When my husband Steve and I first talked about going cruising, one of the strong appeals for me of traveling on a boat was that I would have my kitchen with me wherever we went.

I love to cook, to try new recipes and experiment, and Steve is a willing guinea pig. And we both love to eat. The name we chose for our sailboat is a dead giveaway: Receta is the Spanish word for recipe; we named Receta’s dinghy Snack.

Still, I didn’t realize this passion would do more than put food on our table. I soon discovered, however, that it could open up routes for us into Caribbean life.

Food launches conversations with strangers

When we moved onto the boat, I left behind not only the conveniences of my land-based kitchen, but North American convenience foods as well. In the Caribbean, fresh produce and fish markets became the new convenience.

This market woman on Dominica is rolling cinnamon bark into sticks. But you wouldn’t hear her call it “cinnamon” — on many Caribbean islands, it’s known simply as “spice. (Photo: Steve Manley)

Many of the items for sale were unfamiliar to us, but our foodie bent meant we were primed to try them.

I’d ask the vendors how they would prepare, say, the christophene (chayote) I was buying; or how I could turn the tamarind pods heaped on their tables into the refreshing tart-sweet drink we had just downed at a nearby food stall; or how I could use an unrecognizable-to-me green herb in my cooking. (One time, in the market in Castries, St. Lucia, the answer was that I should use it to make tea, to get rid of intestinal worms. I wormed out of that purchase and bought the cilantro-like herb chadon beni instead.)

On every trip to market, I make it my mission to buy something new. Tables overflowing with unusual herbs and greens make it easy in Castries, St Lucia (Photo: Steve Manley)	After taking these shots in the Castries, St. Lucia, market, Steve printed them onboard and gave copies to the women on our next trip to town. (Photo: Steve Manley)

Pleased by our interest, the vendors were eager to help. Often, other customers joined the conversation, too, offering their suggestions on how to use a fruit or vegetable. “Would you like me to come home with you and cook them?” the shopper next to me said when I fingered some flat, green, snow-pea-like pods in the market in Port of Spain, Trinidad. With the permission of the vendor, she showed me how to string the seim, as I learned the pods were called, and then mimed cutting them into diagonal strips. “These are very good in curries” she said before heading on her way.

Learning to roll coo-coo on Carriacou (with local cook Leslie Anne Calliste). (Photo: Steve Manley)

Emboldened by the positive reaction (and the information) our questions brought, we began poking our noses into kitchens, too, whenever we tasted wonderful island cooking on shore.

Invariably, we left with a recipe – albeit one of the “pinch of this, handful of that” variety – which formed the basis of my experiments in our galley afterwards.

When the results brought less than four-star reviews from Receta’s official food critic – that would be Steve – we went back to those who helped us, and asked more questions.

Even beyond markets and kitchens, we discovered food was a conversation starter, giving us a way to meet people. From taxi drivers to local boatmen, from customs officials to strangers we greet as we walk paths and roads, food is a subject that gets people talking. Not only does everyone have an opinion of what they like, but also people are proud of their country’s cuisine and pleased when visitors show an interest in it.

We win on all fronts

- Tuna seared rare with a cocoa-chili crust.
- Octopus stewed in a Creole style with fresh tomatoes, peppers, and thyme.
- Thick, creamy callaloo served as a soup or a side dish with rice.
- Provision – yams, sweet potatoes, green plantains, breadfruit – cooked in coconut milk with fresh herbs.
- Mango-pineapple gazpacho.
- Buttery avocado salad.
- Grilled mahi-mahi drizzled with a passion-fruit and ginger sauce.
- Lentils with sweet pumpkin.

By creating dishes based on fresh, local, seasonal ingredients (and adapting old favorite recipes to include them), we eat extremely well on Receta – in terms of both taste and a healthy diet. (These recipes, and many more, are included in my new book, The Spice Necklace: My Adventures in Caribbean Cooking, Eating, and Island Life; see below.)

These greens I’m buying in the Port of Spain, Trinidad, market are called spinach, but they’re from a different plant – and are more strongly flavored – than the Popeye variety we ate back home. Slightly bitter and smoky tasting, they’re wonderful sauteed with garlic and ginger. (Photo: Steve Manley)

“Cooking local” also helps the cruising kitty: Foods that don’t have to be shipped in from elsewhere and that are plentiful because they’re in season are invariably less expensive. A locavore style of eating offers a big helping of environment friendliness, too.

But beyond these benefits, my interest in learning to cook as the locals do also gets us involved in island life. It’s a starting point for adventures that inevitably lead us off the beaten tourist and cruiser path. What better excuse to get off the boat and explore an island than going in search of great food?

Our interest in food turns strangers into friends, and connects the dots between people and their history, culture, and traditions

In Trinidad, “Sweet-Hand Pat” let me look over her shoulder as she cooked in her small restaurant kitchen, and a friendship blossomed.(The crabs are destined for the popular Trinbagonian dish, curry crab and dumplins’.) (Photo: Steve Manley)

With food as our starting point, we tracked wild-oregano-eating goats into the cactus-covered hills at the northwest edge of the Dominican Republic, and tasted for ourselves that their meat comes to the kitchen preseasoned.

We joined a seamoss (seaweed) farmer in St. Lucia as she harvested her crop and turned it into potent “island Viagra.”  We made searing-hot pepper sauce in a Trinidadian kitchen – and got an impromptu dance lesson at the same time.

In the mountains of Dominica, we hunted freshwater crayfish at night (their tails rival those of small lobsters) and sipped moonshine out of hidden back-country stills. And at the University of the West Indies in Trinidad, we crammed for a chocolate-tasting test. (It was hard work. Honest.)

There’s no question that my passion for cooking has added a whole different – and unexpected – dimension to liveaboard life and broadened our cruising experience. And it was no surprise that food played a starring role when I started writing about our travels on Receta, first in An Embarrassment of Mangoes: A Caribbean Interlude.

Reciprocating helps launch a friendship

Our fisherman friends Dwight and Stevie keep RECETA well supplied with seafood when we’re anchored off Grenada’s Hog Island. In return, I try to keep them supplied with fresh baking and other goodies from my galley. (Photo: Steve Manley)

When we were first anchored in Grenada, a stranger gave us a bag of mangoes when she caught us admiring her tree. I baked her a pan of brownies to say thank you – which gave us an excuse to meet again, and started a now decade-long friendship.

If someone gives us a gift from their garden or fish from their catch, we try to say thanks with something homemade from the galley; if someone lets us peek over her shoulder while she cooks or invites us to share a meal, we try to follow-up with an invitation to Receta. Along the way, casual acquaintances turn into something more.

While I was back home in Toronto last fall, I called a friend in Trinidad to catch up – we had first met several years ago when I invaded her small restaurant kitchen to watch her cook – and told her I was preparing a couple of her recipes for a Canadian dinner party. “But, honey,” she said, “I just made two of your recipes for my husband’s birthday.” Food and friendship are a two-way street.

Ann’s 11 Tips
for Shopping in Island Markets

A mid-market refresher: coconut water straight from the shell. I also bring a leakproof bottle with me for the vendor to fill, so we can enjoy cold coconut water back on the boat, too. (Photo: Steve Manley)

1. Each time you go to market, look for at least one new-to-you item to buy.

This gives you a “market mission”, a reason to ask questions – and, of course, it expands your galley repertoire. Since buying locally grown seasonal food is cheaper than trying to replicate the meals you ate back home, it’s an inexpensive experiment if you hit the occasional dish you really don’t like.

2. Substitute island ingredients for North American ones in recipes you already know and enjoy.

Try cooking callaloo instead of spinach, bodi beans instead of string beans, pumpkin instead of squash, West Indian sweet potatoes instead of white potatoes. Make your favorite beef stew with goat, and an apple crisp with mangoes. Season with sive (West Indian chives) instead of green onions, chadon beni (culantro) instead of cilantro, and seasoning peppers instead of bell peppers.

3.  Ask the market vendors questions such as:

• “What do you call this [fruit, vegetable, fish]?” Even if you think you know the name, it’s worth asking the question: You may learn a local/regional variant.
• “How do I know when this [fruit, vegetable] is ready to use?” Asking “How do I know when it’s ripe?” can be tricky, as some produce is used in both ripe and unripe stages.
• “How do I prepare this?” Even better, ask “How do you serve it to your family?”

4. Have a pad and pen along, so you can jot down the details.

5. It’s easier to engage vendors in conversation on quieter days

Though the bustle and profusion of the week’s main market day (usually Friday or Saturday) make it fascinating and fun, it’s easier to engage vendors in conversation on quieter days, when they’re not quite so busy making sales.

6. Include the following in your going-to-market kit:

• sturdy carry bags, especially ones you can sling over your shoulder, leaving your hands free
• an insulated thermal bag (essential if you’re buying fish or other perishables, but even delicate greens and herbs profit from being kept cool)
• a plastic container with a secure locking lid and/or large zipper-type plastic bags (to decrease the odds of leakage when you’re bringing fresh fish, shrimp, or other seafood back to the boat)
• if eggs are on your shopping list, a closed plastic camping-style egg keeper. (Have you ever tried to transport eggs in a plastic bag, as they’re sometimes sold in island markets?)
• I often bring along a leakproof bottle, too, so if I come across someone selling fresh coconut water or fruit juice, I can leap on the opportunity.

7. Carry an assortment of small bills and change
to make doing business in the market easier.

8. Don’t be afraid to try hole-in-the-wall restaurants, small food stalls, and street food. (Size and sophistication are no guarantee of quality, hygiene, or food safety.) Follow your nose – if the cooking smells delicious, it probably is. A lineup of local people waiting for food is also a good sign.

9. Ask residents for recommendations.

But to avoid being sent to an establishment that a local thinks foreigners would like – usually, the typical popular tourist place – try phrasing the question this way: “Where do YOU go for breakfast/lunch/dinner?” If you’re looking for a more elaborate eating place, try asking, “Where would you take your mother for her birthday?”

10. Carry a small bottle of hand sanitizer in your backpack or bag.

You never know when you’re going to stumble on something delicious, and it’s good practice to clean your hands before you “take a taste.”

11. Ask before taking photos.

If you get permission, and if you have a printer onboard, print one or two of the good shots and give copies to your subjects. We’ve found this is a great way to break the ice.

About Ann Vanderhoof

Ann Vanderhoof is currently cruising the Eastern Caribbean with her husband Steve Manley.

Her new book, The Spice Necklace: My Adventures in Caribbean Cooking, Eating, and Island Life, was published in Canada in January and will be released in the USA on June 23, 2010. It recounts the couple’s adventures on Receta, as Ann follows her nose (and her tastebuds) from island to island, and it includes 71 recipes that grow out of the stories she tells.

Ann’s first book, An Embarrassment of Mangoes: A Caribbean Interlude, was an Amazon Top Ten Book of the Year for Travel and a national bestseller in Canada.

You can read Ann’s blog, see Steve’s photos, follow their travels, and find additional tips and recipes on her website: www.spicenecklace.com

Related articles (on this website)

• Ann Vanderhoof’s advice on setting up your galley and cooking onboard
• Taking Passions Cruising (Admiral’s Angle column #41)
• Other Take Your Passion Cruising articles (complete list)

More info (external links)

• Ann Vanderhoof’s website: www.spicenecklace.com
• “The Spice Necklace” Facebook page
• Ann Vanderhoof’s interview on CNN (June 25, 2010):
  Escaping it all to sail the Caribbean

What’s your passion? Have you taken it cruising?

Let us know. Email kathy@forcruisers.com or leave a comment below.

I became an avid scuba diver while living in New York City.

I know it sounds odd, but not only is there some excellent (and very historical) diving in the New York metro area, but the city probably has the world’s best access OUT by air to great diving destinations.

I learned to dive in the first place because my sister and brother-in-law had invited me to join them and my nephew on a bareboat charter to the Virgin Islands. Since they were all divers, I assumed that meant they would be diving, and I didn’t want to be left out.

Ironically, although we did fit in a rendezvous dive on that trip, the main message I got was that many people think diving and sailing don’t mix. Something about scuba tanks and fiberglass decks, the awkwardness of getting into and out of the water, the lack of storage space, maybe even the amount of time scuba takes out of a vacation day, etc.

Still I got hooked, and began working for a dive shop part time,

… took group dive trips whenever and wherever they were offered, and began my climb up the professional hierarchy assisting in city pools in the evenings and schlepping a couple dozen sets of wet scuba gear around the city. I loved the teaching. I loved making this adventurous endeavor happen for people, especially for the timid ones. It had changed my life, I loved being part of it changing theirs!

Like many people, I was, at that time, following a course of least resistance in my life.

I was supposed to be writing full time, but inspiration for my next book project wasn’t coming. The dive shop was fun and time consuming (I worked all day most every day!), and assisting dive classes, even in pools, was rewarding. But it simply hadn’t occurred to me to make any big changes.

Then my mother got terminally ill.

One of the things she said to me near the end that stuck hard was,

“Why don’t you just do it!”

“Do what?”

“Go to the Caribbean to live. Do your scuba diving. It’s all you talk about!”

Now this was coming from a woman who had long professed the expectation that I should settle down, marry (a lawyer or an accountant) so I would be ‘taken care of,’ and produce 2.5 children, preferably after joining the Junior League.

It was a release, and it was a tremendous gift.

And more or less, that’s exactly what I did.

I moved to the Virgin Islands with a new instructor’s certification and started working on a live-aboard dive ship.

On the ship I dove 3-5 times daily, taught 1-5 students most weeks, and learned a lot of what I know about how things should be done onboard ship from a terrific captain. And I got my captain’s license.

With the captain’s license joining my instructor ticket in my toolbox, I was armed to make the next huge leap in my life:

… the purchase of the CSY 44 Whisper in order to operate my own dive/sail charter business.

While charter isn’t exactly cruising, it isn’t not cruising either.

You are moving around every day, anchoring multiple times a day, and responsible not only for your charter guests’ safety, but for their vacation good time.

You get to know a given area extremely well (above the surface and below).

And for this, you get paid! You are paid to be doing what you wanted to do anyway!

I loved my ten years sailing and diving the Virgin Islands.

I always sought to find new places every week and explore new reefs, but returning to the same locations, the same anchorages, the same dive sites over and over actually gave them a whole new dimension.

You don’t just visit; you belong. You see how they evolve over seasons and years!

There’s a certain irony in the fact that I ended up taking my passion for scuba diving and teaching scuba back to a sail boat, when the first message I got about the pairing was that they were incompatible.

Much of the success had to do with choosing the right boat for what I wanted to do and carefully thinking through the setup.

I don’t think I would have had the patience to make do with a setup that was difficult on a daily basis, where it is a struggle to get the gear unpacked, to fill tanks, to get in the water, etc.

But when you have the right platform (and remember, it doesn’t HAVE to be a catamaran), diving from a cruising boat means you can dive ANYWHERE in the world!

When Don and I left the Virgins to go cruising full time aboard Tackless II (a sister to Whisper, and as well set up for diving), I did truly see the world ahead as one long sequence of scuba dives.

Looking back, I realize that in the ten years between the Virgin Islands and Australia I have been fortunate enough to dive in dozens of countries, eco-systems, islands and reefs, warm water and cold.

It never got old.

I have been incredibly fortunate that such a dream came true!

About Gwen Hamlin

Gwen Hamlin, one of the hosts of Women & Cruising, writes the Admiral’s Angle column for Latitudes & Attitudes Magazine and maintains a web site of their travels at www.thetwocaptains.com.

A former charter captain and dive instructor in the Virgin Islands, Gwen and her husband Don Wilson have spent the last 10 years aboard their CSY 44 sailboat Tackless II slowly cruising the Caribbean, Central America and the Pacific. Gwen & Don are currently taking a break from cruising to spend time with family in Florida.

More info

• Fitness Resources (on this website – lists several scuba diving resources)
• Gwen’s website of their travels: www.thetwocaptains.com

Related articles:

• Taking Passions Cruising (Admiral’s Angle column #41)
• www.latsandatts.net/magazine (for Gwen’s current Admiral’s Angle column)
• www.womenandcruising.com/admirals-angle/ (for the complete set of Admiral’s Angle columns)
• What Gwen Hamlin likes most about cruising
• Gwen Hamlin’s advice on setting up your galley and cooking onboard

What’s your passion? Have you taken it cruising?

Let us know. Email kathy@forcruisers.com or leave a comment below.

Cruising provides a perfect pace for getting to know cultures.

You shop in the markets and eat in your own kitchen – or on the streets. This is so much more satisfying than living in hostels and hotels and eating in restaurants – where everything you do is a commercial tourist transaction.

As cruisers, we can hang in a culture a while and get involved. To get to know a place and a culture, it always helps to have a mission, and though I usually have several “missions” (things that I am seeking out or interested in), so often my mission has been to get to know the language.

Really, if you can’t talk with local people then you miss out on so much

It’s like watching a movie with the sound turned off. Or you are relegated to dealing only with the designated cruiser “handlers” – those locals whose job it is to help cruisers get their needs met ashore.

The richness of the culture is captured in its language – when you learn a bit of the local language, you get to be another person for a little while, you get another life. You get a new set of emotions and personal characteristics, because they don’t match English one-to-one. To be “sympa” in French is so much better than just being “nice”. And in Spanish, there are all these nice verbs for doing things in a relaxed, friendly way: paseando (strolling), platicando (chatting) ….

So, because I love becoming part of new cultures, I pay attention to the words that people use in the countries where we cruise. I mimic local speech whenever I can, and write down words and phrases that I hear. But even more effective:

I find myself a local “teacher”.

I ask locals to help me learn the local dialect – and they accept happily, flattered by my interest in their language. Plus I am always willing to return the favor and teach them some English – but only if they want!

My teachers are seldom actual “teachers”. In the French islands of the Caribbean, some of my favorite teachers were women who were from continental France but had paired up with local men, had children and become part of a huge island extended family. They were super because they had a somewhat outsider’s view but were immersed in local culture and traditions. I would ask “Do people here … (whatever)?” and they would answer – “Well, personally I would never because I wasn’t raised that way, but everyone from here does that all the time.” There is nothing more enlightening than hearing people complain about their in-laws.

I always ask my “teachers” about much more than just language – I ask them about the cultural norms: when you greet people and how, all the little courtesies, how you can relate to children, etc, etc. My teachers become my friends. Oh, and my best French pronunciation coach was one teacher’s five-year-old son.

Along the way, I started teaching.

Some cruisers asked me to teach them Spanish in preparation for cruising Venezuela and the Western Caribbean.

I love to teach: before cruising I taught business computing as part of my business. I gave my classes in my students’ cockpits, at picnic tables on the beach, and at local cruiser bar/restaurants. It was the perfect environment for teaching language: I gave homework that required them to get out in the streets and chat up the locals — and then report back on the often humorous interchanges.

My friends were amazed because I could make education-hostile cruisers eagerly stay up late doing the homework I gave them, and I loved the challenge of teaching adults something that could give them such immediate rewards.

So then my students asked me to write a book.

And I began – teaching classes along the way. I developed my course book as I taught, and it provided the basis for what later became my book Spanish for Cruisers.

I loved my “research”. Every place I go, I HAD to seek out locals to fill in the blanks for the local language. I HAD to get to know diesel mechanics from Cuba, Mexico, the Dominican Republic, because I had to find out what words they were using.

I HAD to get to know the people working in the boatyards because I had to figure out what they were calling all the terms that made up boatyard work. If there was an upholsterer in town fixing cruisers’ sails, I had to meet him, because I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to get direct information. I had to find out what terms the dock attendants understood in the marinas – they might not be using “nautical” words at all.

So my research has always given me a reason to get to know people. It made me reach out because I just couldn’t pass up an opportunity that might not happen again. The result (Spanish for Cruisers) was a book that only a cruiser could write!

Years later, when I began writing French For Cruisers, the research got really interesting, because in addition to all the nautical and mechanical topics, it was critical that I cover the phrases that would let cruisers enjoy the food and wine of France and the French islands.

My research was now taking me to markets, to bakeries, to French and French-Creole restaurants. I ate, I drank: Research was tough! And I HAD to cruise the French canals!

So for me, research and fun are closely linked. They keep me curious – and they allow me to have an impact on the cruiser-local interactions. So many cruisers are out there communicating with the locals because my books have given them the tools to do so. Where will this passion take me next? — ¿Quién sabe?

6 Tips to get you talking

1. Speak! The more you speak, the easier it gets. You learn by making mistakes. Don’t wait until you’ve got it right, start talking!

   “Your mission is to amuse the locals with your attempts to speak their language.”

2. Learn the basic greetings and courtesy phrases such as “please, thank you, excuse me, and you’re welcome” and use them every chance you get.  Greet people you pass on the street, and always those you approach in a store or office. Using these greetings and courtesy phrases will help your hosts see you as a courteous person, and will also loosen your tongue, making it easier to get out even the more difficult words.

   Also learn to say: “I am sorry, I don’t speak much Spanish/French.” This wins you points because you are letting people know that you don’t expect them to know English, and you wish you knew their language.

3. Learn the pronunciation rules. Practice pronouncing key words and phrases in your phrase book. The more practice you can get speaking aloud, the easier it gets, and the better you sound! Practice with words that you will actually use.

   Find a local to sit down with you and listen to you pronounce the words in your phrase book. It’s a great way to make a new friend.

4. Cheat! If you don’t know the correct word, try the English word with Spanish/French pronunciation. (This is an excellent reason to learn pronunciation.)

   When you are shopping and don’t know the word for what you want: pronounce a common brand name with a Spanish/French accent.

5. Develop your own little speech describing yourself, your family, your voyages, and whatever you’d like to share with people, using the sentences in this chapter as a base. Then start practicing it on the people you meet in markets, restaurants, the marina office, etc. Embellish it with additional details as you become more comfortable.

   This technique helped me learn to converse when I first arrived in Nicaragua in the Peace Corps. People love the opportunity to get to know you!

6. Take a class. If you can find a class in port, sign up for it. And/or find a local tutor to work with you during your stay.

   Combine inland travel with a week long language course. You often have the option of housing with a local family for even more practice. Certain towns are known for their language schools (eg Antigua, Guatemala; Merida, Venezuela).

About Kathy Parsons

Kathy Parsons is author of the books, Spanish for Cruisers and French For Cruisers, popular language guides for boaters.

Together with friends Pam Wall, Gwen Hamlin and Beth Leonard, Kathy conducts “Women and Cruising” seminars at boat shows, answering questions that women have about the cruising life. She is the founder of this website, Women and Cruising, which provides advice, inspiration and resources for women cruisers.

Kathy Parsons has spent much of the last twenty years living aboard and sailing the US, Bahamas, Caribbean and Central America. Along the way, she has pursued a number of passions: diving, hiking, and inland travel, and learning and teaching foreign languages.

Before cruising (BC) Kathy Parsons worked as a social worker, Peace Corps volunteer in Nicaragua, researcher, computer consultant and corporate trainer, more or less in that order.

At age 35, she closed the business, rented the Maine house, and sailed south for the Bahamas with her husband. Finally she found something she could stick to: cruising on a sailboat.

More info

Kathy Parsons’ Language Guides for Boaters:

• Spanish for Cruisers (2nd edition)
• French For Cruisers

Related articles:

• Language for cruisers (Admiral’s Angle column #36)
• Taking Passions Cruising (Admiral’s Angle column #41)
• What Kathy Parsons likes most about cruising
• Kathy Parsons’ advice on setting up your galley and cooking onboard

What’s your passion? Have you taken it cruising?

Let us know. Email kathy@forcruisers.com or leave a comment below.

“A land lubber might be forgiven for thinking that when we commit to the cruising life our main and overriding passion is for sailing.

Very often this is true, of course, but we are not one-dimensional creatures. We all have other interests, other passions — some long-standing and others we’ve never had time for before. Some will be the reason we go cruising in the first place, while others will be new discoveries. Many will fit easily with the cruising life-style; but others may take a little adaptive thinking.

… Read more

Unfortunately, I can’t hide that I have a Seashell Problem.

Friends get worried when they see me walking the beach. Why keeping the eyes on the ground instead of contemplating waves and horizon as is the custom? “Have you lost something?”

Fishermen watch  too. They wonder what profitable business the foreign woman is in. Crab hunting?

Our anchorage neighbours would like to ask what we are bringing back to the boat in that mysterious netbag every morning. Lobsters maybe. (Is that legal?)

All need to know what exactly I am doing on the beach.

“Gathering shells? But what is so exciting about shells, it’s for kids!”

Well… First, let me tell you how I got hooked.

The 3 encounters that got me hooked

1. The camouflaged creature

Ugly rock cracked open

Camouflage removed: the beautiful Digitate Thorny Oyster

It all started when one day my husband brought back some small rocks from a diving-hunting expedition.

He had seen them …slowly opening, and …quickly closing after he moved. Looked like there was some life inside – therefore something good to EAT!

But once on deck, the poor bivalve rocks refused to open again. They were covered with a forest of algae, sponges and barnacles that was impossible to clean, so we could not simply boil them alive as we usually treat rebellious edible molluscs.

We had to get out the toolbox and use a good amount of swearing to crack them open. (The reward? A ridiculously small piece of meat. But sautéed in garlic butter it made an exquisite appetizer.)

Then, we marvelled at the fine engineering job of the shell’s designer. The ball and socket hinge! The highly-precisioned machined valves that closed so tightly. The glossy comfortable interior…

I soaked one of them in bleach to remove the marine camouflage. The shy “rock” turned out to be a magnificent piece of art, with beautiful spines and leaf-like extensions!

Damned!

I bought a book on Caribbean seashells, started to pluck a few on the beach, put them inside a glass, picked up a few more, and tried to remember their names.

2. The 2nd earring

Some time later, a friend of mine was inspecting rocks, looking for 2 identical sea snails of the same “brand”, in order to make a pair of earrings. They all looked the same but strangely she could not find 2 matching patterns.

Of course! Obvious. Each shell is unique, even within the same specie no 2 shells ON EARTH bear exactly the same pattern…

Unbelievable. I started to keep ALL the seashells that came on my way.

Uninteresting dinner leftover…

…turned into a pearly beauty

3. The hurricane dinner leftovers

Then, we stormed hurricane Ivan.

The worst part of the hurricane was AFTER the hurricane: specially, there was no food. All was gone: vegetable gardens were gone, fruit trees were gone, supermarkets were looted, and the surviving chickens feared for their life. The seabed was damaged too.

All we could find were big whelks (“West Indian Top Shell, Cittarium pica” said the book), and we started a diet of “Cittarium pica” au gratin. (The “gratin” was imaginary.)

Here in the Caribbean, you see plenty of those common-looking disused shells on the beach and don’t even look at them.

But some worn out parts of the whelks may SHINE. One day I removed the thick black and white external coat from one of them, and guess what I got…  An extraordinary mother-of-pearl shell.

This was the last stroke.

In search of shell treasures (here in the rubble amassed by the surf)

Treasure Hunter Syndrome

Now I suffer from Seashell Disorder.

Sand, mud, rocks, seaweed: I see shells everywhere. My husband got the disease from me. Friends are getting infected.

We can’t resist to the joy of going to the beach EVERYDAY to see what new treasures came with the last tide. We are even afraid we  miss the damn tide and perhaps THE unique specimen that would enlighten our day.

Shells are taking over the boat.

I spend hours cleaning them and smiling at them. I keep them around me in dozens of jam or babyfood jars and in baskets.

Patterns: can be a combination of dots, stripes, rays, spots, circles, lines, zigzags, bands, or dashes. This one looks like written music (“Music Volute”)

Shapes: Some shells are spiral shaped, other globe-, …ear-, … triangular,- …spindle-shaped, …. oval, bulbus or flat, or look like turrets or cones.

Finishing: Shells can be chalky …or glossy …or finely sculptured with ribs, threads, grooves, ridges …or ornamented with knobs or beads or – like this one – with spines!

So why is it so exciting?

Each anchorage is a treasure trove of extraordinary shells waiting to be found.

Each day is a new adventure: waves bring fresh treasures ashore with every tide. But they might take them back too… Shelling is probably more exciting than gold mining, because good spots may appear and vanish overnight!

Each shell is a unique piece of art that makes you happy just by looking at it. It is impossible not to marvel at the hundreds of color, pattern and shape combinations. You simply can’t get tired from the beauty of the  seashells.

Well, that’s enough: jump  off your boat and go see for yourself.

Searching for seashells on a beautiful beach is one of the best thing you can do to relax your mind. And being on a boat you are in a rather good position to find beautiful beaches…

But beware! Shelling can be addictive. (And it is hard on the back …)

Dead or alive?

Unless you are hunting for seafood, or you are a true seashell collector, there is no reason to take live animals.

There are enough beautiful dead specimen to be found on the beach or the sea bottom. Plus, the process of removing the WHOLE mollusc from its shell can be a disgusting and …smelling business.

Don’t scream if you see one of your “dead” seashells running away: a landcrab simply adopted it as home.

How to make your shells look nice

Some shells don’t look so good, due to encrustations, algae, or wear. Here are some tips to make them look nice:

1. You need: patience, time, love
2. Soak the shell in bleach (pure or diluted). It removes algae, sponges, and the dark brown skin that covers some shells. Rinse afterwards. Bleach does not harm the colors of the shells.
3. Remove encrustations with a small sharp instrument.
4. Dissolve the encrustrations that are hard to remove with muriatic acid. Use with gloves and a lot of care, it’s acid! You apply it with a brush or toothbrush and rinse right away or it will dissolve the shell itself…
5. Finish by rubbing the shell with mineral or baby oil (thinned with mineral spirits). It makes it shining and looking new. Skip this step if the shell is naturally glossy (or chalky).

Recommended book

Seashells of the Caribbean

by Lesley Sutty – Published by Macmillan Education Ltd.

All I know about Caribbean seashells comes from this book. It has a picture and a basic description for almost each seashell you might encounter in the Caribbean.

About Sylvie

I have been living on the sea since 1990.

What I like the most about it is being close to the natural world, that we watch constantly for pleasure (landscapes, skies, fishes, whales and dolphins, birds,  shells…), navigation (wind, currents, tides) or safety (weather).

I have never been bored since I set foot on a boat. I design websites – including this one – aboard our boat in the Caribbean.

Sorry for any “franglish” in this post: my first language is French.

Related articles:

Read how other women Take Their Passion Cruising:

• Katharine Lowrie sets sail to protect wildlife
• Elena makes beautiful jewelry from the bone and shell she finds on the beach
• Taking Passions Cruising (Admiral’s Angle column #41)
• See the complete list

What’s your passion? Have you taken it cruising?
Let us know. Email kathy@forcruisers.com or leave a comment below.

If by chance you are in Grenada as you read this, you can meet Kath and attend a presentation on Kath and David’s seabird survey on December 2. Details below.

Land Meets Sea

I’m not sure that my experience of cruising is altogether normal… I dumped my maiden name, Land and its beguiling earthly forms, abandoned my job surveying wildlife and plunged into an alien world of motion and water.

David and I bowled off from the shores of Devon, England, in our ancient sailing boat who, in her heyday, had been much more contented transporting a couple of tonnes of fish about than two fresh-faced explorers and their fellow friends.

The thing was that we wanted to work overseas in ecology.

Lista Light, our 75 year old, wooden sailing boat, seemed the perfect carbon neutral mode to transport us on our way.

So we filled her fishy voids with oranges and lemons, strapped a rowing machine to her cabin top with ideas of harnessing our energy and keeping fit, procured Ampair’s wind turbine-come wake turbine, added to our clutch of solar panels and surged off.

Surge was one way of putting it! On our first outing from her sleepy resting place in the Bristol canal, on a freezing spring day, we ran into gale force 9 winds and tore Lista’s head and main sail. I was sick as a dog, lying prostrate on the pilot berth being occasionally fed marmite and cheese sandwiches. “Baptism in freezing cold waves and wind” came to mind, but Lista was staunch, she just rocked her ample hips from side to side and I felt cocooned in her great wooden frame.

So we gradually made our way south accompanied by rafts of puffins and guillemots and pods of leaping dolphins and of course night sails.

I shall never forget the first time I sat up on deck under an hallow of stars manning the helm alone,

with the wind nudging Lista’s beam and the waves rushing past. It was the most magical experience, to feel natural forces lift us up and push us forward effortlessly.

Then, of course, reality would hit, on this instance after a dreamy crossing of the Biscay, replete with a pair of the world’s second largest whales, fin whales, who sidled close by our side, which I had to restrain myself from joining. As we neared the safety of Spanish shores, we found ourselves skewered down on all sides by lightning and thunder. This was followed swiftly by our finding ourselves in a two-way motorway of tankers, emerging out of rain clusters on the radar screen, metres from our bow.

But the point of sailing is the adventure, the uncertainty as to what lies over the next frothing wave.

If you yearn for wildlife as I do, then it supplies encounters with the oddest of creatures from a minke whale that swam at our side for over five days, to the sparkling phosphorescence that shoots from our wake or to my first scaly sight of a flying fish, hurtling into my eye at night!

We were aiming for South America, but ended up in the Caribbean working with a nature conservation charity…

…Environmental Protection In the Caribbean (EPIC). Now, as a friend has pointed out, we are making a survey of the worst anchorages of the Caribbean as we research seabirds in their wave-battered homes far from people and their predators.

By October 2010 we intend to have produced the first comprehensive breeding seabird atlas of the Lesser Antilles.

Without a seabird census, governments cannot predict how their numbers are doing and put in place the necessary conservation measures.

Seabirds indicate the health of our oceans, they direct fishermen to shoals and remove the weak and diseased fish from the food chain. They are at every level of the food web, balancing and checking the marine world. They are inextricably linked to sailing folklore, guiding sailors to land… so they’re not just pretty to look at.

And so we find ourselves repairing Lista Light’s aching bones in Grenada and seeking a grant to fund a small motorized tender that will allow us to reach the seabird islands in greater safety than last year.

Because, manoeuvring our 35 tonne boat within metres of unchartered coastlines and anchoring by wind-torn islands produced: one grounding, a windlass torn from the deck, two surveyors fighting dangerous currents and countless other near misses… so the hunt is on!

It is nearly a year and half since David and I left the UK and I started sailing.

Sailing has unlocked a world of beauty, of wildlife, exotic shores and velvet nights.

We have experienced nature in calm and rage, without a whiff of jet lag or the misery of long airport queues. We have nosed into sleepy coves alone and carried our world of books and pointless frippery along.

Sailing allows us a portal into sustainability

with solar, wind or wake energy powering our needs, local fruit and veg filling the holds, rain water harvested and organic waste fed to the fish.

There is more on the list, such as installing a holding tank, because the longer I spend in this watery world we all inhabit, the more I need to have as little impact upon it as possible. Long may the lobsters stare at us from their dark coral home and the mangrove roots march seaward.

Want to learn more?

Seabird Presentation in Grenada -  December 2, 2009:

Katharine and David will be giving a free presentation on seabirds – including their findings from the first comprehensive seabird survey of the Lesser Antilles to date.

The talk and slide show will also include why seabirds are important, their ecology, a bit of id and a short video on the project.

Location: Le Phare Bleu, near Petit Calivigny, South Grenada:  contact@lepharebleu.com (+1 473) 444 2400 www.lepharebleu.com

Date/time: Wednesday 2 December 2009, 4.30pm at the pool-side bar.

Le Phare Bleu should be organising transport from Grenada Yacht Club, etc. Please contact them for information.

The talk should only last an hour, including questions. Le Phare Bleu has a Friendship Season with special dining offers on the night if you are interested. So if you would like to find out more about seabirds in the Caribbean please do come along.

Help Katharine and David fund their small survey tender

If you have any ideas of how Katharine and David might fund a small (~ 14 foot) survey boat, please contact Katharine at landy@listalight.co.uk.

Visit Katharine and David’s website

… for the dates of their 2010 presentations on the EPIC project and seabird ecology on various islands in the Lesser Antilles as they survey northwards in 2010: www.listalight.co.uk

… for more information on the EPIC Seabird Survey that they are working on: http://www.listalight.co.uk/webpages/EPICProjectSummary.htm

… to learn more about the Lesser Antilles Seabird Species: http://www.listalight.co.uk/webpages/seabirdspecies.htm

Submit YOUR own bird records

Central data base for the conservation of birds, where you can submit your bird records: www.worldbirds.org

Watch Kath’s YouTube video

Related articles:

- Read how other women Take Their Passion Cruising:

• Lydia Fell falls in love with the wild horses of Abaco
• Take Your Passion Cruising: Birdwatching
• Taking Passions Cruising (Admiral’s Angle column #41)

- Old Sailboat given New Life ~ Lista Light on a Mission to Protect Seabirds (from the Daily Herald website – St Marteen)

What’s YOUR passion? Have you taken it cruising?
Let us know. Email kathy@forcruisers.com or leave a comment below.