Day 7: Lazy Sunday found the Wind

Today we turned off the engines for the second time since departing Cape Town. The trade winds came through early this morning, before the last stars disappeared in the silent pastel colours of the dawn. They were weak at first, like a shy girl entering the ballroom on her first date. But now the wind is carrying us gently along on an azure sea. The boat is making happy creaking sounds as she moves gently through the water. Hopefully we have now found the steady trade winds that carried sailors over hundreds of years along this route. The lack of wind was beginning to show in all of us, getting worried about our fuel reserves. We have some romantic jazz playing on the sound system, making for a nice balmy afternoon, even if the weather is still quite cool, around 20ºC/68ºF.


My sourdough is still alive and I plan to bake another bread in two days' time. This is how long it takes to get a fully activated yeast in this weather. Or so much I gather from the the books I have at my disposal. The next loaf will be without rye flour, that I may get an idea of the activity from my yeast. The low temperatures do not make the task easier. The first loaf went fast, we shall see about the second one.

Today I made a tuna mayonnaise noodle salad. Three blocks of two minute noodles, two cans of tuna in brine, three spoons of mayonnaise, completed with a cup full of home grown mung bean sprouts. A welcome change from the normal flavouring that comes with the two-minute noodles. One can actually taste the bean sprouts.

I started some broad bean sprouts to replace the mung beans we consumed. There is now some fenugreek sprouts growing as well. This part of our culinary experimentation is working well and providing delicious food. Something that I shall be doing at home as well. It is worth the effort and a lot more economical than buying sprouts from the local greengrocer.

Today we are a week at sea already. It does not feel like a week, though. We have settled into an easy daily routine and all of us had at least two turns at cooking. The standard of cooking is quite up to scratch, if not cordon blue. No slapped together dinners here at all. A nice touch, keeping the morale high and your shipmates happy. There is not much choice in what one can make, being limited to the ingredients on board. But there certainly is a lot that one can put in in terms of attention to detail and process of preparation, which makes a huge difference in the outcome. And it speaks of a respectful relationship aboard, something to cherish, that will carry us through the vagaries and the hardships this voyage.

Authored by Johan Zietsman
Last updated on 2012-12-12