Sailing Gromit

26 March 2016
26 March 2016
26 March 2016
26 March 2016
26 March 2016
26 March 2016
26 March 2016
26 March 2016
26 March 2016
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Winter Wonderland in Canada

26 March 2016
Yes, it's winter in Canada and we are in the thick of it.

There has been a hint of spring, but mother nature can be fickle at this time of year. Two weeks ago we had temperatures in the mid teens (mid 70s for you Fahrenheit folks), then a huge snow storm that gave the kids two days off of school and now heavy freezing rain that coated everything to the point of tree branches bending to the ground and snapping like toothpicks.

Where are the palm trees and beaches?

This is the house we are currently living in. We'll be here until our house is rebuilt....we don't know when. We'd hoped to start rebuilding in spring....which is now....but progress is slow, because the process is slow.
We can't complain because this house is spacious and comfortable, though quite dark. We've talked about lightening it up with some brighter paint. Just haven't gotten there yet. Still too much to do regarding the fire.

Winter in Canada

26 March 2016
Maia, Liam, Zoe, Jaya

Loving the snow.
Building snow buddies.
Make snow angels.

But.....also looking forward to spring!!!

Snow Buddies

26 March 2016
.

Winter Wonderland

26 March 2016
Patterns in nature.

Winter Wonderland

26 March 2016
Freezing rain.

Winter Wonderland

26 March 2016
Geometry
Vessel Name: Gromit
Vessel Make/Model: Olympic Adventure
Hailing Port: Toronto
Crew: Michael, Cornelia, Zoe, Maia, Liam. Photo: At Tilloo Bank, Elbow Cay, Bahamas (photo by Frank Taylor)
About: Michael: The technical/mechanical/all about the boat and systems guy. Cornelia: The lists/house and land details gal. Zoe, Maia and Liam: Gromit's Skippers in Training!
Extra: Departure date: Summer 2008 email us at: sailinggromit@gmail.com
Gromit's Photos - Suwarrow
Photos 1 to 88 of 88 | Main
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Suwarrow has many little islands dotting its perimeter. The largest is called Anchorage and Maia, Liam and I did several walks around it.
Large hunks of coral lay strewn along the beach on the ocean side of the island.
Higher up, after years of being tossed around by the waves, the coral gets smaller and smaller.
The shapes, colours and textures are fascinating.
There was a breadfruit tree right in front of the club house. Against it was leaning a long, long, long pole with a net basket fashioned to the end of it.
It is difficult to manoeuvre this pole and hook it onto the breadfruit.
Of course, the kids wanted to give it a try.
Team work!
The breadfruit needs to be peeled, seeded, sliced and then boiled.
James did the peeling and slicing for us.
We took it back to the boat, boiled it, cut it into french fry shaped pieces and fried it in olive oil. Really yummy.
One of the cruisers suggested we have a finger food potluck featuring coconut.
John, first gave a lesson on how to crack and shred a coconut and then squeeze out the milk.
Next was the technique of squeezing out the milk.
Everyone who came to the potluck, brought along something that had coconut in it. We brought coconut macaroons. Unfortunately, I don
Just behind where we were anchored was a reef with the most amazing manta rays!

(Photo credits to Jan and Rich on s/v Slipaway. We won
There are four of them that swim together. They are absolutely incredible.
Look at the size!
Three of the mantas are dark on top and light on the bottom. One is dark on both sides.
These creatures are gentle giants who glide through the water seemingly without effort.
They are grace and beauty personified.
Park Ranger John, Michael and Liam went out fishing one early morning and came back with a grouper and a dog-tooth tuna.
On shore, near the club house, Michael was instructed how to fillet the catch of the day.
John and Liam after the filleting was complete.
The best place to catch fish is in the pass coming into the atoll. A departing cruiser, on his way out of the pass had about 4 or 5 lines trailing and had 4 hits. As his freezer was too full to accommodate 4 fish, he radioed a boat that was still in the anchorage to come and get them. We feasted at the next potluck!
They were yellow fin tuna.
It took only moments for James and John to fillet them. These guys are experts!
Nothing goes to waste! Whenever there were fish remains, they went to the sharks.
James and John made a point of feeding the sharks on the ocean side of the island. This was to encourage them to stay out of the lagoon.
The sharks are mostly black tip and white tip, which are fairly benign. There are also some grey sharks, which can get a little aggressive.
At the first potluck dinner, special guests Zoe and Maia, superb Tahitian dancers from s/v Gromit, performed three beautiful dances.
Then ladies and gentlemen from the audience were invited for a quick lesson on the basics.
Thirsty?
Grab a coconut or ask
Then ask
We organized a
From time to time, when we looked into the water around Gromit, we could see our buddies circling. We were careful not to throw any food bits into the water as we usually did in other anchorages. We didn
They are non-aggressive and we did swim while they were around. At first, we were very aware of their presence, but very quickly we hardly even noticed them anymore.
Potluck night was when James cooked his specialty: coconut pancakes. 
They were so delicious, that I just had to have the recipe. James said that he would teach me. Little did I know that it would be a half day lesson!
First, collect coconuts that have 2-3 leaves growing out of them - no more, no less. At this stage the coconuts are called
Next, the 1 inch, fibrous husks had to be removed. James could
It took me about 2-3 minutes to do one!
Next, the nut needed to be cracked with a swift tap of the machete.
In the
Shred.
Add flour and sugar - measured to the ounce!!!!
Tada....the batter, ready for frying. Sorry no pictures of that or the final product.
Reef walk to a neighbouring island to see the nesting Terns.
It had to be done at low tide so we wouldn
Turtle Island. Maia thinks it should have been called
Liam
Our delightful friends, Sue, Gary, Tyler and Rhys from s/v Yaringa.
Alas, time to say good-bye.
It is tradition to leave a flag or some sort of memento to be remembered by, that James and John hang in the clubhouse.
 
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Sailinggromit

Who: Michael, Cornelia, Zoe, Maia, Liam. Photo: At Tilloo Bank, Elbow Cay, Bahamas (photo by Frank Taylor)
Port: Toronto