Offshore Challenges

Bang! Boom! Crack! Slam!

Oh shit! What was that?

We were about 100 miles offshore, due east of the Chesapeake Bay, and the boom just snapped off the mast.

I was on Glory, my friends Tom and Mary Mitri’s Mason 44. Also on board was Eric Cole, another longtime Glory crew member. Eric and I have sailed together several times in the past, not only on Glory, but also on Eric’s 31ft Cape Dory, Kestrel. We were riding the Gulf Stream, en route from Hilton Head, SC to Marion, MA. We had been enjoying an almost perfect afternoon; 20-25 knots of following wind, 6-8 foot seas, the boat was cruising along consistently at over 8 knots. These are conditions that I’d call spirited or lively, the kind that you hope for.

All in all, things were pretty great. It was late afternoon; the 4 of us just finished having some snacks. During which, we discussed the plan for the overnight: sail configurations and watch schedules. It was decided that we would reef the mainsail before dark. The winds and seas were predicted to increase a little overnight, with even higher winds and seas forecasted for the following day.

With the watch schedule about to start and all 4 of the crew on deck, it was the right time to reef the mainsail. Reefing the main is just making the sail smaller, which makes the boat easier to handle. And if the conditions were to worsen, the sail wouldn’t be overpowered, which would be uncomfortable at best and quite dangerous at worst.

To start the process of reefing, Tom was pulling in the mainsheet; the sail was pressed lightly against the spreaders, sheeting-in the sail would elevate the potential of unwanted friction between the sail and the spreaders, which could cause some unnecessary wear or possibly even a tear in the sail. As Tom sheeted the mainsheet in, with the rest of us watching, preparing to perform our designated reefing duties. It happened… Bang! Boom! Crack! Slam!

The mast, where the gooseneck was attached.

The boom had just separated from the mast. This is not something that is supposed to happen. The large gooseneck swivel that holds the boom onto the mast sheared right off. A lot of noise and a sudden shift in the boat’s movement alarmed us all. It took a few moments for us to realize what had just happened; everyone was calm as we assessed the situation. It was quickly determined what had happened; now we had to figure out how to deal with it.

We dealt with it in a very calm, professional manner. In retrospect, I am pleased with how we all responded. We talked through what had happened, realizing, yeah, it sucked; however, no one was hurt, and the boat was still quite functional, albeit without a mainsail. From there we figured out what needed to be done, and we did it.

The boom was lifted and secured. You can see where the boom should be attached to the mast.

The first thing we needed to do was to get the mainsail pulled in. Glory is equipped with an in-mast furler, where the mainsail rolls up inside the mast. Getting the mainsail took a bit of work since the boom was no longer attached to the mast; the alignment that makes the in-mast furler work was out of alignment. Though it took a fair amount of prodding and adjusting for us to be able to get the sail in, we did it. After the sail was successfully furled into the mast, we were able to catch our breath a bit and assess what else needed to be done. Keep in mind that the wind is still blowing in the 20’s and the seas were still rolling us along.

View forward after we secured the boom and started heading towards Lewes, DE.

After a bit more deliberation, it was determined that we had to lift the boom a bit; all of its weight was sitting on the boom vang. At this point, the vang was keeping the boom from jutting forward, possibly ripping the vang off the boom and/or the mast, which could cause more damage. We needed to relieve the pressure from the vang by lifting and securing the boom. We used a spare halyard and the topping lift to pick up the boom about a foot, releasing the weight on the vang. Then we secured the boom, lashing it to both port and starboard, while keeping it suspended off the vang.

With the boom now secure, it was time to determine how to proceed. We had several choices; we could continue on our original course, which we probably would have, except that the forecasted conditions for the next day were expected to worsen. With our now limited sailing ability, that choice was easily eliminated. Closest landfall was the Chesapeake about 100 miles due west, though I’m not sure exactly where we would have landed. Another choice was to head to New York, 160ish miles north, going through the Narrows, the East River, and the relative protection of Long Island Sound without stopping en route to Marion. The other choice, the one we ultimately decided on, was to head to Lewes, DE, which is at the mouth of the Delaware River, 120 miles northwest. Heading straight to the Chesapeake was the shortest distance; however, we would have taken the weather on the beam the whole way. Easing north a bit to Lewes put the weather on our aft quarter, making for a much more pleasant and faster (speed, not total time) sail.

Fortunately, this all happened at around 4pm in bright sunshine with all 4 of the crew on deck. If it happened in the middle of the night with limited visibility and fewer personnel on deck, it could have gone a lot worse.

A welcome site the Harbor of Refuge Lighthouse,
Lewes, DE.

Why did it happen? Who knows, the boat is nearly 40 years old. My friends have had the boat for 14 years, and they’re not sure when the in-mast furler was added. The rigging is inspected regularly. Conditions weren’t calm; they were the type of conditions that Glory was designed to handle with ease and should not have caused such a dynamic breakdown. I’m sure age is a factor; beyond that, we don’t know.

Glory, still looking pretty, even with her detached boom, on the town pier in Lewes, Delaware.

Wing-on-wing, using the jib and the staysail.

We were rewarded with 2 nights, 1 full day in Lewes, which is a lovely town, before heading to Marion in very benign conditions. Excluding the last 24 hours, where we had some nice following winds, sailing wing-on-wing with the jib and staysail. Other than that, we motored.

Bahamas Bound

Jun21

Wow. I am so far behind on my blog posts. I wrote this one back in February, soon after returning from the Bahamas. It’s now mid-June, and I am finally getting around to adding in some photos so that I can post this blog.

My lame-ass excuse for not posting it sooner is that I’ve been busy, which has only a bit of truth to it. Sure, I have been working at Za. I’ve done more than my share of yard work. I’ve even gone on another sailing trip, and I do have another one of my self-gratifying blogs in the works about that adventure as well. I do have to get my ass back in gear with these blogs. I often have ideas for blog posts about other things, not just sailing, and the only way I will get to them is by actually sitting down at my trusty Lenovo and writing them…

After 3 weeks in Arlington, I’m back in West Palm Beach sans Colleen. I will be sailing with my friends Tom and Mary from West Palm across the Gulf Stream to the Bahamas on their Mason 44 sailboat.

Our original plan was to do this sail with Colleen a few weeks ago; however, battery charging issues delayed the trip. Now I was hoping to have Colleen with us to enjoy some beautiful sailing, weather, and the beaches the Bahamas are known for. It was all part of my ploy to get Colleen into the boating lifestyle. Well, I will have to keep trying. While I’m sailing, she will be working (somebody has to).

I arrived in West Palm on a Tuesday afternoon, Ubered to the West Palm Beach Sailing Club where Tom met me on his dinghy to ferry me out to Glory. I stowed my gear and talked with Tom and Mary about the itinerary, the weather, and our routing for our expected departure the next morning.

After I was in the loop, we headed to the fancy-ass marina, Safe Harbor, and their restaurant, Lamarina for some Happy Hour cocktails and sushi. We met up with Wayne and Gwyn. Wayne is the person who ultimately helped Tom and Mary figure out what the issue was with Glory’s battery charging situation.

After a couple of drinks, we headed out to Wayne and Gwyn’s boat, Gwayne, a Lagoon 45, a big beautiful catamaran. I was curious and I love checking out other boats. This one is really like a condo on the water. After Wayne gave us a tour we sat around in the cockpit and playing a few round of some card game that I had never heard of before. It was all good fun, and soon we hopped back into the dinghy and headed to Glory for a good nights sleep.

The next morning, Wednesday, February 4th, we pulled up our anchor just after 8. The 155-mile trip across the Gulf Stream to Great Harbour in the Berries, a group of islands 45 miles north of Nassau, should take us about 24 hours. Our planned arrival time is mid-morning on Thursday, February 5th.

Overall it was a very easy trip across, almost all of it was under sail. During the day the three of us hung in the cockpit, adjust the sails as needed, which wasn’t often, taking a nap and doing a bit of reading. It was a very pleasant day.

The sun is setting behind Tom as we work our way across the Gulf Stream.

Overnight, Tom and I traded off 3 hour shifts at the helm. Again, everything was quite benign, keeping track of other boats and a couple of cruise ships making the crossing at the same time as us.

Turquoise water sliding under Glory as we close in on
Great Harbour.

On Thursday morning, just after sunrise, as planned, we were in sight of The Berries, the beautiful, yet shallow, turquoise waters that the Bahamas are known for were sliding under Glory’s hull. By 11am, we were tucked into a dock in the Great Harbor Marina.

A cool cut that we had to pass through to get to the Great Harbour Marina.

Clearing customs was definitely “on Bahamas time”, a process that should have taken just a few minutes, but dragged on for 3 hours. Eventually, we were cleared and could move around the island as desired.

We hopped on some marina let bikes. We were in search of a beachfront bar, a couple of cold beers, some island snacks, and a great view. Didn’t happen quite that way, though. Looking online before we got up on the bikes, we eyed a place 2 kilometers away, a short ride on a bike. The website showed us a big porch on a beach; it looked promising. When we arrived, sure, there was a big porch, and a whole lot of sand, no beach, it was on the side of what in the Bahamas would be considered a main road.

Back to the internet we went, another place also looked great, 3 kilometers in the other direction. Off we went, pedaling right on past the marina on our quest. This place was on a bluff overlooking the west side of the island; the view was spectacular. However, of course, there is a “however”; they didn’t serve alcohol. After 5 kilometers of biking, we were parched. Strike 2.

Turquoise bikes overlooking turquoise water.

Yup, we continued our quest, another search, another half kilometer back towards the marina. We found a bar, no beach, no view, just a few locals, most of whom probably have permanent stools at the bar. Tom and I ordered beers, and a gin and tonic for Mary. We headed outside to enjoy our hard-earned beverages on the side of the road just as it started to rain. We ended up standing under an overhang along the side of the building until the rain slowed enough for us to make the short bike ride back to the marina.

We hung around the marina for the rest of the night. We needed to figure out the rest of our plan. I needed to be in Nassau by late Saturday for an early Sunday morning flight back home. We still had about 75 miles to sail and a forecast of high winds and waves to deal with.

After much deliberation, it was decided that we would go for it the following morning, Friday. The first 10 miles of our sail would be into 25 knot winds with predicted seas of 6 to 8 feet close together. After those first 10 miles, we would make a turn to starboard and have to take those seas on our broadside for just about a mile; this would be the most uncomfortable portion of our sail. We would then be rewarded with a downwind, comfortable run to our planned anchorage tucked just south of Hoffman Cay, between Fowl and Saddle Back Cays, where we would be protected from the wind and waves for the night before making our final 35-mile sail to Nasua on Saturday.

Glory’s bow splashing down into bouncy head-on seas.

Our plan worked flawlessly, with a bit of bouncing and slamming into a couple of large waves, water shooting over our bow, we plowed forward. Followed by a few minutes of sloshing side to side, and then a smooth ride with the seas pushing us to our anchorage. Glory was in her element.

We were the only ones in the anchorage, not a soul to be seen on land either, the islands were deserted.

The winds stayed heavy throughout the night. Glory’s oversized ground tackle (anchor and chain) kept us in position, enabling us to get a restful night’s sleep.

In the morning, we pulled anchor and headed out of our well-protected anchorage towards Nassau. Once again, the sailing was magnificent, the winds were at our starboard aft quarter running in the high teens, low twenties. Seas were moderate, 6-ish feet. It was so pleasant that I decided I would try trolling for fish. After an unsuccessful try with a small metal lure that kept surfacing on me, I tried a larger wooden bullet-shaped lure weighted down to keep it from surfacing. It worked; within a few minutes, the reel was screeching, and we had a fish on the line.

With some effort, I was able to reel the fish in and get it on board. To our delight, we caught a small, about 10-pound, yellowfin tuna. I dispatched the fish quickly, settling into bucket in the cockpit. I needed to wait until the seas calmed down enough for me to fillet it.

By this time, it was mid-afternoon, and we were closing on Nassau. The seas had picked up a bit; some of them were pushing the 10-foot mark. With the wind and seas pushing us, it was still quite comfortable.

I was not able to fillet the tuna until we were inside the breakwater in Nassau Harbour. I did so on the foredeck, where there is a saltwater wash-down hose that I could use for easy clean up. When I was about halfway done cleaning the fish Mary pointed out that there was a harbor police boat passing close by. Since we didn’t have a fishing license, I stopped what I was doing and tried to make it look like I was just cleaning the bow. They quickly passed us by without a second glance, and I finished my task of filleting the tuna.

Tom had arranged a dock for us for the night. I had an early flight, and being on the dock would make it a lot easier for my morning departure. As we closed in on the marina, Tom communicated with the dockmaster, giving him all of the pertinent information, length, width, and most importantly, draft (how deep Glory is in the water), so that the dockmaster could direct us to the appropriate slip. Unfortunately, the dockmaster directed us to a slip that was too shallow to allow for Glory’s 6-plus-foot draft. 30 feet away from the dock, we gently struck bottom. Not doing any damage, just making it near impossible for us to maneuver Glory back into deeper water. At this point, we were well inside the confines of the marina with little room for us to move around, especially because whenever we were able to turn a bit we would once again hit bottom. Ultimately, with the help of another mariner using their dinghy to help push us into deeper water, we were able to get into deeper water and find our way to a more appropriate slip.

After settling in, getting Glory and ourselves cleaned up and organized, we went up to the marina, where I was able to schedule a taxi to get me to the airport at the ungodly hour of 5am. We then proceed to the bar for a few sundowners; beers on a terrace overlooking the marina.

The tuna, our dinner, was delicious, seared rare, served with some rice and veggies. There were even some leftovers for Tom and Mary to enjoy.

Clean plate club. I forgot to take photos of the tuna before we ate it.

I made it to the taxi and my flight on time ending my time in the Bahamas.

New Awnings

Apr22

This winter was tough on our old worn out awnings.

In 2004, the year we opened for business, we had the original awnings installed, in 2006 a truck backed into the awning on Milton Street, requiring us to replace that awning and to place a planter on the sidewalk to prevent future truck mishaps.

An older photo showing the original awnings

The awning on Milton Street, gets the most sun and wind and had the most damage done to it this winter. It was completely torn apart. The other awnings had various amounts of wear and tear happening, none of them seemed like they would be able to withstand another rough winter, so we decided it was time to replace them all.

After a few unanswered calls and emails to the company that originally manufactured and installed the awnings, I figured the awnings lasted 20 plus years, the company did a good job and deserved my long awaited repeat business. However, their lack of follow up led me to the internet in search of a highly reputed awning company. A very quick search led me to the Google 5 star rated local company Lafuente Sign and Awning. I emailed them and Andrew, the owner called, me back within an hour. He came by later the same day did some measurements and sent me a quote the next day.

We were quickly put on their schedule, his crew came by and removed the old awnings and took them to their shop where they would clean, seal and paint the frames before adding the new fabric and graphics.

I took advantage of the awnings being down by painting the exterior walls behind where the awnings would hang, I also rewired and repositioned our outdoor speakers, which hadn’t worked in a couple of years.

All and all it was a quick seamless process with good communication from Andrew and his crew. A couple of weeks after the awnings were removed the new ones were put in place and are looking better than ever.

The old girl got a facelift.

Bahamian Aspirations

Apr11

In January, my wife Colleen and I, joined our friends Tom and Mary Mitri in West Palm Beach Florida. Our plan was to sail their boat Glory, a Mason 44, east from West Palm across the Gulf Stream to the Bahamas.

The plan was to sail with the Salty Dawgs, a group comprised of like minded sailors doing ocean passages while taking advantage of safety in numbers as well as some well documented comradery.

Our plans fell through, we were waiting for a good weather window, the planned departure time was looking a bit tight, early morning cast off, a fairly calm 30 hour sail followed by some high winds and rough seas soon after our hopeful arrival time. Tom and Mary decided that we would wait for the next, hopefully better, weather option that looked promising for us to cross the gulf stream to the Berries, a group of cays in the Bahamas, in 2 days time.

While waiting out the weather it was decided to take Glory for a cruise in the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW). Glory had been having a battery charging issue. The “house” batteries where not charging. So our trek along the ICW was 2-fold, sightseeing and to see if battery charging through the engine’s alternator charging system was working properly.

The trip was only half a success, we saw some sights. We motored along the ICW from West Palm north to Riviera beach and out into the Atlantic through the Lake Worth inlet. After a quick jaunt in the open ocean we turned back through the inlet, heading south along the ICW to our original anchorage directly across the channel from the Palm Beach Sailing Club.

However, the batteries didn’t charge. This is a major problem, especially when the plan is to travel throughout the sparsely populated, expensive to do any kind of boat repair area like the Bahamas. On a trip like this, where the Mitri’s are planning on spending the next 2 plus months traveling throughout the islands of the Bahamas. The “house” batteries are the designated energy source for all of the “house” needs; pretty much everything except starting the engine, which has its own designated start battery. Lights, refrigeration, navigational equipment, coffee maker, phone chargers etc. all run off the house batteries.

Heading to the Bahamas with “house” batteries that are not charging could be a frustrating and costly mistake.

We spent the next couple of days trying to figure out what the issue was. We checked all of the battery and charging systems electrical connections, tightening up a few loose-ish connections, found a blown fuse; these minor adjustments were not the culprit.

With the help of another mechanically inclined member of the Salty Dawg group we replaced the alternator. Being in Florida, on the coast, it was easy to find a new alternator. Tom found one within a few miles and was able to catch an Uber and pick it up with no hassles. Glory’s engine is not easily accessible, it’s located under the cabin sole (floor), which for reasons such as weight distribution is great, however, for ease of doing any kind of maintenance is a royal pain. With a bit of effort that only included a few cuss words the exchange was made. Unfortunately the alternator was not the culprit, the batteries were still not charging. Looking at the bright side of things, now the Mitri’s had a spare alternator.

At this point, Colleen and I were aboard Glory for the better part of a week and our time was running out, we had to get back home; work and kids were waiting for us.

When we weren’t trying to fix the charging system we took advantage of our time hanging with the Mitri’s, we checked out the surrounding area, having lunch from a taco truck, checking out the very large famers’ market in downtown West Palm, libations overlooking the harbor and dinner at a nice Italian restaurant helped make the stressful not-sure-what-the-problem-with-the-boat issue more enjoyable. One of the best characteristics of a great sailor is their ability to to run with the punches, being outwardly pissed off doesn’t help.

Me, Mary, Colleen and Tom making the best of our time in West Palm Beach.

The batteries were still an issue when Colleen and I headed home. Tom had a few leads on getting a fix, a local mechanic was scheduled to come by, daily phone calls with a mechanic who, this past winter, in the Chesapeake, had done some extensive work on Glory, as well as Wayne, another sailor whose boat Gwayne, a 44′ Lagoon catamaran, was anchored a few boats away from Glory. Wayne and his wife Gwen have a YouTube channel chronicling their adventures from the Great Lakes to the Bahamas and beyond.

While back in Arlington, shoveling snow, I was getting updates from Tom. The progress was slow, it took a couple of more weeks and several attempts to figure out what the problem was. Ultimately with the help of Wayne the problem was figured out; a grounding wire that attached to the engine block was internally corroded. It looked fine, was secured tightly and in no way seemed to be the problem. However, once the grounding bolt was removed, cleaned and re-attached, all was good.

The Mitri’s spent hundreds off dollars on various parts and a mechanic, to in the end, find the fix at of no cost. So often that’s how the cookie crumbles.

Now it’s time to get to the Bahamas.

Three weeks after Colleen and I arrived in West Palm for a sail to the Bahamas that didn’t happen, I headed back, sans Colleen, to make the trip. Hopefully…

Salted Caramel Cheesecake Recipe

Mar5

At Za we have always made our own desserts. We almost always have some sort of cheesecake on our menu; our most recent version is this salted caramel one. Salted caramel seems to be everywhere these days- candies, cookies, sauce, coffee flavoring, I’ve even seen it as a whiskey flavor; there is a simple reason for that…It’s delicious.

Cheesecake is easy to make, it just takes a bit of time. You have to have the correct pan, a 9 or 10 inch springform pan. And you need to plan ahead, you can’t decide at 4pm that your going to make a cheesecake for that nights dinner party. This cheesecake recipe calls for you to bake it for an hour and a half and then it needs to set, preferably overnight, before it can be cut and enjoyed.

So, if you have a springform pan and the time to prepare this recipe, you wont be disappointed.

At Za we serve this cheesecake with some homemade chocolate sauce, freshly whipped cream and cashew – coconut crunch.

Don’t worry if you don’t have the time, or desire, to make it for yourself, we will be happy to make it for you.

Za Photos, Lisbon Street Car

Mar2

In 2022 the extended McCarthy family took another vacation. This one to Portugal, 18 of us spent a week holed up in a luxurious newly built villa the Algarve followed by 4 days in a large, very hot, air-conditionless, downtown Lisbon townhouse.

In true McCarthy fashion while in the Algarve we had a blast, whether we were hiking on top of cliffs overlooking the Atlantic, riding on some highly powered R.I.B.s (Rigid Inflatable Boats) looking up at and entering caves under those same cliffs, swimming in one of the villas two pools or at the near by beach, it was nonstop fun.

We also ate and drank very well, there were many beachside restaurants serving classic Portuguese favorites like bacalao and sardines. With 2 professional chefs and several aspiring way-better-than-most-home-cooks amongst our ranks we did not suffer when we did our own cooking. As far as drinking, the local Portuguese wine was inexpensive and plentiful, the beer was crisp, cold and also cheap. Several of the teenager McCarthy’s took advantage of the lower and laxer drinking age requirements (hello Shane).

After the week at the beach we headed to Lisbon for a few days. I do love this kind of vacation, chilling at the beach followed by exploring in the city. Lisbon and our day trip to the small, mountainous town of Sentra were great, we jammed so many memories into such a short period of time.

This photo was not one that I had much time to think about, we, some of us, not all 18 of us, were walking near the rented townhouse and I saw the streetcar coming down the street. It stopped a few feet in front of us and I looked up thinking that it would be a good photo. I had just enough time to dig my phone out and take quick photo before the street car stared moving again heading directly towards me. I got lucky, the photo came out great and whenever I see it it conjures up some cool memories, the photo hangs in Za’s women’s restroom. Because of its location I do not see this photo everyday, when I do it always congers up some great memories.

Here’s a few more photos from our family’s 2022 Portuguese adventure.

My #1 recipe.

Jan26

This recipe is not my best, nor my favorite, it’s not even a recipe that I have ever used at any restaurant that I’ve owned or worked in.

It’s my #1 because it’s the one that I have made and still make the most, almost every week, sometimes twice a week. There is never a long period of time in which I go without making this recipe and I eat at least 80% of it myself. My daughter tells me that I am addicted, I am not denying her.

This recipe is based on a recipe that I got from my good friend and brother-in-law Dan. I have adapted it into my own, trying different variations, liking most of them. However, I have settled on the variation I like best.

Dan found this recipe online about 25 years ago, it is called “Restaurant Style Salsa”. It is very simple to make, as is my version, really just chop a bunch of ingredients in a food processer for less than a minute and your done.

A photo of the “Restaurant Style Salsa” recipe that Dan passed along to me.

I’ve tried substituting canned fire roasted tomatoes for the canned whole peeled tomatoes, which totally changed the salsa, giving it a strong roasted somewhat smoky flavor, which is nice for a change. I’ve even done half fire roasted and half not, also good.

Another time or two I have substituted chipotle pepper (canned in adobo sauce) for the jalapeno; the chipotles added some nice leathery smoke. If used in a batch that also contained the fire roasted tomatoes the chipotles brought the salsa to another level; very good, but still not my favorite variation.

In addition to those substitutions, I have, at times tried adding grilled/roasted peppers, roasted garlic and/or grilled/caramelized onions to this recipe and it’s top-notch. However, the recipe goes from whirling some stuff in a food processor to having to grill, roast and caramelize. Which can be time consuming endeavors. However, if I were to have one or more of these ingredients ready to go in my fridge, I’d add some, though I probably wouldn’t prep them specifically for this salsa recipe.

The brand of tomatoes also makes a difference, be sure not to use tomatoes packed with basil or San Marzano tomatoes; some brands are packed with heavy puree, don’t use these either, the results are too tomatoey and too thick. One of my favorite brands, especially because it’s local, is Pastene, I don’t use it for my salsa though, it falls under the too tomatoey and too thick category. I do, however, use Pastene for Italian style tomato sauces. I’ve found that the cheap store brands of whole peeled tomatoes, organic or not, are usually best for this recipe.

For me I want to be able to make, and clean up after making this recipe in less than 10 minutes. This is more than doable, I’ve done it in less than 7, and yes I have timed myself.

My “go to” version of this recipe is the recipe that Dan gave me all pumped up. I double the amount of onion and garlic called for in the original recipe. I’ve also at least quadrupled the amounts of all of the spices. And I’ve also added a few ingredients to my version including a very generous amount of freshly ground black pepper, some finely grated carrot, which I love in this recipe, it adds color, texture, sweetness and earthy carrot-ness. On top of that I’ve also added smoked paprika, this adds some deep background smokiness without overpowering the other ingredients.

Whether you follow Dan’s “Restaurant Style” or my pumped-up version, the end result will be far superior to any store bought national brand salsa. I find most of them to be too sweet, too cooked, too starchy, too mushy, too cloying and lacking in texture as well as depth of flavor. Overall I think they kind of suck.

Don’t limit your taste enjoyment of this salsa to just a dip for corn chips. It also is great baked with flakey white fish such as cod, haddock, hake or pollack. All you have to do is generously slather the fish with the salsa and bake in a 375 degree oven until the fish is cooked through; depending on the thickness of the fish it could be as quick as 5 minutes or as long as 15 minutes.

It’s also great as a sauce for grilled chicken or pork; I have been known to spoon on top of cooked white rice. It’s a delicious, easy to make addition to anyone’s culinary repertoire.

Kitty and the Snowman

Dec12

Shirtless Shane and Kitty Cate circa 2010.

I wrote this as a Christmas tale for my kids in 2010, at the time my son Shane was 5 and my daughter Cate was 2, I read it to them before bed on Christmas Eve.

While they were still young enough to endure (possibly enjoy) my bullshit storytelling I wrote a couple of additional tales. There is a possibility that will share those tales during the next couple holiday seasons.

~

Kitty and the Snowman

At five Shane was a bit tall and scrawny, a healthy kid who could run all day and sleep hard all night. He referred to himself as Shirtless Shane. Even if there was a chill in the air, the first thing he would do as he was running out of Miss Sweeney’s kindergarten class into the waiting arms of one (or both) of his parents is take off his shirt and declaring “I’m Shirtless Shane”.

It did not matter who was meeting him after school his 2 year old sister Caitlin with her blond hair and big blue eyes was always there. She loved her big brother, her smile and the way she yelled his name “Ayne” never failed to delight Shane. Shane loved to call her Kitty, she would often run around meowing. At night when she slept, she almost sounded like a tiny kitten purring.

The last day of school before Christmas break was an especially blustery day. It was snowing lightly, but the cold wind was howling. The weather forecast was for an all out blizzard to start later that night and not stop until Christmas day. Three feet of snow was predicted.

That day Shane’s mommy did her usual bundling up of her and Kitty to walk to Shane’s school. Three jackets (at least one of them with a hood), long johns, two pair of gloves, two pair of socks, winter boots and big hats. It was a short walk, but with that howling wind, Shane’s mommy wanted to stay warm. Even with all of their preparations it was a very chilly walk. The bell rings at 2:15, they arrived just on time, which was great, they would not have to wait too long in the cold.

Miss Sweeney, standing at the door to the classroom would let the children leave as soon as she saw that their mommy or daddy was there to meet them. When Miss Sweeney noticed Shane’s mommy she pointed her out to Shane. Shane went running, like he always does, he tore of his winter coat, then his long sleeve shirt and finally he took off his tee shirt and started to say “I’m Shirtless Shane” but all of the words didn’t come out, he only got to “I’m Shirtless…” before stopping mid-sentence and mid-step.

At that moment Shane was turned into a SNOWMAN!

His mommy was freaking out. The wind was picking up and the snow was getting worse. Kitty was shivering and starting to cry. It was so cold and no one seemed to notice that Shane was now a popsicle. Miss Sweeney’s classroom door was shut, the lights were out. With the cold and snow all of the other parents were scattering off and disappearing into the haze of the snow.

Panicked now, Shane’s mommy was trying everything she could think of to save Shane. She tried picking him up, in an effort to move him to a warmer spot so that he could thaw out. However, he was just too heavy and with the accumulating snow he was getting heavier by the minute. She tried hugging him figuring that her body heat would melt him. That didn’t work, it only made Shane’s mommy even colder than she already was.

Kitty, still in her mothers arms, was kicking and screaming. Her mommy had no intention of letting her down, she feared that she would end up with two snow children. Kitty kept screaming the same thing over and over. It sounded like ERT, ERT, in a very high pitch. Her mommy had no idea what she was trying to say. She didn’t really even think about it, she just figured that Kitty was also freaking out.

She had to do something. Fortunately she had her cell phone with her, she called Shane’s daddy at his work, Shane’s daddy is usually very calm in stressful situations like this. Not this time, he too was freaking out, which only made things worse. He said he would get there as quick as he could and suggested to pour hot water over Shane in hopes that it would melt enough of the snow so that Shane’s mommy could carry him home and thaw him out in their cozy warm house. This plan backfired, by the time Shane’s mommy went home, with Kitty in her arms all the while screaming ERT, ERT, ERT. She fetched a bucket full of hot water and high-tailed it back to the school. By the time Shane’s mommy and sister got back to the school not only did Shane the Snowman almost double in size because of the now blizzard conditions, the bucket of hot water, with the freezing outdoor temperatures, had turned into a giant bucket of slush. Shane’s mom was out of ideas so she figured she would give it a shot anyway. She dumped this big bucket of slushy water over Shane’s head instantly turning Shane into an Icicleman, he was one big snowman shaped ice cube.

Shane’s mommy was now way beyond panic could do nothing but sob. Kitty was still screaming ERT, ERT, ERT. What happened next is still somewhat of mystery. Kitty with all of her kicking and screaming somehow escaped her mothers grasp and hit the ground running, immediately disappearing into the blizzard.

Her mommy, now gone wacko thinking she not only had an icicle for a son, she would not find her daughter before she suffered the same fate. She looked for her as much as she could but he snow drifts were now taller than Kitty. All she could do is stand next to her… uhm icicle Shane and hope that when his daddy got there he would be able to find Kitty save Shane. Every so often she thought she could here Kitty ERT, ERT, ERT, keeping her hope alive. Time passed, it seemed like an eternity ERT, ERT, ERT…

After what seemed like way too much time Kitty came into mommy’s view carrying something and still screaming ERT, ERT, ERT, mommy’s eyes full of tears took a few moments to figure out what Kitty was carrying. Finally she realized that Kitty was carrying Shane’s coat, long sleeve and shirt. Now she understood in Kitty’s two year old pronunciation ERT meant shirt. She was trying to tell her mommy to put Shane’s shirts on him to thaw him out.

Kitty’s mommy was doubtful that this would work but figured she had tried everything else, so why not. Fortunately, Shane liked his shirts very large, with his newfound snow and ice girth the shirts and coat would not have fit otherwise. Shane’s mommy slid his tee shirt over what was once his head. Nothing happened. She pulled his long sleeve on next. She thought she saw a little bit of thawing, like when you take lick of a popsicle and it gets shiny. She grabbed his coat, slid his icicle arms into the sleeves. That’s when she noticed a few drops ice melting. She tried to get the coat zipped up, but Shane was still to big. Kitty ran over and with all of her little might held the bottom of the coat together while her mommy held the top. Hoping that they could hold it together long enough, Shane the Icicle would become Shane the boy again. He was melting, it was working. Just a few minutes later mommy was able to get the zipper started. It was a slow process, but every little bit that mommy was able to zip up Shane would melt even faster. As they finally got the coat zipped all the way up Shane rapidly thawed the rest of the way.

When Shane and Kitty’s daddy finally arrived he was a bit confused, mommy was crying, Kitty was mumbling something about an ert and except looking a bit like an ice-cream cone in the August sun, Shane appeared fine.

After Shane thawed out he seemed to be the same happy kid he always, with one big exception, he no longer had any interest in being shirtless. From that day on he was never again seen with out a shirt on. If he had to change his shirt he would put one on over the one he had on and somehow slip the one he had on under it off, like how you sometimes see girls do it. He would wear a shirt on the beach, in pools and even in the shower.

Christmas was only a few days after Shane’s thawing out, the only Christmas presents that Shane wanted was shirts and lots of them.

The End

The tales of an urban snowman may be another tale to tell.

Za Photos, Above the Clouds

Dec3

In January of 2024, I was skiing at Cannon Mountain in New Hampshire with my son Shane when I took this photo. It was kind of a crappy ski day, below the clouds it was raining, in the clouds you couldn’t see 20 feet in front of you and above the clouds it it was quite cold.

We spent as much time above the clouds as possible. Fortunately Cannon has a lift, the Cannonball Quad, that operates on the top 30% of the mountain, we looped on this lift most of the day.

On the summit there is a lookout tower. We decided to doff our skis and trek to and up the tower. Once on top we were rewarded with an outstanding view.

This photo is of the Lafayette Range, which is directly across from Cannon with Franconia Notch laying between the two mountains. When I saw the view I new that I had to take advantage of the photo opportunity.

I love this photo, In particular I appreciate the desolate coldness of it. It appears as though I used I black and white filter for it, I did not, the colors show true to the day. Of course, the best thing about this photo is when I look at it I remember the day that I got to spend with my son.

Here are a few more photos from that day.

Za Beers

Nov10

I’m taking the same approach with the beer we serve as I do with the food we serve. “Keep it Local” this has been one of our mantras since we opened.

It used to be, a restaurant’s beer list had to be exclusively mass marketed beers, not necessarily good beer. Often times these beer lists were written by your beer distributor. These beers typically included mega brands such as Budweiser, Heineken (YUCK!), Miller Lite etc.. If you were really daring you would include such obscure brands such as Corona or even Amstel.

Then it became okay to add a “craft” brew or 2, Sam Adams did start a revolution, but you still had to offer the staples.

About 15 years ago, you could get away with not offering the national mega brands, however, you had to be prepared for the backlash. “WTF no Budweiser, I’ll just have water” was a common response and not the one we wanted, after all we are in the business of selling beer.

Going forward a few more years we were able to get to the point that we were just serving regional craft beers; New England and New York, which was a big step in the right direction. Enough restaurants were doing the same thing, costumers began to expect a good beer list. And with such a great selection of beers to choose from it was an easy transition. The hardest part was just deciding which great regional beers you wanted to try next.

Now, I am trying to make our beer list as local as possible. One of the hurdles for me is that people expect to see several different breweries on a list, not just a couple. My thought is if you go to a brewery, and most of them are busy, you are only offered that breweries beers. No one complains about that. Also traveling in Europe most restaurants offer just one breweries beers; I’m sure that they are receive financial benefits for doing so. That said, I wanted to make our list as local as possible.

Currently our 12 beer list consist of only beer from within greater Boston with the vast majority coming from the Arlington Brewing Co. and the Medford Brewing Co. If I could get all our beer offerings from these 2 breweries I would, I’m working on it.

These are 2 breweries where I have a personal relationship with the them, I know the people and I want to support them.

One of the Arlington Brewing Co. main people is the father of 2 former Za employees, one of which was a schoolmate of my son. One of their delivery people is another one of my son’s former classmates. These are my neighbors, people that are regular Za customers, they support us, we support them.

As for the Medford Brewing Co. it’s less than 2 miles from Za and the it’s place I go to for a beer with friends, it’s my local. When I place my orders it’s with one of the breweries 2 owners, and the other owner makes the deliveries. This is the type of business that I want to support. Also, on Sunday late morning’s the brewery sponsors a run, it’s casual, not a race. You go at your own pace and decide your own distance. Most people chose between 3, 5 or 7 mile, predetermined routes that all start and finish at the brewery. Nick, one of the brewery’s owners is often running along with us.

By limiting the number of breweries, we are not sacrificing quality. Both the selection and quality of the beers these breweries offer are top notch.

So, the next time you dine at Za, have a beer, most likely it will be from one of these 2 breweries.

Drink a beer or 2, and help us support our local business partners.

Cheers!

Pete's Blog

Food, Travel, Sailing, Za and EVOO

Offshore Challenges

Bang! Boom! Crack! Slam!

Bahamas Bound

New Awnings

Bahamian Aspirations

Salted Caramel Cheesecake Recipe

Za Photos, Lisbon Street Car

My #1 recipe.

Kitty and the Snowman

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Kitty and the Snowman

Za Photos, Above the Clouds

Za Beers