Thursday, March, 14, 2013.  Boat chores today.  Cleaning, showers, laundry.  Haircut.  Lisa and I walked up to SuperCuts and I got a wash and cut.  Long over due.  Lunch at Subway, and then a stroll to the Fresh Market for desserts for tonight.  Dinner on board and then we began to catch up with season two of Downton Abbey.

Coconut Grove is a village within Miami.  It is very neat area with shops, restaurants and other places to see.  Coconut Walk is like a mini mall within the village.  Several of the streets are lined with restaurants where you can eat inside or outside along the sidewalk and people watch.  If you continue west out of the village, you will come to Little Havana and Coral Gables.  Some of these areas have gotten run down and you will see whole city blocks for sale for redevelopment.  Miami has “circulator busses” which do a circuit around a specific area, usually connecting to other bus lines or to the light rail commuter system.  The circulator bus for Coconut Grove is #249.

If you have ever seen the TV show “Burn Notice”, it is filmed at Dinner Key in the Miami Convention Center here (not the only convention center in Miami).  They have turned the convention center into a studio and most of the filming is done here (as well as other locations in Miami).  We did not get to see any of the stars of the show, but the production folks were gearing up to film another season this week.  Lots of props.

Friday, March 15, 2013.  The Ides of March.  We used the pump out on the dock to empty holding tanks and then flush them out.  Filled the water tanks.  Filled the fuel tanks from the jerry cans and then took the cans by dingy over to Scotty’s (Grove Key Marina) to be refilled.  Chores done, we met Darrell and Ruth and walked up to Crook and Crook (the real name of a marine supply store – their motto “We don’t try to live up to our name”).  Lunch at “Lokal” (Best Burgers in Town” award), but ours weren’t.  Darrel and Ruth had eaten there earlier in the week and it was “terrific”.  Our fries were cold and burgers burnt.  Not sure it will make the list for the next visit.  Readied everything for tomorrow’s departure to Sunset Island, Miami Beach.  Darrel and Ruth have friends coming for the week-end and will probably head for Fort Lauderdale on Wednesday.

Saturday, March 16, 2013.  Sunny, winds SE @ 2.  Left Dinner Key Marina at 11am.  As we pass downtown Miami waterfront, there is a huge pavilion that has been erected for “Ultra Music Festival” aka “Spring Break 2013”.  I am sure the folks at Dinner Key could hear it! (5 miles away)!  Tickets are still available for only $210!  The railroad bridge was up so we did not have to wait an hour like the last time we came this way.  Anchor down at Sunset Islands at 1pm.  Sunny, wind Se @ 8.  10 NM today.  Sunset Lake anchorage, Miami Beach.  25° 48.48’ North, 080° 08.49’ West.  Mile Marker 1088.

 Jeff had called his friend Andrew, who goes to school in Miami and they are headed into the fray to check out Spring Break!

Sunday, March 17, 2013.  St. Patrick’s Day.  We did not realize we were missing this party also!  Bummer!  We took a dingy trip up the canal at the end of Sunset Lake (aka Biscayne Waterway) over to Indian Creek (not a creek, more of a Bay) which runs behind all the big hotels and condos on the beach.  Nice ride.  The bay becomes a canal again at 41^st Street and that canal leads back to the bay by the Venetian Islands and the dock where we normally tie up the dingy when we go ashore.  About a 5 mile dingy trip. 

Lisa made pork chops on board and more Downton Abbey.

Monday, March 18, 2013.  Today we visited the Holocaust memorial here.  Very moving.  Saw some familiar names, but no way to know if these names are related to the folks we know with the same names.  It amazes me still that the world let the Nazis get away with this, and even more amazing, that now there are governments who say this never happened and it was all a fabrication.  There is a Holocaust memorial in Boston and Houston that I have visited, but not like this one.  If you ever in Miami Beach, make sure you visit.  www.holocaustmmb.org

Bummer.  When tying to the dingy dock, it is standard practice here to put out a stern anchor so the dingy does not get caught under the dock when the tide comes in.  When we tried to retrieve the anchor it had fouled on something and no matter what we tried, we could not free it.  We were told there is a lot of “junk” on the bottom and advised not to dive on the anchor to retrieve it here, so we will add that to the gifts to Poseidon.

One of the mansion owners along the canal at Sunset Islands does not want “gypsy boats” anchored in front of his house – ruins his view.  So, he started out blaring LOUD music at all hours of the night and shining spotlights on the boats when they anchored there.  Finally, his neighbors got upset enough to call the cops.  Now he has anchored about 25 laser sailboats in front of his (and his neighbors’) mansion(s) so no other boat can spoil his view.  I guess it keeps out the vagrants, but I’m not sure looking at a bunch of lasers is a great view!

Swimming off the stern and then showers on the stern.  Dinner on board this evening – George and Susan Barlow’s Chicken and Pear Curry.  I hope George and Susan do not mind that I share their recipe.  Umm, umm, good.

George and Susan Barlow’s Chicken and Pear Curry

 Ingredients

2 ½ lbs Chicken parts washed and patted dry (we use boneless, skinless thighs, fake       chicken strips for Jeff (vegetarian)) – cut into 1 inch pieces

Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

1 Tablespoon olive oil

½ Cup chopped onion

2 Tablespoons butter

1 Tablespoon crushed garlic (fresh or from a jar)

2 Asian pears, or golden delicious apples (peeled cored, cut into six pieces) – you can also use any ripe pear or even canned pears

8 Ounces shitake mushrooms

1 Zucchini pealed, cut into bit size pieces

2 Tablespoon curry powder

2 Tablespoons unbleached flour (or corn starch)

1 Cup chicken stock

1 Tablespoon mango chutney (more if you like)

¼ Cup heavy cream or sour cream

2 Tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

Serve with:

1 Cup mango chutney

1 Cup shelled peanuts, ground up

1 Cup dried currants or 1 cup shredded coconut

Rice – sticky, white, wild, brown, pilaf – have also used rice noodles and pasta

Preparation:

1. Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper.  Heat oil in a large, heavy skillet and brown chicken on all sides.  Remove from pan, drain.
2. Add crushed garlic to oil and brown
3. Add onion, zucchini and mushroom to oil and sauté over medium heat until onions are clear (about 10 minutes).
4. Add pears to the pan and mix in.  Cook another 5 minutes.
5. Add ½ of the chicken stock and deglaze the pan with the veggies still in the pan. 
6. Add curry powder and flour and whisk until smooth.  Add more stock as needed.  Cook 3 minutes.
7. Add remainder of chicken stock, chutney and cream and cook 2 minutes stirring constantly until smooth.
8. Return chicken to the pan and heat through – about 3 minutes.
9. Serve over rice and garnish as above.

Enjoy!

Just a note on the above recipe.  We had some fresh pineapple on board, so I added that to the recipe.  The pineapple absorbed most of the mango chutney, so when you ate a piece, it was very spicy.  Be fore-warned!

Pictures from this week