Letter: Cruising Kitchen

In 2004 Roger and I set off on the Boru, our destination was Alaska. We planned on being gone about four months and this was our first real trip together. We studied books and articles and even with all that planning we found out that there was a lot we had left to learn.

First Roger prepared the boat, like a well organized pilot checklist and all. He loaded in every part he could think of: fuel pumps, I think we had three, gaskets, loads of impellers, an alternator, a starter, spark plugs, coils, screws of every size, gerry cans for the extra fuel, a sun shower, and the list goes on. You name it, we had it on board, except one item you will hear about later. My job was to set up the kitchen, so I will share some information about that. And also give you some of the handy tips we learned along the way.

When Roger and I, mainly I, talked about our trip to Alaska at a SSSS Meeting, I suggested that two of the most important things you could pack were a mechanic and money. Sadly we find that is still is true when you have a 30 year old sailboat.

We headed off on our great adventure. It took us several days to make it to La Conner where we had an exciting time getting into the dock because of current and winds. We headed out the next morning and just after we cleared the Swinomish Channel our engine died, and I mean dead died. There were very light winds so we hoisted the sails and spent over 12 hours slowly sailing up to Blaine. We chose Blaine because it is a great port with stores within walking distance. Little did we know we would be spending five weeks there replacing an engine. See what I said about bringing a mechanic and money. In fact that’s were I started selling my watercolors. We still had hopes of making it to Alaska when we left Blaine, but it was not to be. So we spent about two months sailing in the Broughtons. If you are able to make it that far north there are some special things you should know about.

As you head north from Desolation Sound the social customs change. Our first taste of this great area was a stop at Oleo’s in Fredrick Arm where you pay $22 per person for dinner and moorage. There we met other two couples who we sailed with most of that summer. One of the couples had been to the Broughtons,so often they shepherded us around and showed us many of this areas secret treasures. We started out anchoring alone but soon we anchored together, shared dinner and played cards every night. We still sail together almost every summer.

Our first stop, after waiting in gale force winds on Johnstone Strait to end, was at Lagoon Cove Marina. Bill Barber rolls out pails of fresh cooked shrimp. Bill also has a campfire later in the evening where stories are told and everyone sings. A great place to bring friends and grandkids. In the Broughtons happy hour before dinner is pretty standard. You need to bring something for happy hour and that forced me to think about having a recipe that was quick and easy and didn’t take any refrigeration. This is what I came up with which served me well, I even got eight huge crab from a commercial fisherman because his wife loved these two recipes.

One can of artichoke hearts or two of those little jars if your captain lets you bring glass aboard one can of water chestnuts, chop them up a bit
1 cup of Parmesan cheese, I used to pack fresh, but you can use Kraft in a can. Use more if you want.
A few shots of Tabasco or some other hot sauce.
Enough mayonnaise it make it nice and juicy. Bake in the oven at 350 until hot and bubbly. Serve with some crackers, whatever you happen to have on hand.

I use this next recipe when we were loaded with crab, it is quick and easy.

Crab: 1 cup or as much as you want or have,
mix with cream cheese usually 8 oz package
Add 1 T seafood sauce, the red kind,
¼ c. minced onions, rehydrate if using dried
Put in oven proof dish,
sprinkle with sliced almonds, or slivered if that is all you have.
Bake 350 for 30 min or until hot and bubbly.
Serve with crackers or crusty bread.

As we spent the summer I realized that packing in every spice I could think of had turned out to be a good idea. They are compact and allow you to change the bounty of the sea into a variety of dishes. While Roger is a great fly fisherman, his salmon and halibut fishing sometimes left us with nothing to cook. I found that sometimes cookies brought in more of a catch. In fact in Alaska cookies caught us a huge king salmon. Which we shouldn’t have posesed without a fishing license. So we shared it with everyone and ate it before we got caught.. So here is our favorite on-board cookie.

Cream together 1 cup shortening, 1 cup sugar, and 1 cup brown sugar
Beat in 2 eggs and 1 tsp vanilla
Stir in 2 cups flour,
1 cup peanut butter
2 tsp soda
½ tsp salt.
Drop by spoonful on ungreased cookie sheet
Dip fork in sugar and make criss crosses on top of dough
Bake at 350 for 10 minutes.
Make sure the cookie sheet fits in your boat oven, I had to find a smaller one.

Once we learned how to drop our shrimp trap we actually caught lots of shrimp. Here is one of our favorite and quick to put together shrimp dishes

Saute in 1/3 c. oil
1 c. green pepper,
1 c. celery,
2 c. onion,
2 T garlic all coarsely chopped.
add 1 can tomatoes drained, if whole break up into smaller pieces and let everything brown
1 T. paprika,
¼ cayenne pepper or more,
1 tsp salt,
1 bay leaf ,
2-3 cups water.
Simmer 15 minutes
add 1-3 pounds of raw shrimp. Use less water if you have less shrimp. I use drained tomato juice as part of the water. Simmer 8-10 min until the shrimp is done.
Serve on rice, have garlic bread for dunking. This just gets better with age.

This recipe came from a famous restaurant in New Orleans. My friend who gave it to me said her Mom had gone and asked for the recipe. They happily obliged and then charged her $500. This was back in the 60’s. Someone may have exaggerated just a little.

Combine 1/2 to 1 T green curry paste, if your crew likes different strengths go with the least and let the others add hotness to fit their own taste, with 1 can coconut milk
Simmer 5 minutes.
Add ¼ cup fresh basil, you can use that refrigerated paste or dried basil if you are in a pinch.
Stir in ¼ c. bamboo shoots,
1 T. fish sauce,
2 T brown sugar (or less),
1/3 c. chicken broth,
and as many vegetables as you would like: try peas, green beans, spinach, zucchini, summer squash, onions, celery or any thing you find in the refrigerator or tucked away that needs to be used,
Stir in shrimp, or chicken. You could use other meat you might have on hand, I wouldn’t use hamburger, but who knows.
Simmer until the meat is cooked.
Serve with rice in big bowls. I use one recipe for two people. If you want it a lot spicier you can use red curry paste.

From cruisers who sailed around the world I learned to start saving plastic jars to store things like nuts, grains for baking bread, chocolate chips, they store easily and do not break. Air tight is important. The square snap together containers work great for shortening, flour, soda, baking powder, the three sugars, cocoa, corn starch or anything else you need. They stack well and save space. We did not put our eggs in the refrigerator but bought an egg storage case in kitchen ware, the camping ones were two small and more expensive. I took a huge pile of Costco’s paper plates. They make for easy clean up, but we used real plates, Corell dinnerware, and cloth napkins which I washed as needed. I packed napkin rings so everyone kept their own napkin. They now have those sheets with laundry soap and softener combined. I think that would be a regular space saver and I plan on getting some for our next cruise.

Let me know if this is helpful and if you would like another column before you take off cruising. There are hidden coves not to be missed and marinas which have special events during the summer months.

Part 2, June

When I left you last time I said I would give you some special places to see in the Broughtons. There are some must sees and some you might enjoy places and some we have never been to.

After we left the campfires at Lagoon Cove we crossed Knight Inlet and headed up Tribune Channel to Kwatsi Bay where we anchored out for the night, in the morning we heard shrieks from other boaters and we rushed up on deck to see over 50 porpoises swimming around the boats. We scrambled into our friend’s dingy and we literally were close enough to reach out and touch them as they sped by. Now I know they may not be a Kwatsi Bay when you go, but look for huge schools of porpoises swimming around begging you to reach out and touch them. Kwatsi Bay sells great honey. Cruisers make their dock and store a planned stop. By the way one of the ways I used their honey was in this rib sticking, fiber rich bread. It makes great sandwiches and even better pan fried toast.

Rib Sticking Bread

2 ¼ c boiling water 1 pkg yeast
¾ c oatmeal, stone ground or wild is nice but you are on a boat,
3 ¾ to 4 c flour
¼ c honey1 c whole-wheat flour
1 ½ tsp salt
9 or 7 or 5 or whatever grain cereal
3 T oil

Boil water, pour over oats, add honey, salt and oil. Cool.
Combine 1 cup wheat flour and 1 cup white flour and yeast, Add to cooled oat mixture, beat rapidly 100 times.
Let stand 20-30 minutes until it starts to bubble, then add grain cereal. Beat like the dickens. Add remaining flour.
Knead, let rise until doubled.
Divide into 2 loaves, let rise again.
Bake at 375-400 for 30 to 35 minutes.
Serve warm with butter mixed with honey..........yummmmmmmm.

No trip would be complete without a stop at Echo Bay. They have a good store for stocking up on fresh produce, but beware I walked out with a $4 apple. It looked so good and I hadn’t had an apple in so long. It was sold by the pound. I wasn’t paying attention. We ate every thing except the seeds and the stem.

While you are at Echo take time to hike over and visit Billy Proctor’s museum. He is a legend in the area and his museum is a great experience. It also gives you a chance to stretch your legs because many of the areas in the Broughtons have only docks to walk and no chance to go ashore.

You can moor there or skip around the corner to Pierre’s Cove and have a protected anchorage. If you hit it right you can attend a great pig roast. I must warn you that you probably won’t get a lot of roasted pig unless you get at the front of the line. It was pretty hectic when we went. There were flowers planted everywhere and the buildings were painted all different colors. There was even a bakery where you ordered bread for the next morning fresh from the oven. They roll dice to see who gets free moorage for the night of the pig roast. Pierre’s costume is almost worth the price of admission.

If you keep traveling to Horner Passage you can spend a day or two in Viner Sound. There is great anchoring and some of the best crabbing we found. The sunsets and the solitude were great. I mixed up some of the best coleslaw I have ever had; this is from our Canadian friends.

Coleslaw for Crabs, Ribs and Happy Husbands

Cabbage. half a head or so sliced or shredded
½ package of Ramon noodles, just the noodles
¼ to ½ cup slivered almonds depending on how much cabbage
Saute noodles and almonds until toasty brown, use a little butter or oil
Mix cabbage, noodles and almonds together and add Italian salad dressing to moisten.
It is almost better the second day.

One of the next places to visit is Shawl Bay on the northwest side of Wishart Peninsula. When you arrive plan on getting your appetizers ready. Everyone meets on the dock for drinks before dinner, but the best part is when you get up in the morning plan on pancakes for breakfast. It is all you can eat, or at least all we could eat, with fresh coffee thrown in. This marina is smaller so you get a chance to really talk to the other boaters. In fact this is where we met the commercial crabber who gave me those eight big crabs to clean because we shared recipes. Lucky spot for us. As you are going into Shawl Bay there is a large bay to your left. Drop your crab pot there and pick it up as you are heading out. The crabbing there is good.

If you want to see something interesting head off to Sullivan Bay, on North Broughton Island. It is a bustling city with over 2 miles of docks so you can really go for a walk. There is no shore to go to, everything is tied to the shore with cables. There is a million dollar plus house with a helicopter perched on the roof. There are other more modest homes. Almost everything in the community area is painted with pictures, some scenery, some funny like the jail, even the propane tanks and flower pots are painted in bright colors. They have a restaurant for dinner out if you are so inclined. You can fuel up and their store has practically everything a cruiser would want. When we went to Alaska the next year, this was our last fuel stop before we around Cape Caution. But that is another story. Even if you do not spend the night this is definitely a stop worth taking.

By the way you might wonder what books to take on your travels. We started out with Waggoner Cruising Guide and then added Douglas’s book, Exploring the South Coast of British Columbia. Roger swears by using Reeds book on tides. It is a little more expensive but it gives you more information when going through the rapids and small channels. There are many others including Charlie’s Charts which were very useful with detailed drawing on the marinas he covers.

One of the last stops along the way is a little hiddy hole called Booker Lagoon. We had to wait at the entrance for slack tide because the tide rips through the narrow passage at breakneck speed. Once the water settled down we motored through the narrow passage and dropped our shrimp pot. Lots of other boats were doing the same thing; it was almost like the start of a south sound race. It was worth it because we got lots of big shrimp. This as a great place to hike and explore everything. While we were there we garnered another great recipe from our Canadian friends. Since we hadn’t pulled up the shrimp traps we had chicken instead.

Hot Cha Cha Chicken
you can dance while you cook the chicken

Boneless chicken, thighs or breast cut breasts in half or smaller
Planko crumbs or bread or cracker crumbs
1 egg beaten with a little milk or water
dip chicken in egg mixture and dip in crumbs
brown quickly in hot oil or butter or a mixture of the two
place in oven safe pan
pour sweet chili sauce, found in the Thai section of the grocery store, over everything.
Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes. Sprinkle sesame seeds over the top if you have them.
Serve with rice.

As you head up to the Broughtons or head back home a trip to Princess Louisa Inlet is certainly worth your time. Plan on at least two days. One day to travel up the passage way, we spend one day hiking around in the rain, and one day back. You have to wait for the tide to pass into the area but it is certainly worth the wait. We were not able to tie to the dock. In the morning we were not aground but our anchor was above the water line. The falls are worth the trip. We hope you have a great summer and maybe we will see you along the way.

Suzie Shaffer, Boru

What Are You Doing Next Summer?

As the summer winds down and you start to think of where you want to sail next year; some of you are hoping to make it to the Broughton’s and some of you are thinking of that long trip up the inside passage to Alaska.

Sailing away to Alaska, or anywhere else, on a boat with not much water and limited fuel sounds like a huge challenge, but there are things you can do to make your trip more pleasant. Several people have asked me to tell them what we did when we set off. We have 30 gallons of water on board, no water maker, even though I would love one, and 24 gallons in our fuel tank, which happens to be an Atomic Four which uses 0.9 gallons an hour. The very first thing we invested in was four Gerry cans which doubled our fuel capacity. Sometimes we lugged them to a filling station when there was no gas at the dock, sometimes we had to fill the tank from the cans because we had to travel further than our tank would take us, and sometimes there wasn’t fuel where the guides tell you there would be fuel; in any case, they were a life saver. We used six gallon jugs because I could carry them, barely, and they were relatively easy to move around in our cockpit, pick the size which fits your needs best.

Water, is another story. First I learned several tricks from other sailors … you do not have to rinse your dishes! If you take them dripping from the hot dish water and towel them off right away the soap, which causes that famous revenge, does not stay on the dishes. If you take about a tea or coffee pot of water, heat it and use that water you can do a full sink full of dishes and maybe have a little left over. If you are really running short, you can wash the dishes in sea water but you have to be sure to rinse them with fresh water because wiping them does not get rid of the salt. I have also reheated the dishwater if it is not full of grease and used it again. I pretend I am a pioneer crossing the desert and save every single drop I can. It is a luxury to be in port where the water can flow freely and I can be assured that I can rinse every dish.

We carry one or two five gallon water jugs and a solar shower, just in case we suddenly find ourselves with an empty tank. Our only sign is the head faucet will run dry when we have about a gallon of water left. Not much help when you are faced with a day of sailing with no water and a sink full of dirty dishes. We also use them in the Broughton’s where much of the water in the marinas have an ugly brown color from the cedar trees. They have signs posted saying to boil the water, but we drink it and have had no ill effects. If you have health problems you might want to boil it, but usually the warning is because it is ground water and has not been treated with chemicals. We do carry an emergency source of bottled water, and I do mean emergency, because for a trip like this storage space is so valuable and paying as much for a bottle of water as for a beer rankles both of us. We can hang on the hook for 3-4 days and then we better find some water.

For personal hygiene, I tuck in those personalized pre-moistened towels. I used to use baby wipes, but I like the bigger cloths, I’m a little bigger than a baby and they fit me better. Those are good for a quick washcloth on a hot day or spot cleaning if it is too cold for a shower. I must admit we do get a little grungy looking, we tend to wear the same clothes for several days with just a change in underwear, now that is probably more information than you want to know, but if I were deciding whether to pack an extra pair of jeans or extra underwear I would pick the underwear every time.

I am sure that some of you might have some tips you use, other than tying up with good friends who have a 200 gallon water tank and they offer to do the dishes every night. If so please pass them along and I know that Steve will publish them.

Next month I’ll share the list of parts Roger brought with us. I think we used almost every one of them. And I’ll share some of the things I made sure I had in the larder.

Suzie Shaffer, Boru

Suzie and Roger have been sailing Boru north for several years. This year they went to the Broughtons. Read about their trip.