Turtle Soup But Not What You Think

"Supper? I thought that was bait."

The sea can be very generous. It feeds its own and will often share with those who travel upon it. The Captain and The Kid were getting low on provisions so decided to head out into the Gulf instead of sailing up the ICW to Sarasota from Charlotte Harbor. Scrounging around for a make-shift meal is always a matter of part creative and part desperate. Some few shrimp, from somewhere in time, began to be the discussion about enhancing some soup. Actually, as it turned out, it was not soup at all but some broth from a great fish stew enjoyed back when we were anchored in Pelican Bay. Put together the two, add some salt and you've got a seafood soup at sea.

We were just out from the Harbor when we caught some wind, so we cut the Perkins and raised the jib. This would be a good sail up to Sarasota. Just into deep water and digging deep into the seafood soup this Captain stopped short of swallowing and shifted the mouthful from side to side, and then over the side.

"Are you sure this wasn't the bait we got from that guy at Cayo Costa?"

"No. I think we enjoyed that in our stew." The Kid responded.

When you just filled your mouth with mushy shrimp good for chumming, but not chewing, cute and clever are neither. No one to fault on this. We are at sea. At sea meals are good. Land meals that are not the best on land are good at sea. The real trick to this all is not in what you eat but when you eat it. All seafood can be the best meal you eat at sea, or can be the garbage you throw into the sea.

"Overboard?" The Kid asked, but was already emptying the bowlful over the rail.

"Overboard." I flipped my bowl swill off the stern.

"Turtle!" The Kid pointed.

The Shrimp soup had hardly separated in our wake when sea turtles came to lunch on it. Our loss of lunch became their soup of the day. This turtle soup was appreciated when one surfaced to express thanks for the easy meal on the run.

Some advice. 1) Keep track of where you get your food, and when you got it. 2) Good fish stew does not equal good shrimp soup. 3) Keep bait separate from food. 4) Salt does not make garbage not garbage. 5) Don't fight about food when at sea. If its good eat it. If it is not and can be dumped, dump it.

When you are out on the water, its not about being at a restaurant. It is supposed to be a different experience and an enjoyable one. Some meals will be remembered as the best you ever had and others will be the ingredients for stories because they were not the ingredients to be consumed. You have escaped. You are on a getaway, so don't bring an attitude along just because the soup de jour didn't turn out to be the soup of the day.

"So now what do we eat?"

"There's some crackers and cheese."

"Cheese? When did we get that?"

"I dunno, but if I cut the green spots off it'll nicely fit between two crackers."

We watched the turtles swim around and head south as we munched on our neatly trimmed crackers and cheese. This Captain is a seafood person. Gimme seafood of any and all kinds. But, I think when we get to Sarasota I'm getting a burger.

The Captain and The Kid