Salmon on the grill

Wow, I have found a great way to cook the salmon I have on our grill. I purchased, I think at the grocery store Harris Teeter in Mooresville, NC, some cedar planks (Fire & Flavor). There are four to a package and if I were at home I can see how these could be reused. We don't have that much fresh water to be scrubbing and I don't know if I could stand the smokey smell in the cabin of the sailboat. I might forget and think the engine is running hot! 

At any rate the directions say to soak them for an hour prior to putting them on a grill that is 375°-400°. Bud Lovett gave us an infrared red thermometer so we used that to tell what the temp was on the grill. Then you heat the planks for 3 minutes and add the fish skin side down to the hot plank. Oh the smell is wonderful and it imparts such a great flavor to the fish. The back of the package had a recipe for salmon so I tried it. Perfect!

For each piece of fish smear on some mustard about 1/2 tsp each. Your choice I had brown grain but the recipe called for dijon. On top of this sprinkle brown sugar about 1/2 Tbsp each. Then sprinkle on some dried rosemary. Not a lot just a few leaves. Crack some pepper and dash of salt. You are done no mixing and just the measuring spoons to clean up! After the planks preheat on the grill I suggest turning the grill to low and cooking for 8 minutes with the lid on. Dress the fish with a squeeze of fresh lemon. If you don't have lemon its OK use lime or none at all. You are done. I did not turn down the grill and the planks caught fire and the fish was slightly crispy on the edges. Not bad but could have been better. I did have to throw the burning planks overboard. I did not soak them long enough if I had followed the directions I might have been able to reuse them. The directions also said I should have put both fillets on one plank. Learning all the time! 

So if you see cedar planks in your grocery store or online pick some up. They are great and a natural way to add flavor to grilled veggies fish chicken...whatever you might try! If you have used these things before let me know how you used them. I like it!

Passage Back To The States

Our plan… From Great Sale Cay travel across the Little Bahamas Bank.  At its northwestern edge the banks end abruptly along an underwater cliff where the depths plunge from 15 feet to over 1000 feet.  At this point we will enter the North Atlantic Ocean.  Continuing northwest we will cross through the eastern wall of the Gulf Stream.  Due to converging currents and rapid changes in depths we anticipate our time spent between the banks and the Gulf Stream will be the most turbulent waters encountered on this passage.  Seasonally the Gulf Stream meanders and spins massive eddies of confused currents off its eastern side.  How will we know when we enter the Gulf Stream?  Its warm waters flow northward at 2+ knots along the east coast of Florida.  By monitoring the water temperature and our speed over ground we should note an increase in temperature and speed once in the Stream.   Personal energy levels, sea state, and weather conditions will then dictate where we plot our landfall.  We estimate Cape Canaveral to be a 24 to 36 hour passage and Charleston to be a 60 to 72 hour passage.

07:15 June 24^th: We depart Great Sale Cay with the rising sun.  As forecasted the 14 to 16 knot southeast breeze place us on a broad reach. 

Midday June 24^th:  Dodging sand bores off Grand Cay force us into a series of gibes and made Anne frustrated with steering.  Sea state growing choppy as winds increase to near 18 knots.  

Approximately 16:00 June 24^th: Banks now astern.  The seas grew confused as the 3 foot chop from local winds on the banks met the 5 to 6 foot easterly swell in the ocean.  Displeased with motion and our present forward speed,  we set a course for St. Mary’s River– 223NM at 336⁰ ETE 39H47m.

Approximately 02:00 June 25^th :  On a bouncy broad reach still shy of reaching the Gulf Stream.  Our current stats to St. Mary’s River– 183NM at 335⁰ ETE 36H11m.   Reality Check: Between 17:00 on the 24^th and 02:00 on the 25^th Our progress slowed as the winds diminished and clocked around to a more south southeasterly direction the sea state grew confused.  In 7 hours of sailing our ETE diminished  3.5 hours – frustrating.

Sometime just after our 02:00 log entry we encounter our third large commercial vessel.  The earlier two passed easily off our stern.  The vessel now closing appears to be holding a constant bearing off our bow.  With no way to know the name of the vessel for hailing purposes and unsure if they are aware of our presence we fall 90⁰ off our rhum line and sail northeast to ensure we do not cross off the bow of the  closing ship.  On a parallel, reciprocal course we pass within 1/2NM.  Wondering if they were ever aware of our tiny boat and pleased to put the encounter astern we return to our original heading.

 

04:00 June 25^th:  Found the Gulf Stream and making 7.5 knots.  The sea state is a mellow 3 foot easterly ocean swell and winds were favorable for altering course for Charleston, SC.  New stats for landfall at Charleston – 246NM at 004⁰ ETE 33H34m.

10:30 June 25^th:   Becalmed.  Growing weary from alternating 2 hour watches that really only provide for hour long cat naps.  We give up on a Charleston landfall and opt for a worst case scenario of 19 hours of motoring to St. Mary’s River.  10:37 we started the engine and altered course.  Our stats  – 133NM at 325⁰ ETE for St. Mary’s River 19H26m.

Midday June 25^th:  Our spirits buoy as the day continues.  Thanks to the Gulf Stream our speed over ground is averaging around 8.5 knots .  We are now north of Cape Canaveral.  Otto, the electric autopilot, is managing the helm.   We each win one game of backgammon over lunch.  Occasionally spotting large sea turtles sunning on the surface. 

23:49 June 25^th:  Finally picking up some breeze from the NE we roll out the genoa.  Beginning to lose Gulf Stream Current as we approach Florida Coast.  Depth now 425’ and speed reduced to 6 knots over ground.  Stats – 34.3NM to St Mary’s River at 325⁰ ETE 5H38M

Sunrise June 26^th: Now weaving through commercial shrimp trawlers working area around St. Mary’s River Inlet.  Have visual on channel markers and paper mills in Fernandina Beach.  Motorsailed with Otto at the helm through the night. Winds continue to build and are now SW at 14 knots.  Thunderstorms are visible in the distance to the east. 

07:10 June 26^th:  Tied up to dock at Fernandina Harbor Marina.  Plan to call in and clear customs when they open later this morning.  Stats for passage – 303NM in 47H55m. Average speed 6.3 knots with a max speed of 9.9 knots.  Ran engine for 21H25m.

Approx 9:10 June 26^th:  Using Local Boater Option (LBO) we cleared customs & immigration via a simple phone call.  Thanks LBO it is now time to rest.

Great Sale Cay

Approximately 30NM west of Allens-Pensacola across the Little Bahamas Banks lies the uninhabited Great Sale Cay.   Great Sales protected “West Harbor” and position relative to West End, the Lower Abacos, and the Gulf Stream make it a popular spot for traveling vessels seeking an evening’s rest.

The day’s 12 to 18 knot east southeast winds kept us on a lumpy broad reach until we turned into the lee of Little Sale Cay.  The conditions provided a great opportunity to become more familiar with our whisker pole system.

View from the cockpit of C'est la Vie's Whisker Pole

 The Forespar Pole was a gift from Anne’s father.  Paul from Omar Sails installed the mast mounted track and deployment system last summer. Today is the first time we were able to utilize the system over a long period of time.  It certainly made life on the tiller easier as the sail retained its shape on a deep broad run despite 2 foot chop and our wandering about on the helm.

The mast view of C'est la Vie's deployed whisker pole

We still need to work out the finer points of deployment and trim, but hopefully the future will hold plenty of time for practice.

We arrived at Sale Cay’s “Western Harbor” around 16:00.  Knowing that early tomorrow we would lift our anchor from Bahamian waters for the final time on this trip we took some time to play in the 90 degree, pale blue waters.