Sunset Bay Marina in Stuart, FL

Sunset Bay has to be one of the prettiest marina facilities in all of Florida.  This is where we're working on the boat for a few more weeks...

Sunday Breakfast in Bethel

The big deal today is the late start.  Work starts at 10 instead of 8, and it's amazing how this one change in routine marks this as a special day.  So it was breakfast for eight at 9:15 this morning.  Went quite well today probably because I was a little more relaxed, starting the process a few minutes earlier.  First step, butter on the two tables so it's soft enough to cut by the time everyone sits down.  Then I set the tables, make coffee and orange juice and preheat the oven for the bacon.  I lay the bacon out on a foil lined cookie sheet (with edges of course).  I start making syrup, and by this time, Kit's in the kitchen, helping himself to coffee and Stuart comes down the hallway of this double-wide with his laptop in hand and begins making decaf for us.  Kit and I discuss french toast egg to milk ratios.  Kit makes his with vanilla and cinnamon.  I'll have to try that, when it's just Stuart and me.  Today I'll just stick to a little sugar and vanilla.  I prepare the french toast mixture, then start cracking the eggs for scrambled eggs. 

I never thought about how much time it takes to crack eggs.  I actually need to factor in that time in my breakfast prep schedule.  Turns out it's not instantaneous.  The meals definitely come out best when I've thought through the steps, how long to allow for each, and what order to do things in, especially for dinners, when I'm inclined to write down the schedule.

Kit heads to the Harvester Barge to pick up two of our crew members.  The rest are here in this trailer which is temporary housing until the barge is ready for all of us.   By a little after 9:15, everyone's gathered and I start laying out the eight plates with french toast, walk around with the pan of just done scrambled eggs, and put the plates of bacon on the table. 

I sit down, take a deep breath, sip my coffee and feel grateful for another small accomplishment:  a crew happily eating breakfast together.

Back under the Midnight Sun

We're back in Bethel, AK for the summer, on the working part of our adventure.  This is our second season with Kuskokwim Seafoods, a small salmon processor on the Kuskokwim River, about 70 miles inland from the Bering Sea. 

The light doesn't quit here at this time of year, which is a good thing because it makes it a lot easier to keep working late, and start working early.  I'm doing the cooking for the crew until our chef arrives, so that means setting the tables for seven well before seven, coming up with menus, making cookies for the work breaks, and trying to get a little office work done in between meal times because my real job is the office manager.  Fortunately, our chef arrives in less than a week...

So it's off to bed now to listen to the gusting wind, a reminder that we really are in Alaska.

The Beginning

If an adventure starts with a spread sheet, is it still an adventure?

This adventure begins with a long standing dream, supported by research and spread sheets - lists of available, affordable, livable sailboats around Chesepeake Bay, specs and prices.  We'll follow the market, try to find a good broker, and keep searching until we find the right one...