Routines on Rover
29 July 2023
Katy
One of our first projects when we arrived was to reconcile the âBook of
Everything,â an inventory of food stashed around the cabin. Since the
initial provisioning in California, items had been depleted and moved
around. It was a good way to get a feel for what ingredients we had
available to us, and also practice some boating vocabulary as we went
about locating all the nooks and crannies for storage (galley, salon,
Pullman, quarter berth, head, port, starboard, forward, aft, etc). We
re-provisioned in Neiafu before heading to Vakaâeitu.
Daily chores on the boat include BLOG; BOWLS AND SOLES (cleaning the
head and sweeping the cabin); EGGS AND VEG (rotating the fresh eggs and
checking perishables stowed in the hammocks and bins around the cabin);
and YOGHURT (making fresh yogurt as needed). As the new crew on the
boat, we get a freebie by watching how to do it the first time around.
After that, we rotate through the chore list (on display in the galley)
on a daily basis.
Mike and I have both had opportunities to become familiar with the
galley. Mike cooked up a delicious meal of dirty beans and rice with
local tomatoes, peppers, and onions â�" as well as TVP (texturized veg
protein) âtaco bitsâ we found in the pantry. I made brownies with fresh
eggs from our provisioning run in Neiafu, and put together a few units
of âRover Cakesâ for the next crew (pancakes but with powdered egg and
powdered milk â�" with instructions of how much water and oil to add).
Many of the powdered items on Rover (like the flour and cornmeal) have
bay leaves to deter weevils (those insects with boots ân snoots), so you
need to be mindful your measured cups donât include a rogue bay leaf in
them â�" something I made sure to include in the recipe.
Last night was a little breezy and rainy, but cleared out by the time we
rolled out of bed. We had yoghurt with granola, apples, and fresh
bananas for breakfast and did some laundry. Then we pulled down the
dinghy, âSpot,â and attached the outboard. We waited out a short drizzle
with fika (coffee and cookies â�" a Swedish tradition!), and then headed
out to the far sand spit to check out the snorkel situation. We left
Spot on the sandy beach and walked about 50 yards up and donned our
masks and fins and waded in. The water was nice and warm, and we saw
brightly colored fish, blue starfish, sea cucumbers, a giant sponge and
coral while we drifted back towards the boat. We walked up and down the
beach as we dried off, collecting seashells.
After a âshowerâ in the ocean, and a lunch of French Toast with fresh
bananas (a la Karen), we are lazing around and wrapping up our chores
before we head out to Daveâs, to partake in a Tongan feast.
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