Wildlife

This past weekend we helped our gracious hosts, the Coconut Grove
Sailing Club, with their annual clean-up. I was on the landscaping
team on Saturday and helped 'weed.' In Miami, weeding requires a
machete because plants down here grow out of control. There were
tropical vines, crab grass, palm fronds, rotting coconuts filled with
giant red ants' nests, and plenty of purple oyster plants. As Alyn
Pruett, the Club's Vice Commodore and fellow St. Louis native said,
the challenge in Miami is not growing plants, but growing the 'right'
plants.

It has been sunny and above 80 degrees here this week, which makes it
hard to remember that it is December. This also makes for tons of
plant and animal life during the winter. On one trip in from the boat
to the dock, Adam and I saw a puffer fish, a baby barracuda, a small
stingray, a school of minnows and another larger fish I don't
recognize, fish that were disguised as seaweed leaves, a large iguana,
an egret, and a great blue heron, all within 5 minutes.

One evening last week, I noticed a pair of blue and yellow macaw
parrots squawking and flying northwards over the mooring field towards
a group of palm trees across from Dinner Key. The two of them have
continued this daily ritual almost like clockwork as the sun sets
around 5:45 PM, as if they were going home from work.

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I live in the V-Berth

This is Trevor, reporting from the V-Berth, where I live.

Before starting, here are some vocabulary words so that this makes sense:

Forward- Closer to the bow (front).
Aft- Closer to the stern (back).
Chain locker- Enclosed space in the bow of the boat where the anchor
chain is stored.
Galley- Kitchen.
Spinnaker- A downwind parachute-shaped sail.
Genoa- A headsail used on the front of the boat.
Courtesy flags- Flags of the country that we are visiting, flown off
the starboard side of the boat.

The V-Berth is the forward most room on the boat, just aft of the
chain locker and forward of the galley. It is a pretty interesting
place to live- a mix between a bedroom, a shelf, a supply closet, and
a sail loft. Some of my favorite roommates are: the #3 Genoa sail,
the spinnaker sail, about 20 courtesy flags, Alan's big red tool bag,
the vacuum, the parachute anchor, and all my clothes, toothbrushes,
and books. At night I lay on my bed, which is a 2 foot by 6 foot
shelf, and enjoy the breezes that flow in from the door of the chain
locker and the hatch above my head. Sometimes, I use the spinnaker as
a pillow and look up at the stars. For the past week we have kept our
folding bicycles on shore, meaning that there is enough floor space in
the V-Berth to stand. It is painted bright yellow, which is sometimes
my favorite color. I have been trying to think of some sort of
decoration for a small hook in the port side wall. Suggestions are
welcome.

When we are sailing offshore and there are waves, the V-Berth is not
the place to be. Just like the back of the bus, the up-and-down
motion is magnified in the front of our boat. This means I borrow
Alan or Adam's quarter berth beds (which are closer to the middle of
the boat) to get sleep when I'm off watch. As soon as the waves die
down, I'm back in the V-Berth because I appreciate its relative
privacy and other subtle positive attributes. There is no place on
the boat that I'd rather live!

Trevor

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Farewell to the Intracoastal Waterway (for now)

Moving along the ICW has provided us with views of scenery that aren't typically seen when commuting by car and train. It has been interesting to see the mix of industrial and wilderness landscapes. A bulldozer on a rusty barge floating in front of a cattail marsh that stretches to the horizon is a pretty interesting contrast.

Also interesting has been our experience with moving and fixed bridges. Check out "The Science of Sailing" post (11-17-09) about Bridges.

Trevor

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Bon Appétit! Buen Provecho.

So far, the trip has provided opportunities to use some culinary creativity and invent new recipes. The cooking situation here on board the William T. Piquette (WTP) is very different than my house's big messy kitchen back in D.C. Space, kitchen utensils, cookware, and fresh ingredients are at a premium.

A few years ago, I did a wilderness trip with the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS). During long hikes in the Rocky Mountains, our stomachs would dictate our thoughts, and all I could think of was new ingredient combinations and delicious dishes. Luckily, this habit has not left me! Here onboard, we are active all day long, changing sails, handling dock lines, cleaning, dropping and weighing the anchors. Our calorie intake needs to match our lifestyle. Last week, after anchoring in the Intracoastal Waterway at 3:00 one afternoon, I was caught between my lunch (a carrot, apple, almonds, and half a pomegranate), and dinner. I began writing down recipes, a food shopping list, and a list of utensils that we still need. We have since purchased a small book for recording the recipes, which is updated frequently.

I'll spare you some of the details, but here are a couple of the dishes that we have cooked so far-

Edgar's Mexican Surprise (1 can of Mexican Tortilla Soup, 1 can black beans, 1 can chili with beans, 1 can corn, 3 cups of rice, 3 cups of fresh water). Combine ingredients with seasoned salt and pepper in a pressure cooker and cook until it lets out steam and crazy screeching noises.

Quesadilla Calorie Pesadilla (8 flour tortillas, 2 cloves of garlic, 4 roma tomatoes, 2 cups grated cheddar cheese, ½ cup grated parmesan cheese, 1 white onion, 4 thinly-sliced, marinated, and sautéed rib eye steaks, 4 tablespoons olive oil, dashes of Tabasco sauce, Steakhouse Seasoning Grinder). Sprinkle sliced tomatoes and onions, diced garlic, steak strips, and cheddar cheese on a flour tortilla in a saucepan greased with olive oil. Sprinkle on parmesan cheese, place another tortilla on top, cover and fry until cheeses are melted and tortilla is brown and creeespy. Flip over. Serve with seasoned white rice, tortilla chips, hot refried beans, and a Sigg Bottle full of cold water with no straw. Burn 5,000 calories the next day.

Stay tuned for more cooking news, please let me know if you have any suggestions!

Trevor

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My First Blog Post

Hello! My name is Trevor and this is my first post. I'm happy to be a part of the EYE crew, and am really looking forward to the trip ahead and communicating with you. If you have any questions, comments, or requests, please feel free to email me at crew@eyeotw.org, and I'll do my best to get back to you soon.

The last month before moving onto the boat was very eventful. I wrapped up work (for the time being) in Washington, D.C., found a roommate to replace me in my rented house, packed, drove the 16 hours back to my parent's house in St. Louis, Missouri, unpacked, repacked for the trip, and then dove into working on the seemingly ever-growing to-do list. I took a brief break to attend an excellent wedding for some college friends, then went back to work - I got my goofy sun hat, foul weather gear, safety harness, a very used violin for $30, vitamins, my favorite yerba mate tea, books, etc. Special shout out to my parents for graciously hosting me and feeding me delicious foods for 3 weeks! The time at home also gave me the opportunity to catch up with old friends and create some personal goals for the trip.

Then it was time to fly back out to the East Coast. I have a lot of nice memories from the Hampton Roads area. My alma mater William and Mary (Tribe Pride!) is just down the road and the Sailing team frequently had regattas at nearby schools CNU, ODU, and Hampton. My first race was at CNU, crewing for Adam (the EYE Educational Director). It's hard to believe that was 6 years ago!

Anyway, the pre-departure process was exciting. I caught up with Adam's parents, met Alan's family, purchased 250 food items at Wal-Mart (the receipt was 3 feet long), received suture lessons on a banana from Dr. Mark Domanski (the trip's medical advisor), and bid farewell to regular showers and real beds!

After visiting Lindsay Middle School in Hampton last week, 80 of the 6th graders came out for our Bon Voyage ceremony on Monday. We had a good time showing them the boat and teaching them how to tie knots. After teaching them Bowline and Square knots, the kids taught me a couple of improvised knots and used the line to jump rope.

At noon we pushed away from the dock, raised the mainsail, and waved goodbye to everyone on the pier. The kids, EYE Executive Board, Crew families and friends waved back. At that point, it sunk in that I was now living on a boat and my daily habits, diet, hygiene, and sleep patterns would be dramatically different. I look forward to learning from the adventures ahead and sharing them with you, and hope that you'll check in often.
Until soon,
Trevor

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