Dreaded laundry and other cruising delights

Watch your back bacon, Berkshire, there's a new pig on our plate: pata negra from Spain.

Tuesday September 14 1300 hours
Fifty Point Yacht Club

Another sunny warm day with mid-day temps 24C in the shade.

Breakfast is a Bright Brand cheddar cheese omelette with green onions and light caraway rye.

When you are cruising, the laundry hamper builds up surprisingly quickly. After 10 days on the water, we finally do the dreaded laundry. Three loads in total. $2.50 for wash cycle (31 minutes) and $1.00 for dry (20 minutes). You can top-up the dry for 25 cents for each additional five minutes.

We run out of the home-made muffins that the Admiral baked for the trip, so off she goes to the Marina coffee shop for freshly baked blueberry, banana and raisin bran muffins. Cost is $5.65 for the four jumbo muffins. Ice cubes are $2.80.

Lunch is a romaine salad of cucumber/tomatoes/green peas and Fermin chorizo Iberico, a dry cured sausage produced from the famous Iberico pata negra pig. Watch your back bacon, Berkshire, there’s a new pig on the block, the black foot from Spain and he’s ready to take a rightful place at our table. Hoof, hoof!

We plan to go for a 1/2-hour hike around the fishing pond and check out the rest of the conservation area.

For the past two days, we are the only visiting boat at FPYC. You just can’t beat off-season cruising. We cannot imagine being in the marina with all 330 boats and 70 campsites in use.

Dinner today is a delicious New Zealand Spring Lamb shoulder blade chop with grilled potato and sauteed mushrooms on garlic toast.