While yesterday was sunny and almost too hot for comfort, today is not. It’s just weather, but was still able to alter the mood a bit onboard Coco Mar.
After a quiet, overcast morning off Stuart Island, the kids got to work helping me take inventory of our “pantry” items. They had started yesterday, continuing with the lockers behind our salon seats. I also began creating labels for each locker, getting Shane’s input as I went.
Ideally, I’d like to use my card system to track items, but haven’t decided what I would like that to look like just yet. I know my mother-in-law had an inventory system that was printed off and hung on her cupboard. Maybe something like that?
Wyatt had requested salmon burgers. I didn’t purchase any type of bread on purpose, determined to make them on my own. As I began forming the dough, Wyatt asked to help out. There’s something about kneading bread that kids love.
I was pretty pleased with this recipe. I try to make all of my baked goods vegan. Not because I don’t like eggs, but because it feels like a waste. If I can use eggs for the purpose of eating a nutritious meal, rather than as helping a baked good get a good shape and texture I’d prefer to use an alternative. Bread is an easy one. The recipe I used even had a vegan egg wash to rub on before baking.
For lunch I have been making Shane and I a ginger sesame oil salad with a little wasabi in it that I absolutely love. I look forward to it! Shane does not. It’s easier for me to make both of our lunches in one salad bowl. With the bread rising in my designated salad bowl, I used this opportunity to make separate salads in Tupperware.
Shane’s salad was a fun pasta salad, using some of the rice pasta from the boys’ lunch. I used some of the chopped salad items from my lunch and added in Shane’s favorite, pickles.
After lunch we did some grammar, read, and finished up our burger buns. They ended up great! Just 15 minutes in the oven. We munched on them while finishing up our work.
I made the salmon burgers from scratch too and have used this recipe for years. For this I do use eggs and canned salmon, preferring the salmon that is “whole” with skin and bones. It sounds gross, but you don’t notice. It saves me money and we get the added benefit of some extra minerals – ha! Don’t tell my family (kidding!).
After dinner Shane jumped on Zoom for a Captain’s Meeting with the Coho Ho Ho crowd. We got a few recommendations for compact printers, heard what people are doing for life rafts and jack lines, and had fun listening to stories about fishing, anchorages, and marinas in Mexico.
Thanks to Pacific Northwest summer sunsets, we were still able to do the hike we had on our list after 8pm. We dinghied to shore and hiked up and down the hills to the Stuart Island School House.
When we arrived early Monday morning Stuart Island’s Reid Harbor was absolutely full of boats anchored, on mooring balls, and on the floats. By Tuesday evening most of them had cleared out.
Beginning the hike from the dock, you are immediately out of breath by just going up the boat ramp! The guidebooks weren’t kidding that the hike was steep.
It was steep, but a quick hike over to the marine campground, which was empty, to the County Road. The County Road appeared to have just been graveled and was well maintained, but again a steep incline.
The School House wasn’t far from there.
We came up first on the Treasure Chest and were pleasantly surprised by the clever designs. Shane and Wyatt both picked up the same shirt of an orca being beamed up into a spaceship. The shirt was high quality.
Even more quality was the marketing and packaging. We loved the hospitality and of the Treasure Chest shop and were delighted by the honor system and letter inside explaining how to pay for the shirts.
Kelly was pleasantly surprised to find a basketball court at the schoolhouse! The schoolhouse we toured was actually in use up until the 80s, when a more modern school was built next door and used until 2014.
While we were at the State Park portion of the island, there are a number of private residences there as well. The library is a fun addition and a cheery site to look around. The sun was setting, so we didn’t stay long.
The museum was also open and showed signs of love and care for the island. Shane and I really enjoyed seeing photos of old ferries and mailboats bringing people, mail, logs, and other goods back and forth from the island.
We ventured back to the boat as it was getting dark, using the electric motor on our dinghy. The harbor was so quiet, with most of the lights on the nearby boats off, except for anchor lights. We had another early morning ahead of us. Shane read to the boys and we were off to sleep.