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[Dowser]

I had been planning a coastal bivvy with a forage for wild food for sometime and finally the opportunity arrived last weekend. My plan was to select a location on the coast and collect fresh shellfish to make a decent, filling meal.  The location Redleader and I decided upon is shown on the map below, and the menu for the evening was Seafood Tagliatelle.



My foraging grounds on the Irish Sea side of the Ards Peninsula, off Ballywalter.  Unfortunately Neap Tides restricted access on the day that I chose to go foraging, so the only thing easily accessible was Limpets, Periwinkles and Shore Crab.  I wasn’t interested in Limpets and Periwinkles for the particular meal I had in mind, but I did collect three good sized shore crab to be used to create a rich stock.




To be honest, when I got back home after my afternoon of foraging I decided to let the crabs go.  They weren’t gonna make a big difference to the taste of my meal, and I felt a bit sorry for them, so after making them pose for a couple of photos, I released them back into the sea.



Having being hindered by the Neap Tides I headed over to the Strangford Lough side of the Peninsula to collect the main ingredients.  Strangford Lough has an abundance of Cockles, Mussels and if you’re lucky, and know where to look, Oysters... the truffles of the shellfish world!!!

Unfortunately I can’t tell you exactly where I go to collect Mussels and Oysters because there are only a limited number of places where they can be got at easily without a boat and I can’t have a stampede depleting my supplies 

Mussel and Oyster beds in Strangford Lough:




Some of my catch prior to being washed and cleaned.  The Wild Mussels are covered quite heavily with Barnacles:




Some of the mussels after they have been washed and de-barnacled with a sharp sturdy knife:


A good sized Oyster before it is steamed:


An Oyster after it has been steamed:


The Mussels after they have been boiled:


The start of my ancient Midden Mound:


The resulting bowl of pre-steamed Cockles, Mussels and Oysters which will eventually be added to my Seafood Taglitella at the campsite.  I prepared the shellfish in advance because we were not going to be able to light a big enough fire at the location of your stealth bivvy.  The shellfish could easily be prepared over an open fire but impossible to do over a Hobo Stove!!!


Here's a few photos of the campsite:










Preparing the Seafood Tagliatelle


Pan-fried  Button Mushrooms in Garlic, Black Pepper and Olive Oil.  Next time I attempt a foraged meal I hope to use wild garlic and mushrooms:


Once the mushrooms have sweated down I added white wine and reduced it well before adding double cream.  In the pot below the pasta is boiling away nicely and is keeping the rich sauce hot but not boiling:




Once the pasta is ready and the sauce has reduced it all get put into one pot for it's final warm through:


It's then just a matter of getting tucked in... Yummy!!!






Once fed the evening progressed with a bit of music and a drink or two to take the edge off the persistant heavy rain:









At about 22:30 we nearly had two unknown visitors to the camp.  They arrived by torchlight and wandered around for 20 minutes or so unaware that we were there.  It wasn't until they got approx 10 yards away that Sally the dog jumped up from her resting place and give the best growl/bark combination that I've ever heard from her and the two unknowns ran away.  Hooray for Sally, our Stealth Bivvy continued unhindered!!!





The next morning was dry and bright.  We didn't wake till about 10am and by then the Sunday Ramblers were up and about so we decided against cooking the Full Irish and High-Tailed it back to the car:








Beside our campsite was an old WWII Air Raid Shelter and look out post which remains relatively unchanged since the day it was built, only a little over grown.










The view looking back on the Wood/Ferns that we Bivvied in the previous evening:


The short walk back to Ballywalter town where our car was park:


We didn't get eating breakfast at the campsite so Redleader left me his fry material since I had provided dinner.  It just wouldn't have been right to let it go to waste:


All in all it turned out ot be a great coastal bivvy. It rained almost constantly but we were well kitted out and it did not distract from the evening in any way.  We had two tarps erected.  One for sleeping under and one pitched a bit higher for sitting under and cooking under.  Even the strangers appearing in the middle of the night added just the right amount of excitement without being to Blair Witch.  Fortunately they seemed to be less confident in the dark as we were and Sally soon scared them off with her growling.

After breakfast,I set about the tedious task of getting my gear all sorted for the next outing.  Luckily it was a nice dry day with a fresh wind and my kit was dry in now time at all:



So there ya go... One more thing ticked off my to-do-list and it definately give me a taste for more "Living off the land".

 

[RedLeader]

It was indeed a great night and I was nearly glad of a bit of rain as it was sure to keep the locals away. The spot we were in was less remote than we had remembered and I'd say that if it had been a nice long summer evening it would have been like a Ballywalter Mardi Gras round there. Rain isn't really much of a problem with a tarp when there's no wind and if anything, it can be quite relaxing to sit with a cold beer and enjoy the gentle drumming.

I can't fault Dowsers seafood dinner, it was mighty and really put me in the mood to do some more shore foraging. I was just glad there was no-one around to see me chugging a bottle of red with shellfish - faux pas or what!

One of the main things I've been wanting to do was to test the hobo over a longer burning time and it turns out, after a few hours it gets really clogged up with crap in the bottom which stops it burning well. An opening of some sort that could be used to scrape out the crap would definitely help - Dremmel on standby!

[LennyJ1]

Great write up Andy. Food didn't look to bad as well.

[MG1]

Looks like a good trip guys.

Jonno are you swaying toward army issue

[RedLeader]

Sort of. I had the tarp because it's much stronger than the DD I was using. The jacket is actually Dowsers spare. We knew it was going to chuck down and all my decent jackets are brightly coloured so not so much use for a stealthy camp. The army goretex one performed really well considering it's only £50. Only thing was it has no pockets to shove your hands in to keep warm!

Looks like a good trip guys.

Jonno are you swaying toward army issue

[Dowser]

The army goretex one performed really well considering it's only £50. Only thing was it has no pockets to shove your hands in to keep warm!

Looks like a good trip guys.

Jonno are you swaying toward army issue

That's what gloves are for Jonno

I noticed, even without somewhere to put your hands, they didn't make their way over to the food preparation area 

[MG1]

Was Redleader not pulling his weight Andy?

[RedLeader]

Stop trying to lure me into needing moderated

There's no point in coming near Dowsers food preparation area - he's such a choosy git when it comes to cooking it's not worth the abuse 

The army goretex one performed really well considering it's only £50. Only thing was it has no pockets to shove your hands in to keep warm!

Looks like a good trip guys.

Jonno are you swaying toward army issue

That's what gloves are for Jonno

I noticed, even without somewhere to put your hands, they didn't make their way over to the food preparation area 

[MG1]

Whats the bike Andy didn't know you we're  a biker?

[Dowser]

Stop trying to lure me into needing moderated
There's no point in coming near Dowsers food preparation area - he's such a choosy git when it comes to cooking it's not worth the abuse  

I was only trying to get a reaction to liven up my boring afternoon in work... It is a well known fact that I don't like anybody interfering with my food preparation  

Whats the bike Andy didn't know you we're  a biker?

Aye... I've had bikes for years.  Funny enough I started off riding bikes and quads up and down the beach in the photos above when I was a kid.

The one under my tarp is a GSF600S Suzuki Bandit, but it's been off the road for a year or so.  Pulled it out of the shed the other day to get the battery charged and get her cleaned up.  Might put it back on the road at Easter.  I have a Honda 200R American import for a bit of off-roading too:

[MG1]

Do you get much off roading done?

[Dowser]

Do you get much off roading done?

Like all my other hobbies the simple answer is no... Can never find the time, and to be honest, it not the most socially acceptable machine.  Getting somewhere to use it without be hassled by locals is difficult 

Hoping to find somewhere this year to get a bit more use out of it.

[MG1]

You 'd really need your own land or know some one that owns a farm and doesn't mind you raking the shite out of it

There used to some good spots for it around craigavon but they have all been used to build houses now.

[kenbocbr]

Brilliant!!! Wud you recommend the gas to cook with or wud u ever use the hobo
Regards
Kenbo

[whoRya]

My local park is a good spot for the off-road bikes, at least that's what the local spides seem to think!

That was interesting read, thanks for sharing with us lads.

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