3rd Leg Day 11: Pumpkin Fritters And A Storm

Yesterday we bent to our cleaning tasks. The boat now looks like a new boat again. Even the mooring lines are clean.

We were able to motor at a decent speed after we filled the tanks with the additional diesel. The storm clouds were gathering at dusk and they built up steam during the night.

Then, during the 03h00 to 06h00, the storm blast came. Much like the one of the Ancient Mariner. The wind was blowing twenty two knots, gusting twenty five. The boat was going in all sorts of directions until we got the motor revs up and got control back. We were in a situation of wind over current, where one gets big choppy waves and the boat bounces around, and you with it, in a most ungentlemanly manner. After getting the revs up we were making headway at about one and a half knots. Scary at times, one would say. We were rather hoping for a nice steady wind that would allow us to have a sliver of the genoa out and sailing along merrily riding out the storm.

The storm lasted for about an hour or so. Much like the highveld thunderstorms in and around the Witwatersrand area of South Africa. The driven rain was cold enough for me to reach for my rain jacket. But, alas, this was not to be. The zipper has a crust of salt on it and needs some fresh water treatment to work properly again.

So there I stood outside, the saloon door closed against the driven rain and me hanging on to anything that I could find. I was standing in the most sheltered part of the aft deck, which is not really sheltered. You get rained on multiple times. The first time is the driven rain. The other times are from various sources off the bimini top as the boat rolls and pitches, pouring the collected rain water down various parts of your upper anatomy, not least your armpits, because you are holding on to something higher than your shoulders. Another character building exercise, forsooth. You need to keep your cool, take a deep breath and count to ten. Then do it again. Then remember that this is what you chose as the idyllic life style of sailing. Otherwise your bad language may just put you in some negative mood and then all the enjoyment is out of the experience. Heaven forbid!

This all came to a logical end and at 06h00 I was relieved by Renier, who then came on duty. By that time the storm had subsided and it was getting light, a balmy morning after the storm. I dived into my bunk and slept a solid two and a half hours, wet swimming trunks and all.

We basically completed the cleaning that we could sensibly do during the rest of the morning, leaving us with some spare time in the afternoon. The distance remaining on this voyage amounts to less than 150 nautical miles, which we should complete during the night. This puts our arrival at early Saturday morning, giving us a nice long rest and some recreational time before handover on Monday. There is also the odd bit of cleaning and polishing that needs to be done while alongside. Too tricky or dangerous at sea. We don't want anyone to fall overboard this far into the voyage.

The wind came up nicely on the beam and we could hoist the mainsail. This got us sailing along at around eight knots on a flat sea. The idyllic sailing conditions that you dream of. And wish for during the times of bad weather. Haven't I heard this before?

As the last of the last legs food, I made pumpkin fritters for lunch.

Butternut Fritters

We had half a butternut, sugar and some self raising flour left. And of course, some salt. I peeled the butternut and cut it into thin slices to allow fast cooking. The thinner something is, the faster it cooks. Our oil had run out, but we still had two or three blocks (500g/ 1 lb) of butter left, so I popped half of one into the wok for frying the fritters.

Ingredients

Half a butternut

1 cup sugar

small stick cinnamon bark

1 teaspoon salt

2 cups self raisning flour

oil for frying

Process

Cook the butternut in a little water along with the cinnamon stick. Mash the lot when done. Remove the cinnamon bark first. Allow it to cool to a level where you can handle it. Add the sugar and salt and mix thoroughly. Keep on mixing while adding the self raising flour a little at a time. Continue until you have a dough, not a batter.

Scoop out a dessert spoon ful of the dough at a time and put into the oil. Fry until the fritter is nice and golden, then remove and drain on a paper towel.

A word of warning: Be careful when using oil in a pot on board, especially when the boat is bouncing a bit. Hot oil causes severe burns for which you may not have the proper treatment on board.

The other caveat is that you may burn your tongue if you don't let the fritters cool down properly before digging in...

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

3rd Leg Day 6: A Flare Over An Oily Sea and Sticky Spicy Fish

The day again dawned sweltering hot. A portetn of things to come. The breeze that sprung up yesterday petered out to nothing during the night. We had just over seven hours' worth of sailing, saving us some diesel.

Today we motored the whole day. There was a lot of intermitttent counter currents. Rather like a snake coilining and uncoiling, writhing on the ground, with us on top. Or perhaps us floating on a gigantic saucepan of water that is just short of boiling. The water in turbulence, but not so that you get bumped around, just slewing the boat here and there. And adding to our diesel fuel consumption. Very worrying when you consider our diesel supplies.

From an artistic aspect, the sea has this oily, lazy look. The water is an indescribably blue colour and crystal clear. Towards afternoon, when the sun was before the mast, the aft deck gave some shelter against the blaze and we took some comfort there. At least you could feel some breeze there. We took turns to sit on the starboard pontoon aft deck in the shade offerered by the bimini top. The aft portion of the deck is just clear of the water and you can hang your feet in the water. The water has this tepid temperature, much like lukewarm tea. But it does provide some modicum of cooling. But more, it provides a soothing foot massage, as the boat is rocking gently in the small swell, so your feet get pulled out of the water every so often. A very calming effect, somewhat therapeutic.

Surprisingly, there is not much traffic in this vicinity. This in spite of being a relatively narrow seaway. The skipper says it is normal and that one sees a little more traffic in the Bahamas channel hugging the north coast of Cuba.

During late afternoon we saw a rocket flare against the clear sky. We diverted to render assistance. After three hours we resumed our voyage. There was no radio traffic, no response from other vessels and the sea is flat calm. We assumed some pranks from fishermen or a ship over the horizon. In any event, we found nothing. A bit perturbing experience in this neck of the woods with the threat of piracy too.

Yesterday we started the last big clean-up and did the stainless steel spit & polish thing. We also washed some of our mooring lines that got very dirty on the mooring at St Maarten. We soaked them for a few hours in fresh water and some washing powder. Then we scrubbed them using a scrubbing brush we bought for exactly this job. Then the lines were streamed in the wake for a rinse, turning them around after a few minutes. By this morning they were dry. Now they are as white as anything, causing a glare on the aft deck.

Goodness, I am sounding like a cheap TV ad!

The sea is flat calm and by this afternoon we had left behind the last of the counter currents for the next day or so. Rather, we hope so. It chewed our diesel. We get the idea that there may be lots of eddy currents from the bays on the island next to us, where the Dominican Republic and Haiti is situated. I think the island used to be called Hispaniola.

It was my turn at the galley again. We are on the last legs of the freezer's contents, so in the dying throes of the voyage all the dinners are last legs dishes. The choice of ingredients is dimishing very fast to a binary situation. Makes for interesting creativity. Today was no exception. I made sticky spicy fish with plain rice and caramel butternut. No sauce or gravy with the rice. The spice mix is from National Foods in Karachi. I obtained this from my local spice shop in Gordon's Bay. Your local spice shop catering for the Muslim community will have it.

Sticky Spicy Fish

Ingredients

For the fish

400g fish fillets, cubed into lsrge cubes. I used Dorado. Mahi mahi for the Caribs.

½ packet of fried fish mix.

1 teaspoon fresh chopped garlic

dollop of lemon juice

½ teaspoon salt

½ cup water

½ cup flour. I used white bread flour, as this is what I have.

Some cooking oil or ghee, as required. The recipe calls for deep oil, but we have a dearth, so I used shallow oil in a wok.

For the butternut

½ butternut, cubed

Some cinnamon bark

2-3 dessert spoons sugar

Process

For the fish

Mix the lemon juice, salt and some of the masla mix. Marinate the fish in this for 30 minutes. Make a paste of water, ½ teaspoon of salt and the flour. Dip the fish cubes in the flour paste to cover it completely, then fry it in the oil. I put the fried cubes on a plate with a paper towel to drain the excess oil.

For the butternut

Cut the butternut into cunes after peeling it with a potato peeler. Put this in a pot withabout 1- 1½ cups of water. Add the sugar and the cinnamon bark. Simmer until the water has boiled off and the sugar has caramelised.

The rice you boil as normal.

Bon apettit!

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