Race 6 - Day 11
Crew Diary - Clipper weight-loss program? I don’t think so!
03 February
Waiting for my wrist to be healed sufficiently for me to be safe back on deck, I spent the time like many of you, watching the race tracker and reading the blogs from my shipmates. I was so grateful for all the support from supporters of the crew in so many ways, messages of encouragement and offers of help in the stopovers.
This is still my adventure and so of the ten weeks I was off the boat I spent ten days in Capetown, two weeks in Fremantle and a week in Airlie Beach and did my bit to make the boat go faster, victualing!
Each stopover provided an opportunity for me to meet with and share the victualing tasks with the most amazing supporters who sorted, labeled, de-labeled, weighed, measured, packed and double packed the provisions for the next leg. In Freo, we became Santa's little helpers, shopped until we dropped to ensure that there would be a Christmas feast, and wrapped presents.
Now I am back to living life at an angle; the call to tack warns us to secure loose items, I am propped up in the corner with laptop balanced on my knee, stripped down to the least amount of clothes to maintain decency in the below deck sauna. Back where I should be in this amazing adventure!
If you had heard that living on a Clipper Race boat was a shortcut to weight loss you would be very very wrong. True, some of us are losing a little weight but we agree it's probably to our enforced alcohol abstinence rather than the food. You will have read in other blogs about the conditions the mothers work in, so I’m going to share with you extracts from my diary about their culinary triumphs and what you can expect them to be cooking for you when they return to real life or a new version of real life.
Day one: Holly and KC take up mother watch and serve a lunch of tuna and sweetcorn wraps with a side of chopped carrots, cucumber and capsicum with a spicy hummus dip. Fresh melon for dessert.
Dinner was a dish based on the flavors of Beef Stroganoff but adapted to meet the diverse dietary needs of the crew, just delicious. Holly made a huge loaf of bread for breakfast the next day, I had heard that bread making skills had developed since leg one but I was truly delighted to see and taste the results.
Not satisfied with making a cake, Holly offered us two desserts, a fluffy GF cake and another with chocolate pieces melting in the center, both served with tinned fruit. Deeply satisfying.!
Day two: JD and I were mothers, but I was struggling with the heat and motion so JD carried on without me and provided the crew with a tasty pasta salad with haloumi cheese, avocado and green peppers.
After a little sleep I improved considerably and helped JD complete a chicken curry with rice and a delicious lentil dhal, which JD had never prepared before but enjoyed at a restaurant, top marks JD
Day three: Andrew and Michiel served us a fantastic lunch array of crunchy salads and homemade guacamole. As dinner time approached the scent of cumin and cinnamon wafting around the cabin was enticing as they prepared Chicken tagine and couscous. My exciting moment was seeing Andrew’s first bread coming out of the oven, golden brown and crusty. I was as thrilled as he was.
Day four: with the bar already set high, Aser and Chris Andrew took up the challenge and served a very tasty pasta salad with tuna for lunch and a Ragu with Quorn and lentils and a sweet potato mash for dinner, followed by lemon drizzle cake. Asers’ bread was light and fluffy with a lovely crunchy crust.
Day five: Danny was mothering with Bruce. Danny makes the best porridge ever, creamy and smooth and made with coconut milk, yum. Bruce made a superb spicy chickpea and chorizo dish with crushed potatoes, probably the best I have ever tasted. Desert was fresh pineapple and dragon fruit. ( Yes Dragon Fruit!!)
Day six: Sandra and Dan were in the galley and it was alive with music and chatter. Another healthy lunch of wraps and a carrot and lentil salad and Chilli con Carne for dinner. Dan’s bread is another masterpiece.
Day seven: Alex and Chris Maxwell made an amazing pumpkin and ginger soup, and served it cold, soup is definitely back on the menu. Chicken Thai curry for dinner was just delicious, (I had a veggie version with chickpeas!)
Day eight: Holly was back in the galley, this time with Juscinta. This time we were treated to a Southern style diner. Holly made KFC chicken with two sauces, sweet potato mash and beans, and went on to make chicken and bacon pizzas for dinner. Ian and I had veggie corn tacos, All of this topped off with pineapple and cappuccino coffee cake. The compliments kept coming.
So to all the WAGS and BAPS out there and the small army of loving parents and sisters, who support us, thank you and expect great food from your sailors when they return.
This is going to be a long race, we may need to dip into the reserves of emergency food bags but until then with food like this…….Here we go!