37:07.52N 26:50.95E

The Martini at sea is a tricky thing.  Easy enough to keep a supply of vodka and martini.  Even easier, given that we are in Greece, to ensure that lemons and olives are available.  Not at all easy to have ice whenever and wherever you fancy.

You may recall our adventures with the 12 volt fridge last year that required new starter something and then re-gassing all for lots of Euros.  We could have purchased a ‘normal’ household, top of the range Bosch fridge freezer with  additional compartments, ice crushing, juice creating, bluetooth, self loading and autopilot features for roughly the same price.  It did then work and produce ice fairly efficiently for the rest of the summer but obviously only when the fridge was switched on and we don’t have it on 24/7 due to the overall power consumption.  This year – guess what – back to being a bit cold rather than frozen so we assume that lovely gas has gradually escaped.  Overall not a problem because the fridge works very well overall with intermittent use of the 240 volt system but ice making is a bit more tricky and intermittent so Martini trials have to be timed to when there is either – some lumps of ice resulting from the 220 Volt fridge having a long run or ice cubes available for purchase in a harbour.

We are learning to manage the ice situation which means we have time to think about the equipment. 

Tashi Delek policy is that everything must have at least two uses in order to be brought aboard.  There are some obvious exceptions such as the life-raft but in general by applying this policy we keep the clutter under control.  Struggling to think of a second use for a cocktail shaker we decided we could make do with the equipment we already had; in particular the elderly Tupperware shaker that was great for beating eggs, whipping cream and mixing dressings.  Lid was missing but we’ve learnt to deal with that.  Coupled with a measuring jug and the tea strainer to catch the lemon pulp, pips and ice bits this seemed to be a reasonable substitute and would be laid out as follows.....

Not glamorous in any James Bond kind of way but practical, workable and in line with policy.  Testing however proved otherwise as the galley became strewn with lemon and ice debris, sticky patches where the container leaked and more sticky patches because the sieve wasn’t big enough to catch all the bits.  We persisted, confident that it was just a question of finding the right process and techniques but frankly, progress was slow.

While shopping for rations in a tiny supermarket on the island of Leros Mike found a coctail shaker tucked in between the kitchen roll and soap powder.  Full size and less than £6 so now we have....

A thing of beauty and simplicity that has moved us on dramatically in our quest for the perfect Martini but, as one problem is solved another is found.  What is the second use for a cocktail shaker on a yacht?