Yo and Dan
April 22, 2011, 10:30 pm, on passage to the Marquesas

The passage from Galapagos to Marquesas is the longest nonstop sailing passage. There's not a lot to do out there.

On Jacana food is a serious subject. A welcome break from yet another sail change. Not just the eating but the planning, the provisioning, the storage and the preparation.

Our menu for the passage from Galapagos to Marquesas says a lot about the passage itself. It's also an insight into the food we were able to buy in Panama or Galapagos as well as what we couldn't. Of course, this menu was pragmatic to say the least, designed around:
• What needed eating first
• The state of the sea!
• Our cravings
• What fresh herbs we still had
• Who felt like cooking
• What started defrosting in the freezer (wouldn't you know it the freezer went on the blink)
So, here it is JACANA'S 25 day MENU
(FROM GALAPAGOS TO MARQUESAS)
Key:
homemade - hm, store bought - sb,
Supermarkets: RS - Riba Smith, R - Rays, Cya - Carruya
Locations: PC - Panama City, C - Colon, Ca - Cartagena

'Standard breakfast' =
fresh fruit (canned when we ran out), yoghurt (homemade) & granola muesli, toast (home made white bread) with (for yo) vegemite (bought from Oz!), marmalade or peanut butter, (for Dan) savoury toppings such as pate, taramasalata, (Riba Smith, Panama City) cheese and tomato.


Day 1
• Breakfast - standard (fresh fruit)
• Lunch - Malaysian fish head curry
• Dinner - Chilli con carne with black pinto beans, served with rice, avocado, crumbed dorito chips and sour cream
Day 2
• Breakfast - standard with fresh fruit
• Lunch -salmon patties, broad bean salad and lettuce
• Dinner - Paprika chicken with sour cream, noodles
Day 3
• Breakfast - toasted bacon, egg and tomato sangas
• Lunch - chilli tortilla, guacamole & sour cream
Note: tortilla store bought in vacuum packets in PC, guacamole dip in jars from RS in PC, sour cream made from UHT squeeze packs purchased Cartagena by adding lime juice. This is great because you don't need to refrigerate.
• Dinner - Barbecued marinated chicken and coriander, with Thai veggie rice with cashews
Note: Chicken marinated in home made chilli jam from David Thompson's pink cookbook (thanks Anna A)


Day 4
• Breakfast -standard with fresh fruit, sweet cinnamon bun
• Lunch - salmon patties
• Dinner - tuna and veggie pie, with crispy potato mash topping
Day 5
• Breakfast - standard with fresh fruit
• Lunch - salmon patties in tortilla
• Dinner - keema muttar (curry pork with beans and eggplant), eggplant pickle with tamarind (hm), cucumber raita, basmati rice (purchased RS at PC)
Day 6
• Breakfast - Stewed apples (oops fruit starting to go), boiled egg and toast (with vegemite).
• Lunch - leftovers
• Dinner - fricassee chicken, vegetables with spiral pasta
Day 7
• Breakfast - standard with fresh fruit
• Lunch - tortillas with chilli beans, lettuce and sour cream
• Dinner - roast lamb shank (on the Barbie as the sea was calm), scalloped potatoes, apple crumble
Day 8
• Breakfast - standard with fresh fruit
• Lunch - mini pizzas - 1 x margherita with chilli and fresh basil, 1x margherita with olive bruschetta (sb in jars at Carruya in Ca)


Note: It was baking day today. 2 nice fresh white bread loaves (we like white!), and lots of pita pocket breads. These pocket breads are simple to make, cook under the griller in 4 minutes rather than in the oven - less work and less gas. They store well too and can be refreshed by dampening, and a quick reheat under the grill where they puff back up really well. These pocket breads make easy sandwiches, pizza bases and great for dips as well)
• Dinner - green curry braised pork ribs with Thai cucumber, carrot and peanut salad
Day 9
• Breakfast - Standard with stewed fresh fruit (the last of the small fruit)
• Lunch - summer minestrone soup (hm) and reggiano parmesan cheese
• Dinner - Dan's beef burgers, fresh cooked beetroot, pitas, and green salad
Day 10
• Breakfast - cantaloupe (wasn't great when opened)
• Lunch -leftover hamburger rolls
• Dinner - pork rogan josh curry, toasted coconut and cucumber sambal, mango chutney (hm), basmati rice
Day 11
• Breakfast - standard with canned fruit
• Lunch - minestrone
• Dinner - barbecued chicken marinated in chilli jam, Brazilian rice and beans
Day 12
• Breakfast - Grilled haloumi cheese (sb at RS in PC), tomato and eggs on toast
• Lunch - leftovers
• Dinner - Barbecued steak, roasted beetroot, Baked spuds with sour cream and guacamole dip, spinach and parmesan patties, baked sweet potato



Note: all roasted in the barbecue because the sea and wind let us get away with it

Day 13
• Breakfast - standard with canned fruit
• Lunch - nachos, guacamole, fresh tomatoes, sour cream
• Dinner - spaghetti with smoked pork ragout
Day 14
• Breakfast - bacon, eggs and tomato
• Lunch - leftover spaghetti
• Dinner - sweet and sour pork, veggies and cashews, jasmine rice
Day 15
• Breakfast - standard with canned fruit
• Lunch - barbecued mahi mahi frame
Note: our favourite part of the fish, marinated simply in oil, lime juice and seasoning and seared
• Dinner - middle eastern platter - kibbeh with pine nuts, tomato slices with dukkah, green salad with crispy fried haloumi cheese, tahini yoghurt dressing, spicy hoummos, pita breads.


Day 16
• Breakfast - bacon and egg toasted sandwich
• Lunch - fusilli pasta shells with smoked bacon ragout
• Dinner - beer battered mahi mahi, tomato concasse, mashed potatoes
Note: this reminded us that deep frying is definitely a mistake on a boat, worse the gas ran out in the middle of it all.....an at sea meal not to be repeated!
Day 17
• Breakfast - standard with canned fruit
• Lunch - cold battered fish patties with herb mayo
• Dinner - chicken and chorizo gumbo with dark roux
Day 18
• Breakfast - standard with canned fruit
• Lunch - leftover gumbo
• Dinner - Curried Oz Mahi Mahi fish pie and vegies
Day 19
• Breakfast - standard with canned fruit
• Lunch - leftover pie
• Dinner - Chinese dishes: fried rice with fresh bean sprouts (hm) and barbecued Chinese Pork (purchased little China town in PC), pork, bean curd and peanuts in oyster sauce.
Note: We loved the groceries in Little China town in Panama City. We refreshed our Chinese supplies like noodles, sauces , vinegars etc. Also when fresh veggies begin to run out on the boat we sprout our own mung beans ......very easy to do and gives us crispy crunch to our food
Day 20



Today we opened the watermelon we had specially saved in order to have fresh fruit for a change
• Breakfast - standard with fresh watermelon (of course)
• Lunch - tortilla, guacamole, chillie bean mix, and cheese, lettuce
• Dinner - angus beef hamburgers on the barbecue, atop pita bread, with lettuce, tomato, cucumber, pickles and mayo
• Drinks - watermelon batidos with ice and sweetened condensed milk
Day 21
• Breakfast - toast, eggs, grilled haloumi cheese and tomato
• Lunch - jamon serrano with salad in pocket bread with mayo
• Dinner - lasagna made with Bolognese and forest mushrooms (sb RS at Panama City, dried, excellent)
• Drinks - watermelon batidos with ice and sweetenedcondensed milk
Day 22
• Breakfast - standard with watermelon
• Lunch - leftover lasagna
• Dinner - barbecued steak, tomato and cucumber salad, spicy fennel crispy chunk potatos
Note: the freezer has finally stopped working so meat, meat and meat is the order of the day
Day 23
Breakfast - toast
Lunch - spaghetti
Dinner - Pork in ginger sauce with bean sprouts and shrimp paste fried rice
Provisioning:
Fresh produce:
It is very difficult to keep fresh produce in the heat of a sea passage in the tropics. Obviously, there's only so much fridge room......but we were able to extend the life of quite a lot of our food but getting the freshest possible.
Fresh vegetable and fruit market in Panama City - don't miss going there just before your passage. Here we got super fresh potatoes, cucumbers, chokos(chtistophene), carrots, onions, beetroots and small individual pumpkins (much better because it doesn't force you to have to eat pumpkin for a week after you've opened one). Fresh non refrigerated eggs were available here too (though take your plastic egg containers as they are supplied on cardboard slabs).
Fresh vegetable and fruit market in Galapagos - Open every day but sometimes slim pickings. Best produce variety available on Saturdays and Wednesdays. We got good capsicum, eggplant, green beans, avocados, tomatoes, all the staple root veggies......and a big big watermelon (it lasted 3 weeks before we opened it for fresh fruit later on). Some nice apples, cantaloupe, bananas. Fresh eggs here too.
Little China Town in Panama City:
Provided us with lots of our fresh green herbs just before leaving as well as some of our Chinese veggies, bok choy, water spinach (morning glory) etc. We sourced our egg and rice noodle supplies and happened upon Chinese BBQ pork hanging in a restaurant window.
Storage:
I store the spuds, onions and pumpkins in separate calico bags tied up in a cool spot (mine are under the cabin table). Every second day I check their condition, take out what needs using first before it can spoil the rest. The 'need to use first' veggies are stored in a basket ready for the cook's hand.
Cabbages are wrapped in newspaper and stored in cool place. Every few days check and remove any spoiled outer leaves.
Eggs that won't fit in the fridge I store in a cool place and turn over every second day.
To keep carrots, individually wrap them in paper toweling and put in plastic container (or green vegetable bag) in the fridge.
Chokos will keep in the fridge indefinitely, they are the best long term vegetable available. Chokos can be julienned and used in stir fries, they take on the flavours around them.
Beetroots only keep well in the fridge. If stored outside they will need to be roasted or boiled within the week as they will have softened. The ones in the fridge are great raw and grated on salad.
Bok choy, basil, saw tooth coriander (known as shadon beni in the Carribbean), parsley and small cos lettuces keep in fridge excellently if stored in tall plastic sealed container with an inch of water in the bottom. The water should be changed every 3 days. You will find the veggies actually keep growing in this way.
Tomatoes are stored in plastic container in fridge to avoid them being bruised with a wad of paper toweling at bottom to wick away moisture. Same for the fresh chillies.
Bean sprouts are sprouted on board from mung beans but other beans can be used too. They take about 5 days to grow to the right size.
Groceries:
Bread flour is a critical supply for us. It is most important when purchasing flour for bread that 'high protein' flour is purchased as the protein gives the bread its body. I always look at the ingredients list at the back for the % count of protein. I try to get at least 10% protein or more. In Panama City the bread flour was not marked as 'for bread' - you really had to look carefully at the ingredients list to get the right one. Some yachties, instead, bought it in bulk from the bakery in PC or at Galapagos, but I do not like trying to store 25 kg at a time, let alone repel weavils. Only one grocery in Galapagos, the one at the top of the hill up the back, had bread flour.

On Passage

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Yo and Dan Hellier
April 17, 2011, 8:57 am, at anchor Taiohae Bay, Nuka Hiva.

What book do I read next?? So so easy but more boring than double peeling broad beans.

We arrived at Nuka Hiva at 0630. Sailed slow through the night to arrive in daylight. Spot on 23 day passage from the Galapagos to Nuka Hiva in the Marquesas. Here for a couple of weeks.

On Passage

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Yo and Dan Hellier
April 14, 2011, 6:50 am, On passage to the Marquesas

So bright last night this photo was taken by the moonlight only!

We seem to have settled into a pattern. Poled out heady and reefed main (to stop the slapping), when the wind comes forward a little we swap to two sail reaching. ....then back again.....then back again..... Can't complain, wind is pretty consistent and the weather benign, no squalls ..... just pleasant sunny days and now brighly lit moonlight nights. Making good progress, only 420 miles to go. Starting to feel cocky. Inbetween sail changes we eat. Dinner tonight was a fried rice with fresh bean sprouts and chinese bbq pork, accompanying a cantonese dish - pork,bean curd and peanuts in an oyster sauce braise.

Today we opened a seven kilo watermelon we bought from a farm in the galapagos. Now, daily watermelon batidos (shakes). the last of our fresh fruit. The freezer continues to be a worry but we have cajoled it along every day so far.

On Passage

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Yo and Dan Hellier
April 9, 2011, 6:18 am, On passage to the Marquesas

Have enjoyed steady winds and making good progress in the last 2 days. Wind just starting to ease a little and we have gone last night to a poled out heady, still comfortable enough but a bit rolly. fortunately the seas are pretty good. We have about 1000 miles to go, we're estimating another 8 - 9 days if things continue as is. We've kept ourselves pretty busy keeping everything honky dory. Made the next week's bread ( now an expert at light fluffy pita pocket bread), and Yo even went to the hairdressers for a bit of youth renewal (read dye). that was an interesting experience washing one's hair strapped by harness at the back of the marlin board! Dan continues to kid the freezer into working so we decided that since we weren't going to have to eat all our meat we could probably try for a fish.

The Pacific threw a lovely 4 kg mahi mahi up to us as dusk set. We had the thing dispatched, cleaned, portioned and in the fridge within half an hour; less time than a trip to Vic market. How easy is that? We hear from our mates on Falbala, just ahead of us, that they caught caught a 1.35m Wahoo of about 35 kg. That would test the freezer!

On Passage

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Yo and Dan Hellier
April 5, 2011, 6:06 am, On passage to the Marquesas

Day 12 of our passage and all is very well. Except for last night, when the wind lightened, the conditions for the last few days have been consistently 10 - 15 knots from the SE in pretty good seas (1.5 metres). We're sticking pretty much on this lattitude line direct for the Marquesas and it seems to be rewarding us. We're now nearly half the way at 1550 miles so far.

Life on board is very easy, the autopilot has not faultered and our sail rig is very happy with the stable conditions. Dan has been able to moddle coddle the freezer to keep going so our meat is still frozen. We have stopped fishing though because, with the freezer on the blink, there would be nowhere to store a nice mahi mahi once we got it in......maybe we'll wet the lure in a couple of days though because I'm missing fish badly.

Not missing much else though when it comes to eating. We're running an eclectic restaurant out here and very likely putting on weight. Even barbecueing since the conditions are so good. I've decided to record our entire menu and post on the blog on completion of the journey. It's an interesting aspect to the voyage as it throws light on provisioning issues, state of the sea and crew on passage as well as offering some useful passage preparation hints for others coming in this direction.

If you're interested in seeing where we are at any time just click on the map link on the right column of our blog. This is updated every 24 hours. We also post to yotreps at 'www.pangolin.co.nz/yotreps'. Look up Jacana as VLV4077. It gives an even better picture.

On Passage

Comments [3]

Yo and Dan Hellier
March 31, 2011, 9:59 am, On passage to the Marquesas

Finally settling into steady trade winds. We had a perfect fast beam reach last night and we're starting to hope for better daily mileages. Pleased not to be running the motor and conserving our diesel. Swell starting to build. We're running under a reefed main, reefed heady and staysail. Seems a stable but still fast rig in these conditions. Quite a number of other yachts stretched out in the line to the Marquesas or some are heading further south to Easter Island or over to the Gambias. We're in touch via an informal radio network morning and night which is a bit of fun discussing all the what fors and maybes with the wind.

The freezer is starting to play up. Mighty annoying having had the guys in to go right over it in Panama City. We're hoping to keep nudging it along or otherwise we'll be on a steady meat diet for the next few days! Also beginning to have difficulties with the extended sat phone antenna that we use for emailing purposes. Only a minor inconvenience that, if it persists, we can get around.

Otherwise everything is working splendidly. Dan's in love with first our autopilot, which hasn't had a break and just keeps on keeping on, and secondly our Bukh motor which unlike us barely needs a drink. Can't believe what small amounts of diesel it needs. Lots of touching wood all the same. Looks like Yo moves to third place.


This tired booby thought he'd hitch a ride for the night.
Stopped fishing for the moment - had enough tuna.

On Passage

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