About six weeks ago, we finally moved back aboard Limerick. We stayed in a house near the boatyard for most of the winter months, while Mike made some major upgrades to Limerick. New fuel tanks, all new electrical, upgraded heating, plumbing, and lots of little things here and there. We also had all of the vinyl windows in the flybridge enclosure replaced, and I sewed some new canvas covers and screens.

Since the border with Canada is closed, we are cruising around the San Juan Islands with occasional, quick trips back to Anacortes to do some more hoarding provisioning. From the headland above the marina, you can see the islands in the background.

Since the San Juan Islands are limited in medical facilities, the islanders ask that tourists don’t come ashore for now. So we’ve just been anchoring out and keeping to ourselves. The state parks are closed, but boaters are still allowed to use the mooring balls and go for walks ashore.

See if you can spot the bald eagle in this next photo.

I recently posted a photo on Instagram of our homemade tapenade that I got some questions about. When we ran out of the Trader Joe’s Tapenade I had to get creative – now I just refill the TJ’s jar.

Using my 2-cup hand-cranked food processer I made two batches to use up the entire can of black olives. Add the anchovies and salsa to taste.

  • 6oz can black olives
  • 7-10 very large green olives
  • 2oz can of anchovies with some of the oil
  • Salsa to taste (or just onion and/or tomato)
  • Garlic powder to taste
  • Lime or lemon to taste
  • NO salt (it’s very salty as it is)

I always have lots of small cans of Herdez Salsa Casera on board. It’s great with lots of dishes and since the cans are so small I don’t have to worry about refrigerating a large container. Mixed with avocado it makes a quick, and delicious guacamole.

If you’re interested in more photos from our adventures, which get updated regularly, check out our photo albums.