two weeks

Just a little over two weeks until the walkabout.  Decided to sort and pack my food.  Of course I bought too much, I always do.  But I'll just roll the left over food over to the Chesapeake Bay trip which is about six weeks away.

 Above are the granola bars, one for each breakfast.  And the packs of cheese crackers, two for each day.  One pack goes with lunch, the other is a snack.

And cups of fruit in syrup, three per day.  As I mentioned a few days ago this is, because of the weight, a luxury item.  But for a five day solo cruise I'll have so much left over room it will be ridiculous.  Tons of storage space on the Pathfinder.  A cup of fruit goes with each breakfast, lunch and dinner.  After hours of sailing on a hot sunny day that fruit and syrup tastes just right.

That's lunch, small tins of tuna, chicken and ham salad.  It comes with crackers in a foil packet.  At the store the cans and crackers are all in a cardboard box.  I take them out of the box to save space, the crackers are kept in another container where they won't get crushed.

Anchovies, sardines and smoked oysters make for excellent appetizers while cooking dinner.  I don't have them every night, just now and then - just whenever I'm really hungry and I get the urge for the salty/tangy taste.  Rolled anchovies with capers are my favorites, I'll save the oysters for the last night out. (Hey, nobody said I had to starve myself out there.)

Just about all the food fits in these gallon jars from the Dollar Store.  Dinner is in the jar second from the left - single servings of spam and a couple packs of salmon (possibly supplemented with some fresh fish).  What is missing right now are the baggies of dried fruit and nuts for snacks - I'll put those together the week of the trip.  Two snack bags for each day.  And I'll get the fresh veggies the day before the trip - a couple of potatoes, three onions, one or two red peppers and some garlic.

There are a few other things I need to do.....

• buy my North Carolina salt water fishing license 
• send Shawn at Pate Boatyard a note confirming the trip, making sure he has room for me
• print out a couple detail maps of a few spots - new anchorages at Little Oyster Creek and Swan Creek, plus that narrow winding channel at the north end of Core Sound.

Hope to get out for a sail Friday - forecast is pretty nice - to check out the boat, get comfortable on the water again and think about packing, stowage and having some fun.

steve