Blogging by Moonlight

Sitting in the cockpit watching the first signs of sunset appear before me and the reflections of a mostly full moon off the water behind me, and marveling at how beautiful early mornings can be. Watching another sailboat in the distance (I can just see its steaming lights and mast) as it arrives from across the banks.

The temperatures have improved and we're finally wearing fewer clothes. It's warm enough for shorts, t-shirts and swimsuits now, consistently. Finally, no wooly sweaters and bobble hats! It's warm even in the early morning before it gets light. The winds still aren't quite right for sailing across the Banks. Steve isn't that interested in motoring for 80 miles and neither am I, especially after motoring 50 from Miami, so we'll wait a bit until the wind comes around a little more to from the south before heading across to the Berry Islands.

Yesterday was a productive one! After rolling all night, we upped anchor and moved to the other side of Cat Cay. As we left the anchorage, we threw out the fishing line from the rod we've been using and the Cuban reel (which is a 10 inch plastic yo-yo with fishing line wrapped around it). I'm interested in comparing the fish catching ability of the rod versus the Cuban reel as the rod cost $100 and the Cuban reel cost $2.99. We'll need a bit more than one day's data, but if yesterday was an example we'll stick with the rod! We had just left the anchorage and the tip of the rod was curved over, there was a fish! Steve pulled it in and we went through the 'Fish Identification Process' (FIP) because when we catch these things we don't have a clue what they are! FIP - Pull the fish out of the water, run for the 'fish picture', examine all the fish on the fish picture, "is it this, that, maybe it's that", pull out the 'fish book', go back to the fish picture, until we figure out what we have. Nope, it's a barracuda, yuk, know they can be good eating, but boney, throw it back. Okay, now what do we do, this thing has teeth and is flapping wildly about. Pliers and 'barbeque tongs' to the rescue. I held the line and Steve used the tongs to hold the fish still and the pliers to get the hook out. Back to the sea for you, barracuda.

A bit of excitement there and then shortly thereafter 'something big' grabbed the hook and zing! the line ran out, but it was one of those 'phantom fish' that make you leap up, get all excited and rush to the rod only to quickly disappear leaving no sign that it was ever there. As we came through the cut between Gun Cay and Cat Cay, the end of the rod dipped again, this time by quite a bit. Steve was steering through a rather tricky area so I slowly and quietly (never distract the captain with a fish when he is navigating around rocks) started to reel in the line. Once we got into safer waters, Steve took over and reeled in a lovely pompano (at least we think it was a pompano from the picture). Into the freezer for you, boyo!

We anchored just off the very posh and very private marina at Cat Cay, lots of boat money there. There are some beautiful houses on the island and a private airport. A lot of palm trees have been planted and it looks very tropical island. We puttered about, Steve filleting the fish and me making bread. Now my bread making efforts have not been incredibly successful to date, although I am very good at producing a flat, hard, yet oddly tasty loaf which looks nothing like a 'proper loaf' should. I had found a recipe for no knead, easiest bread ever in the New York Times (Steve sniffs at that, "Ah, yes, that well known purveyor of epicurean news.") and tried it. It takes 18-24 hours to make, but actually was pretty easy.

Recipe: No-Knead Bread

3 cups all-purpose or bread flour, more for dusting
¼ teaspoon instant yeast
1¼ teaspoons salt
Cornmeal or wheat bran as needed.

1. In a large bowl combine flour, yeast and salt. Add 1 5/8 cups water, and stir until blended; dough will be shaggy and sticky. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let dough rest at least 12 hours, preferably about 18, (I waited 24) at warm room temperature, about 70 degrees.
2. Dough is ready when its surface is dotted with bubbles. Lightly flour a work surface and place dough on it; sprinkle it with a little more flour and fold it over on itself once or twice. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rest about 15 minutes.
3. Using just enough flour to keep dough from sticking to work surface or to your fingers, gently and quickly shape dough into a ball (it's still really sticky here). Generously coat a cotton towel (not terry cloth) with flour, wheat bran or cornmeal; put dough seam side down on towel and dust with more flour, bran or cornmeal. Cover with another cotton towel and let rise for about 2 hours. When it is ready, dough will be more than double in size (mine only rose a bit) and will not readily spring back when poked with a finger.
4. At least a half-hour before dough is ready, heat oven to 450 degrees. Put a 6- to 8-quart heavy covered pot (cast iron, enamel, Pyrex or ceramic) (I used a regular loaf pan, didn't let it heat for that long and covered it in tin foil, boat limitations) in oven as it heats. When dough is ready, carefully remove pot from oven. Slide your hand under towel and turn dough over into pot, seam side up; it may look like a mess, but that is O.K. Shake pan once or twice if dough is unevenly distributed; it will straighten out as it bakes. Cover with lid and bake 30 minutes, then remove lid and bake another 15 to 30 minutes, until loaf is beautifully browned. Cool on a rack.

Oh, my goodness, was it good! Perfect colour, crispy on the outside and soft / fluffy on the inside! Could have eaten the entire loaf in one sitting! Dinner was fresh fish in browned butter, butternut squash (the oven was on and Steve ADORES butternut squash), tomatoes with olive oil and rosemary seasalt, and FRESH BREAD!