Sailing Gromit

14 June 2015 | Hope Town, Abacos, Bahamas
The Lighthouse
14 June 2015 | Hope Town, Abacos, Bahamas
The Lighthouse
10 June 2015 | Less than 300 miles from arrival
Bahamas Behind Us, Beaufort, North Carolina Ahead
05 June 2015 | Annapolis, Maryland
Gromit Classified
05 June 2015 | Tilloo Sandbank, Abacos, Bahamas
Circumnavigation Complete!
28 May 2015 | Less Than 60 Miles From Circumnavigation Complete
Circumnavigation Almost Complete
12 May 2015 | St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands
Looking Towards Home
11 May 2015 | Virgin Gorda, British Virgin Islands
The Baths
11 May 2015 | Virgin Gorda, British Virgin Islands
The Baths
11 May 2015 | Virgin Gorda, British Virgin Islands
The Baths
11 May 2015 | Virgin Gorda, British Virgin Islands
The Baths
11 May 2015 | Virgin Gorda, British Virgin Islands
Beauty Under Water
11 May 2015 | Virgin Gorda, British Virgin Islands
Beauty Under Water
11 May 2015 | Virgin Gorda, British Virgin Islands
Beauty Under Water
11 May 2015 | Virgin Gorda, British Virgin Islands
Beauty Under Water
11 May 2015 | Virgin Gorda, British Virgin Islands
Beauty Under Water
04 May 2015 | Pickly Pear Island, Virgin Gorda, British Virgin Islands
Rhythm, Salty Ginger, Tahina and Gromit Go To The Beach!
04 May 2015
Plan'B' Planning
04 May 2015 | Pickly Pear Island, Virgin Gorda, British Virgin Islands
Looking for the Trail......
04 May 2015 | Pickly Pear Island, Virgin Gorda, British Virgin Islands
A Few Hours at the Beach With Friends

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 - Making Tahitian Coconut Bread
Photos 1 to 60 of 60 | Main
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The first step in making Tahitian coconut bread is preparing the fire. Liam and Skye removed the rocks from the pit.
Sikki dug the fire pit with his paddle.
Off into the woods to collect firewood, banana leaves and coconuts.
Sikki cut down banana tree leaves, which the boys carefully carried back to the beach. The leaves were splitting, so he had to cut more. They needed to be carried with extra care to not split, because they were to wrap food that was to be put in the fire pit.
As we were foraging in the forest, we came along this starfruit tree.
We picked some for immediate eating.
Back on the beach, Sikki began cutting the firewood to size with his machete.
Skye thought he
Sikki
In the mean time, Sikki called on a few of us to help him get palm fronds.
He cut these into sections of three leaves.
Sikki taught us how to weave the leaves.
The woven leaves eventually began to look like baskets.
The baskets were placed below the coconut rasp, to catch the shredded bits.
We had collected at least 10 coconuts which still had their thick outer husks on. Sikki just chopped through these like they were butter.
Once all the coconuts were liberated from their husks - they now looked like the ones we find in the grocery store - he began to chop them in half, spilling all the yummy milk onto the ground. A bunch of us got all excited and asked him to pass us the halves so that we could drink it. This coconut shredder is a piece of steel with a round spiky end. It is screwed onto a piece of wood large enough to sit on. The coconut is rubbed and turned on the spikes which scrape the coconut meat away bit by bit.
Shredding the coconut on the rasp was no easy task. It took quite a while to get through even one coconut. Sikki soon decided he needed to do the job himself. The oven was ready and he wanted to get the bread baking!
In a matter of minutes, this sad, almost empty basket, was full of coconut.
The shredded coconut was then placed into a piece of cloth and squeezed and wrung out.
Self rising flour and sugar were added to the coconut milk and Maia mixed it.
Sikki placed a couple of unripped banana leaves into a pot and wet them with coconut milk. The coconut milk acted as an anti-stick due to its high fat content.
Meanwhile, the fire was burning and the rocks that had been placed on top of it were heating
Sikki placed the pot with the bread dough onto the rocks.
He began layering the banana leaves over the pot.
Then he covered the leaves with a couple of pieces of plastic tarp.
And the final step was to cover it all with sand.
Now it was time to wait. We were free to go and play! Earlier, Sikki had gone into the forest and emerged with a breadfruit. He built a smaller fire beside this one on which to roast it.
In their free time, Keiton, Skye and Liam went crab hunting. They found this hermit crab. It
They also found lots of crabs that live in holes along the beach. They ended up catching about 10 or 12 - a few of which got eaten the next day, after being fried with oil and garlic on an open fire.
Sikki cut open a few green coconuts so we could drink the sweet water inside. What a treat after all our
This is where the game of
Time to uncover the bread.
The coconut bread is set to cool and Sikki then took the breadfruit - bottom left corner - to roast on the fire.
Zoe is preparing the
Sikki had cooked the squash the night before. We added tapioca flour to it, which is what Zoe in in the process of mixing. It was then wrapped in a banana leaf and placed in the fire pit with the bread.
Sikki is unwrapping the poeh from its banana leaf.
The squash was then dropped, still very hot, into coconut milk.
After an hour or so of roasting on the fire, the peeled breadfruit got worked over by Ryssa and Zoe.
Sikki handed it to them hot off the fire, wrapped in a piece of cloth, and instructed them to punch away....... It was then torn into bit sized chunks and mixed, still hot, with, you guessed it, coconut milk.
Mmmmm, mmmmmm.
Tahitian (sand oven) Coconut Bread. Pumpkin (squash) poeh. Breadfruit in coconut milk.
 
1

Sailinggromit

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

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