveaway. It’s a shame they’re in Hope Town and we’re here in Marsh Harbour. It would be nice to cross paths with them,” Scott said in between bits of his breakfast burrito. “We had a lot of fun with them back in Indiantown Marina.”

“Oh well, we’re here and they’re there. I guess it isn’t meant to be.”

[Later over sundowners in the cockpit…]

“That’s Toucan coming into Marsh Harbour.” Scott pointed westwards at a small catamaran heading into the anchorage.

“Uh, yeah, like you can tell that’s Toucan from here. That cat’s way too far away to be able to read the boat name,” I said as I sipped on my gin and tonic.

“Seriously, it’s them. I’ll bet you….hmm, let’s see…I’ll bet you $100 that it’s them.”

“We have a joint banking accounts and you don’t know even know the passwords to access them online. I’m not sure betting money is really all that effective considering I could just transfer all of our joint funds to an offshore account in the Caymans.”

Scott looked a little suspiciously at me. I can’t figure out why.

He grabbed the binoculars. “Here, I’ll prove it to you.” He adjusted the focus, looked at the catamaran and then turned to me in triumph. “I was right. It is Toucan. Go out on deck and wave.”

Which I did. I waved my little arms like a crazy woman. Then I remembered that middle aged arms on women often have a disturbing resemblance to flabby chicken wings. I put my arms down. Fortunately, they had already waved back to us.

I scrambled over to the VHF radio and put it on channel 16. “Toucan, Toucan, Tickety Boo.”

After a few seconds a voice crackled over the radio, “Tickety Boo, Toucan. Switch 1-7.”

“Switching 1-7.”

I switched to channel 17, one of the working channels. “Toucan. Tickety Boo.”

“Was that you waving your arms like a crazy woman?” she said. “We couldn’t see who it was, but we figured they knew us. Or they were just some crazy stalkers with chicken wing arms.”

{She didn’t really say it quite like that. Her mother raised her right. You never mention another woman’s chicken wing arms unless they raise the issue first. Then you commiserate.}

We made arrangements to connect in the next day or two. I put down the VHF, sat back in the cockpit and grabbed my gin and tonic. Scott and I made a toast to reunions with friends from Indiantown Marina and his supernatural ability to identify boats from a far, far away.

****

Our VHF radio, along with our portable VHF. We also have a RAM mic up in the cockpit.

The VHF radio is a key piece of communication kit for cruisers. You use it for distress calls, to hail other boats and to listen to cruisers nets. Cruisers nets are like call-in talk radio programs that cruisers voluntarily organize in certain areas. When we’re in the southern Abacos, we tune our VHF to channel 68 every morning at 8:15 to hear the latest happenings.

One of the quirks of the VHF is that everyone can hear you and you can hear everyone. That means that your conversations aren’t private. Anyone can eavesdrop on them. If you’re a little bored, you can listen in on channel 16 (the normal hailing channel in most areas, although others are in use like 68 in the Abacos). When someone contacts another party, they agree what channel to switch to so as to keep the hailing channel free. Then you just switch over to that channel and listen in on their conversation.

Sometimes it makes sense to eavesdrop. When we were looking to go through the Whale Cay cut, we listened in on two people talking about the weather conditions. We hadn’t been able to get an updated passage report, so this was a great help to us to know that conditions were good for us to go through.

Because the VHF is like an old fashioned party telephone and there are a lot of curious (some might call them nosey) people out there, you need to keep your conversations short and not give out personal details, like “We’ve headed off in the dinghy and we’ve left our boat wide open. Maybe I should have put all of that expensive jewelry and cash away first.”

Cheap solar powered dragonfly garden lights which we strung up in our cockpit. They flash on and off in different patterns to keep you entertained at night.

****

Cruising Log – Sunday, 9 April 2017 – Wednesday, 12 April 2017

9 APRIL

Decanted more drinking water from our jerry cans. Think 15 gallons will last us about four weeks. Looks like we’ll be hanging out at Marsh Harbour for the forseeable future due to weather. Got busy with important boat projects like hanging up dragonfly lights in the cockpit. Grilled pizza for dinner. Surprised didn’t end up in the water with the high winds. Huddled under blankets in the cockpit at night to look at our dragonfly lights and listen to the wind howl. Measured gusts of 34 knots, but probably some higher than that. Nautical Miles = Nil. Engine = Nil. Spending = Nil.

10 APRIL

Heard Linda from S/V Toucan on the cruisers net. Made potato and lentil curry in our Wonderbag. Checked the expiration dates on the meat in our fridge. Picked up some papers from Customs & Immigration. Took a walk through town. Showed a fellow cruiser where Maxwell’s the grocery store was. Spied S/V Toucan heading into Marsh Harbour from Hopetown. Went on deck and waved at them. Nautical Miles = Nil. Engine = Nil. Spending = $11.28 (groceries)

11 APRIL

Repatched the dinghy. Went through our food storage to check on what we have left and what we need. Made shopping list – plan to stock up before we leave Marsh Harbour. If we ever manage to leave Marsh Harbour, that is. Made chocolate chip cookies! Had Dave and Linda from S/V Toucan and Frank (another Moody owner from Indiantown) over for drinks. Offered our guests pretzels to munch. Neglected to mention the cookies. Nautical Miles = Nil. Engine = Nil. Spending = Nil.

12 APRIL

I practiced my competitive napping. Hoping to make the US national team in the next Olympics. Made hummus. Reinstalled air filter. Went to S/V Toucan for dinner. Nautical Miles = Nil. Engine = Nil. Spending = Nil.

Have you ever used a VHF? Would you "eavesdrop" on other people's conversations on the VHF?

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Hero Lost Anthology | Meet The Authors, Pt 1

Editor's Note: In addition to the usual blog posts every Monday, Wednesday and Friday about our eccentric adventures on our sailboat and as my random thoughts and musings about life, I've decided to have the occasional blog post on Saturdays where I focus on things related to writing such as cover reveals, book launches, interviews with authors etc. So if you're into all things related to books, check in on Saturdays - you never know what might pop up.

****

This is the first in a series where I get to introduce you to my co-authors of the IWSG anthology <<Hero Lost: Mysteries of Death and Life>>

I decided to ask them a series of questions about what they're passionate about, lessons learned about writing, the most adventurous thing they've done and, of course the most important question, what their favorite cookie is.

Grab a comfy chair, a cup of cocoa and a handful of your favorite cookies and get to know these wonderfully talented folks.

****

Jen Chandler >> Blog | Instagram <<

1 - Other than writing, what's your biggest passion in life?

I love sewing! I'm an avid hand-stitcher and I design all my own patterns. What that really means is I draw a simple sketch on paper and then trace it onto fabric. Then I cut out patchwork embellishments and see what happens! Both of my grandmothers were and my mother and sister are seamstresses. I grew up in a family of women who made clothes, crafted quilts, and stitched everything from dolls to embroidered samplers. I love the idea of carrying on a simple tradition and enjoying doing something tactile in our overly digital world.

2 - What has been your biggest lesson learned in your writing career to date?

The biggest lesson I've learned is to stop worrying about what others will think of what you're writing and write the story that is begging to be told. I write very, very far outside the box of what many people I know generally read. I've had moments of panic thinking of someone reading something I read and being shocked or offended or questioning my mortal soul. But I've learned that my voice is my own and I must use it; I must tell the story that is given to me. If I try to make something sound OK for Person A and then try to make it sound another way for Person B, I'll end up with a conglomerate of mess that works for no one. The best suggestion I could give any writer is to write true to YOUR voice. Usually, this works best for me if I don't think and I do Stream of Consciousness practice with my story ideas. SoC is something I learned in college. You set a timer - 5, 10, 30 minutes, whatever- and you write. Do it by hand or on computer but you don't stop, don't edit, don't think. You write the very first things that come out of your fingers. You can edit later! That's the truest way I know to write.

3 - What's the most adventurous thing you've done? 

Eight years ago I boarded a plane by myself and flew to India to meet a friend who'd been living there for three months. I spend two weeks in a completely foreign environment. It was the most amazing experience! I was the outsider; I didn't speak the language; I didn't understand the culture. I loved every minute of it!

And I learned how to say "My husband is trouble" in Hindi :)

4 - What's your favorite kind of cookie? If you don't eat cookies, why not?

I love chocolate chip. Call me old fashioned, but that's my absolute favorite! I really like the cookie dough, but the powers that be tell me that's not healthy, so I won't tell you that I eat it by the spoonful. Don't want to upset the Status Quo ;) 

1 - Other than writing, what's your biggest passion in life?

My children.  Recently I reflected on the day I held my first born in my arms after three long days of anticipation and six nurses later. That instant created a paradigm shift in me. You look down and feel this warm little body in your arms. This perfect, innocent and helpless little being who will one day develop into his or her own special person. Everything about you, the new momma or new dad shifts. You don’t think the same. You don’t care about the same things. Anyway, nothing quite matters so much aside from making my two little beings feel safe, happy and a drive to dream big dreams and live them.

2 - What has been your biggest lesson learned in your writing career to date?

Just because I finished a manuscript doesn't mean it's truly finished. I sat down three months after my son was born and committed myself to making my writing work. I wrote a good year on my first long manuscript. I thought it was incredible. I was ready for the world to read it. Eight years later I see why the world wasn’t ready for me just then. 

3 - What's the most adventurous thing you've done?

That's a hard one to pinpoint. Most of the daring things I have done were worth it, like traveling to different countries and walking these new worlds with glittery eyes, or parasailing, and even confronting bosses in difficult heart invested situations.  But the bravest of all braves? The trophy moment? Honestly, it goes back to being a mom. You don't really know what you get into when you bring a life into this world. Suddenly your past is forgotten. The little angel in your arms is yours to protect.  Pretty scary at first. Then there are always the worries that follow. Sigh. I love it.

4 - What's your favorite kind of cookie? If you don't eat cookies, why not?

A really great chocolate chip cookie with multiple kinds of chocolate buried inside. Oh yeah…the gooey center is a must! I also love a gentle crunch around the edges.

Cookie monster you may call me? Double thumbs up.

Olga Godim >> Website and Blog | GoodReads | Wattpad | Twitter  <<

1 - Other than writing, what's your biggest passion in life?

I’d say reading. Undoubtedly many writers will answer the same way. For me, I’m not even sure what came first: reading others’ stories or making up my own. I’ve been an avid reader since elementary school but I made up my own stories for as long as I remember. When I was about seven, I decided to write a science fiction novel. I drew the front cover with a space ship on it. I also made the back cover with the price. My mother was very impressed, although I never finished that novel. I don’t think I even started writing it. Nowadays, I don’t read much science fiction. My favorite genres are fantasy and romance.

2 - What has been your biggest lesson learned in your writing career to date?

I don’t like it when my characters suffer. I care too much for them. Learning to make them struggle, inventing calamities and obstacles for them was one of the biggest lessons I had to absorb.

3 - What's the most adventurous thing you've done?

That’s easy – immigration. In 1994, my family and I left Russia for Canada. The adjustment to the new country, new language, new culture, entirely new way of life was quite an adventure. Like any adventure, it was scary and difficult. Like any adventure, it took a while, but in the end, it left behind good memories and fascinating stories. Never, even for a moment, despite all the hardships we faced, did I regret the decision to immigrate, probably the most important decision of my life. 

4 - What's your favorite kind of cookie? If you don't eat cookies, why not?

I’m not a big fan of cookies; I prefer cakes and pastry. Chocolate. Cream. Rich and moist. Sweet and nutty. Flaky and light. Delicious! Are you drooling yet? I am. Seriously, of all the types of cookies, the only one I actually like is rugelach – traditional Jewish sweet rolls. Last year, I wrote a flash fiction story about rugelach and posted it on my website. Here it is: https://olgagodim.wordpress.com/flash-fiction/hannahs-rugelach/ For those who don’t know, there is a picture of rugelach there.

****

If you're interested in picking up a copy of <<Hero Lost: Mysteries of Death and Life>>, you can find it at these online retailers:

Amazon (US)
Amazon (Canada)
Amazon (UK)
Barnes & Noble (print book)
Barnes & Noble (ebook)
iTunes
Kobo

Fantasy (FIC009000) Freedom Fox Press
Print ISBN 9781939844361 eBook ISBN 9781939844378

You can also find out more about the book and my co-authors over at our website and blog.

Now over to you - what are you most passionate about?

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The Curtain Twitchers In Marsh Harbour, Or Fun & Games WIth Anchoring

Marsh Harbour on a calm day.

I reckon you’ve known a curtain twitcher or two in your lifetime. You know, that nosy old lady down the street who peers out from behind her heavy, brocade curtains to see what the neighbors are getting up to. Or your co-worker who peeks over the cubicle wall to see whether you’re watching cat videos on our computer instead of working on an accounting spreadsheet.

If we’re honest with ourselves, we’ve all probably got some curtain twitching tendencies. After all, who doesn’t want to know what everyone else is getting up to, especially if they’re trying to drop the hook in a crowded anchorage. Suddenly everyone comes out from down below because they just remembered that they have something really important to do on deck, like dusting off the water jerry cans or looking for tiny lizards hidden away in the anchor locker.

What they’re really doing is surreptitiously watching you to see if you can manage to anchor without making a fool out of yourself, scream at your partner or, worse yet, end up hitting their boat in the process.

Well, we sure put a show on for all of the curtain twitchers in Marsh Harbour the other day. I blame the weather. I should probably also blame my helming skills and my complete lack of upper body strength, but what’s the fun in that. I’d much rather pick on Mother Nature since she can’t fight back.

Oh, wait, maybe she can. That might explain the wretched weather we’ve been having. Retribution on her part of trying to pin the whole fiasco on her.

So here’s how it all went down:

1 – We sauntered into Marsh Harbour. {Can you saunter on a sailboat? I don’t know, but it sounds cools, so let’s stick with it.}

2 – The anchorage was crowded. We weren’t the first people to think about hiding out from the weather there.

3 – We picked out a spot to anchor. {It’s like picking a spot in a parking lot. Okay, not really. Cars generally stay put once you put them in park. Boats move around on their anchors. Moving objects can collide.}

4 – I pointed us into the wind us and tried to hold her steady. {This is where my hypothetical poor helming skills come in. It wasn’t easy.}

5 – The wind was gusting up to 30 knots. {See, I told you Mother Nature was to blame.}

6 – The wind kept pushing us back and we couldn’t get a bite on our anchor in that particular spot.

7 – Cue the dreaded dragging. {This isn’t like drag queens or anything. This is more like when you park your car but leave it in reverse and it starts to roll backwards causing pedestrians to scatter out of your way.}

8 – I still had problems trying to helm the boat in the wind.

9 – Someone came up with a really clever idea. It might have been me. Let’s send Ellen forward to pull up the anchor.

10 – Did I mention that we don’t have a windlass? It’s broken. That means I had to lift our 44 lb Rocna anchor plus all of the chain from the bottom. In very windy conditions. With a decided lack of upper body strength.

11 – I couldn’t do it.

12 – How depressing.

13 – By this point the curtain twitchers gave up all pretense of pretending to be busy on deck. They were all sitting down, eating popcorn and drinking beer while pointing and laughing at me.

14 – Scott had to come up to the bow while I went back to helm the boat. Good times.

15 – He has superior biceps. I’m in awe of his upper body strength.

16 – We found a new spot to anchor and some new curtain twitchers to watch the second act of our comedy show.

17 – Success! Anchor down! Anchor dug in! No dragging! Drinks all around!


Cruising Log – Thursday, 6 April 2017 – Saturday, 8 April 2017

6 APRIL
Engine on at 8:45 AM at Cave Cay, underway at 9:00 AM and headed towards the Whale Cay passage at slack tide. Had 30 knot gusts, but going through the cut was fine. Put headsail up at 11:00 AM. Continued to be very gusty with a lot of current at Marsh Habour which made anchoring interesting. Anchor finally down at 2:15 PM. Tickety Boo handled the conditions well. Nautical Miles = 25. Engine = 3 hrs 15 mins. Spending = Nil.

7 APRIL
Went into town to get rid of trash (how did we accumulate so much?), find the BTC office, do some grocery shopping at Maxwell’s and Price Right, search for butane cartridges (found some but at $8 a cartridge, no thanks) and scope out where to refill our propane tank. Along the way we stumbled across a bakery and scored some coconut bread for only $4. Got back to the boat, ignored each other while we reveled in having internet access again. Nautical Miles = Nil. Engine = Nil. Spending = $78.12 ($54 BTC SIM card/data plan and $14.12 groceries)

8 APRIL
Made coconut French toast for breakfast. Anchor up at 9:30 AM in Marsh Harbour to head out for a day sail and snorkeling. Practiced my helming and anchoring skills. Snorkled off of Matt Lowe’s Cay. Saw a HUGE ray and lots of fish. Found a children’s life vest floating in the water. Anchor back down at Marsh Harbour around 3:30 PM. Topped up the diesel tank from our jerry cans. Nautical Miles = 14. Engine = 3 hrs 30 mins. Spending = Nil

Do you know any curtain twitchers? Do you have any curtain twitching tendencies yourselves? Any anchoring horror stories to share?

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Hero Lost: Mysteries of Death & Life | IWSG Anthology Release

The Insecure Writer's Support Group (IWSG) is a place to share and encourage, where writers can express their doubts and concerns without appearing foolish or weak. It's a great place to mingle with like minded people each month during IWSG day.

Every month there's a question which may prompt folks to share advice, insights, a personal experience or story. Some folks answer the question in their IWSG blog post or let it inspire them if they're struggling with what to say. Check out how people have answered this month's question, as well as the other insecurities and writing topics they may have shared by visiting the IWSG sign-up list here.
 
I don't know what this month's question is because I'm out sailing in the Bahamas just now and have limited internet access. 

Actually since I wrote this post in advance, I can't be sure that I'm sailing just now. I could be marooned on a deserted island. If that's the case, hopefully I have my Kindle with me to keep me occupied and enough water and chocolate chip cookies to last me until I'm rescued.

The reason I scheduled this post in advance was to let you know that today is the big day I go from being an insecure writer to being an insecure author. Eek!

That's right - my fantasy short story, The Silvering, is being published in the IWSG anthology >>Hero Lost: Mysteries of Death and Life<< today, along with stories from eleven other wonderfully talented folks. 

So here's the scoop on my short story. It's about an ordinary fisherman, Caestu, who disobeyed the principles which guide his people's way of life. Fortunately, the mark of disobedience is hidden beneath his glove. Unfortunately, others know what he has done. Now he must decide whether to stay with his people or leave to search out others like him. 

Could the gift of silvering become a prison for those who possess it? What if Death himself wanted to die? Can deliverance be found on a bloody battlefield? Will an ancient warrior be forever the caretaker of a house of mystery?

If you want to know the answers to these questions, then check out the anthology.
 

Delving into the depths of the tortured hero, twelve authors explore the realms of fantasy in this enthralling and thought-provoking collection. Featuring the talents of Jen Chandler, L. Nahay, Renee Cheung, Roland Yeomans, Elizabeth Seckman, Olga Godim, Yvonne Ventresca, Ellen Jacobson {that's me!}, Sean McLachlan, Erika Beebe, Tyrean Martinson, and Sarah Foster.

Hand-picked by a panel of agents and authors, these twelve tales will take you into the heart of heroes who have fallen from grace. Join the journey and discover a hero’s redemption!
 
You can pick up a copy of  >>Hero Lost: Mysteries of Death & Life<<  at any of the following online retailers:

Amazon (US)
Amazon (Canada)
Amazon (UK)
Barnes & Noble (print book)
Barnes & Noble (ebook)
iTunes
Kobo

Fantasy (FIC009000) Freedom Fox Press
Print ISBN 9781939844361 eBook ISBN 9781939844378

You can find out more about the anthology and authors at our website and blog. I'll also introduce you to my co-authors over the next several weeks, giving them a chance to answer important questions like what their favorite kind of cookie is. Mine's chocolate chip, by the way, but you probably already knew that.

Thanks to everyone for their support. I couldn't have transformed from an insecure writer into an insecure author without your kind words and comments here on the blog, on Facebook and via email encouraging me to keep on writing.

What's your definition of a hero? Who's your favorite hero and why? 

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Cooking Aboard Tickety Boo In The Bahamas

I served this to Scott the other day for lunch. He was perplexed.

Yes, that's a jar of Jif peanut butter. Don't judge.

“It’s noon. This is toast. Toast is for breakfast, not lunch.” His brow furrowed as he stared at the toasted homemade whole wheat bread – one slice with butter and mango jam and one with peanut butter – served with a side of sliced apples.

I stuck the two pieces of bread together. “Voila. It’s now a PB&J. Enjoy.”

It got me thinking about what we’ve been cooking and eating aboard our sailboat, Tickety Boo, since we left Florida and headed to the Bahamas.

Okay, that’s a lie. I constantly think about what we cook and eat. I think about it so much that I even document it in our logbook.

Our logbook has important details like weather conditions, anchorages, nautical miles, engine hours and what we ate.

Maybe you constantly think about food too. Maybe you’re one of those people who likes to read about what other people eat too. If so, you’re in for a treat. Not a literal treat. I tend to hoard any sugary treats we have on board. Sorry. I’m selfish that way. No, the treat is that I’m going to tell you about a week in the life of cooking aboard Tickety Boo.

Cooking aboard our sailboat in the Bahamas is pretty similar to cooking on land. Kind of.

We have a fridge, but we don’t have a freezer. We have a propane oven, but our stove top broke so we’ve been using a butane camping stove as a temporary fix. We have a pantry full of food, but it’s stored underneath our furniture. We shop in grocery stores, except sometimes they’re tiny, have limited goods and the prices are insanely high.

Grocery haul from Maxwell's in Marsh Harbour. I was surprised at how relatively inexpensive the vanilla extract was - around $4 a bottle.

And did I mention that sometimes it’s hard to keep your balance and keep stuff on the counters when the boat is being rocked from side to side?

Here’s what was on the menu while we were anchored in Marsh Harbour.

Breakfast

The first thing you’ll notice is that we eat the same thing every day for breakfast. Scrambled eggs with jalapenos wrapped up in a tortilla with a little salsa and cheese.

When our stove top broke while we were in Florida, I wasn’t able to make breakfast burritos. I had to get creative and make things in the oven, like baked oatmeal. Now that we’ve got our camping stove, we’re back in business with the burritos. At least until the tortillas run out.

We stocked up on a lot of tortillas when we were in the States. They last forever. It pays not to ask why they last forever, because the answer would probably scare you.

Some of you might be saying, “When the tortillas run out, just make some more yourself. It’s easy.”

I’ve made tortillas before when we were living on our boat in New Zealand and it is easy, but we have a limited supply of butane cartridges and have to try to keep the things we make on the stove top to a minimum. So, it will be back to baked oatmeal and the like when the prepackaged tortillas run out.

Lunch

Lunch is often leftovers from the night before. Other times I get creative and whip up a gourmet meal involving toast or crackers, often served with fruit. With the exception of one loaf of coconut bread and a package of hamburger buns we bought in Marsh Harbour and the prepackaged tortillas we brought with us, we make all of our own bread aboard.

I’ve actually had to stock up on more flour in Marsh Harbour as I seriously underestimated the amount of bread making that would take place on Tickety Boo.

Dinner

I tend to put a little more effort into dinner. What I cook all comes down to what kind of mood I’m in, what the conditions will be like (will it be roly-poly and I’ll have to watch to make sure things don't fly out of the oven?), what we have in our food stores and what fresh food is available.

On Monday, I made a vegetarian curry which was a testament to cans and jars. We had run out of fresh potatoes, so I used canned ones. I chucked in a can of diced tomatoes and a can of coconut milk. And to keep things simple, I used a jar of Patak’s curry paste rather than grinding exotic spices to make my own. A cup of red lentils rounded things out. The only fresh items I used were an onion (they last forever), a couple of garlic cloves and a dodgy piece of ginger root that looked like it had seen better days.

The ingredients for potato and lentil curry. Lots of cans and jars involved.

To save on butane, I brought it all to a boil on the stove top and then put it in our Wonderbag to cook slowly in the aft cabin during the day. The Wonderbag is a great item to have on a boat. It’s basically a huge, padded bag that retains heat. Your soups or stews slow cook without needing any electricity.
It was an extremely windy day with lots of wake from passing fizz boats when I made the curry and I was worried that, with the boat rocking back and forth, everything would slosh out of the pan and into the Wonderbag, but thankfully it didn’t.

Sure, it's the size of a small pumpkin, but it sure is handy.

On Tuesday, Scott grilled chicken, which we had bought at Maxwell’s, a large, well-stocked grocery store in Marsh Harbour. We split one chicken breast which I served with more canned goods – baked beans and corn – and saved the other one.

On Wednesday, we had a real treat – someone else cooked dinner! Our friends on S/V Toucan made us a lovely sweet and sour chicken dish. There was even Cadbury chocolates and ginger nut biscuits afterwards. The Brits know how to do things right. We brought some crackers and homemade hummus to share for nibbles before dinner.

I made the hummus using one of the lemons we brought with us. If you wrap them in foil, they last quite a long time without refrigeration. It’s something I used to do on our boat in New Zealand and seems to work equally as well in the Bahamas.

Thursday was focused on using up that other grilled chicken breast. I had some green enchilada sauce that I think I got off of the free table at Indiantown Marina so I decided to go for a Mexican themed meal. Along with the enchiladas, I made some Mexican rice from one of those handy packages that you just have to add to boiling water. (Yes, I confess, I like convenience foods from time to time.) I started the rice off on the butane stove and then bundled it up in the Wonderbag to continue cooking. A can of refried black beans heated up in the oven made things complete. The only downside was that we didn’t have any sour cream and the stuff they sold at Maxwell’s was too expensive for our liking.

Onions last forever and get added to pretty much everything we cook.

Friday saw a return of the enchiladas, rice and beans. Heated up in the oven of course as we aren’t able to use our microwave while at anchor.

We stocked up on a ton of meat before we left the States, focusing on things that had a long shelf life without needing to be frozen. We crammed things like deli meat, pork loin, ham steaks and brats into our fridge. On Saturday, Scott grilled one of our pork loins. I served it with rice made in the oven with cream of mushroom soup. I had no idea you could make rice in an oven until our stovetop died. There hadn’t been enough vegetable in our life lately, so we had some cabbage salad on the side.

We brought a couple of cabbages with us, which I stored in our v-berth loosely wrapped in some newspaper. Our last one was looking a little “undesirable” on the outside, but after I peeled off the icky outer leaves, there was still plenty of crunchy goodness inside.

Sunday featured one of our go-to dishes – pasta with homemade sauce made from canned tomatoes, sun dried tomatoes, olives, onions, bell peppers (fresh if we have them, otherwise dehydrated), lots of garlic and a splash of wine (drink the rest with dinner). We found these great chorizo sausages at Aldi’s in Florida which don’t require refrigeration. A couple of them added to the sauce is delicious.

I stocked up on a ton of pasta before we left, but we haven’t been cooking it as much as normal given our stove top situation. Even though we tend to cook our pasta by bringing it up to the boil for a few minutes, covering the pan and then turning off the heat, it still eats up a bit of butane especially when you add in the simmering of the sauce.

Snacks

Life would not be complete without snacks. Preferably sugary snacks. I made some chocolate chip cookies to keep us going. Except they weren’t really cookies as much as they were bars. But not even bars like you’d make in a 9x13 pan, but bars made in teeny tiny Pyrex dishes.

Everything gets stirred by hand on Tickety Boo. No electric mixers here.

Our oven sucks. It has two temperature – off and on. Which I guess makes it easy when reading recipes. You can just ignore the bit about what temperature to cook things at. Just turn the oven on, chuck it in and hope for the best.

The heat the oven does provide is uneven at best, despite the fact that I’ve put a baking stone at the bottom of the oven. When I’ve tried to make cookies, they’ve not been all that successful. I end up with burned outsides and raw middles. So now I use my tiny Pyrex dishes so that can turn them around and around in the oven and get each side cooked with less distance from the edge of the pan to the middle.

Chocolate chip cookie bars fresh from the oven. I wonder how long they'll last?

But I really shouldn’t be complaining. After all, we’re eating cookie-like things with chocolate chips in them at anchor. Yum!

As you can see the crew of Tickety Boo eats well. Not well in the sense that we’re getting enough fruit and veg in our life, but well in the sense that we get plenty to eat and our bellies are full. And a well fed crew is a happy crew.

What was on your menu over the last week?

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