Friday, Day 4, A New Day
05 May 2012 | South Pacific Ocean on Passage from New Zealand to Fiji
Rod
We changed course this morning. Now we are headed direct north as we have enough easting "in the bank". This means that the wind is hitting us from behind the beam. It is a subtle difference, but the effect is dramatic. All of the hard work and bouncing around of yesterday had suddenly calmed considerably. Is it now a nicer ride, relatively speaking. The air is getting warmer. It was 21C in the cockpit this morning. Another nice.
Our speed is around 7 knots, the wind is about 25 knots, the sky has plenty of blue, so your crew is happy and thankful.
I think it is time now to talk about food and life underway. We new some people once who went cruising, kept a blog, and the only thing they ever wrote about was what they ate. "He had the salmon, I had the salad, etc, etc. Beyond boring. Well then, may I present: The Food Report, done in "Your Rock and Roll Argonauts" style. Elisabeth is German, and in Germany, life starts with bread. Not the white pillow style bread popular in the US and Mexico. No sir, proper bread must have weight, heft, and substance. All of the German yachties we have met bake their own on board. So then, for this morning's breakfast, I had a slice of Elisabeth's boat-home baked bread with English bitter marmelade. Mmmm, mmmmm.
Now you must remember that we are "on passage". This means that we are on the high seas on a small boat that is bouncing around, especially now. We are dealing with some pretty big and rough waves, so cooking is a pain. Bring in the camping food and dog bowls. Lunch was a nicely warmed dog bowl of Watties spaghetti in the can. Watties is kind of a Kiwi version of Heinz. I say dog bowl because we have some boat bowls that resemble dog bowls. Dog bowls are hard to knock over, so are boat bowls. They look similar.
Dinner. It's still rough, so no nice veggie stir fry. No, dinner was Frito pie. How does the star chef, who didn't grow up in the states, become familiar with Frito pie, you may ask? I confess. I told her about it, she liked it. It is easy on a bouncing platform. Say, remember the carnival ride "Tilt-a-Whirl"? Try cooking on one sometime. It will make you a beliver in Frito pie.
And since we are in the rough stuff, our preferred dining area is on the cabin floor, wedged in between the nav desk and the galley sink. Stable, and not a drop spilled. This then, is the truth in cruising and dining at sea. The challenges are real, and not at all like the photos you see in the glossy magazine showing couples having a wine in a long-stemmed glass, usually dressed quite elegantly, etc. Think expedition, think Volvo Ocean Race. For us it is quite a blissful life. Out here having grand adventures with our best buddies.