Hay hay, we covered 119 nm yesterday and most of this was done under sail as the wind picked up to 9/10 knots which was fantastic for us , so code 0 and poled out genoa. This has been making a respectable 4.5 knots. We have 327 nm left to sail and have covered 1758nm. It was Lovely to have the wind back for a while , the forecast is for it to remain much the same maybe another day without wind. Apparently there is more wind further south, but we would have to drop a degree or degree and a half and at this late stage there is no guarantee we will find it, the decision has been made to carry on the direct route with the wind largely behind us.
I haven’t really spoken very much about food on the trip and more importantly about the role that Simone has taken. She has prepared all the food since Gran Canaria and has kept going throughout the time as Chief steward. I wanted to give a bit of an idea about provisioning the boat. We shopped as. Crew in Gran Canaria with all three of us selecting items for the journey and a mission to provide for 28 daily meals, we had agreed that we would have 1 hot meal a day and the rest would be made of sandwiches and snacks (mainly fruit and oat bars). The idea being to eat fresh at the start, then eat tinned or frozen food and then re stock in Mindelo with fresh food for the onward journey. Simone has been responsible for all the foods location,access and storage and this is a difficult task as there is not a huge space on a 33 foot boat.
All of the meals have been cooked by Simone on a small Plastimo Neptune 2050 gas cooker. Breakfast usually starts with coffee or early grey tea, and a mixture of brioche rolled, fresh bread if we have it and a selection of ham and cheese. Normally there are tins of peanut butter, honey and marmalade, and a bowl of fruit with diced apples, bananas or oranges freshly prepared by Simone. It is a lovely start to the day as we all get to come off watch and eat together and chat, whilst leaving the AIS to keep us safe.
Lunchtime, is usually a set of sandwiches or fruit which is left out in the galley for you to hand pick when you’re passing.
Simones main meals
I thought it easier to write a bit of a menu of the type of food we have eaten as a main meal so that you could get an idea about the last 28 days on board mainly cooked with a deep pan stainless steel pan and a frying pan.
Potatoes with omelette and onions
Hash beef with beans and rice
Pasta sauce and spaghetti
Sausage and sweet potato
Meatballs and pasta
Spanish omelette and peppers, tomatoes, and onions
Mixed salad and peppers with med bread
Fried egg and potatoes
Lentil broth with sausage bacon and rice
All of the above give you a flavour of the types of food that have been cooked by Simone, without her doing this role life would have been so much harder and the food would not have tasted so good.
We have drunk mainly water throughout the day as the temperature rises to 35 degrees plus and water is the only sensible option., in Gran Canaria 32 1.5 ltrs water bottles were bought and hen this was topped up with a further 36 bottles in Mindelo this being bout 2 litres a day per person per day. Additionally tohuwabhou has water maker and this supplements the boats water. As a treat we bought 1 slab of Coca Cola which is has steady decreased to the last few cans.
Simone restocked in Mindelo with lots of fresh fruit and vegetables which has ever pretty much lasted us until yesterday when the last apple was eaten, we have 6 orange left and 1 lemon (I think this is being saved for g and t). During the night watches Simone has divided chocolate, oat biscuits and fruit out for the time at sea and this is mainly eaten by Holger and me. Depends on who gets to the chocolate first ! The total shopping bill came to approximately Euro 370: and in Mindelo about Euro 100.
I would like to say a personal thank you to Simone who has been relentless in proving us with good food throughout the passage, it certainly isn’t a joy to be cooking below when the temperature outside is very hot. I think that she has done amazing work and I am so grateful for her efforts and without them we couldn’t survive and operate effectively on the boat.
As we near the end of the journey I think a meal out be in order, for well deserved break for the unsung hero of the passage