We had some engines hiccups and had ordered some props from the United States and we were holding down the fort in the San Pedro/Caye Caulker area for the last few weeks waiting for them to arrive. I admit, not bad places to be stuck for a few extra weeks.
We played trivia at a beach bar, made friends with some locals, found the area of town that has a “pupusa off” nightly, met some crazy South Africans and took them sailing, got dreads, provisioned the boat with some meats and veggies, and sadly, bid farewell to our first visitor of the trip. All of that and we got ourselves some new props to boot.
A pupusa is a traditional Salvadorian dish that I have tried several times to recreate on the boat but have not gotten it quite right. Our favorite pupusa lady cooks hers right on the street in San Pedro on a flat open cook top, letting the delicious smells waft down the alleyways so you can literally let your nose lead you. The funny thing is that there is another pupusa lady directly across the street flipping her pupusas and jamming with her own ingredients, own identical flat cook top, and wonderful smells. We didn’t see the pupusa offs get rowdy but you could feel the underlying tension that would, of course, accompany such a close rivalry of food. To make a pupusa the adorable pupusa lady takes a ball of dough (a mixture of fine corn meal, flour, and water) punches down the middle of the dough, fills this well with a delicious filling then she folds the edges up and over the filling and then pats the dough ball into a flat surface, looking much like a pancake, and then sears the outsides to a golden brown and serves it with a side of cole slaw and a smile. The fillings range from shredded pork and beans to pumpkin and spinach, and my pupusa lady is not shy with the cheese; which needless to say is the reason she is the winner in my book of pupusa offs. Thank you pupusa lady, I am a fan.
We bid adieu to my brother, Mike, right before Easter. He had been a welcomed addition to the crew and brought along a fun, easy going energy to the trip. And although cooking is a little easier to plan for only two and there is more room on the couch during movie nights, we do miss the lil guy. Even though Mike towers over me with his 6’5” frame he is, after all, my little brother so he can and usually is referred to in a littler, younger manner by me. He did leave with talks of “when can I do this again” so we might have a second appearance in the future, who knows!
Conor met some very friendly South Africans in Caye Caulker while taking the dogs into the beach for some exercise. They are an energetic, fun, up for anything, well traveled, interesting group of people. There were nine of them, boys and girls, traveling together for almost two months. They were stoked to be invited for an afternoon of sailing and we were just as excited to have them. We sailed, dragged behind the boat and caught some conch which we turned into an awesome ceviche. We ended the night with a braai (know to us Americans as a BBQ) at the house they were renting. The group wanted to make something traditionally South African and so we were introduced to “Braai Bread.” Which is dough made into the shape of rolls and slow cooked on the grill, it has been a staple on Gualby ever since. They were a wonderful, good looking group that i failed to take a picture of, damn.
The dreads are starting to look better. There is a bit of a grace period with these things, so I hear, so I am ok with it. I also have thin white girl hair so that isn't exactly aiding the dreading process. Con still thinks I'm cute and I have a plethora of head wraps to help hide the dread forming process. Also the small amount of maintenance I am doing now while my hair is forming permanent dreadlocks doesn't even come close to the amount of time I use to spend on my hair so, in conclusion, i am still feeling happy about that decision.
So, after a few days of fun we provisioned up the boat and pulled anchor. We felt fantastic with our sails full and the compass headed south again. Also, we had forgotten how nice it is to have two working engines, what a luxury at times!
M.
We played trivia at a beach bar, made friends with some locals, found the area of town that has a “pupusa off” nightly, met some crazy South Africans and took them sailing, got dreads, provisioned the boat with some meats and veggies, and sadly, bid farewell to our first visitor of the trip. All of that and we got ourselves some new props to boot.
A pupusa is a traditional Salvadorian dish that I have tried several times to recreate on the boat but have not gotten it quite right. Our favorite pupusa lady cooks hers right on the street in San Pedro on a flat open cook top, letting the delicious smells waft down the alleyways so you can literally let your nose lead you. The funny thing is that there is another pupusa lady directly across the street flipping her pupusas and jamming with her own ingredients, own identical flat cook top, and wonderful smells. We didn’t see the pupusa offs get rowdy but you could feel the underlying tension that would, of course, accompany such a close rivalry of food. To make a pupusa the adorable pupusa lady takes a ball of dough (a mixture of fine corn meal, flour, and water) punches down the middle of the dough, fills this well with a delicious filling then she folds the edges up and over the filling and then pats the dough ball into a flat surface, looking much like a pancake, and then sears the outsides to a golden brown and serves it with a side of cole slaw and a smile. The fillings range from shredded pork and beans to pumpkin and spinach, and my pupusa lady is not shy with the cheese; which needless to say is the reason she is the winner in my book of pupusa offs. Thank you pupusa lady, I am a fan.
We bid adieu to my brother, Mike, right before Easter. He had been a welcomed addition to the crew and brought along a fun, easy going energy to the trip. And although cooking is a little easier to plan for only two and there is more room on the couch during movie nights, we do miss the lil guy. Even though Mike towers over me with his 6’5” frame he is, after all, my little brother so he can and usually is referred to in a littler, younger manner by me. He did leave with talks of “when can I do this again” so we might have a second appearance in the future, who knows!
Conor met some very friendly South Africans in Caye Caulker while taking the dogs into the beach for some exercise. They are an energetic, fun, up for anything, well traveled, interesting group of people. There were nine of them, boys and girls, traveling together for almost two months. They were stoked to be invited for an afternoon of sailing and we were just as excited to have them. We sailed, dragged behind the boat and caught some conch which we turned into an awesome ceviche. We ended the night with a braai (know to us Americans as a BBQ) at the house they were renting. The group wanted to make something traditionally South African and so we were introduced to “Braai Bread.” Which is dough made into the shape of rolls and slow cooked on the grill, it has been a staple on Gualby ever since. They were a wonderful, good looking group that i failed to take a picture of, damn.
The dreads are starting to look better. There is a bit of a grace period with these things, so I hear, so I am ok with it. I also have thin white girl hair so that isn't exactly aiding the dreading process. Con still thinks I'm cute and I have a plethora of head wraps to help hide the dread forming process. Also the small amount of maintenance I am doing now while my hair is forming permanent dreadlocks doesn't even come close to the amount of time I use to spend on my hair so, in conclusion, i am still feeling happy about that decision.
So, after a few days of fun we provisioned up the boat and pulled anchor. We felt fantastic with our sails full and the compass headed south again. Also, we had forgotten how nice it is to have two working engines, what a luxury at times!
M.
Very nice! (Annie can not understand that Michael is the little brother either.)
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