Fixing dinner and the boat

Catmojo
Matt
Tue 30 Nov 2021 06:21
14:53N 46:56W and 815nm to wpt at 6:15GMT means 170nm in 22 hours hence 185 in 24hrs = 7.7kts vmg which is fine enough. Wind is 15-20 from around E, bit more, not much less, sometimes from a bit N or E.

Still sailing downwind with the big Parasailor. It's a spinnaker with a wing and vent, good for lurching, launching and leaping downwind and down the waves - the wind can rush forwards or back through the vent without collapsing the sail. The wing (like those inflatable kites) supports the sail esp at low wind speeds, while the vent allows also relatively high winds- last year I saw 28kts apparent into the sail (over 40knots true) and all fine enough - I flew it as high as possible to leak the wind with 10-15 sog. But this is a 188sqm sail, and in 16-18 knots of wind I'm doing 6-9knots 24/7, so I dunno what is going on with Bill on same boat being offered 300sqm sail and even 250sqm is pretty dang big. Well ok, but 250 sqm would be my limit and I'd want to talk to them a bit really. Bill is gonna meet up in Martinique and/or otherwise in St Martin SXM.

The Bouef Bourguignon I made is dinner for a full three days, and gets better each day. It starts with some beef and onions marinating in a bottle of red wine and a cup of brandy overnight. I used reasonable 7euro Rioja, rubbish 7euro brandy and three large onions. Next day you boil down the lot and add carrots etc. At some point you need to dice and fry some bacon with garlic and stick that in. I just keep bringing it to the boil throughout the day and then letting it stand for an hour or so. Five times or so will usually get you near. My fave caff in Paris does Boeuf Bourguingnon pretty well - Le Depart is open 24/7 on the Seine corner of Boule'Mich. Most places do "their own" Boeuf Bourguignon of course. Elsewhere, any menu description such as "paysanne" or "du terroir" allows them to not bother peeling the carrots much, and "de la maison" lets them stick in anything they fancy, perhaps even old Citroen car seats (taste a bit like turnip I expect) but of course it will (or should) always taste fabulous, like mine.

I did an audit of the lettuce and I reckon I can make it last till Sunday (when I should be closing land somewhere) whilst still eating the data. I'll video some lettuce (and carrots) whilst still a hundred miles or so to go. Not watertight evidence but pretty good. Okay yes, I mean that I "counted" the lettuce, but saying "audit" lets you charge more for basically just counting stuff.

Otherwise I'm fixing and cleaning stuff around the boat, very good to do it at speed and at sea like this - lets me see the parts where a "drainage hole" becomes a great place for water to come in during surfs, but it's all mostly ok. Well it is now anyway, ahem.