Jumping humpbacks and crab claws for dinner

Caramor - sailing around the world
Franco Ferrero / Kath Mcnulty
Tue 3 Jun 2014 14:14
My uncle in Dublin once tried to kid me that Ireland has a tropical climate because cabbage palms grow in his garden, the fantastic weather this past week may prove him right after all.

We've had plenty to do, life on a boat does take that little bit longer than in a house (to open the fridge you generally have to move 2 things), Franco has managed to fit in a few days work and I have been improving our storage system.

Caption: Using the Sailrite sewing machine.

There's also been plenty of time for kayaking and cycling; we kayaked to the Kedge Islands, just short of Baltimore where we stopped off on the way back from the Azores four years ago. On the way there, Franco spotted a humpback whale leap straight out of the water, I was lucky to see it the second time, very impressive, it looked amazing from a distance but we both agreed a leaping humpback at too close a range may not be such a good idea. Check out "Intrepid and the whale" on youtube!

Caption: Of the Stags.

That evening as we got back to the entrance to Castlehaven, we passed a sailing boat motoring, the skipper shouted that he had seen fin whales just round the headland. Once round the headland we drifted on the eddy line between the tide and the inshore water where fish often congregate. Surely enough we heard the blow and then spotted the whale, there were two, one large, one small and they kept us guessing where they would emerge next. They were minke whale rather than the huge fin whale.

Last night, John a local fisherman was true to his word and brought us crab claws, a live crab and three mackerel. We let Harris the crab go free because he was far too beautiful (and big) to fit in the pressure cooker. I had baked bread and made a salad, the crab claws took 5 minutes in the pressure cooker and were (much to my surprise) delicious. I must admit I am a very reluctant piscarian, the secret is absolutely freshness.

Caption: Jim Kenned and clients.

We are still waiting for our EPIRB to arrive, today maybe, in which case we will set off tomorrow morning across the Bay of Biscay towards Gijon in Asturia, a small town where the cider flows...

Kath

Sent from Caramor, somewhere in the world...