Yay!
I have returned from our first cruise of the season and nothing terribly awful happened! The passengers did complain about the food, but their only complaint was that they left five pounds heavier than they boarded because they ate so much. (To be fair, I tend to be a bit heavy-handed with the butter...) Once I got over the shock of the schooner actually leaving the dock I spent all my time either cooking like a madwoman or occasionally poking my head abovedecks to stare slackjawed at the overwhelmingly fantastic scenery. Oh, and sleeping, but I didn't do enough of that to really warrant mentioning. The weather was amazing, and other than a few learning experiences** the cooking went off without a hitch.
Highlights from the trip included bald eagle sightings, firing our cannon, learning to knit (I have most of a hat done!) and singing songs on deck after dinner. Wow- that really sounded like a line from and advertising spiel, but it's pretty much true. There were a few "I have to do this until October?!" moments, (mostly at 4:30AM when my alarm went off) but for the mostpart my job rocks.
I don't have a ton of time to write as I need to get back to provisioning and stowing, so I'll have to save some stories for later.
Ciao!
*Easy to do when you haven't had a proper shower in a week
**Shallow roasting pans are a bad idea. So are flipflops, and for the same reason. Lazy susans make great slingshots when the boat tacks. People eat A LOT more than usual when they are on vacation.
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Remember: Pillage First, Then Burn!
"So I read the Man Overboard procedures and I think I have it down for when the Coasties come and inspect us tomorrow."
"Okay, good- you know what everybody is supposed to do?"
"Yup. If someone goes overboard, John points and laughs at them, you throw things at them and I take Brian out for a boat ride."
"You should totally tell the Coasties that, they'll love it."
Lest you think I'm totally crazy and endangering the lives of our guests, let me assure you that other than the part about John laughing, that is a totally sane and logical MOB procedure. In order to retrieve someone from the water, you need to know where they are, which is why John's only job is to point at them. The captain throws a lifering and beacon, and I take the mate in our yawl boat to retrieve the poor sodden soul.
But my version still sounds way better.
Our first sail fast approaches, and I've gotta say I'm pretty nervous. I've revamped my grocery list more times than I can count and found multiple sources for all my supplies. I'm terrified of forgetting something important and/or running out of food. On land, I'm the kind of cook who has to make ten trips to the grocery store for stuff I forgot. And that's whan I'm just cooking for myself. The menu I've come up with is pretty tame in terms of it all being stuff I'm very comfortable cooking, but I've cooked exactly none of it on a woodstove that happens to be moving.
I've also been surprisingly homesick for Austin lately. This is going to be my first big culinary opportunity "on my own" and doing it without the cooks that taught me so much feels kind of strange. As crazy as this sounds, I would feel a lot more confident if I had Asa and Drew and Will shouting at me for being an idiot or screaming "RIA!!! DON'T F*@K UP!!" when I'm trying to concentrate. But I guess they're here in spirit. And by "spirit" I mean "I stole all their best recipes and am taking credit for them." Hey- they'd do it to me.
I'm reading my last entry and I realize that I never explained what I meant by the subject line. In the space of two weekends, my captain got married and I sang at a wedding in Windham. I had something profound to say on the subject of weddings and a clever way to tie it into the whole schooner thing, but damned if I can remember it at all.
I was going to leave you with some beautiful pictures of Rockland and schooners, but unfortunately this computer soils itself when I try and load picasa, so you'll just have to wait. In the meantime, you get more shanty lyrics, because they're awesome. You know, scratch that- you deserve better. Check this out:
If you don't think that's flippin' awesome, I can do nothing for you.
"Okay, good- you know what everybody is supposed to do?"
"Yup. If someone goes overboard, John points and laughs at them, you throw things at them and I take Brian out for a boat ride."
"You should totally tell the Coasties that, they'll love it."
Lest you think I'm totally crazy and endangering the lives of our guests, let me assure you that other than the part about John laughing, that is a totally sane and logical MOB procedure. In order to retrieve someone from the water, you need to know where they are, which is why John's only job is to point at them. The captain throws a lifering and beacon, and I take the mate in our yawl boat to retrieve the poor sodden soul.
But my version still sounds way better.
Our first sail fast approaches, and I've gotta say I'm pretty nervous. I've revamped my grocery list more times than I can count and found multiple sources for all my supplies. I'm terrified of forgetting something important and/or running out of food. On land, I'm the kind of cook who has to make ten trips to the grocery store for stuff I forgot. And that's whan I'm just cooking for myself. The menu I've come up with is pretty tame in terms of it all being stuff I'm very comfortable cooking, but I've cooked exactly none of it on a woodstove that happens to be moving.
I've also been surprisingly homesick for Austin lately. This is going to be my first big culinary opportunity "on my own" and doing it without the cooks that taught me so much feels kind of strange. As crazy as this sounds, I would feel a lot more confident if I had Asa and Drew and Will shouting at me for being an idiot or screaming "RIA!!! DON'T F*@K UP!!" when I'm trying to concentrate. But I guess they're here in spirit. And by "spirit" I mean "I stole all their best recipes and am taking credit for them." Hey- they'd do it to me.
I'm reading my last entry and I realize that I never explained what I meant by the subject line. In the space of two weekends, my captain got married and I sang at a wedding in Windham. I had something profound to say on the subject of weddings and a clever way to tie it into the whole schooner thing, but damned if I can remember it at all.
I was going to leave you with some beautiful pictures of Rockland and schooners, but unfortunately this computer soils itself when I try and load picasa, so you'll just have to wait. In the meantime, you get more shanty lyrics, because they're awesome. You know, scratch that- you deserve better. Check this out:
If you don't think that's flippin' awesome, I can do nothing for you.
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