Good advice from a good friend!

I sent an email to my good friend Jon Van Amringe downeast in Maine by Arcadia National Park, who is by the way one of the best navigators in the US.....to this day,,,...damn......then the GPS arrived. Jon taught navigation at the naval academy. Here are some of his comments on the fine art of cooking on sailboats. By the way, Jon was my navigator on Aries, a Holland Admirals Cup 2 tonner when we campaigned her on the great lakes for four years. John has just finished restoring his Hinckley 40 and his new pride and joy Pelagus. Thanks for your thoughts Jon. More on Pelagus later. Cap Jim

 

Folks...

 

For what it is worth following are a few thoughts on provisioning and hopefully enjoying an extended ocean voyage:

• I do not recall the origin of the legend, but I have been told that Bananas are bad luck on sailing vessels ...
• Underway you really need to provide for four meals daily including "Mid Rats" (rations for the midnight watch).  This meal has always included something to keep you warm -- soups and stews and some energy foods.  Underway the US Navy always baked bread and pastries at night, so it was a great treat to sample the baker/cooks wares during the mid watch
• Underway on sail boats I have always found that it is excellent to be able to eat foods out of a bowl or that you can easily hold in your hands -- I see that you have included pita as well as wraps.  You can do some wonderful things with flat bread -- stores easily and can be frozen.
• The other issue always is mal de mare due to rough weather or until one attains their sea legs.  In addition to the usual drugs, I have recently found some natural relief with sliced ginger (pickled or raw), saltines, ginger snaps and the newest -- Grape Nuts cereal.  No matter how well planned, it is always important to get quick access to these staples
• I have recently also discovered an interesting method of making omelets underway.  Use a zip lock bag and add beaten eggs and whatever fixings you wish to add -- cheese, vegetables, bacon or sausage.  Drop multiple sealed bags into boiling water and 13 minutes later you have fresh omelets all around and no clean up.
• If you use sealed bags for other items, I have also found that you can boil in salt water, preserving your fresh water supply.  One word of warning.  Make sure that you allow room in the bags for steam and expansion.  One one Bermuda race, our "french chef" had prepared a whole series of gourmet delights that he placed in seal-a-meal bags.  We also thought that a "pressure cooker" would be more efficient.  Nice plan, but here was the result.  A very excellent seafood ceviche in said bag was heated in the aforementioned pressure cooker in salt water -- with no room for expansion, bag explodes, under pressure you cannot remove the cover from the cooking pot, the result was a flavorful geyser of ceviche out the top spout of the cooker.  Actually after the pressure reduced and pot was open, ceviche became a not so bad seafood soup.
• You actually can easily bake bread onboard underway.  If you do not want to start from scratch, you can get frozen loaves.  This precludes the need to pack loaves of bread.  Notes of caution -- make sure that the loaves stay frozen until needed and do not over fill the oven -- warm bread rises expands and can even open the oven door!  Also green salt water waves down the companion way hatch tend to inhibit the bread rising experience -- see previous note of Bermuda Race and "French Chef" -- aka younger brother of owner/skipper.
• Fruits with skins -- oranges, lemons, limes, tangerines, grapefruit -- have built in protection.  I have also found that it is easiest to keep fruit in net bags hanging in the main cabin.  Fruit will actually last better if it is not refrigerated.
• It is helpful and obviously more sanitary, if snacks are repackaged in individual servings -- nuts, dried fruit, crackers and the newest treat - "string cheese".
• You can save a lot of space if you use drink mixes like crystal light.  Make big batches and allocate to smaller individual reusable bottles.  Each crew member has one or more with their name affixed.  I also use for coffee, tea, soup, other drinks, large travel mugs.  Again each crew member gets and reuses their own.
• I did not see beer, wine or other spirits on the list.  For safety reasons, I do not think that any of these items or recreational drugs should be used underway.  However on shore ... cheers!  On my last Newport-Bermuda one of the crew brought 2 cases of extraordinary red wine from his "cellar" -- every lunch and dinner was accompanied by multiple glasses of fine wine for most of the crew.  Fortunately, as you may recall the 2006 race was dominated by a distinct lack of wind, flat seas and a very long race.  Still a racing sail boat is a dangerous place and no where to be without your full faculties and physical skills -- whether you are on watch or off.