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Saturday, June 20, 2020

This month in 2014. . .

This month in 2014 we splashed the original barrel shanty The Floating Empire, beginning our long and happy life on the water.
The Floating Empire, the day after we splashed her.
This part of June seems to be auspicious for us.  A year ago, literally today (6/20) we also splashed our current vessel, the SV Constellation.
Constellation going in.
 It's been a glorious pack of years, and the best is yet to come.  Today is also the Summer Solstice.  Blessed Litha to all you Pagans and Witches out there.  Lift a cup with us tonight for a great rest of the year.

M

Sunday, June 14, 2020

NOT what we had planned.

So our lovely sailing trip to the Sassafras river came to an abrupt halt when we motored into a fuel dock and, just as we reached it, the motor stopped and would not be restarted.  This resulted in a wild, six hour tow back to home port, definitely a "Ride em Cowboy" event.


Yep, that's a towboat up there.
Our tow driver Mike and his dog Diesel were fortunately knowledgeable and competent, so they got us home right at at sunset without further incident. but we're both feeling more than a little beat up right now.  So after a day's rest or so, I'll tie into whatever fuel line problems we appear to be having and get us up and running again.  Bear with us.

We did get some wonderful photos, though, and some nice new locations for anchoring, so stay tuned.  Back with you quickly.

M

Monday, June 8, 2020

A quick note on works of fiction.

My publisher, Wild Shore Press, is running a discount on all my fiction works this weekend (June 10-14).  All the electronic editions of my novels on Amazon/Kindle will be available for download for $.99 each.  Just a little boost for your quarantined summer reading.  You can find my stuff HERE.
Rush right out in a downloading Frenzy!
We're headed off sailing again for a week or so in the morning, so I should have some great new pictures and stories for you.  Stay tuned.

M

Friday, June 5, 2020

Sailing the Farm

(With Apologies to Kenneth W. Neumeyer)

I mention his name because in 1981 or so, Neumeyer published a book of that name, "Sailing the Farm" on how to raise sustainable foodstuffs on a small sailboat.  Neumeyer had sailed the world, and the book, by turns pragmatic, apocalyptic, and hippy-tastic, served as a great guide for those who wanted to be on the water but not be separated from fresh foodstuffs.  The book is long out of print, and extant copies cost a mint, but it is available as an online PDF HERE if you're interested.

Fresh food, let's face it, be you aboard a watercraft, in an isolated cabin in winter, or headed to Mars, is an issue.  It's not just the scruvy-avoidance and other health issues.  If you cook and appreciate good meals, a little fresh green can make a huge difference in the results of your galley.  Plus, a little green is just nice to have about.

So we thought we'd let you in on a few of the things we've done of varying success to bring a little fresh greenery (no, not that kind) into our lives, going from the ultra simple to the easy and plentiful.  Ready?

You want to talk easy?  You want to talk "takes up no space"?  Try this.  The next time you get a stalk of celery (carrots and onions work too, as will most brassicas like bok choi) chop off and reserve the bottom two inches or so and place it in a shallow dish of water (if carrots or onions, save the tops where the leaves come out instead).  That's it.  In a few days, you'll be greeted with a surprising little fountain of green leaves suitable for garnishing your salads and soups as well as lending some welcome living stuff to your galley.  Really, it's quite pretty.

This pretty little guy will give you a month of tasty garnishes.
When it gets a bit too rangy looking (but has developed a bit of root), just stick it in a pot and it will continue to grow.  We've had a dockside pot of herbs, mainly rosemary, for six years now, providing no end of sauces and marinades (it's also been the nesting site for 35 ducklings over the years, but I digress.)

Wonderful, edible thyme flowers in a dockside pot.
Now, lets grow some crops shall we?  The best, simplest option we've found is the growing of what are typically called microgreens.  Okay "microgreens" is kind of a trendoid sales job.  All these things are normal crops, picked very young.  You can get some wonderful "microgreen mixes" on the web, a blend of seeds of things like arugula, mustard, basil, dandilion, cilantro, kale, lettuce, chard. . . .some of the mixes may have upwards of thirty different plants, running heavily to the earlier mentioned brassicas.  They require only a shallow pan of soil, and that you give them water and a periodic haircut of the bigger leaves to keep things from getting too mature or crowded.  A teaspoon of the seeds can get you literally weeks of fresh greens.

DeadKitty loves his microgreen garden.
Make the clipped greens into a wonderfully rich salad, or as a bed for other dishes.  They can be added to stir frys and soups, egg dishes, pastas, and all manner of things.  I know of no gonzo food raising you can do that creates so much wonderful food so easily.

So a bed of fresh, slightly bitter greens goes down to make a home. . .

. . .for a wonderful dish of sauteed sea food and fresh veggies.
Last, but not least, let's talk sprouts.  Sprouting stuff is really easy.  First of all, make sure you get a mix made FOR sprouting (garden seeds may have fertilizers and fungicides on them that you don't want to ingest).  Dump them in a jar, put a cloth over the top, and give them a rinse and a drain every day.  In a couple of days you'll be greeted with a wonderful wad of sprouts suitable for salads, stir frys, and omlettes, all of them bursting with vitamin C and a host of other nutrients.  Mung beans are the classic for sprouting, but fenugeek, radish seeds, and garbanzo beans work beautifully.


Asparagus and green pea soup with fresh thyme flowers and fenugreek sprouts.  It doesn't get any fresher than this.  Yeah, we made the bowl too.
Neumeyer died in 2013, at shore at last, surrounded by family.  He inspired generations of farmers, cooks, and iconoclasts.  The book is a monument to him.  Give it, and the veggies a try.

Summer is on us now with a vengeance, and we've been doing a bit of cruising, checking out systems for a longer trip this fall.  Life on the water is just splendid.  Get out there and enjoy it.

M





Thursday, June 4, 2020

The Incredible Bucket Laundry system

Okay, I don't know how "incredible" it is, but it does work.  Laundry is always a challenge, even for apartment dwellers, if you don't have your own facilities  For liveaboards, especially those on the cruise, it's even more of a bother.  If you're like us, you wind up waiting until you just can't wait anymore, then you put on the tux, an old wedding dress, and a tutu, those being the only things left unsoiled, and truck bags of often sodden clothes to the laundry and then sit there with Dr. OZ blaring from five TV screens, until your stuff is done, then fold it and truck it back home again.  As not fun as that is, it's simpler than what you can do at anchor.

Which brings me to the subject of today's post.  We've tried, over the years, a number of things to do small batch laundry aboard.  While there are a lot of commercial options, ziplock laundry-ing bags, small spin dryers, etc., this is the simplest and most compact that we've found and what we use most often.

You will need:  Two 5 gallon buckets...

That's about it.

They need to be able to nest.  Drill a bunch of holes in one of them so it can drain.  I've seen folks on them interwebs that use this system that drill hundreds of small holes, but we've found a smaller number of large ones drains faster and keeps your laundry in just as well.
Here you go:  Two buckets, one drilled out so it will drain, and a bunch of dirty laundry.
It works like this:  put your dirty things in the solid bucket and fill it up with water and laundry soap and agitate it a bit to mix.  I know some folks who use a small plunger to do this ( I know, I know. . . ).  Then ignore it for about ten minutes.  More if you like.  Soaking it for a bit really helps.  You'll find you can fit in a couple of day's clothes:  T-shirts, underwear, maybe a pair of jeans.  We have done sheets and towels, but that tends to need a wash session all their own.

Agitate and soak the clothes, then dump them over into the drilled out bucket to drain.
After a bit, further agitate the clothes, then drump the whole lot, water and all, over into the drilled out bucket to drain.  Then take the solid bucket, put it into the top of the drilled out one, and press down.  This will compress your clothes and squeeze out a lot of the water.
Stick the solid bucket on top of your clothes and press down.  This will remove a lot of the water.
Then dump the clothes back into the SOLID bucket and refill with water.  Agitate and repeat.  Keep doing this until the water is clear, usually 2-3 rinses.  Then you should be able to hang up your clothes.  You will probably need to wring them out a bit more.

This works well for day to day wash, and can be done in the cockpit (use non-polluting soaps that will break down) if you absolutely have to.  We try to go ashore up onto grass or something that can deal with the greywater.  You'll also find the drilled bucket useful for draining rope and a whole host of other duties, and the solid bucket is. . .well. . .a bucket, so that's useful as well.

Try it.  It works.

It's finally gotten warm here on the Middle River, and we're doing boat stuff in preparation for going back out for a couple of weeks.  I'll be pulling down our ratty Genoa Jib today and replacing it with a newer working jib we've acquired (hopefully it'll fit with the roller furling).

Stay healthy out there.  Next up, boat farming, so stay tuned.

M

Worton Creek.