This article is by Josh.
Apart from the obvious necessities of vessel maintenance, navigation and watch keeping, the success or failure of a sailing expedition is heavily dependent upon crew morale.
Sleep well. Eat well. Shit?
Well! The holy trinity
Good passage making.
Personally, I sleep very well on passage, and at anchor. Better than at home to be honest. I will not provide details of the third part of the equation, but the central pillar deserves particular attention from this trip. Eat well, indeed we did!
Cooking on a small boat, with one burner and dwindling supplies offers a challenge to the chef of the day. This challenge is enjoyable however, especially with such hungry and appreciative crewmates. Cooking and eating foods foraged from the land or sea enhance the overall experience, and connection to the area.
Pressure cooker securement mk I.
Free range organic ice; first use of Nick's geological hammer, yet to strike gold.
Fine Venezuelan rum on the (glacial) rocks.
Eider duck three (of many) ways - asian style pancakes, salt and pepper drumsticks, duck soup.
Delicious blueberries, early season.
When in Ittoqqortoormiit, we were lucky to be gifted some meat from a local hunter - two slabs of musk ox and a large chunk of Narwhal. Approximately 25 pounds of meat excluding bone. That's a lot of meat to get through in <10 days for three people. We rose to the occasion of course. Prior to this trip I put a concerted effort to gaining some 4-5 kg of fat, knowing I generally lose more weight than that on these trips. I'm not sure it was needed in this case!
Ex-carpenter turned Butcher, hard at work on some frozen musk ox.
Carving off the fourth meal from this ox shoulder - destined for a Spanish(ish) potato, tomato and olive stew. The bone and scraps became soup the next day.
Narwhal. Incredibly dark and rich, presumably from high hemoglobin content. Taste and texture midway between beef and liver.
Quick seared narwhal with soy sauce and wasabi.
Narwhal tortillas before a long walk ashore.
Recipes get more inventive as the bilge-fridge progressively empties. We left Ittoqqortoormiit the day before the first supply ship of the year arrived; the supermarket shelves offered little in way of re-provisions. We get inventin' in the galley.
Grocery ghost town, Ittoqqortoormiit.
Bottom-of-the-bilge barley risotto, with the last quarter chorizo, the butt of our butternut squash, shredded cabbage core and grated parmesan rind.
Cooking for people you care about, and sharing that meal with them, is one of life's great joys. A genuine pleasure and honour to do this aboard Teddy once again, with such exotic ingredients and great dining companions.
Snapped fulfilling my usual role, WMO - Waste Minimization Officer
Josh
.HEIC)
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