Friday 20th November (Lini’s Journal)

Brindabella's Web Diary
Simon Williams
Sat 12 Dec 2009 19:15

 

   Our frantically busy day began with collection of our vacuum packed meat order from El Corte Inglés. I was more than a tad anxious that after all my provisioning planning things would now go horribly wrong. I consoled myself with the fact that even without fresh meat there is enough canned and cured to feed a small army for a year. (Or Simon and Lini round the Caribbean!) Luckily my order was ready and complete and Simon was more than happy as it followed his favourite quote – A quick shop is a happy shop! (unless we’re talking boy’s toys of course!!)

   Back on Brindabella Simon attended to stowing the dinghy below and taking down the sun awning which unfortunately filled the galley with delightful toasty hot rays just as I emptied the fridge. My first job was to freeze the meat into the box I made to fit the fridge ice box. Then in the shade on the saloon floor I sorted a mountain of chilled stuff into weekly boxes, one for a dreaded fourth week at sea or Christmas, one for drinks and another to sit under the ice box. It was with great relief that everything just wedged in bar a few odds and ends from this week which I threw into a salad for lunch.

   It was a day of visitors as well as preparations and it was lovely to stop for a drink with Stuart from Seateach who gave us our Parasailor instruction back in the summer. Mark from Yachting World then arrived and took notes and photos as he asked about our experience and reasons for joining the ARC.

   My afternoon was spent in the galley baking an almond and raspberry cake then big pots of stew and bolognaise to freeze down. The Remoska bubbled and baked on the cockpit table while the pressure cooker stewed in the galley.

   The veg order and delivery from Hiperdino were due at 3pm: By 4.30pm I was more than twitchy when ‘ Brrrindabaya’ was called from the pontoon. We loaded water, ditched cardboard from cereals and considered towing the dinghy for Simon’s chocolate supplies.

   Now dark we ate bolognaise in jacket potatoes for dinner with still no sign of our vegetables. I had crossed few jobs off my long list and by 7pm was blubbing uncontrollably with the thought of squeezing in a veg shop with taxi trip in the morning. I wished we had more crew so I could delegate jobs. With tomorrow already looking extremely busy I decided I would have to forego the farewell party tonight and get the laundry done. Of course, no sooner had I filled the cockpit with whirring machine, spin drier and a stack of clothes our veg arrived.

   I know we get through quite a stack of fruit and vegetables each week but seeing (and paying for) six crate fulls left me in a state of panic. I didn’t know whether to shed tears of joy that order had arrived or tears of panic that it was someone elses. Crews of six seemed to have the same amount. It was too dark and late to check it through though and my written order was stapled to the foot long bill.

It took us ages to wash the bugs from the bananas and wipe everything clean. It was then we discovered our vegetables looked like winning entries at a local gardening competition. Order – 20 small dark green Granny Smiths / Delivered – 20 HUGE, soft pink Fujis the size of grapefruits. Order – 3 small leeks / Delivered – 3 tree trunks. Order – 4 small white cabbages / Delivered – 4 green cabbages the size of footballs. And so it went on as Brindabella sat lower and lower in the water. All on board Simon kindly finished the laundry while I, up to my waist in vegetables attempted to sort things by how ripe they were then pack into preserving bags. I rolled the tops over and sucked out as much air as possible almost vacuum packing them. After transferring our frozen meat to the ice box I lined the freezer with a cool bag and beach towel and layered the firmest of our produce praying it would still be edible in a couple of weeks. The heap that remained I sorted into the net and plastic crates. I tried to recall all my favourite vegetable recipes! On the bright side constipation shouldn’t be a problem on Brindabella! All stowed it was a late night.