Meals on the Go

One of the questions I am often asked is about food while we are sailing. How do we have meals while we are on trips when we are sailing several days to get to a destination without stopping?  This is a good question because I can see the wheels turning in their minds. How do we cook when the boat is at an angle or rolling from side to side and things are sliding around? The answer depends on the weather.  As well as a lot of trial and error over many years of sailing.

I like to use the example of a mechanical bucking bull. I am sure some of you remember them from back in the 80’s or saw films with mechanical bulls in them. The mechanical bull bucks and tries to send the rider off onto the floor. The floor is cover in padding of some sort. Let’s just say our bull has a speed control of slow, medium, fast and really, really fast (rough).

When the weather is nice, the winds are from a good direction for smooth sailing, the waves are low to medium in height, life is good. We can move around the boat keeping one hand free in case we need to hold on for any unexpected movement like a rogue wave or the wake from another boat. Basically, we can walk and move around without any difficulty. I can stand below comfortably and make a simple meal either on the stove, use the microwave or maybe just make something quick and easy. Everything is just peachy. The bull is on slow speed and life is nice. “Look Mom! No hands!”

The stove has gimbals that allow it to move with the boat while sailing. It also has metal holders to hold pots in place over the propane flame. It is not too difficult to cook if we want to make a hot meal. We have cups that have a low center of gravity so they do not spill and they have non-skid bottoms so they don’t slide around. The cups are insulated which for me is wonderful because I am a person who likes ice in my drinks. Since ice on our boat is a luxury I can have my ice cold drink and drink it too. The cups are great for soups as well.

Medium speed would be rougher seas or stronger winds so maybe just a quick, easy meal. Maybe forget the stove, maybe not depending on the conditions of the weather. We can move around the boat but now we need to be sure to hold on to something stable as we move. Life is still good.

Hey Cindy! What’s for supper?!

The fast bucking bull means anytime we need to move around we need to hold onto something at all times or wedge ourselves into something so we don’t fall over. This would mean higher waves and stronger winds where the boat is heeling over almost continuously. Or maybe we are experiencing choppy seas where the movement of the boat is hard to anticipate. The bull might move left and then do a quick right and kick up at the tail but not the same move twice just to keep us on our toes or try to knock me off my toes, however you want to see it. This type weather takes planning. Generally we just graze on small, easy to make snacks or meals. I make things ahead of time that I can grab easily and quickly and get back on deck. This is also the time when I can get sea sick so I spend as little time below deck as I can. A friend of mine packs an ice chest so she does not have to go below during rough weather. Smart lady!

I will generally prep the meals and snacks ahead of time while in dock or before the weather changes if we are already out of port sailing. The meals for rougher weather are things like trail mix, a lot of choices of nuts, nutrition bars, hummus, cut up raw veggies, cut up fresh fruit, things you can stuff into pita bread and the like. Things that I’ve already prepared and take little time to grab and pass up top to Mark.

It has been many years since we’ve been in “really, really rough” weather because we have better technology to get better weather forecasts. In order not to tempt Mother Nature I will insert here that we never plan to be in that type weather….but things do happen.

For the most part we try to pick weather windows that will allow us the smoothest sailing for the largest part of our trips. There are times when there will be rougher weather at some point in the trip but we try to pick the best time to leave to avoid as much rough weather as possible. It is important to keep our energy up and wits about us while we are sailing. For this reason we try to eat, sleep and be comfortable along the way. If part of the adventure is just getting there then we would like it to be fun and comfortable. If it turns out not to be fun at least we can be prepared and be safe.

We both love to cook so after we are anchored, moored or docked in our new port we break out the “good stuff” and cook a nice meal. We open a bottle of wine and celebrate another trip completed. The ride is over. Please exit to the left. Thanks for visiting!

Cindy’s Favorite Mug

Meals on the Go

Ft. Jefferson - The Dry Tortugas National Park

Fort Jefferson

If you look at a map, about 70 miles west of Key West Florida, in the middle of nowhere, you will find The Dry Tortugas National Park. The park consists of 7 small islands and is the southernmost tip of South Florida’s coral reef tract. This represents the third-largest barrier reef system in the world spanning from Biscayne Bay to the Dry Tortugas (the largest is the Great Barrier Reef in Australia followed by Belize’s Barrier reef). The islands were discovered by Juan Ponce de Leon in 1513. He originally named the islands Las Tortugas for the abundance of turtles residing there. Charts later reflected the name Dry Tortugas to warn mariners no water was available. Once charted, they became of great importance to mariners. The islands offered two resources; a safe natural deep water harbor for ships seeking shelter and turtles. At the time, turtles were a favorite food of sailors. They are delicious to eat and can be kept alive for weeks on the deck of a boat by splashing them occasionally with salt water ensuring fresh meat for weeks aboard a ship.

The isles remained under Spanish rule providing merchant ships a landmark into the Gulf of Mexico. Once Florida was acquisitioned in 1822, the United States began planning the creation of a large fort in the Dry Tortugas. The United States believed the 75-mile-wide straits connecting the Gulf Coast and Atlantic Ocean were critical to protect as any forces who tried to occupy the area could gain control over Gulf Coast trading. Extensive surveying and planning continued until construction of Fort Jefferson began in 1847 on Garden Key Island. Although the fort was never fully finished, Fort Jefferson is one of the largest 19th century American masonry coastal forts. By 1860, over $250,000 had been spent and the fort was only halfway completed. Work continued during the Civil War but soon stopped after the war ended. During the Civil War it was used as a military prison, and was used in this way until 1874.

Entrance – One way in and out

Looking inside

Over 16 million bricks were used in the fort’s construction. Everything had to be brought in by ship. Imagine that for just a second. Everything! The concrete, bricks, water, huge stone slabs for staircases and cannons had to be loaded on ships and sailed 500 miles from Pensacola to the Dry Tortugas where the construction materials were offloaded into smaller dinghies and rowed ashore. The darker upper brick of the fort’s third tier are bricks made in Boston. The fort remained under union control during the US Civil War as construction continued. However, the materials now had to be shipped from the upper east coast making the progress harder and slower.

Huge stones slabs stacked to make up spiral staircases

Cannon Rooms

The design of the fort allows for defense from all sides. At any approach around the fort, 125 cannons can point at a single target. The cannons had a range of about 3 miles and could reload in about a minute. An attacking ship would find themselves with 125 cannon balls a minute raining down upon them.  The cannon balls weighed about 300 pounds and were launched with such thrust they were capable of piercing even iron clad armor of war ships. The outer walls of the fort are 8 feet thick. This made the fort virtually impenetrable by ship cannon fire since it would take about 50 shots to the same part of the wall to make a hole; from a moving ship with limited cannons, an impossibility. The mere power of the fort served as a deterrent and was never attacked making it the thermal nuclear weapon of it time. For the 1800’s this was the ultimate defense technology in practice.

Harbor Light

Eras of technology on the roof top – Satellite dish on left and Cannon on right

Despite over 30 years of construction, the fort was never truly completed. Advances in weapon technology made the fort obsolete by 1862. Fort Jefferson served for a time as a remote prison facility. One of its most famous inmates was Dr. Samuel Mudd, who set the leg of John Wilkes Booth following the assassination of President Lincoln. Mudd was incarcerated on the Dry Tortugas for four years, from 1865 to 1869. He was released on March 11^th, 1869 following a pardon from President Andrew Johnson in part because of his work and research with yellow fever. Yellow fever outbreaks were a common occurrence at the fort and killed many of the guards and medical staff as well as prisoners. The saying, “Your name is Mudd” is attributed to the distrust of Samuel Mudd for his unbeknown role in the treatment of a criminal. Regardless of the Presidential pardon, the saying stuck.

Entrance to Dr. Mudd’s cell

Mudd Plaque

Mudd’s Cell

Ft. Jefferson - The Dry Tortugas National Park

The Dry Tortugas

About 10 years ago, Cindy and I came to the Dry Tortugas during a long weekend in Key West. A friend suggested we take the high speed ferry from Key West to Garden Key which is the location of Ft Jefferson. During the tour of the fort, I remember looking out one of the windows at the boats anchored in the beautiful turquoise water of the harbor below and thinking to myself, wouldn’t it be great to have a boat and sail here one day.

Cream Puff through the fort window

We arrived pretty late in the day. We found a prime spot and set the anchor. We settled in for the night. I’m embarrassed to say we slept from 9pm to 8am. Yep. 11 hours! I awoke and made a pot of tea. As I normally do on the boat, I took my tea to the cockpit and sat up top in the fresh morning air. Today the view was a little different. I guess I will have to get use to the view being different from now on. Normally, I do the morning crossword. However, The Dry Tortugas has no internet or cell phone coverage. We were completely unplugged and off the grid. The islands making up The Dry Tortugas is a national park. This means it is pretty much the same today as it was when Ponce de Leon first set foot on the isles in 1513 by Juan Ponce de Leon (with the exception of the fort). Nothing to do but take in the view.

View while sippng morning tea

This spot is a little bit of paradise. The waters are warm, clear and shallow. Snorkeling is a must. We snorkeled the exterior of the fort along the outer wall. Even with plenty of other people on the island, we had no trouble finding some space to ourselves. We saw plenty of fish. But, best of all, it gave Cindy and I a chance to dust off our diving equipment. It’s been years since we SCUBA dove and way too long since we snorkeled. This was a great spot to kick off our cruising adventure; lots to look at and great visibility.

Snorkelers

Since there are no roads to the Torgugas, people have to travel by boat or sea plane to get there. This is the first time I have seen a sea plane. Very cool. It’s a little scary that the plane’s landing area is the same channel as a boat uses to enter the harbor.

Da plane boss, da plane!

A fishing boat near us make the mistake of feeding some pelicans. After this, they had a hard time getting rid of them.

Hand feeding pelicans

The “DRY” Tortugas?

They say, it is called the Dry Tortugas since there are a lot of turtles and it does not rain much. We will vouch for the turtles. However, we think it is called Dry because they don’t serve liquor there.

The Dry Tortugas

The Dry Tortugas

About 10 years ago, Cindy and I came to the Dry Tortugas during a long weekend in Key West. A friend suggested we take the high speed ferry from Key West to Garden Key which is the location of Ft Jefferson. During the tour of the fort, I remember looking out one of the windows at the boats anchored in the beautiful turquoise water of the harbor below and thinking to myself, wouldn’t it be great to have a boat and sail here one day.

Cream Puff through the fort window

We arrived pretty late in the day. We found a prime spot and set the anchor. We settled in for the night. I’m embarrassed to say we slept from 9pm to 8am. Yep. 11 hours! I awoke and made a pot of tea. As I normally do on the boat, I took my tea to the cockpit and sat up top in the fresh morning air. Today the view was a little different. I guess I will have to get use to the view being different from now on. Normally, I do the morning crossword. However, The Dry Tortugas has no internet or cell phone coverage. We were completely unplugged and off the grid. The islands making up The Dry Tortugas is a national park. This means it is pretty much the same today as it was when Ponce de Leon first set foot on the isles in 1513 by Juan Ponce de Leon (with the exception of the fort). Nothing to do but take in the view.

View while sippng morning tea

This spot is a little bit of paradise. The waters are warm, clear and shallow. Snorkeling is a must. We snorkeled the exterior of the fort along the outer wall. Even with plenty of other people on the island, we had no trouble finding some space to ourselves. We saw plenty of fish. But, best of all, it gave Cindy and I a chance to dust off our diving equipment. It’s been years since we SCUBA dove and way too long since we snorkeled. This was a great spot to kick off our cruising adventure; lots to look at and great visibility.

Snorkelers

Since there are no roads to the Torgugas, people have to travel by boat or sea plane to get there. This is the first time I have seen a sea plane. Very cool. It’s a little scary that the plane’s landing area is the same channel as a boat uses to enter the harbor.

Da plane boss, da plane!

A fishing boat near us make the mistake of feeding some pelicans. After this, they had a hard time getting rid of them.

Hand feeding pelicans

The “DRY” Tortugas?

They say, it is called the Dry Tortugas since there are a lot of turtles and it does not rain much. We will vouch for the turtles. However, we think it is called Dry because they don’t serve liquor there.

The Dry Tortugas

Sailing South

Ouch!!!!

Our first stop after leaving the marina was top off the fuel tanks. Cream Puff holds 158 gallons (US) of diesel fuel. This is used to power the engine and generator. The engine is used in cases where wind is nowhere to be found or for tight controlled maneuvering. The generator gives us all the electrical comforts of home such as air conditioning, microwave, washer/almost-dryer etc. Running the generator is an expensive luxury. If we ran it all day every day, this would equate to an electric bill of about $2,000 per month (not including the price of a new generator every couple of years due to wearing out). We typically do not use the generator while sailing except to charge the house batteries from which all of our lights, pumps, refrigeration and navigational systems work. However, while at anchor, using the generator to crank up the air conditioner is a luxury second to none. It is always a good idea to leave port with full fuel tanks. Fill her up please.  Ouch!   The sad part is this is probably the cheapest diesel we will purchase on our travels. From here on, we can expect to pay more.

We took a couple of days to chill and settled into one of our favorite anchorages in Tampa Bay. It is the Manatee River at the mouth of Tampa Bay. The river has scenic state parks on either side. Our intent was to make sure all of our gear was working prior to setting off for the Dry Tortugas about 2 days away. We experienced a small problem with the generator and needed to swap the water pump for the spare in our parts inventory. I will rebuild the old pump and place it back into the inventory. Other than this, all went well.

Boats Anchored – Manatee River

The flies started to drive us crazy. Cindy put up our screens and armed each of us with a swatter. We, meaning Mark, Cindy and our abundance of fly carcasses decided to set sail and head south. I am starting to think the previous post entitled Gone Sailin’ should have been called Gone Motorin’. We had so little wind that sailing the entire way would have taken a 2 day trip and turned it into 10 days. We motored all but 4 hours of the 30 hour trip. We are not fond of motoring. It is noisy and makes it hard to sleep when not on watch. But on the bright side of motoring, at least we make headway, have calm seas and the dolphins come and play in our propeller wash.

We always get excited when dolphins come to play

Make yourself at home

We seem to be prone to picking up feathered stowaways. This little fellow joined us about 50 miles west of Florida. He hopped about on the deck and feasted on dead flies. After which, he nested into a coil of rope and nodded off to sleep. I’m almost certain that one day, many years from now, in bird folklore there will be a tale of a lone bird flying wearily over the ocean only to find a secret island in abundance of plump delicious flies. This little fellow hit scrumptious pay dirt when landing on Cream Puff.

The following day we made our first port of call as full time cruisers in the Dry Tortugas.

Land Ahoy – Arriving in the Dry Tortugas

Sailing South

Ft. Jefferson - The Dry Tortugas National Park

Fort Jefferson

If you look at a map, about 70 miles west of Key West Florida, in the middle of nowhere, you will find The Dry Tortugas National Park. The park consists of 7 small islands and is the southernmost tip of South Florida’s coral reef tract. This represents the third-largest barrier reef system in the world spanning from Biscayne Bay to the Dry Tortugas (the largest is the Great Barrier Reef in Australia followed by Belize’s Barrier reef). The islands were discovered by Juan Ponce de Leon in 1513. He originally named the islands Las Tortugas for the abundance of turtles residing there. Charts later reflected the name Dry Tortugas to warn mariners no water was available. Once charted, they became of great importance to mariners. The islands offered two resources; a safe natural deep water harbor for ships seeking shelter and turtles. At the time, turtles were a favorite food of sailors. They are delicious to eat and can be kept alive for weeks on the deck of a boat by splashing them occasionally with salt water ensuring fresh meat for weeks aboard a ship.

The isles remained under Spanish rule providing merchant ships a landmark into the Gulf of Mexico. Once Florida was acquisitioned in 1822, the United States began planning the creation of a large fort in the Dry Tortugas. The United States believed the 75-mile-wide straits connecting the Gulf Coast and Atlantic Ocean were critical to protect as any forces who tried to occupy the area could gain control over Gulf Coast trading. Extensive surveying and planning continued until construction of Fort Jefferson began in 1847 on Garden Key Island. Although the fort was never fully finished, Fort Jefferson is one of the largest 19th century American masonry coastal forts. By 1860, over $250,000 had been spent and the fort was only halfway completed. Work continued during the Civil War but soon stopped after the war ended. During the Civil War it was used as a military prison, and was used in this way until 1874.

Entrance – One way in and out

Looking inside

Over 16 million bricks were used in the fort’s construction. Everything had to be brought in by ship. Imagine that for just a second. Everything! The concrete, bricks, water, huge stone slabs for staircases and cannons had to be loaded on ships and sailed 500 miles from Pensacola to the Dry Tortugas where the construction materials were offloaded into smaller dinghies and rowed ashore. The darker upper brick of the fort’s third tier are bricks made in Boston. The fort remained under union control during the US Civil War as construction continued. However, the materials now had to be shipped from the upper east coast making the progress harder and slower.

Entrance – One way in and out

Huge stones slabs stacked to make up spiral staircases

Cannon Rooms

The design of the fort allows for defense from all sides. At any approach around the fort, 125 cannons can point at a single target. The cannons had a range of about 3 miles and could reload in about a minute. An attacking ship would find themselves with 125 cannon balls a minute raining down upon them.  The cannon balls weighed about 300 pounds and were launched with such thrust they were capable of piercing even iron clad armor of war ships. The outer walls of the fort are 8 feet thick. This made the fort virtually impenetrable by ship cannon fire since it would take about 50 shots to the same part of the wall to make a hole; from a moving ship with limited cannons, an impossibility. The mere power of the fort served as a deterrent and was never attacked making it the thermal nuclear weapon of it time. For the 1800’s this was the ultimate defense technology in practice.

Harbor Light

Eras of technology on the roof top – Satellite dish on left and Cannon on right

Despite over 30 years of construction, the fort was never truly completed. Advances in weapon technology made the fort obsolete by 1862. Fort Jefferson served for a time as a remote prison facility. One of its most famous inmates was Dr. Samuel Mudd, who set the leg of John Wilkes Booth following the assassination of President Lincoln. Mudd was incarcerated on the Dry Tortugas for four years, from 1865 to 1869. He was released on March 11^th, 1869 following a pardon from President Andrew Johnson in part because of his work and research with yellow fever. Yellow fever outbreaks were a common occurrence at the fort and killed many of the guards and medical staff as well as prisoners. The saying, “Your name is Mudd” is attributed to the distrust of Samuel Mudd for his unbeknown role in the treatment of a criminal. Regardless of the Presidential pardon, the saying stuck.

Entrance to Dr. Mudd’s cell

Mudd Plaque

Mudd’s Cell

Ft. Jefferson - The Dry Tortugas National Park

The Dry Tortugas

About 10 years ago, Cindy and I came to the Dry Tortugas during a long weekend in Key West. A friend suggested we take the high speed ferry from Key West to Garden Key which is the location of Ft Jefferson. During the tour of the fort, I remember looking out one of the windows at the boats anchored in the beautiful turquoise water of the harbor below and thinking to myself, wouldn’t it be great to have a boat and sail here one day.

Cream Puff through the fort window

We arrived pretty late in the day. We found a prime spot and set the anchor. We settled in for the night. I’m embarrassed to say we slept from 9pm to 8am. Yep. 11 hours! I awoke and made a pot of tea. As I normally do on the boat, I took my tea to the cockpit and sat up top in the fresh morning air. Today the view was a little different. I guess I will have to get use to the view being different from now on. Normally, I do the morning crossword. However, The Dry Tortugas has no internet or cell phone coverage. We were completely unplugged and off the grid. The islands making up The Dry Tortugas is a national park. This means it is pretty much the same today as it was when Ponce de Leon first set foot on the isles in 1513 by Juan Ponce de Leon (with the exception of the fort). Nothing to do but take in the view.

View while sippng morning tea

This spot is a little bit of paradise. The waters are warm, clear and shallow. Snorkeling is a must. We snorkeled the exterior of the fort along the outer wall. Even with plenty of other people on the island, we had no trouble finding some space to ourselves. We saw plenty of fish. But, best of all, it gave Cindy and I a chance to dust off our diving equipment. It’s been years since we SCUBA dove and way too long since we snorkeled. This was a great spot to kick off our cruising adventure; lots to look at and great visibility.

Snorkelers

Since there are no roads to the Torgugas, people have to travel by boat or sea plane to get there. This is the first time I have seen a sea plane. Very cool. It’s a little scary that the plane’s landing area is the same channel as a boat uses to enter the harbor.

Da plane boss, da plane!

A fishing boat near us make the mistake of feeding some pelicans. After this, they had a hard time getting rid of them.

Hand feeding pelicans

The “DRY” Tortugas?

They say, it is called the Dry Tortugas since there are a lot of turtles and it does not rain much. We will vouch for the turtles. However, we think it is called Dry because they don’t serve liquor there.

The Dry Tortugas

Sailing South

Ouch!!!!

Our first stop after leaving the marina was top off the fuel tanks. Cream Puff holds 158 gallons (US) of diesel fuel. This is used to power the engine and generator. The engine is used in cases where wind is nowhere to be found or for tight controlled maneuvering. The generator gives us all the electrical comforts of home such as air conditioning, microwave, washer/almost-dryer etc. Running the generator is an expensive luxury. If we ran it all day every day, this would equate to an electric bill of about $2,000 per month (not including the price of a new generator every couple of years due to wearing out). We typically do not use the generator while sailing except to charge the house batteries from which all of our lights, pumps, refrigeration and navigational systems work. However, while at anchor, using the generator to crank up the air conditioner is a luxury second to none. It is always a good idea to leave port with full fuel tanks. Fill her up please.  Ouch!   The sad part is this is probably the cheapest diesel we will purchase on our travels. From here on, we can expect to pay more.

We took a couple of days to chill and settled into one of our favorite anchorages in Tampa Bay. It is the Manatee River at the mouth of Tampa Bay. The river has scenic state parks on either side. Our intent was to make sure all of our gear was working prior to setting off for the Dry Tortugas about 2 days away. We experienced a small problem with the generator and needed to swap the water pump for the spare in our parts inventory. I will rebuild the old pump and place it back into the inventory. Other than this, all went well.

Boats Anchored – Manatee River

The flies started to drive us crazy. Cindy put up our screens and armed each of us with a swatter. We, meaning Mark, Cindy and our abundance of fly carcasses decided to set sail and head south. I am starting to think the previous post entitled Gone Sailin’ should have been called Gone Motorin’. We had so little wind that sailing the entire way would have taken a 2 day trip and turned it into 10 days. We motored all but 4 hours of the 30 hour trip. We are not fond of motoring. It is noisy and makes it hard to sleep when not on watch. But on the bright side of motoring, at least we make headway, have calm seas and the dolphins come and play in our propeller wash.

We always get excited when dolphins come to play

Make yourself at home

We seem to be prone to picking up feathered stowaways. This little fellow joined us about 50 miles west of Florida. He hopped about on the deck and feasted on dead flies. After which, he nested into a coil of rope and nodded off to sleep. I’m almost certain that one day, many years from now, in bird folklore there will be a tale of a lone bird flying wearily over the ocean only to find a secret island in abundance of plump delicious flies. This little fellow hit scrumptious pay dirt when landing on Cream Puff.

The following day we made our first port of call as full time cruisers in the Dry Tortugas.

Land Ahoy – Arriving in the Dry Tortugas

Sailing South