Domestics - 3rd May
Vega
Hugh and Annie
Wed 3 May 2017 18:20
We were able to stock up with fresh vegetables for our Pacific passage in the fruit and vegetable market in Puerto Ayora in the Galápagos. Tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, cabbage, potatoes, beetroot and plenty of onions, unlike for our Atlantic crossing when there was not a single onion to be found in the shops of Mindelo, Cape Verde. As of today we still have onions left, a third of a cucumber and a squash. So we have staved off scurvy for over half the journey and eaten very well in the process. And we still have a mountain of food on board ranging from the gourmet end with jars of pâté, tins of cassoulet and smoked salmon (keeps for ages in the fridge), staples such as UHT milk, fruit juice, rice, pasta, pulses and tinned tuna through to emergency backup such as instant mashed potato, tins of corned beef and various instant meals. Actually I would put mashed potato and corned beef in the gourmet category but Annie will only tolerate them on board on the basis we could make fish cakes with the mash and tinned tuna.
Fresh fish has been caught to order but we think twice a week is enough as each fish is likely to be sufficient for two meals. We have only caught mahi mahi so far but are hoping to vary things with the odd yellowfin tuna. Twice a week is also enough given the trauma of catching, killing and preparing each fish. We stun ours with 100% alcohol sprayed into the gills and then plunge a knife down into the skull just behind the eyes to destroy the brain which hopefully results in a swift end. Annie finds catching and killing these beautiful creatures quite hard but, since we happily buy them at the fishmonger or in tins, reasons we should be prepared to catch and kill ourselves (yes, I know this logic does not apply to cows, sheep and chicken -Annie).
One thing most yachties try to find for provisioning is a good supermarket. It's probably the one thing we remember the most at each place of departure. Inevitably we use more tinned, packaged and processed food than we would at home and as a result we read lots of labels to find out what is inside. The one really irritating thing is how misleading packaging is. For example cartons of fruit juice look just that until you read the small print; we have been unable to find pure juice anywhere, it is all a cocktail of water, sugar, flavouring and colouring with a token amount of real juice. Our peanut butter is labelled as "no high fructose corn oil" with the inference this is good for kids. And yet it has loads of added sugar - nowhere have we been able to find peanut butter without added sugar. One that has made us laugh is the packet of pancake mix that required the addition of milk and eggs - the most expensive flour we have ever bought! Breakfast cereals are some of the worst. They are labelled as healthy starts to the day and many are aimed at children. They should be labelled as poison as they probably do more harm than good nutritionally. Most of these foods are from American corporate entities or their subsidiary companies based in Central America. Of course anyone can read the small print and take a view as to whether to buy or not and food will require processing to ensure a long shelf life. But it is extraordinary the extent to which something really quite unhealthy can be presented as a high quality health giving product - it is a breathtaking level of dishonesty.
One product we inadvertently bought is orange juice with soya. Sounds disgusting, looks disgusting and tastes, well, not bad actually! We are working our way through a carton at the moment.
Apart from fresh fish the food that gives us the most comfort is Annie's bread. We are also eking out the last of Rob's Bristol honey as the combination is heavenly.
The wind and the moon have returned and so we are bowling along at 6kts under mainsail and poled out genoa confident that there will be enough light to be able to see to reef should the need arise.............