Weather: n/a
The month of June was spent prepping for our trip north into British Columbia's Desolation Sound and its fabled warm waters.
A new cockpit cover was built and installed for us by Tradewinds Canvas in Anacortes. They used the original design as a base but modified it to our specifications. More and larger windows being primary but also including a modified bimini along with larger, removable entry panels (the T-tops!).
We also decided this 5-7 week trip required a freezer, meat being expensive in marina areas but also ice cream was an essential! An 43 quart Engel refrigerator/freezer was purchased. With a few modifications, it fit into the forward space between the port settee and the table. I did cut the forward half of the table off to make access to the opening top easier.
We also prepped the meat to go into it! Dinners for two of pork chops, chicken, steaks and some sausages and burgers were frozen then vacuum sealed. Garlic, salt, pepper and herbs such as rosemary, sage and lemon verbena were added to the chops and chicken before sealing. This worked out really well. In the late morning/early afternoon, we would pull a package and let it thaw and marinate in its own juices, herbs and spices. Very convenient and tasty meals!
We knew there were markets available in most of the places we intended to go, including supermarkets in Sydney and Nanaimo, so we did not need to bring everything for the trip - just things we might miss or things really expensive. So breakfast cereal, coffee, the meat mentioned above, snacks, pasta, rice and beer/soda. Canned beer/soda is really convenient aboard. The cans are light, don't break and once empty, are crushed into small size. While canned soda is easy to find, I have a hard time finding canned beer I can drink. Sorry Bud/Miller/Coors etc, I live in the PNW were not only are we coffee snobs, but beer snobs. This is the land of micro-brews. New Belgium is my favorite and in spite of my prompting, they do not can their beers. However, Blue Moon, another Belgian style beer does do cans! While some will argue Blue Moon is no longer a craft beer because it is owned primarily by a big company or because production is above the craft beer limit, it is still a Belgian style and I like it. We stocked up on Blue Moon, Diet Mountain Dew and a smattering of Coke.
Continuing the anti-glass bottle theme from above, an alternate for wine in bottles was sought. Known as boxed wine in the US, casked wine in Australia (thanks Richard and Jude), they are collapsible and the bladder prevents air from coming in, spoiling the wine. Further, the bladders anc be removed from the box, placed in net bag and suspended in the cool water to chill! Quite a few wines were sampled. We found most white wines were OK: pinot gris and sauvignon blanc and no particular brand as a favorite. Reds on the other hand...yuk for the most part. Found one, Black Box Cabernet Sauvignon as palatable, but only just.
No proper sailboat is complete without a bottle of rum. Since the Captain Morgan's had been consumed in eggnog over Christmas, replenishment was required. Pusser's came highly recommended, I mean, what sailor could resist this from the Pusser's website:
"Rum and the sea are inseparable, and no rum
is more akin to the sea and the sailor than Pusser's Rum–the Original
Navy Rum. For more than 300 years, from the earliest days of wooden
ships and iron men, sailors of Great Britain's Royal Navy were issued a
daily ration–or "tot"–of rum by the ship's "Purser" (corrupted by the
sailors to Pusser's)."
Well, I couldn't and guess what? It's good! All I need now is a little ice. Wait, there is a freezer!
Everything on the boat must have at least 2 purposes. For instance, we found a collapsible salad spinner. The inside, drain part doubles as a fruit basket, triples as a colander and quadruples as a dish drain. The outside bowl doubles as a, well, bowl.
So what for ice? We found Rubber Maid makes a 2oz container with lid. Like the bases, the lids stack together for compact storage. Further, the base of the container locks with the top of the tops. A container like this is really useful holding butter, salad dressing etc. But also for making ice. A freezer is most stable when it is full. So, once something is pulled out, the space is filled with one of these containers filled with water. Ice! The 2oz cube is abnormally large, but it fits well in a Tervis glass, lasts a long time and can be busted up pretty easily.
Lesson Learned: Ice
Lesson Learned: Pre-made meat dishes
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