Mate's Log - July 19, 2001

Position: 61-18N 28-15W

Today we had a beautiful calm sail, but we watched clouds building that could bring us high winds in the next 24 hours. We spent time preparing. Morning chores focused on changing the engine oil and looking it over. The afternoon was spent in the galley. We were our of bread and decided to prepare food so that we'd have something to nibble on if it gets rough tomorrow. Also, it was a good time to get into hard to get at reserves to re-stock the pantry. We usually decide what to cook by what needs eating. Today, I discovered that I did not pack our apples well enough. They must have been banging around in their storage net under the v-birth because several were busted open. Guess the old saying "one bad apple spoils the lot" must be true, because the rest all felt mushy. I started the cooking spree by saving what apples I could and chopped them up for an apple crisp. We also made a Tofu Nut Loaf, Indian cabbage, and opted for tortillas, instead of bread. George helped chop, sauté, and toast things while I orchestrated the seasonings and kept things clean.

Since we are always conserving water and fuel, I make it an on going game to see how efficient I can be. This afternoon I had a peak efficiency experience. One thing we use a lot of is ghee, and cleaning the jar is always a water hog, so when we get close to the bottom of a jar, (as we happened to be today), I start planning. (Ghee is butter with the milk fats boiled out so it basically keeps indefinitely and does not need refrigeration. I made several jars before we started this passage.) My tortilla recipe called for both oil, and hot water which was perfect for my plan. I scraped the last spoon of ghee out of the jar into a metal measuring cup, which I melted in the preheating oven. Meanwhile, we toasted some sesame seeds and nuts for the tofu loaf in a small skillet. The melted ghee went into the flour for the tortillas, the nuts went into the loaf. While the skillet was still hot, but the stove off, I measured one cup of water into it which heated instantly; I poured it into the ghee jar, swished it around melting the little leftover on the sides, poured it back into the metal measuring cup to clean the oil our of it, then into the tortillas. Voila! Clean pan, clean jar, clean measuring cup-- all with water heated by a pan used for something else with no extra fuel, and all used in my recipe. Slick, Huh?? (Later the jar and cup got cleaned a little more with soap, but the oil was out so it was quick and easy.)

The nut loaf and apple crisp baked together at the same temperature, and were done just as George finished baking the last tortilla and I finished the dishes. Homemade Tancook beets complimented everything, especially the cabbage, and gave good color to our plates. Once again, a feast was had on Hannah Brown. Then it was my bed time.

When I got up at 0100 George said he saw our first fishing ship about 10 pm when the light is still bright as noon time. Now, at 0230, the night is at its darkest, but there are light streaks across the sky and a long orange dash on the horizon where the sun is hiding for a couple of hours. The wind is 13 knots, we are sailing on a course of 25 degrees with a bearing of 40 degrees, at a speed of 3.5 knots per hour. In the last 27 hours we traveled 60 miles. Presently, we are 214.3 miles from Iceland. Of course if the wind picks up in the right direction, we could improve our miles per day.... Let you know what happens tomorrow.

Holly

Captains Log - July 19