Oyster Feast at RYC

Just the tastiest oysters from the salty Delaware Bay (supplied by Capt. Faunce Seafood) served with Pinot Grigio make a memorable summer supper at RYC... a squeeze of lemon on some, a teaspoon of shallot and white balsamic mignonette on the others....

RYC Kitchen Afloat!

Latest addition to the floating restaurant - portable gas table top
cooking - extends the cuisine options no end!

Tail Wagger II visits RYC

Ahhhh!... the pleasures of taking a new boat out on a test trial up the Rappahannock River to Naylors Beach.... checking the ride at different power settings... the comfort of a 330 HP Cummings diesel happily purring away beneath the deck.... 22 knots on the plane... Emerson's 32 foot Elzey has one previous owner: the editor of the Chesapeake Bay Magazine who barely puttered out of his river. Tail Wagger II was shocked when asked to go the 150 mile non-stop dash from Kent Islands to Garretts Marina with just a bare 30 minute fuel stop at Deltaville.... no problem!!!

Into the Deep aboard Ellen B

Wednesday - we leave the Wharf in Somerset Village in the North-West corner of Bermuda, motor past Teddy Tucker's home, a great Bermudan treasure diver who was friends with Peter Benchley and inspiration for the book and movie THE DEEP - based on a real shipwreck called The Constellation, which was carrying a cargo of drugs during World War II. That particular ship sits on not one, but two old Spanish ships, wrecked hundreds of years earlier than The Constellation. Near the wrecks, outside the outer reefs, we catch Bermudan Chubb, Corny Grouper (red fish) and Speckled Rock Hind - note the latitude/longitude on the GPS.

What do you do with a 1,000 lb Marlin?

What do you do with a 1,052 lb Marlin? We arrived back at the RBYC (Royal Bermuda Yacht Club) dock to find a deep sea fishing contestant bring in his prize catch for weighing. It turns out a Marlin this size is quite unfit to eat because of the high mercury content! The fish is cut up and sold for bait! ... and then it appears the fishing contest final day was yesterday??

The Remains of HMS Vixen

Monday we rented a 24 foot pontoon boat and circumnavigated the harbor, starting with the homes on the South Shore. After lunch at the Dockyards Bone Fish, we headed out to the wreck of HMS Vixen - she had been placed across one of the channels on Bermuda's North Shore in 1896, as a defensive measure against torpedo boat attacks. Her keel was broken, and she settled in her final resting place. Vixen now lies in 33 ft of water about 0.2 nautical miles offshore from Daniel's Head. She lies in a narrow gap in the coral reef, with the bow just above water and surrounded by abundant schools of fish.

Room with a View - Agar's Hill

Our room with a view - to the left lies Agar's Island, the British Army built Bermuda's largest gunpowder magazine on it in 1870, entirely underground. Now the island is privately owned by British author and multi-millionaire James Martin who wrote The Wired Society and is a much-respected futurologist.

Problems in Paradise!

Nice Pied a Terre #4 - Bermuda

Near Southampton on Bermuda's Harbour lies the historic home Spithead, once the home of American dramatist Eugene O'Neill, Charles Chaplin and British playwright Sir Noel Coward, after he became a UK tax exile. [Click on pictures to expand to full size]

Grand Pied a Terre #3 - Bermuda

This is Agar's Island viewed from the South - James Martin's huge mansion features a multi-level atrium which the Royal Bermuda Gazette reports he received "retroactive" planning approval for!

Pied a Terre #2 - Bermuda

Pied a Terre #1 - Bermuda

Warbaby Fox Hits the Gas

Bermuda's Hamilton Harbour is criss-crossed by high speed catamaran ferries that reach an impressive 35 mph - we have monitored speed and direction with our iPhone GPS apps en route to the Royal Naval Dockyards and to St. George's on the North-East tip of the island.

Catamaran Cruises Outside our Apartment

After three days of resting, we noticed that there were regular cruises going past our apartment overlooking Bermuda's Hamilton Harbour. Later that day we stopped by the Bermuda Tourism Office and discovered that our creek is an exclusive location of the rich and famous so we made a reservation with Ronnie O'Connor and took the mandatory cruise.... So to our left is the house of Dr. James Martin, famed futurologist (he has the entire Agar Island for his estate), to our center is John Lennon's last retreat where he wrote his last album Double Fantasy before returning to New York and being shot, under us is one of Bermuda's past Governors, and to the right is a multitude of other well heeled souls including a leading architect and a bunch of international financiers and lawyers. I think RYC is moving up in the world!

Twins in Times of Trouble

Sitting here in Hamilton Bermuda against the wharf at the Royal Naval Dockyards are two identical ocean-going tugs... sitting here in mid-Atlantic waiting for disaster to strike.... waiting for that rescue where they can offer Lloyds Standard Form of Salvage Agreement for a percentage of the value of the stranded vessel...

July 3rd Celebrations

Bermuda Triangle - North Tip

This month's RYC expedition takes us to the very North end of the Bermuda Triangle - safely established on solid rock we watch the setting sun and plan a couple of weeks of water born activities... more to come..

Multi-tasking! Or is he trying to pour beer into the camera?

Turkey Vulture Party at RYC

...Latest technology invades RYC kitchens...

Finally after a long stop at Lantau Island Hong Kong and an overnight in Anchorage Alaska, then three more days in the Fedex warehouse in Memphis, our iPad arrived.... and immediately put to work surfing epicurious.com to keep those RYC chefs on the straight and wide path to salivating taste buds... tonight's menu: Crab Cakes on a Avocado and Chili sauce, with a side of Quinoa grain from Peru.


Soft Shell Supreme

It does not get any better than this... deep fried hotel soft shells just dredged in a seasoned flour and dropped into the vat. This done outside so that the odors do not linger for several days! RYC's obsessive chefs and assistant chefs selected sushi seaweed as the accompanying green veg, marinated slow grilled eggplant and miniature roasted Yukon Golds ! For dessert see prior post.

Lunch Special at the RYC Restaurant

Freshly flown in from Malaysia, a huge fillet of tuna sliced into 1-1/2" steaks and then marinated in plum and ginger sauce, then seared on a 700° cast iron pan inside our Jenn-Air grill for a few moments, enough to seal the outer surface. We also grilled fresh asparagus prepared in a sesame seed and toasted sesame oil dressing. Another spectacular lunch served on the upper deck of the yacht club....

The Crabs Come Marching In

Summer's delight! Our first crab harvest of the season yields 16 eager crabs bound for the steaming pot along with melted butter, Old Bay seasoning and two to three hours of intense dissection concentration..... these crabs were "fat" with lots of yellow butter found in the tips of the shell - add melted butter and a glass of Chardonnay... what a way to welcome in summer! Instead of going green, RYC is going blue, blue-crab that is, the ultimate self-renewing free food resource from the Rappahannock River!

The Wedding Getaway....

About 20 miles up the Rappahannock lies the pleasant property of Heron's Landing, outstanding location for a very special wedding. We checked out the getaway boat for the lucky couple!

Big Croaker Tournament

The weekend was spent in high activity mode, capturing the highlights of the Tappahannock Rotary Club Big Croaker Tournament in the Rappahannock River. Fishing started at 6:00am and weigh-in at 4:30pm revealed the biggest ever croaker in the seven years of our tournament - 3.62 lbs to Chris Belvin's (pictured) boat with Tommy Greisz the lucky angler. We had 108 boat entries! Check out www.bigcroaker.com

The Creme has been Burnt

One of the RYC's specialite de la maison is Creme Brulee.... Tonight's variation is pistachio....

An Occasion to Remember

We set out on our evening cruise to celebrate Dr. Phil's graduation - that is Phyllis Eberline now expert bone, joint and muscle therapist - we are going to need that attention very very soon!

On our sunset cruise we toast with Kluge Rose Champagne and shrimp - JT, Thompson, Jen, DB, and Dr.Phil - what a wonderful evening at the RYC restaurant followed with a menu of smoked venison, soft shelled crabs and seaweed, completed with pistachio creme brulee.

SMS Duck Race

Spring Family Weekend means Rubber Duck Derby - the duck herders are ready for the challenge of shepherding over a 1,000 ducks to the finish line and recovering them so that they are ready for the next race. This duck race provided a challenge with a westerly wind which blew the yellow ducklings away from the lee shore of the SMS campus out to the middle of the river. The winning duck provided the lucky owner with a wide flat screen HDTV. Check out the rest of the day, crew races and rubber duck derby (scroll down the photo gallery).

Spring inspires Gourmet Lunch at RYC Restaurant

Click images to see full size....

After a long week of projects, meetings, hardware and software installs, the RYC club members relaxed a little this Friday lunch time - large fresh U10 Atlantic ocean sea scallops seared on a 600°F cast iron skillet in a ginger-plum marinade and served with sauteed spinach with pine nuts and raisins, accompanied by a crisp Colchagua Valley Chardonnay / Viognier blended Chilean wine - served dockside under the shade of parasol.... life is looking up!

First 2010 Visitors to RYC

Tailwagger of Strathbrae, a long time RYC member, was an early visitor this spring to the Yacht Club. Three generations were on board enjoying the early 80° April weather. Next time please call ahead and the chef will have lunch ready to be served either on the dockside dining area or the air conditioned sun room.

A sad day on the creek as a young boy fell off a nearby dock and drowned within a few minutes. The USGS Coastguard sent up a helicopter with infra-red imaging to locate the body, however after about 90 minutes, the local divers located him in the muddy river bottom in some 15 ft of water.

First Mates Night Out....

First mates Claudia Jackson of the Ranger and Margaret of Tardis of Tappahannock celebrate an evening ashore at the Beach Bistro on Longboat Key FL. Claudia is now highly successful in promoting books for Telemachus Press.

Gordon the Navigator

Sadly this week in Tappahannock, Margaret's father Gordon (top right) passed away peacefully at the illustrious age of 87 years. Gordon was a Bomber / Navigator with the 493rd Heavy Bombardment Group with the 8th US Army Air Force and was assigned to Suffolk England in January 1945 with his B17 crew. Having flown his requisite 25 missions over targets in Dortmund, Hamburg, Berlin, Dusseldorf, Kiel, Royan and survived despite horrendous odds, he was sent on another 5 missions and returned safely to the USA in June. When he was introduced to a young German lady Ben brought home after traveling with her across China, Tibet and the Karakoram Highway, Gordon asked where she lived "Oh yes I remember dropping a few bombs on your town!" Gordon is now navigating the celestial heavens...

Last night on the Nile

We board the "Crystal Nile" for the last evening in Egypt, buffet
dinner, and entertainment including the inevitable belly dancer and
whirling dervish dancers. As we leave the dock, there two heavily
armed police boats continuously circling us for the entire evening to
keep us safe from the ever present threat of fundermentalist action.

Son & Lumiere