Sailing with Nine of Cups

March 1st ... came in like a little lion cub, hopefully it'll still go out like a lamb. Of course in the southern hemisphere, that might be all mixed up. South winds 15-20 kts ... not very ferocious, but cool and breezy enough to let you know they were there. We stayed snug in Clytie Cove. Based on the weather forecast, we may be here in Port Davey for quite a few more days. S/SE then NE/E winds are forecast for several days out. Where are those westerlies when we need them? Patience...patience.

We have plenty of food stores, but knowing that we'll be leaving the boat for several months, I've been rooting through them, isolating those with "best used by" dates that will expire soon. As we buy and stow tinned goods, we mark the expiration dates on the top of the can with indelible marker so sorting through them was pretty easy. Not that we ever take those dates all that seriously unless the cans are about ready to explode, but I thought I'd sort them out and try to use them up sooner rather than later. I ended up with a rather odd group to be used...coconut cream, lentils, refried beans, crab paté and sweetened condensed milk. None of these items cost all that much to begin with and we've probably been carting them around for at least a couple of years because we're pretty careful to check "use by" dates when we're buying. If we tossed them, it would be no great financial loss. For some reason, however, I feel compelled to use them and spend excessive time planning entire meals around these individual ingredients. I used up the coconut cream in curry one night. David used the refried beans in what we call Mexican lasagne two nights ago and the lentils got mixed with kidney beans in our chili last night. The crab paté will need to be an appetizer on crackers one night soon. I remember buying it in Puerto Montt, Chile 2-3 years ago thinking how wonderful it would be and then I continued to "save" it for some special occasion. I'd be better off saving chips, chocolate, cookies or champagne, but that never happens.

Sunny, cool and breezy, it would have been a nice day for a walk or whatever, but lazy slugs that we are, we spent the day aboard..."rooting" through the canned goods, writing, answering emails, reading, planning and generally hanging out. Nice day!