For offshore sailors - Why friends ashore are Critical!

Baby boy toque

Darwin's nudibranch

thececara darwinii nudibranch eating coralline algae

 Who would have known that a baby's head circumference is 36 cm at birth? And why would I need to know it?

Over the last few months, the thrust of this 2-yr trip changed dramatically when my daughter Hope asked me to hurry back to help look after her three children and a small squad of pets (including chickens) as she and her husband Darin will need to be in Ottawa (2 hours from their home) for the delivery of a 4th (and seemingly unexpected) grandchild.
Since then, the 'little one' keeps adding stress to our lives by warning that it might arrive early!

 Luckily, we are now experiencing the very best of tradewinds and are probably going to arrive earlier than we had predicted. Larry will park the boat in Honolulu and toil endlessly fixing, buying parts and possibly even varnishing while I enjoy family time in Ontario.
So now Granny is on the way, and knitting up a storm over the Pacific. The little lacy cap that I made is only 34 cm. BUT wait - a baby girl's head circumference is just 35 cm - so perhaps the girl's cap will be just fine. My daughter prefers that this baby (like the 3 earlier editions) arrives as a surprise, so Granny is making a unisex layette - I'm using the appearance of one of my favourite Patagonian creatures - the Darwin Nudibranch as inspiration.

It's a perfect creature to model a unisex outfit. Here's a little doggerel I wrote about him/her:
We went down to the depths to visit a friend
… of singular appearance
He sends back to us a message of clearance…
For his name, which he accepts with good grace
Given by his 'discoverer' within the human race.

We've been asked to report back from Darwin the Dorid
That other presumptions we've got are really quite horrid
Despite his waistcoat of white and the odd ill-spaced dot.
The yellow frills and bow-tie appearance are a defense, don't you see?
"Eat me, and you'll get dire results gastrically!
Altho I'm told you might find me quite bent
I'm not HE or SHE but "IT"
All parts self-contained, a happy hermaphrodit!"

A lacy cap will not do for a boy baby so now I need a pattern to knit a toque of the right size. Well - if you don't know what a toque is - you'd better GOOGLE it - it is an essential part of one's wardrobe in the Canadian winter.
How do I find a pattern for knitting a masculine-looking white and blue toque? Without Google?

Answer: FRIENDS. My friend Kathleen H in Sechelt British Columbia received three urgent letters in the middle of the night. By googling the internet she supplied me with the answers within a day.

L or R-buttoning Baby Cardigan w lacy cap

Sometimes answers to far more pressing questions have been supplied by appealing to friends ashore. David L in Edmonton kept us safe during the NW Passage by accessing weather and ice information on a daily (and sometimes almost hourly) basis.

How do we spend all this time aboard? Well … just staying upright in the conditions we're in now takes a lot of effort. It's so hot that I cooked on my night watch (12pm to 4am). The motion can lead to a few disasters. I rarely cook without getting a minor burn somewhere. Weird things happen when you have a great deal of motion. I recently found a vinegar bottle with no cap; a metal part for my pressure cooker went missing yesterday; last night I placed the kettle on the big towel we're keeping over the freezer because the condensation is so extreme and in a sudden lurch, the kettle flipped over and spilled a lot of hot water. Luckily the towel was there.

Teddy Bear cardigan w toque

Reading recipe books is always a welcome way to spend time! I've started trying to get all cooking accomplished just after I get up on my cooking day. So four days ago I made Chicken and Asparagus Stir-fry (p.280 Great Pressure Cooker cookbook). It was fabulous, even though I had to use tinned asparagus. Somehow the vegetables tinned in Chile seem fresher and retain more crispness than those from N America or the other Austral lands. Two days ago, on Monday morning by 9:30 I had made both the Barley Salad with Parsley, Almonds and Lemon (p. 442) and the Chicken and Cashew "Stir-Fry" (p. 281). The only green herb I had left was mint, so I made the salad with mint and had to use bottled lemon juice. I also left out the almonds as we'll get all those cashews in the main course. I used the ersatz hoisin sauce the chefs mentioned - luckily I have some 5-Spice powder. Both dishes were ensconced in the 'fridge and served cold at both lunch and dinner. Our meals for today were cooked on my 12-4a.m. watch and are now cooling in the 'fridge.

 I made the 'Spicy Pork Shoulder and Peanut Stew (p. 192) and this will last for 2 dinners. There'll be shrimp wraps for our lunch today.

Crocheted diaper  bag w adjustable strap

There are several pieces of print that are NEVER welcome on a small boat far offshore. Opening up your computer and reading "Updates are ready for your computer" or Norton's "Security check recommended" are persistent nuisances. You'd think the fact you haven't GOT internet and CAN'T GET IT as it doesn't exist 1,000 miles from civilization would have ascended up the ranks to Bill and the other supposedly brilliant nerds!


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At 2018-03-07 19:45 (utc) our position was 09°45.40'N 127°53.10'W