Washington and beyond

So, we flew, walked, car-pooled, sailed, cycled, bus-ed, train-ed, hitch-hiked, metro-ed, taxi-ed, ferry-ed, electric-car-ed, rowed, and walked some more on our way south.

But eventually it was time to take a big leap and we had to fly again. To get to the airport, we had to car-pool for half an hour, take a commuter train for another hour, jump into a metro for a couple of stops, wait a shuttle bus for an hour and take the bus for another hour. Ouch! One would expect better connection to the airport in Washington D.C.

Homesteading in Baltimore

Cute Ruby on the Ferry tour of Baltimore harbour

Over the weekend we spent some quality time with good friends from our days at Michigan State University. Angie is an anthropologist who now runs a small home-based business for environmentally conscious parents (Urban Homesteaders) and Daniel is a journalist working with refugees in a local NGO.

To pass the long and frozen winter months in Michigan we had a tradition with Dan and Angie: long dinners with fondue and arghileh. Of course, muggy fall in Maryland didn't provide the proper setting to remember old times.

Instead, we walked around, went for a stroll through the neighborhood to see a little bit of their neck of the woods, played with daughter Ruby, and learned some German. Let me back up and explain something. Angie is originally from Baltimore and Daniel is from Germany. Ruby has learned both languages and, like some Arabic speakers I know, sometimes interchanges between the two, often within the same sentence. Lucía got to practice her rusty German, but for me it was sometimes a challenge!

NY, NY. Third Take: The (Mostly) Good

If there's something to say about NY is that it cramps a lot of different forms of life in a small space.

And, as always, it was the people who were the highlight. Not the high-end stores, the fancy restaurants. Certainly not the beauty (among the big US cities I know, I would pick Chicago or SFO anytime). The city didn't live to its reputation of having a bunch of pushy, rude dwellers who don't care about their fellow human beings. On the contrary, they were nice, open, helpful, caring, trusting and friendly. Partial proof of that were the places we stayed.

Great art pieces everywhere in Tami's place.

Thanks to AirBnB we stayed in the apartments of two born-again NYorkers. One a Jamaican, the other a Portland (OR) transplant. Both artists (Tami, a jewelry designer, and Debbie, a clothing and accessories designer) with very interesting homes. Super flexible with our last-minute, scrambling-to-get-accommodation needs, and they left their apartments basically to ourselves. Debbie's was by far the cleanliest and delightfully decorated place we stayed on our whole trip.

NY, NY. Second Take: The (Mostly) Bad

NY is not an easy-going city. You don't just drop-by on NY. To visit her, you need to plan, organize, coordinate. We didn't, and suffered the consequences.

Had to get NY's metro system like the palm of my hand

All in all I was seriously underwhelmed by the big, bright apple. This might be anathema to many; certainly it is to the eight million people living there who tend to be hard core about the greatness of the city. But surprisingly it is also the case for many non-NYorkers who swear to love NY. 'How can you not?' was the accusatory response I got after I posted the 'underwhelmed' remark on Facebook.

I blame it on having missed out on everything.

Prospect Park, in Brooklyn, a recommendation by two very different sources and conveniently within walking distance from our apartment, had just held its last event for the summer and was basically closed for the season. You could still wander around -which we did, plenty, as we got lost-, but completely empty it was slightly heavier on the spooky side than on the relaxing one.

New York, New York!

Ahoy maties!

We've been in New York city for a number of days having arrived on Monday. We'll be here till Friday when we head down to Baltimore to visit some friends. And we have yet to take a day to sit and relax in one spot: we've been walking all over the place to see as much as we can of New York.

Hull: The Little Town That Could

If there's something you have to thank CouchSurfing for, is that it takes you to the most unexpected places and puts you in contact with amazing people you would have never met otherwise. And that's how we ended up in Hull, Massachusetts, a little town on a peninsula across from Boston, at the house of Michael and Judeth.

Walking on Sunshine

[To be read while listening to the music of this video]

What can you do in Hull? Well, given that Hull is on a long, thin peninsula surrounded by ocean there's probably more seaside per sq.meter of town than most towns in the world. And it was sunny. What to do? Walking on sunshine, of course! Saturday happened to be the Endless Summer Festival. That meant there was music and food and people walking to go with the sun and the walking. What a perfect lazy day.

 Loved Michelle's idea of drawing a sketch - sometimes a much better memento than a photo. We stopped at this restaurant for dessert and coffee. Lovely view of the marina, on the protected side of the town.

Miles and miles of white sand beaches to walk on. Open to the North Atlantic.

Have to train kids on all things boaty since they're young.

Hull is all about the sea.

Wharfs, boats, marinas, seafood, kayaks, ships, docks, lobster traps, buoys ... - the sea everywhere.

Touristing around Portland, Maine: happy feet

Luckily, Portland is a lovely place! Lots of history, lots of character, and very hospitable people... a great place to be tourists - something we haven't done much so far.

So, what have we done in the last couple of days? Well ... we walked and walked and walked... to the point  that we have worn out the heels of our shoes!

Kitchen Series #6 - Thainese (Thai & Japanese)

Luego de tres semanas de dieta forzada en el barco no me sorprendió lo que la balanza me dijo cuando me pesé: 3 kilos menos. No mucho para muchos, mucho para mí.

Primer orden de cosas cuando nos bajamos del barco fue engordarme. ¡Y qué mejor manera que con comida asiática!

Aunque en Vancouver hay a razón de 3 restaurantes japoneses y chinos por cuadra, la costa este de Norteamérica, con menos población asiática, tiene que combinar las cocinas asiáticas para atraer suficiente clientela.

Una de las mejores combinaciones: comida tailandesa y japonesa.

For all the rest, there is Mastercard

days on the boat: 22
harbors / bays in which we anchored: 6
countries visited: 2
hours of sailing: 110+
night passages: 4
hurricanes: 2

Course correction

The locals in Nova Scotia describe the waters of the Northern Atlantic as "heavy", having greater effect on the boat's keel. It often gets very rough and sea sickness medicine (Gravol) is widely used among fishermen for that reason. The medicine did help me and I was able to keep my shifts and do things around the boat, but it had the opposite effect on Lucia and she got even worse. And because we believe sailing should be fun and not a torture, we've decided to jump off and continue southbound down the eastern coast by land.

Land Ho!!!!

Yes, folks, we have made our safe passage across the Gulf of Maine from Port La Tour to Portland, ME.

It only took us about 50 some hours. It turned out that we got some excellent sailing winds leaving the coast of Nova Scotia late Friday morning. It was a little rough coming into the US Coastal waters this morning, but nothing crazy. And we got some excellent sun in the middle of the trip :)

Why sailing in cold weather is uncomfortable

Layers I wore during nights:

1 pair of rain boots
3 pairs of socks (because more didn't fit inside the boots)

Port La Tour & Barrington: what happens when you end up out in the boondocks

After staying in beautiful Carters Beach we took advantage of good sailing winds out on Wednesday and made way to Port La Tour. A desolate place with okayish protection from the sea. One major problem: no provisions, no library, no access to internet, no public transport.

Kitchen Series #5 - Michelle's Wishful Thinking

We wanted to contribute something to Nalom's dinner and even though we were still far, far away from the tropics (hence the wishful thinking), Michelle came up with a great tropically-inspired dessert, perfect to complement the spiciness of the Laotian dinner.

Michelle's Wishful Thinking

Melt butter on a pan.
Cook spears of pineapple well and put aside.
Cook brown sugar on same pan with juices and butter until pasty but not caramelized.
Mash very ripe bananas and mix it with sugar and butter to make a sauce.
Pour sauce over pineapple.

Add cinnamon or rum if you like.

* GF
* Serves 8

Kitchen Series #4 - Thea's Green Goodness from the Garden

Coming with fresh veggies while on board is always a challenge, specially when you end up in towns where they might only have a 7-Eleven type of store and the only veggies for sale in miles are canned tomatoes or french fries. So, we didn't have any expectations when we anchored in Port Mouton.

Yet, first thing we see when we start walking out of Carters Beach is a little stand by the road with a sign selling gigantic zucchinis and other veggies for pennies. Behind, and slightly below, was a whole garden full of the freshest veggies we could have asked for, organic to boot. The magician behind this bounty was Thea, who (we later found out) was friends with Nalom. So, when Nalom invited us all for dinner the following day, she also invited Thea to come along. She showed up with the simplest but superb soup, made all with veggies from her garden.

Thea's Green Goodness: zucchini soup with mint and herbs fresh from the garden

Disclaimer: Again, I was too late to take pictures. The soup was gone
and I had to pick a random one for illustration purposes.

Cut zucchini and boil it almost completely with oil, salt and pepper.

Towards the end, add cumin, mint, parsley, cilantro, ciboulette.

Puree all in food processor and serve with a dollop of sour cream or yogurt, or sprinkle some parmiggiano on top.

Voi la!

* Vegan
* GF
* Serves 8

Kitchen Series #3 - Nalom's Laotian Spicy Salad

What a whirlwind! Nalom is the oldest of 10 siblings and it shows. She loves being with people, is amazing at hosting and organizing, gets everybody involved and doesn't accept a no for an answer.

Port Mouton & Carters Beach

Port Mouton ... lovely place. It may have cold waters but
it has an incredibly warm community

A wonderful little spot on the the southwestern shores of Nova Scotia. Quiet waters, beautiful white sand beaches and great friendly people.

In the wee hours of our first morning there, Stan had come up in his kayak to say hello and offer us his hospitality. He and his wife, Nalom, were great hosts: they took us in for a dinner, helped us to get fresh water and gave us a ride into Liverpool to get some provisions and run errands.

What to do on a boat

"But... what do you do on the boat?" is a question we got a few times. So, here's the answer.

On the boat, we:

sleep, cook, read a book, knit, clean the deck, play cards, work on our computers, learn how to make different knots, look for dolphins, do yoga, admire the scenery, take out the sail covers, put them back, spot whales jumping on the horizon, make a list of the things to do when on land, have a coffee, check on the bird catching a ride on the dinghy during

Kitchen Series #2 - Lunenburg Library Chickpea Falafel

"I don't like old books," is Michelle's comment. As soon as we go into a library (which is the first thing we look for while on shore) she goes straight to the New Books Section. And we're lucky she does that. In Lunenburg's Library she found a new vegan, GF cookbook and gave the chickpea falafel a try, using the sprouted garbanzo beans that were waiting for us on the boat. The crew loved them.

Disclaimer: Photo taken for illustration purposes.
No actual falafel patty was left to pose for the photo.

Around Lunenburg

As I mentioned, we survived our first overnight passage from Malagash Cove to Lunenburg, some 90 nautical miles in 22 hours. Half of that was under sail for most of which we used the main sail.

Overnight passage

Jim teaching me how to use the autohelm computer

Our last night in Sheet Harbor was spent with Wayne and Wendy, good friends of our hosts. They live in Mushaboom which is about a 15 min drive from Sheet Harbor, and around "the corner" from Malagash Cove. In fact, while Lucia and I were practicing rowing in the dingy Wayne had spotted us from shore while visiting a friend. And while waiting the next day for the wind to change, they pulled alongside in their day sailer, Nemo, to pay us a short visit.

Corte de pelo a prueba de barcos / Boat-proof haircut

Agua salada + viento + poca agua dulce + frío + falta de secador = ¡pelo hecho un desastre!

Solución: rapada.

Iba a intentar un estilo a lo Fadi pero Jim se rehusó a prestarme su rasuradora. E ir a una peluquería no es tan fácil cuando uno tiene sólo un par de horas en tierra cada un par de días. ¿Que necesito una reservación? ¡Imposible! Nunca se sabe donde vamos a estar ni cuando vamos a llegar a ningún lugar.

Pero finalmente logré encontrar una peluquería abierta en Lunenburg: www.thereadyroom.ca

Muy simpática la gente pero la gurisa que me cortó un poco inexperiente + la tijera desafilada + la apuré porque teníamos que volver al barco = oh well. Por lo menos es práctico.

Whew ...

Ok, so, we made it through our first overnight passage! Just writing a quick note from the library of Lunenberg, NS.

We had spent Tuesday night in Malagash Cove and headed out with good wind Wednesday late in the evening. Just pulled in about 5ish today (Thursday) and will be here for another day. Tomorrow we'll add more posts.

Till then ... over and out.

Yoga on the go: reality check

I bow to you, mighty sea. (c) OSJ

The northern Atlantic is known for its bad temper and rough waters, infamous for making sick even the most experienced sailors. I had to soon leave the standing tree poses for other with a lower center of gravity. Child pose practiced with your head overboard comes also very handy when you have to constantly puke. For all of you with romantic notions of life on a boat: beware!