An alternative to the high cost of spirits...

SV Delos (always a good read) taking the moonshine route...

A cool rum link...

Serious Eats has a too good to miss post on rum... Check it out!

Smoked rum is as good an excuse as any...

I've been toying with the idea of replacing the BBQ on "So It Goes" with a grill/smoker... Having a smoker onboard would be very handy in dealing with a big mahi mahi or tuna and be more adaptable to being the go-to oven for making bread and suchlike.

The problem is that no one seems to make a boat friendly sized smoker (though this one looks promising) and, to be truthful, I am up to my ears in projects so adding building a propane-fueled smoker from scratch is just more than the system can handle.

Or so I thought, till I read this today over at Serious Eats...

Two words...

Smoked rum!

Where I go for information on rum...

Ed Hamilton is the The Man from the Ministry of Rum and what better place to start than Rum 101!

Mai Tai Madness...

Why did no one tell me about this? A little lead time and I would have been all over this, I could have been a contender...

More info over at Beach Bum Berry's... Sounds like a LOT of FUN!

Beer in Paradise...

Sailing and living in a tropical paradise has it's downside on a few fronts and one of them is BEER! If you are someone who from time to time likes a good beer... Sure we have all the light beers of the Coors/Bud/Caribe/Presidente/Heineken/Red Stripe sort but other than stouts (Guinness/Mackeson) there is not much for people who like beer with a bit more body.

On some of the French Islands you'll find the odd bottle of Belgian beer and a less than adequate selection of French beers of the artisanal sort and when they do arrive they zip off the shelves Hey Presto!

So next time you are saying what a lucky guy down there sailing around all those pristine beaches keep in mind that the words "Micro Brewery" are an unknown language down here and wonderful beers like Moose Drool are only available in dreams....

Come visit... Bring a couple of six packs!