Before we left Fernand's fishing base, he picked up a black pearl oyster and shucked it for us...
We left the dinghies tied up at Fernand's, his crew stayed behind to make room for all of us to go in the panga to the picnic spot.
We arrived at yet another beautiful little cove and the first item out of the boat is our lunch.
Fernand calls for us to follow him into the tropical bush. Where did he go? If you look closely, he's in the photo!
Fernand has got his machete and is hard at work. None of us have any idea of what's going on.
We are all put to work bringing out the palm trees...
and the palm fronds.
And finally, our host emerges.
Next, we are sent to collect dried palm fronds from the beach and lay them in a big pile.
and more dried palm fronds....
What happened next surprised all of us - Fernand asked John to throw a match into the tinder dry palm fronds!
This fire was burning... and it was burning HOT!!
and then.... these beautiful Marbled Groupers...
were tossed onto the fire!
While the fish were "cooking", out came the machete and some of the smaller fish were gutted and thrown into the lagoon as shark bait.
We were not disappointed! The sharks came out!
Dan & Dean showing us different stages of a palm tree.
The green palm fronds were laid on the beach like a table and Fernand started peeling the tough outer bark of the palm stalks like an onion to reveal...
Palm hearts in a palm tree bark bowl!! Perry from Felicita offered all of us a taste.
While we were being distracted with sharks and palm hearts, the fire had burned out and the fish were left in the ashes.
With some large leaves, Fernand picked up the hot fish....
and threw them into the water!
Next step: peel the charred skin off and into the water.
Well we are curious and hungry to sample this expertly cooked grouper!
And it is delicious!! Fernand handed Laird some very young coconut to eat with the fish... even more delicious!
We noticed that as soon as the fish came out of the fire, there was an abundance of flies... no problem says Fernand, come sit in the water and eat your lunch! Brilliant!
And if our day wasn't special enough, we trekked to the other side of the atoll to do some beachcombing!
Sally from Imoogi found a Pencil Sea Urchin - how would you get that home in one piece?
We wandered back to the picnic beach, tidied up, climbed back into the panga and headed back to Fernand's fishing hut. The dinghies were deployed and we followed Fernand back to our big boats where we relaxed and recounted our amazing day. Picnics will never be the same!
Deb and John are realizing their dream of sailing the world, leaving port in Vancouver , BC and seeing where the wind takes them, with many adventures along the way. We have spent the last three seasons in the Sea of Cortez. [...] We are currently crew for their friends Glenda & Laird on s/v Winterlude in the South Pacific enroute to New Zealand.
We've been adopted! While in Mulege, Baja California Sur, we were adopted by a street puppy. We enjoy every minute of every day with him. He is very much at home on the boat or in the dinghy - it is as if he was born to do this! His name is Pep-EH