Peppermint Sticks Redux

The time has come to say “’til we meet again.” We enjoyed our second stay at Coconut Grove. The people at the sailing club are terrific. We will think of Dwayne and Pat and Lee and Terry and Lauren often and look forward to seeing them again next year. If you like restaurants, the Grove is the place to be. French, Japanese, Italian, Mediterranean, Mexican, Fusion and more, they’re all here. We ate at George’s the other day. Claudia had Avocado Tartare. We wondered how else you could have avocado. We decided that it was the presentation that qualified it for the moniker. Peter ordered a pan-seared tuna dish. Good fortune decreed that the kitchen had run out of tuna and he had to settle for the best Steak Tartare ever—served with French fries cooked in garlic flavored oil. Superb!
Most of the boats in the mooring field belong to members of the sailing club. We were a bit jealous of them. Most sailing and yacht clubs have reciprocity agreements with each other through national memberships. We were dismayed to learn that our club, Port Oliver Yacht Club, did not have reciprocal agreements with Coconut Grove Sailing Club. Oh well, their loss. They won’t be able to tie up at Port Oliver and join in the festivities on the second Friday of the month. One of the highlights of our recent visit was the moonrise on March 19, when the moon was at its closest point to the Earth in 18 years. It was beautiful!

So now, it’s back to the peppermint stick smokestacks of Fort Lauderdale. We will have to haul out again. Peter decided to inspect the steering gear (taking a hint from our experience on Second Wind). The steering gear was in fine shape, cables taut, attachments free of wear and so on. However, the nuts and bolts that hold the rudder bearing in place are severely corroded, crying out, “Replace, NOW.” In addition, we have had a persistent problem with the seacock that drains the holding tank. Might as well deal with that as well as long as we are going to be out of the water.

 

Long Island virtually begs you to stay forever. It’s not that there is a lot going on; quite the contrary. But the people are friendly and their lifestyle interesting. We drove to the south end of the island where the road literally ends on a beautiful beach that spills into the incredible blue waters of the Bahamas. Not a person insight!
Serendipity was with us when we picked up a hitch-hiker, Ernest Watson.  Ernest owns a little roadside bar and restaurant where we had an ice cold beer while he entertained us with stories about his life. He told us how to hunt wild boar and land crabs. He told us about spearing lobster and fish. He showed us his garden and the kid goat he nursed back to health. Then he told us how to cook it all. We learned that he was going for land crabs that night and that they were a staple item on the menu.   We arranged to return the next day for lunch. The menu—crab and rice, lobster salad and whatever else he thought appropriate (he chose broiled lobster tails!) Real down home Bahamian food!
Another drive took us north. The difference was striking. Where in the South there were many abandoned houses, some in great disrepair, the North had many fine homes with well-kept yards. We stopped for lunch at Max’s (world famous) Conch Bar in Deadman’s Cay. Coming to the Bahamas and not having a conch salad would be like going to Rome and not visiting the Coliseum. When we arrived, the tiki hut bar was crowded with an international set. We sat next to a French couple who enthusiastically recommended the grilled conch.  We watched Max as he expertly chopped and diced the ingredients for conch salad (recipe below) with a razor sharp 12 inch blade, putting Benihana to shame.
The Queen’s highway that runs the entire length of the island is bordered on each side with stone walls in various states of repair. The walls are remnants of the plantations that were established by Loyalists who fled the American colonies during the Revolution.  There are many architecturally unique churches scattered about the island some reminiscent of Mission style and small chapels in Greece. Clarence Town is known for two of the several churches built by Father Jerome in the Bahamas. 
It is somewhat ironic that in spite of our change of plans, fortune brought us to Long Island, our destination when we first set out in December. Now, having spent a few days there we know we want to return next winter.

Conch Salad
Chop and dice roughly equal quantities of tomato, green pepper and onion. Some people squeeze the juice from the diced tomatoes before adding them to the mix (Friendly Joe on Bimini who prepares the best salad we’ve tasted, does this). Some people also chop and dice a bit of apple for the salad. Then, chop and finely dice some raw conch (the quantity roughly equal to the rest of the ingredients so you have about half conch and half vegetables). Squeeze a good quantity of lime juice into the salad. (Personally, we also like to add some lime zest, but that’s not authentic) Some people also add some orange juice to the mixture. A bit of goat pepper (habañero) or other kind of pepper for heat. Salt to taste. Enjoy. We also use this recipe for diced fresh raw tuna and snapper.

Long Island at last!

Seven or eight hundred miles of water have passed under the keel since Ponce, Puerto Rico. We anchored at Boqueron to stage for crossing the dreaded Mona Passage. Fortunately it did not live up to its reputation and we again experienced an uneventful crossing. However, on our third night out, still off the north coast of Hispaniola, things deteriorated rather rapidly. Peter was on watch while everyone else slept. He was stretched out on the helmsman’s seat reading by flashlight while Otto steered the boat under full sail. Suddenly Otto jumped out of gear and the boat careened off course. The boat crashed through the waves and became a slave to the wind. Peter’s cursing awakened Al. It was apparent that we needed to shorten  

sail. Thankfully the reefing lines for the mainsail are led back to the cockpit and it was a relatively simple matter to take a reef there. The line for furling the jib is also led back to the cockpit, but it was jammed! This required a trip to the bow with the waves tossing and turning the boat. Al finally worked up the nerve to crawl forward to fix the problem and we could finally reef the jib and the ride became more comfortable and the boat was easier to handle. Claudia slept through the entire episode.
 The rocking and rolling in the anchorage at Matthewtown, Great Iguana, Bahamas were a welcome respite from the 25-30 knot winds of the night before and after 3 nights underway a dip in the clear turquoise water was refreshing. After a good night’s sleep we were again underway. Hand steering this time since Otto was apparently on strike for better working conditions. The next morning brought us back to Clarencetown, Long Island, Bahamas where we first stepped on board Second Wind five years ago. Ironically, Long Island was our original destination when we set out from Brunswick back in December!