at sea
48 58 15 N
08 06 00 W
0650 UTC
06.09.08
s/y flying cloud
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a busy day. just finished a sizeable portion of yummy pasta shells adorned with a pesto made some time ago by midori. yum. lunch for breakfast. fortunately, pesto keeps for a dog's age and quite possibly even improves over time.
i've been reading a book i acquired from richard, mate of Elvis The Gecko - he says that it sat on his sister's shelf for three years and i must say, if it's been read at all, it's in remarkable condition. 'bloodline of the holy grail,' i think written by this modern knights templar fellow. it's rather dry, but still strangely fascinating. gardiner claims, among other things, that Moses and Ahkenaten were the same man. perhaps wildly specualtive ~ this guy even uses erich von daniken of 'chariots of the gods' fame as a reference. this was the dude who claimed that aliens built the pyramids and stonehenge. anyhoo, it's an interesting book and i hope that i can finish it in time to get it back to richard in southhampton where elvis will be residing.
i once again surrendered my watch this afternoon to pretend i was a plumber. you know. loosen the belt, show a little cleavage. say bad words. stuff like that. never let me complain about how much a plumber costs. wait ~ complaining would mean that i'd be paying. and not doing it myself. tough call. perhaps i look forward to complaining about how much a plumber costs. matty has claimed that this is my /favourite/ job, but actually i think that it's his favourite job to not have to do since before he got on this boat. a thankless and not terribly fun job. but hey, quintessentially useful.
after washing my hands a hundred-fifty times, i think 'that wasn't so bad.' yes, it was. and should i look forward to the next time? not really. but if it gets me sailing, then fine.
after the next hundred fifty hand / arm etc washings and a change of clothes, i made chocolate banana muffin cake. more like banana bread with chocolate chip and almond. too much butter, but oh well. that's the way we like it. we have this very fine new zealand canned butter that they have all over the caribbean ~ totally great ~ and in a can. stays fresh, though should be refrigerated after opening. great for baking. i fried mushrooms in some. mmm. oyster mushrooms.
thomas has been very busy copying down recipes, which has been amusing. he so far has aksed me about everything i have baked. thing is, when i bake, as when i cook, the recipe is only retroactive. ingredients are funny in the middle of the sea and one doesn't always have what a recipe calls for. improvising is a necessary art for the transatlantic cook. he'll cook up a storm when he settles in after his travels.
tired now. woke up a little early to offer our ailing skipper a slightly early watch relief. to my surprise, he's taken it two days running. extra rest is good and the trouble with his position is that he's on call in addition to being responsible for his watch times. night, night. as i tend to say. except it's day day. or maybe morning morning.
