ROFLMAO. With some minor variations on food etc, you've pretty much
described my lifestyle in Tasmania, on my 3.5 acres of waterfront with
oysters for the taking and salmon for the netting. Couple variations -
I enjoy visiting Sydney a few times a year to hit the bookshops and
machine tool dealers, and I have a permanent job that pays me to play
with research vessels and go to sea. Takes me 15 minutes to go from my
place on the water to my office, and not *one* traffic light on the
way. I built my house myself, to be just what I wanted without having
to work around other people's wishes. When I get back from Sydney, I
start the winter planting - pecans, walnuts, almonds, cherries for
starters, a couple apple trees perhaps. My neighbour has a vineyard
and makes a nice pinot noir, owns a H28 moored out the front of my
place. This summer, the big machine shop/shed goes in.

One of these days I'll have a fine cruising vessel like yours to round
out my life. Not one of those fin keeled broach-coaches that do
nothing well except sail to windward and even then need enough crew to
change headsails every time the wind strength changes by 5 knots or
so.

I really miss my 1 hour each way daily commute in heavy smog and
traffic, to my office in a high rise tower building. I miss it so much
that every morning, when I'm walking along the foreshore drinking my
coffee, I wonder why I put up with the crap for as long as I did.

Peter Wiley

"Capt. Mooron" wrote in message ...
I took full advantage of the rain, fog and total absence of wind today. I
did all shipboard laundry and enjoyed wolfing down 2 pounds of fresh, pan
fried scallops. We caught quite a few Tinker Mackerel in the last few days
sailing and I had them in brine for smoking. I transferred the split fillets
to the smoker today and they should be ready late tomorrow. I took a walk
down to the shore earlier and decided to rake up some fresh mussels. The
water was so clear and calm it was like looking into an aquarium. The
mussels were a deep blue against the gold of the seaweed. I harvested about
a bucket of the tasty morsels. They are steaming right now in a white wine,
cream, butter and herb sauce for a late night snack. I heard the squid are
starting their run so I should have "calamari" within a few days. The other
day I showed my niece how to prepare sea urchin and periwinkles. I have
dried dulce in the basement which is wonderful as is but can really add
flavour to soups or stews requiring a marine flavour. A feed of crabs takes
about 30 minutes to harvest with a crab pot.... oysters are plentiful....
clams are available from the sand bar about 300 yards away. Yup... it's a
rough life here on the coast.

Oh.... did I mention farm fresh eggs from my hen house, racks of locally
smoked bacon and the tenderest cuts of local grown beef from cows that never
saw commercial grade feed or medications?? I have 10 lbs of home churned
butter in the fridge. I get glass jugs of goat's milk on a regular basis. I
was just given a pair of the biggest turkeys I have ever seen. I'll breed
them this year and should have all the turkey meat I need for years to come.


Overproof got her decks washed in fresh rainwater today while I tended to
shoreside tasks I had long put off. The Loons quit calling at sunset and now
the peepers and crickets have taken over the evening entertainment. I can
smell the ocean and the subtle aroma of a moist boreal forest wafting
through my open window right now.

I wonder what it must be like to sail out of a city, traffic noise, sirens,
people, gunshots..... on a sewage laden and polluted body of water where
swimming ... let alone consuming anything extracted from the water is akin
to playing Russian Roulette. Oh well at least they get to go sailing almost
everyday while I have to tend to chores.

CM