If You Don't Want to Spend Any Money...

...anchor off an island for a month or so. We wondered how much we would
spend while sailing. The aquisition of the boat and getting it 'kitted out'
was not cheap in any sense of the word, particularly because we were still
working and simply paid to have things done (in some instances money well
spent and in others (revarnishing of the interior) a complete waste of
money). We had no idea what the cost to live on it would be on a monthly
basis. This month's expenditures gave us a good picture of the day-to-day
costs for us to live aboard:

100 - 1/3 of the Bahamas entry fee (split over 3 months)
243 - Marina / diesel / water / wifi
72 - Dinner out
8 - Bimini Bread
9 - Rum (we ARE in the Bahamas!)
15 - Conch (yes, I know we could catch this ourselves, but we didn't know
this then and it is soooo good!)
39 - Lunch at Coolimae's in Bullock's Harbor
8 - Laundry
4 - Water
18 - Groceries
16 - Filleting knife (to replace the one that leapt overboard) and scissors
(so we're not using my 'good' scissors to cut up fish)
125 - 1/12th share of the total provisioning costs as we're not buying
weekly groceries, but are pulling from pre-purchased stores
45 - 15 gallons of diesel on top of what we purchased in Bimini
200 - 1/12th share of boat insurance
21 - 1/12th share of Sailmail (our HF radio email)
------
923 spent thus far this month

Anchoring out next to an island - free. If we don't break anything or pitch
anything overboard - no replacement cost. The chances are good that we will
have another two nights in a marina ($80) along with a top up of water,
fuel, possibly wifi. There will be a dinner out and a restock of fresh
fruits / veg / dairy. I think we'll end up somewhere in the $1200 range for
the month. Steve's going to build another financial model which will take
into account both the fixed and variable costs over the course of a year,
but I thought it was interesting to see what costs we incur when we're not
in 'fix up the boat' or 'shake it and break it' modes.

We're still anchored in our rolly little harbor off Alder's Cay. The wind
is settling down (we hope!) and we might be able to pick a direction soon.
Meanwhile we've entered books, movies, projects and cooking mode. I read
and Steve's reading 'Excavation' by James Rollins, a good buried treasure in
an underground South American tomb thriller. In between other things, I've
been reading Matthew Stein's 'When Technology Fails' which is a bit scary /
paranoid-ish, but a very interesting look at how fragile some of our
technology systems are (particularly electrical supply) and what can happen
when those things stop working. And having lived in Florida and in New
England, they do go down on a regular basis due to storms. Very interesting
how much of our supply chain is based upon electrical systems - try to get
gas when the power is out, if there's no gas food can't get in, if there's
no electricity houses can't be kept cool, water cannot be pumped, etc. The
book is basically an encyclopedia of how you deal with technology failures,
good to know.

While the wind was wooo-woooing in the rigging last night we watched 'The
Black Book', a movie about resistance efforts during the German occupation
of Holland during WWII. Supposedly based upon true events, it was mostly a
view of some of the horrible things people did to each other - turning each
other in, crossing sides, taking money from people trying to flee and then
turning them over to be killed. A very sad movie about the things people do
during wartime. Too sad, it won't make the 'watch again' list.

We've been very lucky to have wifi while here which is great to be able to
catch up with folks, even Skyped with Jess! Steve's working on the book and
I'm blogging. Cooking is being done by all with 'Poppa Steve's Special
Italian Pizza' last night, his crust recipe is excellent. Far better than
Dominos, don't think they'd deliver out here!

We've become big conch fans! I had only had conch in the form of conch
fritters in Key West (which are essentially Hush Puppies (bready dough
balls) with tiny bits of conch in them) or fried conch which tends to be
similar to calamari, not tons of taste and often rubbery. The 'real thing'
is nothing like that! I'm a shellfish fan and am thrilled to have another
type to add to my favourites. We bought a bag of conch in Bimini which
we've been making different meals from and it has been excellent! The other
night we made pasta with conch, simple and delicious!

Conch Pasta

1/2 to 1 cup Olive oil
1 1/2 tablespoons black pepper
12 to 14 cloves of garlic (chopped)
1 medium onion (chopped)
Rosemary sea salt
2 pieces of conch (pounded until tender and cut up into slices of about a
half inch)
Angel hair pasta, cooked

Over very low heat, cook the black pepper in the olive oil (I use enough to
generously cover the bottom of the pan and add more along the way) for 4 to
5 minutes to mellow the pepper and get rid of the raw taste. Add the onion,
saute until translucent. Add the garlic, saute until a golden color. Add a
bit more olive oil. Stir in the conch and cook for 3 minutes only! Turn
off the heat and add in the angel hair pasta and toss together. Serve with
a bit of salad and white wine. Steve had become a huge angel hair pasta fan
and says this is a new favourite!