Kaimusailing

I was growing antsy being cooped up for days of wind and rain. I ran out of bread and made fried rice for breakfast using the ingredients of ham and cheese omelet in the fried rice. I spiced it with some of the chicken mole. Yummy. I ran out of wine and snuck out to the local wine store right outside the marina for another box of Black Box pinot noir.
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The next day my replacement charger for the smart watch arrived after a long delay in Jamaica, NY. Not the Post Office’s fault this time. It would arrive at the house on Cove St. I texted Eve, Cinco de Mayo? And she replied that her sump pump in her basement had quit, I offered to stop by on my way shopping. First I picked up the charger which was in a tiny package. No wonder it got lost on its way to the PO. At Eve’s house I looked at the basement flood and it was not excessive, not as bad as I feared. She said no Cinco de Mayo here, she was packing up to move out of town, her house is under contract. She had some wine glasses to give me and I welcomed them.
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I left to the store and got a text from Cuddily so I called her before going in and shopping. Maybe we could have Cinco de Mayo at her waterfront home. Avocados were on sale as well as other likely ingredients for festive foods. I bought a jar of Herdez medium salsa, it was on sale, like a promo. The avocados were 50 cents each, ground beef for chili was just over $3 a pound. I didn’t have much of a shopping load to carry. I had a new loaf of sourdough bread. The bike ride back to the marina was a struggle. I am in bad shape.
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I decided to make the chili after a short rest. I had a red onion, coarse diced, some coloradito mole paste, a splash of water, a pound of lean ground beef, and a big shot of the Herdez salsa. I let the ingredients simmer for a while. I didn’t caramelize the onion or Maillard the beef. I tasted it after a while and it had a nice flavor but was lacking, like add salt. I never had Mexican ingredients require salt, it seems most chefs go wild with the salt, I don’t. But the chili definitely needed salt. I normally add some chicken broth to the mole paste, so now I found an old jar of chicken base which was congealed into crystals. I broke out about 2 teaspoons of it and threw it in the pot. The flavor change was magical. After some more simmering I had some of it with brown rice. Superb but a bit spicy for some.
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Later just after sundown marina security called and said my water hose was leaking so they shut off, or tried to shut off the spigot on the dock. I went on deck and onto the dock and tried to open the spigot again to see where the leak was. I couldn’t budge it. I got a small pipe wrench and tried again. I opened the spigot and opened it up full. Too full. The top came off the spigot and a geyser of water erupted. I tried to force the top back onto the spigot but the water pressure was too much. I was soaked. For some reason I thought of Red Adair. I called the marina back and said what had happened. Back on the dock I reasoned that the water pressure could be shut off by the marina at the head of the dock. I could maybe reduce it by turning on a faucet down lower, the one they use to drain the water lines in the Fall. That didn’t reduce the pressure at the spigot very much. I removed the hose. Then I was able to force the top back onto the spigot and screw it down and shut the spigot and shut the drain faucet. OK. I called them back and said the geyser had been shut off. I took off my tee shirt and let it drip dry in the head.
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While I am writing this, with my reader glasses on and barechested, they arrived and I came up on deck or at least appeared in the companionway. I explained I didn’t normally dress like Vladimir Putin, bare chested. It was almost time to disrobe and go to bed anyway.
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The next day I hooked the hose back up and tested it. There was a drip drip at the faucet, but no big leak.
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It was time to make guacamole, the avocados were ripe. I did the usual, mashed avocados and some mild salsa with juice of a lime. The Cinco de Mayo celebration would not happen, though. The crowd at the Legion on Friday nights is something to be avoided. Eve was packing up her house to move out of town and wasn’t in any sort of mood for a party. Cuddily was having a mild cold and said she wouldn’t be up for it. So, the chef has his guac and plenty of excellent chili con carne, corn chips, and pinot noir. No margaritas without outside help. I’ll survive.
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I continued to watch motorcycle restoration and Catalina 30 videos. Watching mechanical repairs has me almost ready to attack the Atomic Four again. I find myself suggesting, almost outloud, what the motor restorer should do next. The fellow I like best posts on YouTube as 2vintage. My own restoration will be pulling the head off the Atomic 4 and also some carburetor and fuel pump work.
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The idea is to get the Catalina 30 mobile and bring it to haul out somewhere. The local boatyard looks rather sketchy. Perhaps they would do if I can’t reasonably motor the boat across the bay. Across the bay at a place like Deltaville.
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In Deltaville is a Lagoon 380 catamaran up for bid on Boat Angel. The current bid is about 37k, but these boats are brokered at over 200k. It will be interesting to see what it goes for. I helped deliver one from Oriental to Ft. Lauderdale. It’s considered a small catamaran.
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Cornelia Marie texted me that I am invited to a home cooked meal at her mom’s house. I was feeling too sore to ride the bike, plus there was a rain forecast, so I asked if she could give me a ride. She and Wilbur arrived at the marina and we stopped at the wine shop, then at Cuddily’s waterfront home.
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There was a need for bread. We went to the grocers, got bread, then got drenched when the rain hit on the way back.
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The meal was shrimp scampi, garlic bread, and salad, all prepared by CM and Wilbur. The entire meal was excellent. The shrimp had been marinated, the linguine was perfectly cooked. We had a rainy night. My Galaxy smart watch told me what I already knew, I did not have a pleasant night’s sleep. I seem to have a bad night’s sleep followed by a night of good catch-up sleep.
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The next morning was overcast and wet but the sun came out and we are beginning a week of fine weather, temps in the 70’s afternoons.
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The image is of the salads that went along with the shrimp scampi. Beautiful.