What’s Cookin’?

Day 12

Stats -  9/11/2023 

Time: 2000

Trip Miles: 1,400 at 1200 this afternoon

Weather: Mild - clear with 90% cumulous cloud cover, cooling. No stars out tonight.

Wind: 11 Knots blowing from the NW

Sea State: Relatively calm with three to five foot swells

Propulsion: Sailing 5.4 knots due north, but now heading a bid east as the wind clocks

Sea Temperature: 61 (down from 71 yesterday!!)

Well a man’s got to eat and two men eat three times as much. Finding our food rhythm has been a bit challenging as Randall and I seem to get hungry at different times of the day. At home I would eat a big breakfast and then work out. Neither Randall nor I seem to be hungry in the early AM so breakfast has been a bit catch as catch can - usually centering on a cereal, or sometimes nothing. I complete my watch at 0800 and I am ready for bed, not breakfast.

We seem to be falling into the habit of two meals a day - either a late breakfast or early lunch, and a substantial dinner. Above picture is the system Randal has rigged so one can cook without getting thrown against the back wall by a wave while cooking. It is quite stressful to prep, cook and clean with the boat listing to and fro. But we make the best of it and this kitchen is producing! Here I am making Ramen. Shout out to sister Barbara for shopping for these rare ingredients. I learned how to cook ramen on my Clipper races. I was on a Chinese sponsored boat. The English crew was responsible for provisions and they were what you might imagine - lots of beans, rice canned goods etc. My Chinese mates would watch us eat our dinner and they would nibble politely. When we went to bed, however, they came out and cooked their fabulous noodle soups. In the middle of the night I could smell delicious cooking. The Chinese crew were always generous and anyone on board could always join them. But we had to make a decision -continue with our precious sleep or eat a fabulous meal. Let’s just say that I stayed tired but well fed.

Randall can be very soft spoken, but this morning after I woke up from my post early morning watch nap I could tell what he wanted for breakfast. I happily obliged and the pancakes were super delicious. I enjoyed mine with Golden Syrup (you have to be English to understand) while Randall covered his with peanut butter and jelly - too many days at sea I guess.

Tonight was a lentil stew. It is fun to watch Randall cook. I tend to meander, chop a little of this and a little of that. Somehow it all comes together but seems to take hours. Randall is quite deliberate with his process. Start with a recipe (what’s that?) gather the ingredients, chop chop chop, cook cook cook, serve serve serve. The above stew had tons of garlic, fresh celery, carrot and ginger and our favorite vegi “steak” and one can of tomatoes. Super delicious.

We had been eating our meals in the cockpit outside, but it is getting cooler as we proceed north. So this is a typical doghouse meal, with one sitting above and one below. As the boat is healing, not so much fun (or secure) to sit opposite on the other seat.

Of course I am saving the best for the last. Today marks the first time that Randall let me go up to the mast all by myself! to shake a reef. Randall stood in the cockpit and we confirmed order of maneuvers, but the reef got shook. This is not the middle of the night with 12 foot swells and rain…but give me a little time!