Blog copyright Janet Groene 2024.
News, cues and views for sailing folks and liveaboard wannabe's from Farley Halladay, author of the
Yacht Yenta e-mysteries
NEW ZEALAND'S MUST-SEE BOAT SHOW
March 6-9, 2025 are the dates for the Auckland, New Zealand Boat Show. Plan now to make the scenes in Jellicoe Harbour and the Viaduct Events Centre.
CHICAGO'S LEGENDARY NAVY PIER GETS A MAKEOVER
The privately funded Navy Pier Marina in downtown Chicago is expected to open with a new look in the summer of 2025 in time for boating season. Dockage will be first class for transient commercial and recreational boats up to 183 feet LOA. The luxury docks will have concierge services, power and water hookups, Wi-Fi and a pump-out station.
A service building will house the marina office, convenience store, restrooms with showers, a lounge for boaters and their pets and a bicycle repair station. Enjoy dockage in the heart of the city.
LEADING CHARTER BOAT HOTSPOTS
According
to Dream Yacht Worldwide, a sea-based vacation company (no
sailing experience required) here is an overview of U.S. sales for
sailings booked during by the end of 2024. The figures reflect increases over 2023.
British Virgin Islands +22%
Guadeloupe +25%
Saint Martin +28%
U.S. Virgin Island +217%
The
company books monohulls and catamarans in choice waters worldwide.
Choose a captained cruise or a captain plus a hostess who will do the cooking.
SAVANNAH HARBOR GOES GLAM
One of the most romantic, appealing and popular stops for southbound cruising folks each spring is historic Savannah, Georgia.
In 2025 it is expected to welcome visitors with a glamorous new
full-service, concierge marina and a mixed use development that invites
shore visits for history tours, a fresh market village, boat sales,
waterfront restaurant and a park. Linger here to take tours of
antebellum mansions, shop in smart boutiques and get spa treatments. It
will be known as the IGY Savannah Harbor Marina, www.igymarinas.com, tel. +1-954-510-3309; email PR@IGYMarinas.com/
The 6th in the Yacht Yenta ebook series of cozy mysteries again features widow Farley Halladay as charter boat booking agent, caregiver, galley cook and kickass crime solver.
Once
a charterboat hostess herself. Farley was forced to seek a new life
ashore when her skipper husband was mysteriously killed in a fall from
the mainmast of their ketch Sea SEAL. In Book Six she finds a possible solution to his death.
KIRKLAND, WASHINGTON DOCKS UPGRADED
Kirkland, Washington will
have a spiffed-up Marina Park in 2025. Year-round dockage and
moorage are available in the city, where the South Pier will have ADA
upgrading, replaced utilities and new picnic tables. For details on
transient dockage contact the Park Planning and Development Manager at
(425) 587-3311, email mgardocki@kirklandwa.gov
There are times when the fridge fails, the ice melts, stove fuel runs out or the bilge floods. Survival Food Handbook is about using stand-by supplies before you have to resort to those awful, high-priced survival rations.
Using familiar, affordable supermarket staples it's possible to make tasty, balanced meals in make-do emergencies. https://amzn.to/3mIfryC
FARLEY HALLADAY'S GALLEY RECIPE OF THE WEEK
APPLESAUCE SKILLET CAKE
No oven, no problem. Farley cooked for six guests in the small galley on board the ketch that she and her late husband offered for charter. Her recipes take shortcuts, keeping in mind the busy sailor with a small galley. Throughout her cozy mysteries (January Justice through June Jeopardy) , Farley shares her sea-savvy recipes.
Cast aluminum is best for baking over a small burner. It spreads heat evenly over bottom and sides. Unlike cast iron, it's light to carry and stow and it doesn't rust.
Mix dry ingredients at home if you like, seal them in a plastic bag, and you have a readymade “cake mix”.
1 cup eggs or substitute
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 2/3 cups applesauce
14-ounce can baby carrots, chopped fine
2 1/4 cups flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 tablespoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon apple pie spice
1 cup raisins
½ cup chopped nuts
Generously grease a 10-inch skillet. Whisk wet ingredient in a bowl. Put dry ingredients in a clean bag and joggle to mix, then dump into the wet ingredients. Mix until everything is evening moistened and fold in raisins and nuts. Put batter in the cold, greased pan and lid tightly. Bake over medium heat until cake shrinks slightly away from sides of the pan and tests done with a toothpick. Cut in wedges.
Cook's note: Stovetop baking takes some practice and timing depends on your stove, type of fuel, type of skillet, ingredients and luck. . Peek as little as possible because you're trying to keep an even envelope of heat around the cake.
