s/v Field Trip

Did you know you have to de-beard a mussel before cooking it? Being from Denver, the land-locked state that it is, we are not experienced seafood eaters.  The closest we get is the occasional sushi at Sushi Den or watching the poor lobsters in Wal-mart's seafood tanks clamber about (does anyone ever really buy those??).  So since we've been in New England, we have been amazed at the many ways one can prepare shellfish.  In restaurants, a question we hear a lot is, "How are the mussels prepared?" And the answer has not been the same twice!  From white wine sauce to provencal.  On this restaurant's menu , I counted 22 different ways to season them!  You can also steam, bake, grill, pan-fry, or deep fry mussels.  Reminds me of the famous line from Forest Gump, "Shrimp gumbo, shrimp scampi, jumbo shrimp, fried shrimp, shrimp cocktail..."  Mussels are a favorite in these parts, no doubt.  But I have to admit, we haven't gone there just ...

“I can be a light, you can be a light, we can be a light to the world…”   It is a song that our kids have been singing since their first Sunday School classes, and it is still one of their favorites to belt out loud.  For a preview, look up Sweet Tart in iTunes, and you'll find the smash hit!  Each time we sail into a new harbor we are guided by a lighthouse.  Not at night, thank goodness, but during the day.  They are just as helpful a navigation tool when I can spot them on land and then compare it with the charts.  There is something reassuring about coming into port and seeing a lighthouse there.  A beacon that has stood on that very spot for many, many years, guiding boats to safety and welcoming their passengers.  Every time we pass a new one, I cannot control my need to photograph it, even though there is no way I will keep track of where or when I saw every single one.  They demand a photo, and I have no choice but to oblig...

Brant Lighthouse I know that in the last post Mark briefly mentioned that we had been to Nantucket, but we didn’t give you the proper tour, and it wouldn’t be fair not to share the charms we experienced there.  It is a place with an intriguing past and quite a privileged present.  We experienced both extremes while we were visiting.  As we made our mooring ball reservations (much like calling ahead to an rv park to reserve a spot) we gasped at the $75 per night fee.  The most expensive thus far for us has been $40, so the price was an omen of what we’d encounter there.  On shore, Elizabeth and I ventured into some of the many girly boutiques.  She kept just turning over the price tags and saying, “Mom, this t-shirt is $118!!  For a t-shirt!  That’s expensive!”  Needless to say, window-shopping was the only kind of shopping we did that day.   Toto, we aren't in the Caribbean anymore!   I splurged on a souvenir pin for m...

We're back aboard Field Trip!  It was very hard to leave her in Newport for three weeks. We were worried.  Enough solar power?  Will the plants die?  Will the America's Cup bring too many boats in harbor and ding our boat?  Will everything work? We had a tight window.  We landed at 1.30pm on July 2nd, and needed to leave at 5am July 3rd for Osterville, MA.  Everything was perfect.  In fact, we had 98% battery power, running freezer and fridge - with solar panels.  That was a huge sigh of relief.  We'd never been away from Field Trip for more than 3-4 days.  Everything worked great - we were off to Osterville! Seth & Elizabeth s/v Honeymoon Osterville is special.  It's a beautiful area - with some great new friends.  A number of years ago, Sarah and I were following a couple - Seth and Elizabeth - aboard Honeymoon.  While we'd never met them before, we liked their blog and the fact they were the same age...