A bit Offbeat, but Fun none the less!

It's winter in Rhode Island.  Its cold, dark, and we're all sick of it.  So, why not get everyone together, and empty out a freezer full of wild game??  Ok.  So who would be your ideal guests? Fellow hunters? Fishing buddies??  How about some of the biggest ball busters you know so they can heckle you all day long.  Yeah, lets do that!

Two of our close friends, lets call them "Chris" and "Steve", are not only good human beings, but excellent chefs in their own right.  Both work in the biz, and when they get together, it always makes for a good meal.  Through the year, we have had some good success in the field, and are lucky enough to have plenty of venison, wild boar, elk, pheasant, and duck on hand "to feed Coxey's Army" as my father would say.

Dinner begins, as many big meals do, the day before, with prep work, table settings, and sufficient planning.

Sunday was the big day... We prepped some more, got ready for a good ribbing, and started in on our 8 course menu.

Now, many of you have gone to game dinners, either for fundraisers or your own, and Im sure that many of you have your favorite dishes, but we tend to mix things up a bit, and really get some interesting recipes going.   Here is the menu rundown:

Apps:

-Terrine of Pheasant with a Cumberland sauce

-Smoked Goose breast sliders with Pecorino romano and lettuce

-Homemade Goose sausage with Caramelized Onions and asiago crisps

-Seared Duck Breast with Candied Bacon (yes... candied. More on that...) served over Johnnycakes

Mains:

-Boar Sausage over Rabe Broccoli and sun dried tomatoes w/ Gnocchi.

-Braised rabbit with Roasted red peppers and local greens.

-Venison Medallions with Local wild mushrooms and root vegetables.

-Elk Tenderloin with Brown sauce

Lets say we didn't go hungry....

A few of the dishes we served.  Top to bottom: Pheasant, Goose sausage, Duck Breast, Rabbit.  Starting at 1pm, we began with cocktails and cigars, started eating around 2:30 and wrapped up around 9pm.  Whew.....

As dinner wound on, we took a break from clogging our arteries when my Uncle, lets call him "Bob", decided he had a little speech to make.  

Now, to preface this, my Uncle is a consummate boater, but never got into fishing.  He and my father always go back and forth on this, and of course, whenever my Uncle is on the boat with us, we catch jack shit...  Especially if we tell him how good the fishing is...  Go figure.  We think he is a jinx, he says we suck at fishing.   This further played out while we were on our last trip with the new boat.  My uncle was expecting Wahoo and tuna to just start jumping in the boat, and of course....  Nada.  Great!  More fuel for the fire...  Anyhow, this is how it went down:

I wouldn't expect anything less... So now, for my first T-Shirt with the new boat, I have my "Knot Reel Fishermen" shirt, courtesy of these jackasses!  Priceless...  On top of that, another insult to injury, they decided that this would be a welcome addition to the dinner, seeing as how we were running low...

Oh, the shame of it all.  

Back to the candied bacon.  Candied Bacon....Mmmmmmmmmmmm.  Half cook your bacon in the oven, then remove it, pat it dry, and place it on a clean cookie sheet.  Brush with maple syrup and put back in the oven (say 400 deg. for 8 mins or so) flip and baste with the syrup as needed until crispy.  Its so good.  So freakin good.  Plain bacon is great.  This is slap your momma delicious.

I can still taste it... Damn.

We were so full at the end of the night, actually, I'm still full now as Im typing this.  What a meal.  It ended with basketball on the couch.

Some boat updates:  We are heading down to FL 4/3-4/9 for some work/play.  The play will entail, weather permitting, a Bahamas trip from 4/5-4/9.  Cross your fingers for good weather, because Im sick and tired of this New England winter.  Come on Bimini!

Bimini Big Game Club

Home

Now that it has been a few days, and the events of our trip have had some time to sink in, I can say that everything was fantastic, and I wouldn't change a thing.  Nothing at all.  Not even my botched dockage in Pompano.  Without an idiot to overbook us, I never would have met the folks at Sands Harbor,  who still are contacting me, and have become one of the highlights of the story that I recount to people.

Making a trip like this is a new experience for me, and one that whets your appetite for more.  Already, we have began to talk about what we are going to do next month, who will come along, where we will dock; and whether the idea of a trip to Bimini will become a reality.

For now, its back to reality.  Clients, phone calls, deadlines, cold weather.  Waking up early to meet expectations and live a sensible life.  But there, in the corner of my brain where I let my imagination play, is the sunshine,  the lazy afternoon talking with new friends, the salt on my lips from a long run at sea.  I give it just enough credence to be a reality, but not enough to engulf my thoughts.  Soon.  Soon I can let it run wild again.  But for now, I have to pay the bills.

Here is the inlet at Port Largo, as a quick time lapse.  What a beautiful area.

Negotiating

Whether it's people, new waterways, or products, life is full of negotiating. So is the case of Sunday's run from Key Largo to Pompano Beach.

After a good nights sleep, we headed back out around crash corner and into Hawks Channel. Pushing past the reef line, we headed east making 24kts. With little help from the current. 

After cruising a ways, it occurred to me that I hadn't sent a quick check in email to the dock master in Hillsboro Inlet, so I rattled off a quick note to him about just that.  Unfortunately, we didn't have much time to fish today, as we had to get Steve (Deck Bitch) over to Port Everglades to catch his flight out. 

Once we arrived into Port Everglades, I was instantly jarred back to reality and life with a hustle to it. Largo felt like the other side of the planet.  As we came under the bridge and rounded the corner to Pier 66, I instantly felt poor. Very poor. 

The remnants of the Ft. Lauderdale boat show were still there, and I was flanked on every side by 100' and larger yachts.  Damn.  Just then, I received an email about my slip in Hillsboro, saying "sorry, we had a mixup, and I don't have any space for you..."   What?!???  I called, and Josh, the dock master, picked up. I queried him on the situation, and whether he had received my contract and reservation a month ago.  He had... Ok. Could he help me find a slip? Nope...  A long litany of phrases and euphemisms then followed as I gave him directions to a spot he apparently had never been before. So here I am, 30 minutes from Pompano, flights out booked, and no place to leave my boat.  Brilliant. 

After some wrangling and sweet talking I was able to secure a slip at Sands Harbor marina, just north on the ICW.  So off we went, under many drawbridges I hadn't planned on, in a boat that I was unsure of the vertical clearance on ( it's roughly 26.5 feet, btw). So the adventure started at Las Olas bridge, where we passed under the bridge with literally 6" to spare.  Whew!  Then, moving north, we came to our next bridge which was showing 22' of clearance, so we had to wait the 30 minutes to the opening. 

Heavy traffic and a ripping current convinced us to backtrack a bit, so we shot back south, scraped the outrigger tip on the Las Olas bridge thanks to a rising tide (Grrrrr....), waited for some cruise ships to clear, and then popped a few miles north into Hillsboro inlet, and it's historic lighthouse. 

Once into Hillsboro it was yet another drawbridge, and then on to Sands Harbor marina. 

Sands Harbor is everything I love about boating life. Warm, friendly, people; good conversation, and almost instant acceptance. How often do you get together with neighbors, sit on their deck, and just chat about life and share stories??  

It's a great experience, and a wonderfully different experience from daily life. In my almost two days there, I met folks from Ohio, England, and locals who shared a wealth of knowledge with me, as well as a seat at their table for dinner. 

These are all people who decided to live their life exactly as they wanted, without the trappings of schedules, commitments, and 9-5 schedules. Just them and their loved ones. 

I may be romanticizing it a bit, but it's the way I'll choose to remember them.

Alone on Key Largo...

Well, actually, not alone at all. But, truth be told, the only thing I knew of Key Largo was the song by Sarah Vaughn (which is fantastic, if you like jazz). 

After a fun night in Key West, we headed out of the main ship channel to south, and turned east.  Making 28kts. we had calm seas and favorable currents. A quartering beam sea proved very comfortable, as we cruised in 200' of water. Of course, to satisfy our craving for fish, we stopped off on one of the endless reefs along the way, and managed a nice hogfish, a few snapper, as well as a dozen or so fresh ballyhoo. 

The ballyhoo were fantastic to troll with. I never want to use frozen 'hoo again! Nothing in this world goes perfectly, and our blue water trolling time was plagued with weeds all afternoon. 

Ugh. 

Turning north just past Conch Reef, we headed into Hawks channel en route to Port Largo, and our home for the night, Marina del Mar. 

To say its a narrow channel is generous. In fact, the westward turn at the north end of the channel is called "Crash Corner" and needs a radio call to get through unscathed.  We made it, however, and sidled into a nice stern to bulkhead next to the resort.  The vibe on Largo is very chill, with lots of divers and fisherman. The food at Sharkey's was very good as well, where we had whole Lionfish for dinner. Another first!  

 Lionfish are an invasive species, with basically a standing kill order in place to try and wipe them out and save the ecosystem.  Being tasty is an added bonus.  I'd be remiss if I didn't also mention the African Queen. As a Bogart fan, it was very cool to see this old gal still intact and in a preservation process. They are saving up for a new motor, which will be built in... Rhode Island! Also, there is a classic Hatteras there that is drop dead gorgeous. The owner of Hattitude certainly loves his classic Carolina lady. 

Trip stats so far, roughly 380nm run, average burn rate of 60gph based on the CAT displays, and excellent weather. See you in Pompano beach.  Calm seas and fair winds.