It has now been 5 weeks since we dropped anchor in this location, and more than 7 weeks since we provisioned in Key Largo. Of course, we never planned to be in the same location for so long, and we certainly never considered the possibility of totally living off our stored provisions for more than a few weeks. However, five weeks in and we are still doing well and enjoying our time in isolation. I have received numerous emails from people concerned that our food supply must be desperate if we are eating so much conch.
Let me assure you that we still have a freezer full of steaks, shrimp, lobster tails, pork tenderloin, meatballs, and numerous other meat items, as well as, veggies, and fruits. Our dried good and canned good supplies are still strong too. The latest news articles lead me to believe that it might be in our best interest to return to the US with a freezer full of food, if possible. Hence the reason for us to make a concerted effort to supplement our food supply when possible.
I have learned some valuable food supply lessons during this experience. Most new food experiences have been extremely positive, like my newfound LOVE of homemade yogurt (I should have been doing this for years!). However, there has been one item that I would put in the horrendously vile category, and that is canned ham...yuck!
I was so disappointed, because as a child I have very fond memories of canned ham from the times I would accompany my father to his hunting club’s turkey shoots. I would ‘help’ by selling tickets and retrieving targets. At the end of the day the men would stand around a fire drinking beer and chatting. This activity would almost always include a large canned ham being opened. The liquid contents would be replaced with a beer, and the can heated to a boil on the fire. I remember the slices of ham being delicious.
So, excited for a little nostalgia, I decided to open our first canned ham for Easter dinner. Immediately my hopes were deflated! This ‘ham’ smelled exactly like cat food. I attempted to salvage the meal by covering it with a whiskey honey sauce (with extra cinnamon and orange zest), but there was no hiding the cat food-like smell, taste, and texture. Needless to say, canned ham is off my future provisioning list!
Here, Shrimp boat awaits our return as we explore a new-to-us small island to the north of our anchorage.
Yikes...I think this is a good place to turn around.
When we returned to Shrimp boat, this huge Spotted Eagle Ray (I think that’s what this is) was cruising in the shallows. Check out the pattern on its dorsal surface.
We have spent a good part of the past week working to improve our fishing skills, and I am happy to report that a fish taco dinner and a sautéed grouper dinner were the rewards. Our problem has been in identifying the location of the fish we were wishing to catch. As you know, I have been pulling Keith behind the Whaler so we can find conch. Well, we decided to employ this method of exploration to conduct a little recon on potential fishing sites. It worked wonderfully! When Keith would spot a reef or depression where large fish were congregating, he would spit out his snorkel and yell “fish”, and I would drop a pin on the iPad Aqua Maps chart.
Our first day of fishing at one of the pins resulted in two snapper, three trigger fish, two grouper, and three sharks. We later read that trigger fish are excellent to eat, but at the time we were a little shocked by their appearance and threw them back. However, they are really fun to catch as they put up a good fight!
Winner-winner grouper dinner! We were very happy to catch 3-4 lb grouper, as the likelihood of fish this size carrying ciguatera is much lower. Ciguatera toxin accumulates in larger reef fish and can cause nausea, vomiting, pain, cardiac, and neurological symptoms when ingested by humans. Clearly, that would throw a wrench in our Swiss Family Robinson experience.
Note to self: when the third catch in a row is a shark, it is safe to assume the fishing grounds have been compromised...time to move on.
A nice shady spot to enjoy lunch.
Our second day of fishing was not as fruitful as the first. This is the only creature I caught, and I must say that reeling in a 5-6 ft nurse shark is much like pulling a Volkswagen off the bottom. They don’t run your line out like the reef sharks do...instead, they just seem to anchor themselves to the bottom.
Red Russian kale is thriving in the hydroponic garden. We now have 12 of these plants at various stages of development We are also seeing successful growth rates in chard and several varieties of lettuce. Interestingly, herb plants have not fared as well.
Weather patterns are changing here and there is a prediction for an early tropical weather season (starting as early as May 17). This will most likely be the thing that determines when we will return to the US. Recently I thought our low supply of coffee might be our Achilles heel, but Eron and Vicki, on No Fixed Address, donated a 2 lb 10 oz can of Maxwell House, as they were leaving the Bahamas....SCORE!!! Hope they have a safe crossing to Florida! Now our attention can return to the weather.
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