Marsh Harbor Marina (5-7 February)

We came into Marsh Harbor Marina at 1100 on Sunday. I am an American male. I do want to watch the Super Bowl, though I do not need a thousand other people watching with me. Anyway, we pulled into a slip on the fuel dock. Now, I know we are only going to be here for a couple of days, but I am not a fan of being on the fuel dock. Of course, there was minimal wind, and I must say that I Ann and I both did our jobs perfectly.

Anyway, in the Jib Room (the marina’s bar/restaurant) there were maybe 40 people. We all had hamburgers/chili/hotdogs/wings for dinner and watched the game. About 2/3 of the crowd was for the Patriots (I still don’t get it). I was for the Giants for two reasons: (1) they weren’t coached by Bill Bilichek and (2) they were the underdogs. We who typically cheer for the underdogs are – almost by definition – disappointed, but not this time. The Giants won … maybe next year it will be the Redskins (HAHAHAHA).

On Monday I washed the boat. First, you should know that I make a distinction between rinsing the boat, washing her and cleaning her.  Rinsing her is just designed to get most of the salt off – and there is often a LOT of salt; washing gets most of the salt, PLUS the major grime off; Cleaning means getting the grime AND spots and streaks. Detailing means … well, I don’t know because Ann and I don’t detail – though we may hire others to do it. J Also on Monday Ann made cracked conch for the first time. She pounded those puppies to death then did the frying pan thing. (Upon reading that, maybe I should have used a different reference. Really, Ann didn’t pound puppies to death) Anyway, the conch was deeelicious.

Ann call this composition, "The Full Snow Moon
Over March Harbor Marina." (I don't get it either,
I am just copying down what she tells me.)

On Tuesday, Ann drove (piloted) the dinghy for the first time. And you know what? She did very well. The issue until now had been that the dinghy sometimes shut down and didn’t like to re-start. We don’t have any oars on the dinghy, only paddles, so we usually went places together. (That way if we break down, she can do the paddling while I try to restart the engine J.) However, over time I think we have used it enough and discovered enough of its “little secrets” that we both should be able to use it independently. Ann took us to Jamie’s, one of the restaurants that had been recommended to us by locals. We had cracked conch. And you know what? Ann’s was better.  We also had another local favorite, peas and rice. To be honest, it was nothing particularly special. There are two more local favorites (conch salad, which apparently has a kind of cevice, and conch chowder) that we still have to try, but after that, it is KFC.

We learned something today; something about the Chesapeake. A boat come in and tied up behind us from Easton Maryland. Now Easton has some wonderful restaurants, but we have never been able to get there by boat, because the charts indicate there isn’t much deep water between the rest of the Chesapeake and Easton. But John Schroeder says there is like 12 foot depth between the rest of the Bay and Easton. It seems he owns a marina in town, so he ought to know. If it’s true, then we are on our way to Easton this summer if, for no other reason, than to enjoy the restaurants!

ANN’S NOTES:  I am getting to know my way around the town of Marsh Harbour…found a few more grocery stores all owned by the same family…the Maxwells. It is interesting to price certain items from store to store…example…fresh pineapple in the store where the locals shop is $2.95…the new, big Maxwells store that same pineapple is $5.95. Now…that pineapple came on the same boat…cost the same amount when bought in the states…BUT…ended up on different  produce sections at two different stores …owned by the same family.

One of the pleasures of traveling and boating is meeting different people. I‘m generally on the shy side unless I have a food or cooking question…and what better place to talk about food and cooking than in a grocery store. On the menu at the local restaurants is a dish called peas and rice…how hard can that be? So I knew there was more to this dish than just the ingredients…solution…ask a Bahamian woman…what a wonderful conversation we had. She took me by my shopping cart and added all that I needed to make this dish…plus a few of her secretsJ.  She also told me about a wonderful local bug repellent made with the leaves and oil from the Neem plant. All non-toxic and natural…I will try anything to keep the bugs off and away from me. For dinner, I did make the cracked conch for which Judy gave me the recipe at Fox Town. I pounded that ugly piece of meat – or is it fish? Not sure…it lives in a beautiful conch shell. Anyway…it was tender…sweet…and a lot of work…nice to know if we are ever ship wrecked and I have eggs, flour, vegetable oil, my electric frying pan and electricity…Michael can go out into the sea…bring back a few conchs and  we can have dinner . I still don’t know how they get the darn conch out of its shell…I am sure it is not an easy task…so I may have to learn that last step before I cook dinner.

It was good to be back in a marina to get the wash done…clean the boat and have TOAST for breakfast. I am calling Michael the Amp Nazi…he is just so cute writing down all those numbers. All is well as long as he gives me the amps I need to keep the bedside fan running at night. I do want to take the time to thank all the people that are reading this blog… I love reading your comments and it makes me feel like I am keeping in touch with all of you while we explore the Bahamas.