August 20, 2013
A Summer’s Day on the Credit
Three boys, a homebuilt raft and a slow-moving river, launch a lifelong love of boats and the water. After owning our Spencer 35 sailboat for almost 30 years, Anne and I recently sold her with the intention of getting a roomier vessel for two teenage boys, an energetic terrier and us. Our old boat headed for a new life on Vancouver Island and seemed a good fit for the new owner. After helping deliver Sway to the island, I returned to the marina on the Fraser River where she had rested between our many cruises up and down this rainy coast.
August 20, 2013
There’s Nothing You Can Do That Can’t Be Done*, Old Bean
There is a moment, a special moment that boaters know, when the stillness is so perfect, and the sight of a breaking mist so fine it radiates as it fights the early morning sun to see which will rule the day. Ritual says that the first one up carefully fires up the kettle and waits ever so long for the whistle to blow – the come near signal. The whistle generates grunts and moans from mates hiding in bunks and berths as they search for just a few more minutes of sleep. Almost instantly, blankets and sheets and sleeping bags are pulled over heads to hide from the light, but the day has broken.
August 15, 2013
Black Bean and Artichoke Burritos
“A new flair on burritos, and actually they’re just as good fried up all together as a side dish, and then put into a tortilla. This was a tasty surprise.” — Victoria M.H. READY IN 40 minsOriginal recipe makes 8 burritos 1 (15 ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed
August 15, 2013
Perfect Margarita Recipe
What to buy: All self-respecting margaritas are made with only 100 percent agave tequila (we like to use the high-quality Cuervo 1800, Patrón Silver, Herradura, or Don Julio) and Cointreau.INGREDIENTS Salt, for rimming the glass (optional) Ice 1 1/2 ounces tequila (blanco, 100 percent agave) 1 ounce freshly squeezed lime juice
August 9, 2013
The Ultimat Blueberry Martini
The Ultimat Blueberry Martini, along with The Patron Gold Cosmopolitan, will be featured cocktails at the pre-show party and at the Governors Ball during the 81st Academy Awards, and both are star-worthy cocktails. This one in particular is a fantastic mix of Ultimat, a very smooth, premium vodka, and fresh blueberries, which just happen to be in their prime this time of year.
August 2, 2013
EZ Cruisin’ One Pot Chicken Dinner
Here is a motto to make your cruisin’ lifestyle better; know your boat, know your mechanic and know your butcher! Plan your course and chart your meals. In my younger days, while I was in training to someday become the Galley Guy I appear to be now, I enjoyed learning how to cook at home. You’d think my wife would’ve been appreciative, but she never failed to point out that (when I was finished) there wouldn’t be a clean pot or utensil left in the entire house.
August 2, 2013
One Pot Skillet Paella
Another one dish recipe because we boaters LOVE simplicity when it comes to creating tasty but low maintenance meals onboard.This paella dish has great flavour, a terrific combination of textures and is easy to create. Enjoy!
August 1, 2013
Savoury One Pot Seafood Stew
This super-easy recipe is ideal for preparation in a galley because, as this post title suggests, it involves throwing everything into just one pot. LOVE that! And if you have a Le Creuset casserole pot or skillet then it is even more perfect for you:
July 16, 2013
Brothers in Boats
Knowing the inflatable trade spells success for the Keys brothers, in BC and back home in Ireland. This is a story about two brothers in two countries, and how the booming popularity of inflatable boats on a global scale has changed both of their lives. The brothers are Brendan and Ronan Keys, born and raised in the port of Drogheda, on the east coast of Ireland just north of Dublin. Today, Brendan’s home is Vancouver, where he is a partner in GA Checkpoint Yamaha, one of BC’s leading inflatable and outboard dealers, while Ronan operates Inland Inflatable Services, Ireland’s leading inflatable sales and service firm, in Sligo, on the country’s west coast.
July 16, 2013
Boating in the Biosphere
The 30,000 Islands of Georgian Bay is a boater’s dream destination with crystal clear waters, endless anchorages, amazing angling opportunities, outstanding scenery and diverse wildlife and vegetation. It is also a United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) world biosphere reserve, a designation awarded in 2004 after seven years of intensive work by a collective of cottagers, boaters, residents, First Nations representatives and organizations with support from government agencies.
July 15, 2013
Passing the First Test
For an eager and experienced 14-year-old, passing the boater competency exam is just the first step in a lifetime of learning on the water. One of the toughest tests I have ever written wasn’t even at school. It was the pleasure craft competency exam. In contrast to the 30 minutes of studying I usually do for one of my grade eight exams, I spent weeks preparing for my boating exam. Every night during the weeks leading up to the exam, I would review a chapter in the study guide. I even took the guide to school with me to read when I had the chance.
July 12, 2013
Wrap and Roast Easy Boater Grill Recipes
Well here is the vegetable and the dessert. All you have to figure out is what kind of meat or fish to grill alongside these two delectable and easy dishes… Cruising Taters: Prick white baking potato or sweet potato in several places. Wrap in foil and cook over medium heat, turning often, for about 50 minutes. Top with 1 of the following: baked beans, canned mixed bean salad, antipasto, salsa, chive butter, sour cream, herbed cream cheese.
July 11, 2013
How To Pan Fry Fish
Pan frying fish is, perhaps, the most delicious way to cook any non-fatty fish. The coating protects the flesh from direct heat and helps keep the fish moist, while also providing a browned and crispy or crunchy crust. Yet, the method avoids the large amount of oil (not to mention the mess) required for deep frying. The steps here show how to do a full three-step coating, but the basic idea can also be used to simply coat the fish once with flour to improve browning for pan fried fish. Whether you catch and fillet your own fish or buy them from a fish monger or at a fish counter, always cook with only the highest quality, impeccably handled fish. Look for firm, uniformly textured flesh and a clean smell of ocean, river, or lake. Fish should never smell fishy or have soft spots or bruising.
July 8, 2013
Beer and Bacon Steamed Mussels
A hearty and easy one pot recipe for Entertaining On Board Portion size: 12 servings of 4 mussels each Serve with crusty bread for sopping up the juices. Choose a favourite local microbrew (wheat beer is best) for steaming, as well as serving alongside. This recipe doubles easily for a larger crowd.
June 28, 2013
1 Pan Skillet Cookie with Dark Chocolate Chunks
This huge, chocolatey cookie can be made in any galley and will keep the deck hands happy! Mix up and bake a warm cookie, oozing with rivers of chocolate, all in one cast iron skillet. First up, chop that chocolate bar. You can surely use chocolate chips if that’s all you have on hand, but I love the random and unequally-sized chocolate chunks strewn throughout the cookie. Also, using dark chocolate makes this healthy! Antioxidants my friends.
May 14, 2013
A Sparkling Sea
Whether you see it as fairy dust in the water or stars in the head, ocean bioluminescence is a fascinating phenomenon. I had my most recent exposure to the remarkable phenomenon called bioluminescence during our beautiful West Coast weather last autumn. It was a crisp, clear night and we were on a mooring buoy at Newcastle Island Marine Park in Nanaimo, when my husband spoke to my love of the night sky and offered to take me for a dinghy ride to see the stars.
May 9, 2013
Safe Handling and Storing of Fruits and Vegetables
You can reduce your risk of food-borne illness by following these safety tips when buying, storing, handling, and preparing fresh fruits and vegetables: Buying Fresh Fruits and Vegetables • Examine the produce carefully and avoid buying items that are bruised or damaged. • If buying pre-cut or ready-to-eat fruits and vegetables (e.g., cut melons, cut tomatoes, pre-washed salad), be sure they have been properly refrigerated (i.e., at 4°C or below). This means they should be displayed in a refrigerated container and should not just be sitting on top of ice.
May 9, 2013
Cooking Onboard With Added Safety
Cooking onboard can sometimes be a challenge. At Canadian Yachting we are impressed with the new SilKEN Induction 2 Burner Cooktop from Kenyon. This comes with special high-temperature Silicone mats. The biggest benefit is that induction heats the inside of the pot (and quickly) right through the Silicone mat. The mat holds the pot in place and is shaped to offer spill retention and quick heat dissipation.
May 9, 2013
The Big Chill – Portable Freezers Help Extend Your Cruise
Good food is an important part of the cruising experience for our crew – just as important as it is at home. When we traded our 27’ sailboat for a 32’ trawler, a big attraction of the new boat was its well-equipped galley, extensive stowage, and refrigeration. Hog heaven, if you will, compared to the tiny galley and icebox on the sailboat. But as we prepared for our first extended foray up the BC coast, we realized we needed one more component in our galley toolset: a freezer. We like our fish and seafood but we’re not avid fishers; a freezer would allow us to pack along our favourite “catch.” Same with meats, which are scarce and
May 9, 2013
Canadian Yachting’s Entertaining Onboard Recipes
Welcome to Canadian Yachting’s Entertaining Onboard Recipes. The offerings in this section are recipes that have been contributed by Canadian Yachting readers, staff writers and some featured product manufacturers. Please browse through and have a look at the great meals and appetizers you can make onboard while enjoying the company of family and friends on the water.
May 9, 2013
Grilled Pepper Salmon with Pineapple Salsa
You will need: Salsa Fresh pineapple Red pepper Cilantro Red pepper flakes Brown sugar
May 9, 2013
Grilled Lobster stuffed with scallops and shrimp and calamari with citrus butter
Grilled Lobster stuffed with scallops and shrimp and calamari with citrus butter 2 Lobsters 2 pounds each cut in half 8 Shrimp jumbo, peeled and de-veined 8 Sea Scallops Jumbo 4 Calamari tubes cut into ½ inch rings
May 9, 2013
Saturna Cioppino with Calamari
This recipe is adapted from Seasonings: Flavours of the Southern Gulf Islands by Andrea and Spalding (Harbour Publishing 2012), who credit it to Chef Hubertus Surm of the Saturna Café. The base is easy to make and refrigerate overnight, then serve with fresh West Coast seafood. We enjoyed it first with halibut, spot prawns, scallops and mussels, then saved the leftover stew for a second meal with calamari (squid). Squid is delicious, quick to prepare, and will travel well frozen in your boat’s new portable freezer. Freezing and thawing also helps tenderize squid meat. We found this dish especially tasty the second night, when the flavours of stew and seafood had time to blend.
May 9, 2013
Blue Pacific Mussels with White Wine
This dish is best served with a green salad dressed with oil and Balsamic vinegar. White Wine: Dry if possible. Chateau Screw Top is O.K. to mix with the nectar Pasta; fresh if you’ve got it, dry if you haven’t. Linguini is traditional, but any pasta will do. Butter if desired Olive oil, cold pressed extra virgin if possible. Your local food coop or natural food store may have it in bulk for less than the big chain gets for lower quality oil. Extra virgin olive oil has more flavour.
May 9, 2013
Oysters with Chipotle Hot Sauce
Oysters with Chipotle Hot Sauce Shuck Oysters or steam them open, squeeze on a drop of fresh lemon or lime, dip in the sauce and gulp ‘em on down. The smoky flavour of the Chipotle peppers fits oysters perfectly. Chipotle hot sauce; Chipotle peppers have a wonderful smoky flavour. Mix (with the hand blender in a bowl) a small can of Chipotle Peppers with a can of unflavoured tomato paste. Add water and the juice of one lemon, to the desired thickness for a hot sauce. It’s still plenty hot and it keeps for a month in the refrigerator. For
May 9, 2013
Caribbean Tropical Shrimp
My name is Tatiana Zanardi, I’m Brazilian and I live in a sail catamaran called Ocean Eyes – a Voyage 43 2000 – with my husband Alcides Falanghe. We moved from Sao Paulo to the boat two years ago and we don’t regret one second of our decision. We have been sailing around Caribbean, from BVI till Aruba, stopping by almost all the islands in the Eastern Caribbean. When I have guests on board I like to serve this dish as the first one, to give them a taste of the Caribbean . They love it and in just a few minutes they are all relaxed and enjoying their vacations. The best place to serve it is in Bonaire, Dutch Caribbean, a paradise for divers and for everybody who loves nature.
May 9, 2013
Sheryl Shard’s Mexican Appetizer
I use this recipe a lot aboard Distant Shores since it is attractive, flavourful and easy to prepare at a moment’s notice from mostly canned and bottled goods that can be stored on board long-term. Adjust amounts slightly to suit the size and type of serving dish you choose to serve it in. I use a 6″ x 8″ x 2″ glass casserole dish (pictured) to show off the layers of ingredients. Everything is prepared in the dish you serve it in so preparation doesn’t mean a lot of dishes to wash up afterwards. Not only does this save water, it leaves you time to relax and enjoy your time on the boat.
May 8, 2013
Balsamic Beets and Goat’s Cheese Crostini
When beets are roasted, their natural sweetness is heightened and concentrated. In this recipe, their flavour is balanced by the sharp tang of goat’s cheese. We use the beautiful chèvres from the Salt Spring Island Cheese Company. The pairing is served on crostini to create a hearty, hand-held appetizer. To reduce your on-board preparation time, we suggest cooking the beets at home in advance.
April 5, 2013
Sailing with the Wind
Is it the journey that counts – or the destination? My wife Sandy and I are avid sailors, although for many years we didn’t actually own a boat. To get our sailing fix, we simply chartered yachts in a variety of destinations. Typically, we would follow routes suggested by the charter company, always returning to the home marina within a week or two. And often, especially on our last day, our course would be directly into the wind, requiring us to beat, motor or both.
April 4, 2013
Protecting BC’s Gulf Islands
Many Canadian Yachting readers have likely experienced the beauty of British Columbia’s Gulf Islands. Nestled between Vancouver Island and the mainland, this archipelago of more than 450 islands and islets offers calm seas, a gentle climate and stunning landscapes. What many visitors may not notice are the immense pressures on this much-loved area and the work of numerous conservation groups to save these fragile ecological jewels for all British Columbians and visitors.
March 8, 2013
Rideau and Trent Severn – Trouble on Ontario’s Canal Systems
Many newspaper headlines appeared in the spring of 2012 with these two names highlighted. The Rideau, a recently designated World Heritage Site, and the Trent Severn, with a combined age of 325 years, were designated as transportation routes until 1972 when the Federal Cabinet moved canal operations from the Department of Transport to Parks Canada. In March of 2012, during Federal budget deliberations, Parks Canada (PC) was given a budget reduction target of $29.2M over 3 years.
March 8, 2013
Back at the 15th Street Fisheries
The “Must Do” Restaurant Experience at the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show. The Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show is one of my favourite events each year but I’m never really sure if it’s the show itself or the fact that we always book a dinner at the 15th Street Fisheries when we are there. Next October, or anytime for that matter, if you’re planning a trip to Fort Lauderdale, lovers of fine fish and seafood need to schedule a visit to the 15th Street Fisheries.
March 8, 2013
Wicked Oysters
Easy to collect and prepare, fresh, wild oysters are one of the pleasures of cruising the BC coast. One of my favourite things about cruising BC’s south coast is the local seafood. And nothing beats a few oysters! It was late August and we opted for a dock day at Lagoon Cove Marina on East Cracroft Island because it was overcast and drizzling. We were getting to know new cruising friends at the dock, swapping stories and experiences, when I casually asked if anyone would eat a few oysters if I barbecued them. There was a combination of enthusiasm and skepticism – because oysters are not native to the Broughton Archipelago.
February 6, 2013
Rowing My Own Boat
Fifty years ago, my parents bought a cottage on Gambier Island in BC’s Howe Sound. Facing the snowy Lions to the east and the undeveloped north side of Bowen Island, the tiny cabin – replete with mice, horsehair-stuffed furnishings and antique oil lamps – was accessible only by boat. My parents bought a 17’ clinker boat made by Elia Boat Works in Vancouver, and powered it with a Johnson outboard from Woodward’s Marine. They were set.
November 30, 2012
Feeding the Inner Sailor
Even the simplest galley can produce great food, like these cinnamon buns… A well-fed crew is a happy crew, we say aboard Eleuthera Soleil, our 24ʹ twin-keel British Snapdragon. Robert and I both love to cook. Our galley is utterly simple: a Dickinson diesel stove with an oven, and a stainless steel Lagoustina pressure cooker. We cook as often as possible out in our canvas-enclosed cockpit, on our two-burner Origo alcohol stove, to minimize condensation.
November 29, 2012
Frankly Scallop, I don’t give a clam!
As the Galley Guys travel about we meet great people who share our joy for being on the water — sharing food and wine, and partaking in a little dinnertime storytelling. This particular gastronomic event was in the making for months and began with the mention of Digby scallops and a scheduled trip to Canada’s ocean playground, Nova Scotia. One of these great people is honorary Galley Guy, Jim Grove, who along with his most delightful wife, Dudley, proposed a scallop recipe that he has been tweaking for years.
November 21, 2012
The Voyage of Free Spirit V: Northbound!
Our first summer cruise aboard Free Spirit V changed our lives and introduced us to places and challenges we could never have imagined. Rob and I were complete novices when we bought our first boat, Free Spirit V, a 1991 Kadey Krogen 42 foot full-displacement trawler, in December 2010. Still, we wanted to follow friends north for a 10-week cruise the following summer. Bringing our knowledge and skills up to standard would mean a lot of winter cruising. Between December and the end of May 2011, with our reluctant standard poodle, Blue, in tow, we clocked almost 100 engine hours, and many of them weren’t pretty.
September 27, 2012
Tales of a Catcherman
Did I mention how much I hate standing in the rain in a seaway…fishing? Messing around in boats has been our passion for almost 30 years. Corinne and I currently spend our summers cruising the Pacific Northwest in our American Tug 41, Ocean Mistress. We have a passion for finding new and remote anchorages. We love to explore. About 10 years ago we began adding other activities to our cruising agenda. We do a lot of hiking into the remote areas of British Columbia’s rainforest, and we add to our cruising larder with a little fishing.
September 27, 2012
The Voyage of Free Spirit V – Starting From Scratch
Bitten by boating bug, the author and her husband choose a rugged 42’ passagemaker and start their climb up a steep learning curve…In the beginning…we lived on the prairies. We did not know a tide from a current but we harboured a dream of moving west, where we could see the ocean every day. We had spent a lot of time in Vancouver and, as the possibility of moving there drew near, we felt the urge to be out on the water – not just to look at it.