And Another Day in Paradise Green Turtle Cay

Day 18: Friday March 13, 2015

The temperature has moderated today.  The day was really pleasant.  The wind has increased to into the 20 knot range with gusts but all in all it was another wonderful day in this beautiful place.

Low tide along the walk into New Plymouth

We started the day with a bacon and Tillamook cheese omelet and toast.  We don’t carry bread because it molds before we get it eaten; however, yesterday, eating breakfast at McIntosh, Janine commented on the homemade bread that came with her breakfast.  We decided to treat ourselves with a loaf of their whole wheat bread.  And what a treat it is.  Earlier in the year, we had begged a motel at which we were staying for some packets of Smucker’s jams and jellies so we have this stash that we seldom use. So this morning we had buttered toast (using spray “I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter”) and strawberry or grape jelly on homemade bread.  Truly a simple delight.

Our day today was one of basically hanging around the boat. We both read and conversed with fellow boaters here in the marina.  However, I must spend some bandwidth to tell of my luncheon experience.  We did make another small batch of tortillas.  This time we pressed them thinner and cooked them longer so I hope

Cannon at the public dock in New Plymouth

they will last longer.

Back in the fall, in a fairly elaborate ceremony at the Spaghetti Warehouse in Columbus Ohio, at a gathering of a number of our MG friends, our good friend, Tony, presented me with a highly prized culinary delicacy that he had somehow procured.  With much fanfare, Tony handed me a microwaveable serving of Penne Pasta in Alfredo Sauce with SPAM!  Oh My!  A bit of history.  Ever since these cruise sailing series of adventures started back in 2003, I have had and truly enjoyed Spam sandwiches on a daily basis as my luncheon staple.  However, last year, in an attempt to shed a few pounds, I gave up my beloved Spam (except for one can that I had snuck on board that Janine didn’t know about until I broke it out).  It has been tough but I have persevered.  (I am not sure that Janine is aware of the three cans of Spam that I have hidden in the bilge of the boat this year.  [It is to be used in case of an emergency, you know!])



Heavenly

Well, Today, I broke out the Penne Pasta in Alfredo Sauce with SPAM, opened the container, dumped the contents into a ZipLock bag and heated it in our bakepacker.  The result was absolutely marvelous.  When I return home, I must go on a mission to find a supply of this wonderful delicacy. 

Janine had a tuna with horsey sauce on homemade bread sandwich.  How common and ordinary when you compare it to Penne Pasta in Alfredo Sauce with SPAM!

The afternoon was spent much the same way as our morning.  I found at the book exchange library a good novel by James Patterson and Janine is reading a mystery by Michael Connolly.

Two and possibly three names
on the stones on this one grave

In the middle of the afternoon, I emailed Heather, the mate on the sailing vessel In Overdraught that we had met yesterday at McIntosh, inquiring about heading back to McIntosh for their Friday Night Lobster Fest.  She replied back a few hours later that she had contacted a group of cruisers at the Green Turtle Yacht Club and had set up reservations for 12 for a 6:00. At about 5:30, we climbed into the dinghy and crossed  the Sound and made the hike to McIntosh.  What a wonderful meal and evening.  At our table of 6, we dined with Mike and Fran, the couple off of October Moon and Evangeline and her partner (I’m embarrassed to say that I forgot his name).  Mike and Fran sold their house and most of their belongings and moved onto their 44 ft. Bennateau.  They have been doing this live-aboard thing for several years now and had many great stories to tell.  The other couple were from Nova Scotia and also have a large Bennateau.  Obviously, both of the couples are experienced sailors so we had three days’ worth of conversation that we had to compact into a couple of hours.  At the other table were three other couples.  We had spoken to Heather and Stuart of In Overdraught earlier and had an opportunity to visit with Bob and Sherry on Windsong II for a few minutes as we were walking back to the dinghies.  By the way, Sherry has a great website chronicling their adventures on Windsong II.  The site is https://windsongii.wordpress.com/  She has a nice video showing what it is like traveling.  Their boat is a 35 foot Hunter.

After dinner we said our farewells and we all headed for our dinghies.  They had about a two mile journey back to Green Turtle Yacht Club while we got to traverse the 200 yard wide Sound.  I had forgotten to mention that on the trip over, they had all bucked some choppy water in their dinghies and had gotten wet.  They couldn’t believe that we were so dry sitting at the table when they arrived.

Bed time arrived at around 9:00.