Lowtide


Galley Essentials with Amanda


Rita Gibbons busy in the galley aboard “Furthur”


Wow, our passage from


New Zealand to Tahiti, then on to the island of Moorea, was over and our expedition crew departed with praises and thanks for a rough, but rewarding experience. John and I now had a week to work on varnish, laundry, sewing projects, deck maintenance and chores while mixing in some fun reef swims, runs up the valleys and kayaking. Surprisingly, there were few cruising boats about. We weren’t sure if that was because we were early in the season or if there are fewer boats in general for the year. Cook’s Bay, with its striking volcanic peaks that rise like a shark’s jaw from the island’s basaltic base, usually has 15-20 yachts but John had only counted four during his sunset kayak. Still…. we had a few more days on the island, so perhaps we’d encounter a new boat or two and perhaps some old friends.


Happily a day later we received a


treat with the arrival of our old friends Laura and Giorgio Cagliero aboard their Nordhaven Lisa Marie. Laura, who was featured in a Galley Essential’s back in 2006, is Italian and a wonderful cook, so it was terrific to catch up over one of her simple pastas and meet her daughter Frederica and son-in-law.


Laura’s Green Olive Pasta


1 lb pasta 1 jar of green olives stuffed with pimentos - rinsed


2 cans of chopped tomatoes 1 onion - diced ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil salt and pepper Cook pasta until el dente, meanwhile


sauté onion in olive oil, add tomatoes and olives. Drain pasta and serve topped with tomato sauce.


48° NORTH, OCTOBER 2010 PAGE 24


½ teaspoon finely chopped anchovies 14oz tomatoes - peeled, seeded and chopped 4 potatoes Mix half the olive oil with


Moorea Meanderings by Amanda Swan Neal


I’m always a little amused and


confused with Laura’s cooking style, as I seem to remember that she once mentioned that pasta should only have three ingredients and that they are to be the color of the Italian flag. Frederica confirmed my thoughts when she mentioned that another one of Laura’s Italian cooking rules is to never use onion and garlic together in the same recipe. Oops, there went my entire Italian recipe collection. Knowing that Laura refuses to allowing fishing aboard Lisa Marie when queasy, she once saw me land a bloody mahi aboard Mahina Tiare. I offered her some tuna we’d caught and Laura quickly rattled off the following recipe as she dove into a locker to retrieve a bottle of extra virgin olive oil in exchange. Mmmm, perhaps it’s time for me to master Italian cooking.


Laura’s Easy Tuna ⅓ cup olive oil


2 tablespoons lemon juice 2½ tablespoons finely chopped basil 4 tuna steaks


3oz black olives - rinsed if too salty 1 tablespoon capers


lemon juice and 1 tablespoon basil. Season, add tuna and marinate 15 minutes turning once. While tuna is marinating boil potatoes. Sear tuna in olive oil turning once, remove from pan. Combine olives, capers, anchovies and tomatoes with remaining olive oil and basil, along with marinade. Heat


tomato mixture in large frying pan, add fish and diced potatoes. Sauté until fish is just cooked. Serve with baguette slices.


In order to have dewless nights


(better for varnishing), John and I choose a secluded reef anchorage at the entrance to Opunohu Bay. So the next morning we were rather surprised when a loaded dinghy zooms up to us. It takes us a while to sort through the swimsuit clad bodies, with John doing a double take of the three girls in bikinis, but finally we recognize Brian Calvert from Friday Harbor and Seattle. He’d made it to the South Pacific aboard Furthur, his Selene motor vessel - though who’s in the dinghy with him? Aboard with Brian is Rita Gibbons


also from Seattle; she and Brian are friends from way back having first meet at the Seattle Singles Yacht Club. There’s a mate of Brain’s, who is anchored nearby Furthur aboard his Island Packet, and oh


la la….two lovely girls Urška and Lučka from Slovenia; they’ve jumped ship from a Tall Ship. “We’re off further down the reef to


feed the stingrays,” smiles Urška. “Do you want to come?” Lučka


asks.


“No” I reply, “I need to finish up my varnishing.” John on the other hand has already


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