Race 4 - Day 14
Crew Diary - Race 4 Day 14: Fremantle to Sydney
16 December
It was my first turn at Mother Watch yesterday, which was a whole day spent off making food and drink for the crew. Sounds simple, right?
On Mother Watch, breakfast, lunch and dinner has to be prepared for the twenty crew, bread baked and any light snacks and hot drinks served in between. Those who know me know I prefer the role of guest and my nerves increased when I learned we have to do it all solo, not like in training when we spend Mother Watch in pairs. Still, a lot of good advice from one of our round the worlders the night before (thank you, Tessa!), had taken the edge off my anxiety.
Mothers get a long sleep the night before but are then woken early to start breakfast. We had run out of bread a few days earlier, which meant the Mothers had been making some every day. Iain had made two loaves of bread the day before. Too much, I thought. But no. The amount of breakfast toast consumption on GREAT Britain is staggering and we quickly ran out. After breakfast, it was then straight on to the clean up and to prep for the meal I had been dreading: lunch. This was making an actual meal on board, not just making toast and drinks and putting out breakfast items. Making actual meals is something I don't have much practice with, even on land. But under the expert guidance of the ever-patient Tessa, Nicola and Hannah, the pea, pasta and bacon meal turned out well. In fact, some was even kept for supper. Result!
After clearing away lunch, I thought I would have an hour or so to myself before starting supper but there was to be no rest for Cinders! Baking bread for the next morning's breakfast was the next task. I'd never made bread before but under expert direction from Tessa, I discovered it is quite enjoyable. Another new skill learned from my time with the Clipper Race!
So far, the day had gone well. It helped that we had been in a wind hole (very little breeze to power the boat) all day, meaning that the boat was relatively flat and still. Good conditions for working in the galley! Hopefully, supper would be equally straightforward, I thought.
And then the wind picked up....
Supper was 'challenging.' By the end, I was counting my blessings that I only had to prepare and serve ration packs ration packs ('ratpacks') – surprisingly tasty freeze-dried chicken fajita - and not a full meal. Chopping vegetables in a shaking, shuddering boat on ever-changing angles would have been a whole other level of difficult. We tacked twice while I was preparing the ratpacks so that the kettle flew across the galley and dumped its contents on the worktop. I think I used almost the entire supply of kitchen role in an attempt to clean up the mess. The boat executed a couple of sickening lurches when it hit wind pockets but, all credit to my crewmates, they didn't mange to spill a single drop between them. Imagine serving meals in the Shake Shack at the end of Grease and you'll have some idea of the conditions.
The morning after...
I was delighted that my bread went down well this morning. Someone even declared it the best ever and I was chuffed. We're all looking forward to getting to the marina and fantasasing about what we will eat when we get ashore. Popular choices include ice cream, beer and fresh salad. We're are on the final stretch to Sydney!