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Hanami II - Day 9: Gastronomy amd Watches



Last night we had fresh (very!) Mahi Mahi lightly sautéed in butter on a bed of peppers, onions and courgettes, followed by the skippers specialty, banana flambe (in rum)! Previous recipes have had the Mahi Mahi slowly baked/steamed in white wine on a bed of thinly sliced potatoes, onions and tomatoes, with a touch of ginger.

Today we baked fresh bread, and are currently working on tonight's menu.

I'll try to remember to mention the various menus as we progress.

One point of correction to yesterday's blog, sailing at 130 degrees will add about 40% to the distance, not 'nearly half', but broadly the message is the same. If a boat was able to sail on a reach at 150 degrees (difficult with the swell), then it will add 20%, and require between 1 and 2 knots extra speed to equal a downwind ETA.

I was interested in a comment in 'The Atlantic Crossing Guide' which recommends that everyone has their watches at the same time every day. So the same person does the 3am watch throughout the passage and so on. Argument in favour was that consistency helps the body clock.

We are a 3 man crew with 3 single person watches of 4 hours during the day (9am to 9pm) and 3 hours during the night. This means that the times rotate. It works well for us. Every other long passage I have been on, we have had rotating times, whether using this 4 hour/3 hour system, or if a 2 watch, 4 hours on/off is used, then introducing two 2 hour dog watches to force a rotation.

I'd be interested in the experiences of other crews.

That's it for now, lunch beckons ....


Written by: David Holmes
Crew: Hanami II
28th November 2011


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