Chowder

Not New England style, which I don't really like (too creamy, I don't like things with heavy cream sauces or cream bases, in fact I don't really like dairy except for ice cream, milk in my coffee, and yogurt if it isn't too sweet), but Manhattan Style, with more of a tomato based broth. Oh it was fabulous, and we have a lot left over. The recipe says it gets better after a couple of days. It was spicy, because he used poblano peppers instead of celery and carrots (we didn't have any of those). He also threw a few serranos in there just for good measure. Then canned stewed tomatoes, and a small can of tomato sauce because we only had one small can of tomatoes, and we needed more. We used the clams we gathered, as well as all the clam liquor after we steamed them open. Oh, and potatoes and onions. And bay leaves and thyme and basil. It was so good and I am looking forward to eating some more today. Oh I forgot - we also added a piece of the dorado I caught the other day, so I guess it was actually a seafood chowder. And white wine, three quarters of a bottle.

Tomorrow we are leaving this anchorage to go to Bahia de Los Angeles, about seven miles or so from here. We will stay there for a week before we head off to San Carlos to meet up with our friends.

Last night I dreamt we sailed the boat up to Carmel-by-the Sea, and when I looked out to shore from the boat I couldn't see the town, only a few mansions along the sea cliffs. Mike told me that because of a trick of geography, I had to look directly up to see the town. SO I did, and directly above my head, where the sky should have been, was the town, rows and rows of houses. It was very strange.

Last night I woke up and felt the boat rocking a little bit. I couldn't figure our why, because there were no waves or any wind to speak of. So I looked out the companionway hatch, and discovered another boat had joined us in the night - a great big power yacht, so I realized its wake had caused the rocking. Not a lot of rocking - just a little bit, but you really notice the slightest change out here right away. It's like when you have a new baby - all the baby has to do is sigh a bit from its crib in the other room, and you wake up immediately.

Today we plan to go fishing again. We think we have the good spot nailed - the mouth of this anchorage, where we caught both the sierra and the dorado. I'd really like to catch a yellowtail, but no luck with that so far. I am going nuts trying to think of some new ways to cook fish, but this time I will poach it again, using some of the soup broth. There are some things I could do, but I'd have to use the oven and we don't do that because it would heat up the cabin too much. Everything gets cooked on top of the stove. I even have a recipe for bread that utilizes the pressure cooker, without using the pressure part. We still have another big bag of clams hanging off the side of the boat, and I want them steamed with a little bit of garlic butter to dip them in. These clams are some of the best clams I have ever eaten.

Yesterday I spent most of the afternoon playing with my watercolors - I am out of practice and it shows, all three of those little paintings were pretty bad. Today I plan to play with charcoal and learn to draw sailboats by looking at the ones anchored near us. I have no natural aptitude for art at all, but I like to do it. If I ever stay in one place long enough, I will take some art classes. I took a drawing class once and I really liked it and I learned a lot. The class would look at my drawings and say "It looks just like Van Gogh!" The reason they said that is because everything was sort of crooked and my perspective is always off. The teacher ever so kindly pointed that out lest I became full of myself. No danger of that! I once did a painting of a flowering tree and my backyard fence on a postcard sized paper and sent it to my stepmother, and she framed it and hung it up. People likely think one of her kids made it in kindergarten. I was extremely flattered though because she is a real artist.

Well, I guess no news is good news. There is an internet cafe in Bahia de Los Angeles, where I will have access to the internet, so we can check our regular mail. We signed up with a service that receives your mail, and then scans each envelope and sends the scans to you via email. You then have the option of just having them shred it, save it to mail to you when you have a place to send stuff, or opening it and scanning the contents if you are not sure what it is. It has been a month since we have seen what we have, so I am curious. When we return to the US in late October or early November, we will have them send all the stuff they saved up to Steve's house for us to pick up. That and our new windlass we will order to schlep back here. At least the windlass will not be as heavy and unwieldy as the watermaker was. That consisted of a heavy motor that took up most of one wheeled suitcase (ruined the suitcase, thank goodness it was cheap) and several large heavy boxes that we duct taped to two dollys. The windlass will fit in a wheeled suitcase and may not even wreck it, but we don't care about that. So this time the trip back via bus and ferry won't be as difficult and the cab drivers won't blanch when they see all that we have.

Well, that wraps it up for today. The next post will be written from Bahia de Los Angeles. Have a great day!

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