Just eat out

[djn]

Hi John, I agree, there is always a place to eat within walking distance for were we sail on St. Clair, Huron, and Erie.  I do like a mess-a-perch once in a while though.  Cheers.

[rtbates]

LOL- RIIIIIIIIIIIIIght.  ;) Try finding someplace where you can "just eat out"  in the Marquessas or Dry Tortugas, down off the Keys.

Or anywhere along the Texas Bays here where we sail. Ain't no such places around.

Besides- sure is nice to be, as we were earlier this year- rocking along on a broad reach heading out into Mississippi Sound from the La ICW. Laura went below and was busy in the cabin. A while later she handed me up a plate of pancakes, with bacon on the side. Well, it really wasn't bacon- what it was was thinly sliced Spam, fried like bacon.

But we were some 2 hours out from anchor up when she did it, making about 4 knots toward that nights intended anchorage.

Can't do that by eating out ;D ;D

Hey Charlie;

You and Laura need to come up to Aransas, corpus bay. Lots of places to eat.
I know laura was just there!

[rtbates]

I'm with you. I have never figured out the appeal of cooking on a boat. IT"S HOT and cooking doesn't help one bit. Now IF I was in NE or Alaska, maybe the heat from the stove/oven would be a welcome affect, but not in Texas, except maybe Jan/Feb.

IF I can't cook it on the grill, we'll have to eat it raw or starve!

[CharlieJ]

well- I guess the point is we almost never eat out anyway- even at home- MUCH prefer cooking aboard and eating our own food.

Usually when we are cruising, we'll have dinner cooked  and ready when we anchor and then get the galley cleaned up before dark. We both hate eating after dark on the boat and detest doing the dishes under artificial lights, so getting them all finished before dark solves that. Besides, if you do the cooking while underway, there is less heat inside the boat.

And if it's THAT hot, then we can move the stove out into the cockpit.

And the stove is ALWAYS lit off in the mornings for coffee- cannot begin the day without ;D

Oh- and yes, Laura was down there- spend two nights anchored in Shamrock Cove, which she says is nice but ISN'T a cove anymore- she sailed right thru it before she realized, then turned back and went back in to anchor ;) She's anchored in Matagorda Bay right now- waiting for this "10% chance of rain" that's been deluging in buckets full since 0700, to go away. She didn't want to get nailed on Matagorda bay , single hand, in a thunderstorm. NWS sure missed the poop outta the forecast today!!!

[rtbates]

well- I guess the point is we almost never eat out anyway- even at home- MUCH prefer cooking aboard and eating our own food.

Usually when we are cruising, we'll have dinner cooked  and ready when we anchor and then get the galley cleaned up before dark. We both hate eating after dark on the boat and detest doing the dishes under artificial lights, so getting them all finished before dark solves that. Besides, if you do the cooking while underway, there is less heat inside the boat.

And if it's THAT hot, then we can move the stove out into the cockpit.

And the stove is ALWAYS lit off in the mornings for coffee- cannot begin the day without ;D

Oh- and yes, Laura was down there- spend two nights anchored in Shamrock Cove, which she says is nice but ISN'T a cove anymore- she sailed right thru it before she realized, then turned back and went back in to anchor ;) She's anchored in Matagorda Bay right now- waiting for this "10% chance of rain" that's been deluging in buckets full since 0700, to go away. She didn't want to get nailed on Matagorda bay , single hand, in a thunderstorm. NWS sure missed the poop outta the forecast today!!!

I admire your industry. Heating water for the morning coffee is about our only 'have to' for the stove.

We really like sandwiches!! Especially the 'cleanup' afterwards. When I was single I would sometimes eat a sandwich for EVERY meal for weeks! Granted they were made with very good, very very thinly sliced meats and cheeses, but still only a sandwich. Every now and then I'd throw in a little 'Top Raman'. As you can see I look at eating as a necessary evil.

Good to hear Laura's back safe and sound.

[CharlieJ]

 :D One of our favorite meals aboard is Albacore steaks, with mashed potatoes and aparagus shoots. With a glass of wine of course :D

Now the Albacore steaks come packaged in a foil pack, from Bumble Bee I believe- we get them at our local grocery- no refrigeration- heat the steaks in a pan with a bit of butter- great. They come in several seasonings, including Mesquite and Lemon Pepper, which we like.

The mashed potatos are instant. Idahoan Brand to be precise- boil a couple cups of water, dump the potatoes in and stir.. Best instant potatoes we've found.

The asparagus requires opening a can and the wine requires pulling a cork.

Another of our favorites is the packaged noodles, from Lipton. They come in various flavorings also. We cook them, then open a can of chicken and dump that in- one pot, good meal, easy to wash up.

Laura will occasionally cook extra and have that for lunch the next day as a Greek Salad- some sort of pasta, artichoke hearts, Parmesan Cheese, and several other things which I forget at the moment, It's a cold salad but makes a great lunch while under way- served with crackers and iced tea of course.

Or lunch may be a cold plate- cheese, sliced apples, Vienna Sausages, crackers

Breakfasts are often oatmeal, cooked in boiling water, but not unusual for us to have pancakes with thin sliced spam fried crisp. Then the left over spam is used for sandwiches at lunch and if any still remains, cut up into some canned limas for dinner- or cooked in with some boiled potatoes.

Or she just might make biscuits in the pressure cooker :D

Notice - none of this requires refrigeration and we have figured how much to cook so we have no leftovers. If we DO happen to have a bit left, the fish eat well. ;)

I also carry a Wok aboard so we can do shrimp fried rice etc, as the ingredieants become available.

And Laura will often bake a cake or something like that in the pressure cooker for desert.

So it isn't all that difficult. We like to eat well aboard. In fact, Laura claims we eat better on the  boat than we do at home. which isn't necessarily true- tonight I fixed broiled chicken breasts nicely seasoned with Tony Catchere's, wild rice and early peas. That was Laura's welcome home dinner. She got in too late last night, so I fixed it tonight.


I will admit the boat does NOT leave the slip without a large jar of peanut butter aboard. ;D Crunchy of course!!!

[Captain Smollett]

I'm not a big fan of eating out, weather landbound or underway.  Diff'rent strokes, and all that....

[Anton]

I don't do a lot of eating out , it's nice once in a while, but I like to cook.  I do 90% of it with this 8qt Nesco electric oven which is about as versatile as it gets, slo cook, roast, bake, non stick, cleans up w no fuss.  When I bought the boat the 40yr old alcohol stove was corroded solid, and the Nesco was so easy to use, I never replaced it.  Anything the Nesco doesn't handle is strictly the province of the BBQ or the coffeemaker. 

Once in a while I'll splurge on pizza, and Pizza Hut brings it right to the boat.  There's also a workers' breakfast/lunch place, a seafood restaurant, and a real nice little Italian place in walking distance.

Fishing here is pretty good, and one young man on the dock works on a little shrimp boat,  when he gets a lot of fish they can't sell, we have a standing agreement, he catches, I clean, other people on the dock have to bring the side dishes and the beer.  I is a fish-cleanin-machine...lol

[CharlieJ]

Where exactly are you in Jville? I lived there 20 years, built my trimaran on Johnson Island, under the high bridge across the ICW  on Atlantic Blvd. That  island USED to be Pelican Creek Boatyard- a do it yourself yard. We had 11 boats under construction there at one time- all amateur.

Used to keep a boat down in Mandarin, at the old Mandarin Marina- we sailed on Old Bull Bay. Taht was back inthe early 70s.

[Anton]

An iddy biddy little marina on the Trout River not far from Main Street.  Not the ritzy section by any means. 

Coincidence...I actually tried to find a boat in TX when I bought the Hunter summer of '06, because I wanted to live in the Port Lavaca Marina...heard it was a great marina, lo rates from another message board.  Didn't work out, seemed my TX options in my price range all decided not to sell or had skeletons in the closet.  I had some great 'TLC' deals in Florida, a state I knew, and got a fixer upper that was languishing ignored, neglected, crying her portlights out in a one dock liveaboard marina.  So, here I is.  I was determined to get on the water NOW, another Midwestern winter was too bitter to contemplate.

Still lots of work to do before I attempt any long distance misadventures, but you all might see me aground outside the Lavaca marina entrance one of these days...

The person who posted about Port Lavaca on that board years ago claimed you have a Texas bbq every Saturday nite...is it true?  (My number #2 reason for wanting to live there...lol)

[CharlieJ]

lol- well- last night we had ham and trimmings instead of barbeque. And it isn't EVERY saturday night- it's every staurday night that somebody wants to get together. So it's MOST saturdays- or wednesdays, or sunday afternoon. ;D

Laura and I took the mast down on Tehani this morning for her to refinsish it and we had left over ham, potato salad and cold cantelope chunks for supper this evening. And of course a Shiner Bock.

Currently the marina is down to half capacity- the city just took out  ALL of "B" dock except the pilings- all new docks going in sometime later this year. But currently the rates are $3 per foot, with electricity and live aboard extra.

I'm very familiar with the marinas on Trout River- or used to be anyway. Had a buddy who kept his Searunner 34 over there.

[Anton]

I KNEW there was a glitch...I had daydreams of a land of milk and honey and BBQ ribs...lol

Ham and potato salad sound pretty good tho...I'm getting hungrier by the minute...cupboard is bare and have to make a run to the store

BTW I found that original SailNet post that introduced me to Port Lavaca 
http://www.sailnet.com/forums/showthread.php?t=10839&page=2

If I ever visit Texas you can blame THEM...lol