Big Trouble, Storm & Fiestas

Fri. Nov. 11, 2011
It started off as a great birthday, Neil and I headed into town, and spent the morning and most of the afternoon with our friends Isabel and Russell.  It was their last day to be in town, as they were going to be in the states for Thanksgiving.  We took them to lunch, as a way to thank them for their generosity, and to say goodbye.  What a wonderful family they are, we will miss them.

After lunch, we headed back to the boat, to have a day of rest, as we knew there was a storm approaching on Saturday.  More and more boats started showing up in the afternoon, so they would be in a safe place for the storm.  By the time the afternoon was over, there was at least 30 boats in the bay.  After having been here for two whole weeks, we felt very confident, that our anchor was nice and solid, so we felt good about going to bed, and getting a good rest before Saturday, when the storm would hit. 

The winds started to pick up out of the north around 4:30 or so, and by 9:00 pm the winds had begun blowing at speeds of 20-25 knots.   We felt safe and fine with that, so off to bed we went.  At around 10:30 or so, the wind was causing some pretty crazy noises on our boat, as it whistled through our rigging, and so forth.  It made it pretty hard to have a good solid sleep, because it was pretty loud.  This would prove to be a very helpful thing…

At approximately 12:30 am, Neil woke up suddenly, due to some of the noises, and had a strong feeling he should go up and take a look.  When he got outside, he looked over to our starboard side, and noticed we were not more than about 25 feet from the boat next to us!  This was NOT the case when we went to bed.  Either the other boat (Pegasus) or us, was dragging anchor!!!

Fortunately, the skipper of the other boat, popped his head out, as well, and we were able to talk to him, and after looking at his GPS/anchor alarm, he said they had only moved about 10 feet.  This meant that Liahona had moved about 100-150 yards! YIKES!!  Well, with our engine in a not so stable condition, as we were still waiting for our parts from San Diego, Neil took a chance and told me to start the engine, and he would begin pulling up anchor to get out of the way.  SUCCESS!  The engine started right up…WHEW!  Okay, so we’re now able to start getting out of the way of the other boat, and Neil is pulling up the anchor line, nicely.  However, because we were now so close to the other boat, our anchor as it was being hoisted, began to cross their anchor line.  Neil shouted for me to hurry and put the boat into reverse, and gun it!

I did so immediately, and we started backing away from their boat.  Finally the anchor line released and Neil was able to pull it aboard.  Now that we were free, we motored over to a new spot, and dropped anchor once again.  This time, since we had a motor (for the time being) we were able to set the anchor much better, than when you do it under sail.  Neil also put out another 100 feet of road (anchor line)  Now, the sit and wait game.  We waited, and watched to make sure we were stuck, until about 2:30 am before we went back to bed.  As the winds howled around us, we stayed put!  Dodged a great big bullet tonight, thank you Heavenly Father, for that one! 

Sat. Nov. 12, 2011

Storm Day

We woke to winds of about 10-12 knots and still blowing from the north, which really isn’t too bad, but it was very cloudy. Many or most of the boats, began moving over to the south side of the bay, because the storm was to be coming from the south.  The mouth of Turtle Bay is just about perfect due south, so the large open bay area, nearest to the town, on the north west shore, isn’t the place to be for a storm coming that way.  It blows right at you in that direction.  So, this is the reason the boats began moving, because the south side of the bay is protected by the hills from the south blowing wind.  At any rate, Neil decided that since our hook was set, and we didn’t move during the night in fairly heavy winds, he didn’t want to move over.  He was worried that if our engine went out on our way across, then we’d be in the same situation as we were when we got here, which was to set the hook, under sail, instead….which though it took two weeks to do…we dragged anchor from that route.  So, decision being made, (bad decision #1) we stayed, along with probably at least 5 other sail boats, and maybe about 10 motor boats.  Bad decision #2:  I really, really, REALLY wanted to go to town, and get some things since we were going to be stuck on land and talk to my kids, because with the weather being the way it was, I hadn’t been able to speak to them in two days.  We started trying to hail a water taxi, and there was a lot of boats trying to do the same thing.  Oh, by the way, during the night, and on Friday afternoon, there began to be at least 30-40 motor yachts that came in, for the FUBAR, which is similar to the Baja Ha Ha for sailboats.  Now we have around 80 boats in the bay. Because the motor yachts were in the bay, there was a lot of fuel being needed, because those babies take A LOT OF FUEL!!  So, our water taxi guys were busy fueling boats up, and it took a really long time to get a taxi.  We had plenty of time now, to watch the storm come in, while we waited.  Once it came, we almost wished it hadn’t…(especially Neil) By this time, the wind was definitely coming from the south, and was blowing at least 20 knots.  The water taxi, was bouncing all over heck!  Trying to get onto the taxi, from our moving boat, was quite a challenge, and once Neil was on the taxi, I had no choice but to get on too.  Can I just tell you…this was one of the most terrifying experiences I’ve ever had, hence bad decision #2.  Who’s idea was this anyway??!!  The good news is, I made it, but it was a rough, rough panga ride.  Once in town, though, it wasn’t too bad.  We got our stuff done, and hung out a little bit with the cruisers at the palapa, then talked to the kids for a minute, but the internet on land wasn’t so good either. We now headed back to the boat, as it was getting close to dark.  Once we were safely back on the boat, we fired up the generator, and I began trying to make dinner.  THAT WAS FUN!  Wow!  The boat was rockin’ and a rollin’ by now, with winds up to about 25-30 knots.  Once I was finally done with dinner (with several breaks to lie down from feeling seasick) we ate out on the deck, because it was really hard to be inside, with that much movement.  After dinner though, we had no choice but to come inside to get warm. We were both really tired, and with all the movement, we really just wanted to go to bed, but it was only about 7:00, so we decided to watch a movie.  About 1 hour into the movie, all of a sudden Neil ran up top to get sick! That NEVER happens, it’s usually me that does that.  Poor guy.

We chose, at that point, to go to bed.  Sleep was not in the cards though tonight…

We laid there for not more than 10 minutes before Neil was up looking to make sure we hadn’t moved any (sounds are so much louder down below) Nope, all is well, other than the constant rocking and rolling.  So, back to bed.  10 minutes later…back out on the deck, so forth and so on…you get the idea.  All night checking the situation out, every 10-15 minutes, it was a long night!  At about 10:30 on one of the occasions Neil went out again, I heard him holler for me to come outside, he yelled “a boat is going down!”  I ran up top, and looked out to the starboard side, and sure enough, we saw a sailboat going down.  The mast was at about a 45% angle, and the back end of the boat was beginning to pop up into the air.  As we watched, both in silence, we came to the realization that it was, at least, the derelict boat that had just been left by someone in the bay two years back.  It obviously had some holes, as it was going down.  Only 10 minutes went by before it completely sank.  The back end shot straight up into the air, we could even see the keel, then it went straight down!  The only evidence in the morning was about 5-6 feet of the mast, sticking up out of the water, because the bay isn’t very deep.

Wow!  What an eerie feeling it is to watch a boat sink, thank goodness though, there was no one in it!  The rest of the night, was as described above, though by around 2:30 am we were able to sleep a little bit longer between checks.  When we woke on Sunday morning, it was beautiful and sunny, and the wind and waves were very calm.  We found out later, that those folks who wandered to the other side of the bay, had a very restful, and peaceful night for the most part.  J   Lesson learned!

Other boats, and stormy bay

Stormy bay

Mast of sunken boat

Mast of sunken boat, close-up

Sun. Nov. 13, 2011

Once we awoke, and had had our breakfast, we grabbed a water taxi and went over to town, we definitely needed to get off the boat for bit, after the crazy night we’d just had.

Basically we just sat around on shore today, we had a little get together with the other cruisers later in the day, then most of them took off to prepare for leaving in the morning.  The few of us that decided to stay for Monday as well, decided to have a little fish tacos on the beach party.  It was delicious! The guys had purchased some freshly caught sea bass, and boy was it good!  That’s pretty much it for today, we were tired, and went back to the boat afterward, and just slept like babies.

River running through the beach cantina

If you look just under the palm tree on the right, where the water line begins, just over the dock, you can see a rainbow.

Yea for fish tacos on the beach!!

Mon. Nov. 14, 2011

Today, was back on land day again, we hung out at the palapa most of the day with our new friends Kyra (spelling?) and Rick, Dave and LeAnn (again with the spelling??), Ed and Teri, and a few others.  Kallel, and Isreal (Pampa) our local boys, helped us with a little “Fiesta” David had cooked up for the local boys and girls.  He and LeAnn bought a piñata, and a bunch of candy and we all went in on it, and then Teri and Ed, got some cake and frosting, and we put together a pretty nice little party for them, it was so fun!  Afterward, we went back to the boat for another really good night’s sleep.

Tio Hector

LeAnn & Tio Hector

Local kids, getting soda!

Raising the pinata

Pampa frosting the cake

Pinata party begins!

David raising and lowering the pinata, Kalel (on the left)

Candy galore!!!

it's a mad dash to get it all!

serving cake (pastel)

Dave & LeAnn

Ed & Teri

Tues. Nov. 15, 2011

Today was getting our parts day, finally!!  We waited around until about 3:00 before Talpa, and her husband got home, so we did our shopping and preparing for our last “fiesta” on the beach while we waited.  After receiving the parts, we promptly went back to the boat, to get the hose put on.  Rick was so kind to do it for us, as Neil still doesn’t quite fit into that back hatch yet, (we’re both working on it) anyway, he put it on in about an hour.  We thanked him profusely, then headed up to the palapa for our sail away party.  We had a great time, and once again had fresh fish tacos, it was mui delisioso!!  Once back at the boat, Neil prepared the filters for changing, first thing in the morning. Night night! 

The guys being our guys, on our last night in Turtle Bay

The last BBQ on the beach in Turtle Bay

Wed. Nov 16, 2011

 Started off this morning, getting ready to go, Neil changed the filters, and bled the line, but somehow, we’re still having trouble keeping the engine going?  We’ve bled the line now, 4 different times, and it hasn’t helped. L But, the wind is very favorable for leaving so, we’re off anyway.  He will continue to try to fix it, once we’re underway.  It just seems like there is so much air in the line still??  Anyway, just now we’re battening down the hatches, and preparing to leave.  Turtle Bay has been wonderful, and such a great experience, we hate to say goodbye….but…GOODBYE TURTLE BAY, we hope to return again sometime soon!

Back in School!

Tues. - Thurs. Nov 8-10, 2011

For the past three days, I’ve had the wonderful opportunity to volunteer at the local Elementary school.  I had mentioned a few days back, that I would love to volunteer at the schools, especially in the area of special education, as that was my specialty back in the states. Isabel mentioned that there is not really much of a special education program here.  The teachers were feeling a little frustrated, because though the special ed. teachers have training for things like kids with learning disabilities, or downs syndrome, etc, they didn’t have anything at all in place for kids with behavioral issues.  Voila!!  This was music to my ears, because this was something I happen to have a lot of experience with.  I don’t know if it was just coincidence that the help they need, just happens to be the one thing I used to be pretty good at??...but, something in the universe was working right…lol.  I worked for many years back in the states, in the “behavioral disorder” area, of special education, before I became a chef. This was something I definitely felt I had the confidence to help them with, and was looking forward to meeting Professor Filipe, the Elementary Special Ed Instructor.  Tuesday, I met with Filipe, and with the help of Isabel and her translation talents, I was able to teach Filipe about a behavior modification plan that I’d had a lot of success with in the classroom. We got right to work, and Professor Filipe was so excited to have something that may be useful in helping these kids.  It’s a lot of work though, and required my coming back on Wednesday and Thursday to finish up the details.  We had a lot of fun.  The community here, is so wonderful, and they are so appreciative.  I don’t know who learned more though, these past few days…them or me?  They have been taking the time to teach me their language, and really going out of their way to do so, and I really, really appreciate it, and I’m having so much FUN!!

Tuesday, Nov 8. First meeting with Professor Filipe

Wed. Nov 9, first day of putting the plan down on paper. Beatriz, is Filipe's assistant (shown left)

Beatriz putting the prototype together for the board

Thurs. Nov 10. Meeting with the other teachers, and the Principal to present the program

Luckily the plan was a success, and they plan to impliment it by Monday!

 Neil is having fun too, by the way…LOL!! 

Neil says to say, don’t worry about him.  While I’ve been working, he’s been checking out all the local Taco Stands, ha ha! We have actually been spending so much time with Russell and Isabel, their hospitality simply astounds us!  They are amazing people, and have quickly become dear friends.  Thursday, (today) Isabel and her sister Shina, took me over to their mama’s house, after our school day, and taught me to make “real Mexican tortillas”  (not the ones in the United States, that are dry and “no bueno” they said)  They taught very well, although I don’t know how good of a student I was, because I needed to use the little tortilla press, and they didn’t need to…they said I will get better if I just practice.  I had to laugh, because usually I’m pretty darn good in the kitchen, but I was a little clumsy with those tortillas.  Shina said “tu examine manana!” (Tomorrow your examination!)  So, I guess I will have a tortilla making exam tomorrow morning, too much fun!

It's harder than it looks...I promise!

Cheesy grin....ugh!

Neil had some success today with our engine, I’m happy to report.  He was able to get the engine running, and it stayed running, and sounded really good.  He said we definitely still need a filter, but after cleaning the one we had, in town yesterday, he was sure that’s what it was now.  So, as luck would have it, today while he was waiting for me at the school, a man named Simon came looking for Neil.  He was sent by another man that was in town, and said to Neil that he also had a hunter with a yanmar engine, and he had an extra filter.  So, Neil was able to finally put in a good filter.  We are still going to wait until Tuesday to leave though, as we’re going to wait for the filters we ordered from Isabel’s sister to get here, and there is a storm that is coming our way.  It should be gone by Monday, and then Neil and I can install the exhaust hose, then be on our way on Tuesday morning.  We are looking forward to seeing what else is out there, but It will be hard to say goodbye to the many people we’ve met, and have come to love.  

Hanging by the Ankles!

Monday, Nov. 7, 2011

Today Neil received a email from our awesome boat mechanic, Mike, from Southern Cross Marine Services.  The email explained what Mike thought our problem was, saying the fuel filter was one issue,  but also the exhaust hose.  Mike has been so great to email us back so quickly any time we need anything, or have any questions.  He really is the VERY BEST, so if you’re ever in need of a great diesel mechanic and just an all around great guy….he’s the one to call.   619-405-7414 

So, after MUCH effort, on the part of our friend David, we had that exhaust hose in hand, and were ready to take it to town, to see if there was any way they could get the part. 

As soon as we walked into the local auto parts store, (which we have been to several times now) the man behind the counter said “ayy!  No mangerra aqi, es mucho grande!”  Translation: Oy!  No hose here, it’s too big!!”  So, we turned ourselves around, and walked to Isabel’s house, in hopes that she could get her people from Ensenada to order the hose, as well as the filters. 

Success!....sort of.  She said the guy from Ensenada could for sure get the filters, but wasn’t too sure about the hose, he was going to have to research it.  We should know tomorrow whether or not it can be sent, as well.  We’re going to come back over to Isabel’s tomorrow to find out, since I’m going to be working with the local Special Ed teacher then, anyway.  So, unfortunately, since we had the hose off…we had to get it back on, so we wouldn’t be taking on water for the week, while we’re waiting for our parts.  Poor David!  He’s so sweet to get down in that hole, once again.  Neil is just too big though, to get down in that hole, and I am worthless when it comes to mechanics, we both are hoping to lose some serious weight on this journey, as sailboats have many small spaces, and it makes it hard to get into them, when you're a larger person...so, here's to hoping!  I would have taken a picture of David in the hole, but I just didn’t have the heart to snap it, with him hanging by his ankles, to help us out…lol.  I didn’t think that would be very neighborly. J  I did, however make them Dinner.  It was going to be Sam and David’s last night here in Turtle Bay, anyway, so it was fun to send them off with a good, hot meal! 

After we got the hose cleaned out, and replaced (for now, until we get the new one) David had Neil start up the engine, and though it was still sputtering a little bit at first, and we had a little smoke as well, it did stay running for a while, and sounded more and more normal.  Neil only let it run though, for a few minutes, then we turned it off, but it does appear, at least for now, that cleaning out that exhaust hose was helpful.  That’s all for today folks. 

Life on Turtle Bay

Thurs. Nov. 3, 2011

Today we went into town with our friends, Sam and David, to do some very important work for the police dept. of the town. Yesterday, we learned from our new friend Isabel, who lives here in Turtle Bay, with her husband Russell, and their beautiful baby girl, Faith, that the local police dept. doesn’t have even basic first aid knowledge.  We were shocked to hear this!  They don’t even have a working ambulance, or appropriate medical supplies.  They have one health clinic in town, (very small, and very basic) that provides service only to those with their membership, which is $300 per month, or more for the average Mexican family.  Most families don’t have this insurance, as they can’t afford it. This facility absolutely WILL NOT see you, if you don’t have their insurance.  It doesn’t matter if there was a major car accident, or heart attack, stroke….you WILL NOT be seen if you don’t belong to their group.  So, the average family, just does what everybody else does, they pray nothing serious will happen to them, and when and if it does, they travel to the nearest hospital, which is 4 hours away.  The townspeople (Isabel, and her friends) have started a co-op, in which a group of people get together, and try to solve problems according to the needs of the people.  When our friends, Sam and David heard about this, Sam immediately volunteered to teach a basic first aid class, to the school, and also to the police dept.  We volunteered to help as well.  First, Sam and I headed into town with Isabel, to purchase some fabric, to make cravats with. (these are for making a sling, tourniquet, or for tying a splint) They only have one fabric store in town, with a very nice lady who runs it, out of her home.  She was kind enough to give a “discount” since it was for charity. 

After purchasing the fabric, we went to Isabel’s mother’s home (Maria) and cut them out and stitched them.  Maria was so wonderful to allow us to use her home, not only for the sewing, but also for the class, which was to follow.

Then we started the class, at 4 pm, ALL of the police officers for the town, were present.  We had a total of 8 in the class.  Sam, instructed them in basic information; choking, bleeding, shock, broken bones, how to use the cravats, and things you can use, that may be around, if you don’t have the proper supplies, such as sticks for splints, etc. 

They were all soaking it up, like a sponge!  It was great!  They were so appreciative to us, for taking our time to teach them, just the simplest of things.  David and Sam, even left one of their battery operated blood pressure machines with them.  It was a wonderful way to spend a day!

Another thing we did that day was learn to properly fillet a fish. Russell, Isabel’s husband, runs the only bait shop in town, and took the time to instruct Neil and I, in the art of filleting a yellowtail. This would be VERY IMPORTANT information, we would soon find out!....

Friday Nov. 4, 2011

I went fishing today!!  Last night, after we were learned how to fillet a yellowtail, Russ told us that Isabel’s uncle, was looking for someone to take fishing with him.  So, Neil and David told Sam and I that we could go.  Hector picked us up around 7 am, in his panga, and off we went.  It was a pretty overcast morning, so he told us the fishing wasn’t going to be as good.  We totally didn’t care, we were just excited for yet another fun experience!  It sure didn’t take long though, I swear, not 5 minutes after he had our poles rigged, I got a bite.  Man!  It was a fighter too!  That fish took me over 10 minutes to reel in.  He was mui fuerte!!! (very strong)  I landed him though…thanks to good ‘ol Hector…lol.  Hector said the fish was probably around 9 kilos, which is around 25 lbs or so!!??!!  Wow!!  I was super stoked!

Not long after I reeled my fish in, Sam got a hit.  She didn’t have as much line out, (or her fish just wasn’t as strong as mine…tee hee) because it didn’t take as long for her to get him in.  Her fish was about the same size as mine, actually.  We called them the “twins”  Hector was right though, not very good fishing that day, as those were the only two bites we got. So, we headed back to the boats.  Sam and I thanked Hector, and offered him some pesos for taking us out there, and teaching us the ropes. We also gave him one of the fish, because there was no way for either of us, to be able to keep that much meat on board. Russ and Isabel, were kind enough to allow Neil and I to keep our half of the fish in their freezer on shore, as Sam and David, do have a little freezer on their boat.  Later that evening, Neil and I grilled a couple of fish steaks on the bbq.  I used achiote paste, and orange juice to marinate them in, with just a touch of garlic, they were delicious!  Yep….it was another great day in Turtle Bay!!

Uncle Hector

I'm telling ya...he was a real fighter!!

Saturday, Nov. 5, 2011

We keep thinking that there is no way, that the new day could top the previous one, but…
We were wrong again!

Today we went with Isabel’s sister Shina (Shee-nah) to their fish camp “campito”.  She had invited us last night, as a thank you for teaching them the first aid stuff.  Russell and Isabel had already left for the camp, and were there already, but had said for the four of us, to use their other car, to follow Shina out there.  Can you believe it??  These people trusted us (strangers, essentially) with their car??  We were shocked and amazed!  This would NEVER happen in the states!?  We were so excited to head out though, and we did, around 10:30 am, we followed Shina out to the camp.  Shina’s husband, Umberto works there as a lobster fisherman.  It’s a very small camp on the point of a small peninsula, not more than 30 minutes from Turtle Bay.  There are about 10-11 very small, very rustic homes on the camp.  Shina and her husband had a very nice, “camp home” they had built there.

We looked over the scenery, just trying to take it all in.  It was so beautiful!  We also watched the local fishermen do their thing, they’re such hard workers!

Lobster Traps

Hard working Fisherman

When we got back to Shina’s house, we offered to help her in the kitchen, and she of course said, it wasn’t necessary, but we insisted. Saying that we wanted to learn how the locals prepared their food, etc.  She laughed and said, that was okay then. J

It was so fun cooking with them in their kitchen!  We learned some very yummy things.  First, we learned to fry lobster.  This is something Neil and I had never heard of doing.  It was so cool how she did it though, just a little Mexican oregano, salt and pepper on the tail she had cut in half, then turned them into the frying pan with some vegetable oil, for about 5 minutes, until they started to get a nice golden brown, then she turned them over (shell side down) and let them finish cooking for about another 10 minutes or so.  She said, this way, they don’t lose their natural juices.  We also got to help her make the “caldo de rez” (beef soup)  which was unbelievably tasty, yet was so darn simple!  (Recipe will follow)

lobster tails, cut in half

frying, flesh side down

(from left to right) Shina, Isabel, Neil

frying shell side down

caldo de rez

Caldo de Rez

1 lb. of carne (flat meat, beef) cooked thru, then cut into pieces

1 chayote (potato like, squash) diced

2 C. baby carrots

2 potatoes, diced

1 corn on the cob, cut into 4 pieces

1 lg. onion, diced

2 tomatoes, diced

1/2 bunch of cilantro, chopped

1 C. rice (un-cooked)

2 tsp. vegetable oil

5 cloves of garlic, minced

2 qts. water

2 T. chicken boullion powder

salt & pepper to taste

Place the water in a large stock pot, then add the minced garlic, and a little salt.  Set on high heat to boil.  Add the potatoes, and chiote, first, and cook for 5 minutes. Now add the carrots, and the corn on the cob.  In a seperate bowl, place the diced onions, tomatoes, and cilantro.  In a small skillet, with the vegetable oil, saute the onions/tomatoes mixture, along with the un cooked rice.  Stir continuosly until the rice is slightly brown, then add to the soup. Then add the chicken boullion, and salt and pepper to taste, and let the soup simmer on low for about 20-25 minutes, or until the rice is tender.

______________________

I had made a devil’s food chocolate cake, the night before, that we brought with us, to share.  So after the lobsters were done, and the fresh guacamole, etc. we set to eating our lobster tacos.  They were DELICIOUS!!!!  I can’t even describe how fresh, and wonderful they were….I don’t even care for lobster that much, usually, and I totally LOVED it!  They took the lobster meat out of the shell, placed it into a nice freshly grilled tortilla, then spread mayonnaise on it, then finished it off with some fresh chile.  That was it, nothing to it! Yet soooo wonderful!  Thankfully they loved the cake too, though it hardly compared to the tacos by a long shot!  Neil and David also had the opportunity to help Russell put up a lattice fence around Shina's porch.  They did a really good job too. The children were so fun to spend time with, as well, especially since we’re missing ours, and our grandchildren.  Shina’s oldest daughter Kitsia (Kit-see-ya) has downs syndrome, and she was being Sam’s (the “gringa’s)  “professor de Espanol” that day.  She would read in her book, and tell Sam to say it back to her, and if she didn’t get the pronunciation perfect, she would say “no, do it again!”  LOL, it was so cute! 

(from left to right) Faith, Kitsia, Kristi

Beautiful Kitsia!

Once again, we had a day to top the rest!  It was so fun, just seeing how happy, and content these wonderful people are!  We are enjoying their hospitality, and their example of what it really means to behave like a Christian.  We were accepted into their family, with open arms and smiling faces! 

Thanks to our Father in Heaven for blessing us with this great experience!!

Sunday Nov. 6, 2011

Today we just slept in, and lounged around the boat.  It was great!  We were hoping to go to the local LDS branch, but found out it isn’t so “local” (about 114 miles away) so we decided to just have church onboard….lol.  It was nice, Neil read a talk from conference, and we even sang a song.  Other than that, we just had a lazy day.  I made crab and corn chowder for dinner, and it was super yummy, if I do say so! (Recipe to follow)

We’re planning to refill water tanks tomorrow, and because we’re still having a fuel filter problem, they are bringing the water to us.  Hopefully the new fuel filters will be here in few days. That’s pretty much it for today. 

Corn & Crab Chowder

1 can crab meat
1 can corn
2 cooked potatoes, peeled & diced
1 med. onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
16. oz. of heavy cream
16 oz. chicken stock
1/4 C. butter or margarine
2 T. flour
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
salt & pepper, to taste

Make a roux, by placing the butter in the bottom of a heavy pot, until completely melted, and just starting to bubble, now add the flour, and whisk in until completely smooth.  Continue whisking until the roux becomes very lightly brown, in color.  Now add the stock and the cream and stir well.  Once you've combined the roux with the liquids, you can now add the crab, corn, potatoes, and spices.  In a small skillet, saute the onions and garlic, in just a little oil, then add to the soup.  Let simmer on low, stirring occasionally for about 10-15 minutes.  Enjoy!