Coconuts.....

[Nicholson58]

Originally Posted by Olly75

Looking for some general advice here. I have a new crew member who's suggested that fresh coconuts might be a nice thing to have on a boat. I agree, and then thought about trying to open them. The idea of waving a machete at a coconut on a moving boat isn't that appealing, so I was wondering what others do?

Drill them, drink the milk and then open them up with the large persuader? Or is there a better/easier solution?

Throughout the Caribbean preserved coconut milk is readily available in stores. You can also get from Amazon.

The vermin hitchhiking on a pile of coconuts would scare me. If you can open and shuck out the meat it is easily frozen.

[Tingum]

My method is simple. If I want the water I drill two holes and pour it out. To crack the nut I use a full sized axe! Don't do it on your boat! PS coconuts are great bait for chickens.

[rbk]

You can easily use a chisel, mallet and cutting board to tap/cut the husks off, being patient and careful. You can also just cut the tip off with a long serrated knife, half sawing half cutting to open a small hole to drink from (or use a drill). Same can also be done with a good knife and a block of wood or mallet by gently smacking the shank through the coconut, in any case avoid the stem area as you can get a blade/chisel etc stuck in there and be a PITA to get it unstuck. When not using a machete you just need to go slow and have patience but it is very doable.

[HopCar]

Beliezesailor all this talk of coconuts got me to craving some meat. When I dehusked one I saw it had just started to sprout. Inside I found a little yellow dome at the sprout end. I’m guessing it is the start of the ball you described. I cut it out and ate it. It was very nice! Sweet and crisp.

[roverhi]

My wife made coconut nut milk from grated coconut steeped in water and squeezed out with cheese cloth. It was super in cooking in place of the usual oil. Nothing like Poison Cru made with coconut milk and a fish I'd freshly speared. I used a grater made out of a flat fan shaped piece of metal with teeth cut around the fan that was readily available in the local stores. Screwed the metal to a board shaped so I could sit on it.. Would sit on the board in the cockpit and grate the meat in a coconut cut in half. It ws a bit laborious but heck we were cruising and didn't have a whole lot else we needed to do.

Biggest fight we had cruising was over :lobster I'd caught night free diving. She wanted to wait until the next day to make Lobster Newburgh with coconut milk or eat it right after I caught it in the evening with butter. She won out and the Newburgh was super.

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by Tingum

My method is simple. If I want the water I drill two holes and pour it out. To crack the nut I use a full sized axe! Don't do it on your boat! PS coconuts are great bait for chickens.

You fish for chickens? [emoji16]

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by HopCar

Beliezesailor all this talk of coconuts got me to craving some meat. When I dehusked one I saw it had just started to sprout. Inside I found a little yellow dome at the sprout end. I’m guessing it is the start of the ball you described. I cut it out and ate it. It was very nice! Sweet and crisp.

Thats it...just the start...as it germinates more the ball gets bigger. You have to catch before it goes too far though as it just gets gross.

[HopCar]

Jim, I’ve used the spike in the ground, a machete, an axe, a chisel and even husked coconuts by repeatedly throwing them on concrete. Then I saw the following video. I decided to make one and it makes the job a lot easier and safer. Same principle as the spike but with a lot more leverage.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=nSt8Qa7lklI

[Jim Cate]

Originally Posted by HopCar

Jim, I’ve used the spike in the ground, a machete, an axe, a chisel and even husked coconuts by repeatedly throwing them on concrete. Then I saw the following video. I decided to make one and it makes the job a lot easier and safer. Same principle as the spike but with a lot more leverage.

Looks good,but lacks"cultural authenticity"!

Hell, wiith that device, even I should be able to husk one quickly!

Jim

[boatman61]

https://youtu.be/WK1ojxYU1Eg

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by boatman61

https://youtu.be/WK1ojxYU1Eg

Yeah, and some are amazingly fast just using this stake.

A Belizean fried set one up at my place while he was staying there.

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by HopCar

Jim, I’ve used the spike in the ground, a machete, an axe, a chisel and even husked coconuts by repeatedly throwing them on concrete. Then I saw the following video. I decided to make one and it makes the job a lot easier and safer. Same principle as the spike but with a lot more leverage.

Cool tool. Ive see a similar concept, but without the the foot stirrup...just a long tool like reverse pliers (same action as above) with sharp tips that were jammed into the husk and then pulled apart.

[Pete7]

Originally Posted by belizesailor

Yeah, and some are amazingly fast just using this stake.

A Belizean fried set one up at my place while he was staying there.

Spent 3 weeks on Half Moon Caye armed with a machete, the results after a lot of hard work chopping coconuts weren't great. We got John the lighthouse keeper to do it for us in the end. His wife baked us coconut bread every morning knowing in return we would give her any flour we hadn't used. We left her nearly 300 lbs after a cockup ordering too much.

As for getting a conch out so we could take the shells home, never did work that one out. Locals knocked the end off the shell to get the conch, but all we wanted was the shell.

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by Pete7

Spent 3 weeks on Half Moon Caye armed with a machete, the results after a lot of hard work chopping coconuts weren't great. We got John the lighthouse keeper to do it for us in the end. His wife baked us coconut bread every morning knowing in return we would give her any flour we hadn't used. We left her nearly 300 lbs after a cockup ordering too much.

As for getting a conch out so we could take the shells home, never did work that one out. Locals knocked the end off the shell to get the conch, but all we wanted was the shell.

Mmm...pan de coco in paradise...300 lbs of flour is a small price to pay! [emoji16]

[belizesailor]

Lot more varieties than I knew...about 34:

http://diversiflora.blogspot.com/200...sizes.html?m=1