Gitana - Nothing prepares you for cooking at 45degrees (angle not heat!)

Nothing prepares you for making a meal for 5 in a kitchen that rolls at
varying speeds from side to side, even making a cup of tea is a challenge
– try pouring boiling water into a mug when both you with the kettle and
the mugs are at different angles and moving at different speeds... it's
all about timing!

Whilst nothing prepares us for our very mobile galley (kitchen), the
design helps, it's small and the cooker is on gimbles which allows it to
swing with boats movement side to side. A food tech room or conventional
kitchen wouldn't look anything like it, but we manage our space and have
places to lean and hang on when it gets 'spicey'. 'Spicey' by the way,
has become the term the boys use when the sea is a bit wild, the winds are
strong, but no-one wants to admit it's a bit full on!

Planning what you're going to eat on a trip like this is no mean feat.
Thank fully, we don't have any allergies, medical conditions or anything
like that that could limit what we can carry, all we have are preferences
and dislikes – instantly easier! Planning the meals took a while and was
a conversation over a year ago! When we left the UK back in the summer,
we were already thinking ahead to a TransAtlantic crossing which could
take anywhere between 17-24 days and where our fresh produce would
eventually run out. In the lockers (cupboards) it feels like war rations
with various incarnations of tinned food – in some cases, this is our
desperation food... in that personally I hope we never get round to it
unless the apocalypse happens in our absence and we're stuck at sea for
longer than planned.

We're ready for most eventualities though. Take today for example,
breakfast is a 'help yourself' meal for the day so we've got Des's
weetabix, muesli for me and James, Mike is the porridge man and was joined
by Dave today. All of us had tea or coffee and a piece of fruit to go
with it. Lunch, Mike made a spanish omlette with left overs from last
nights sausage and mash, adding veggies to the pan and serving with
salad. Throughout the afternoon, there's biscuits and fruit available and
for dinner it was my turn to cook and Chilli Con Carne and rice was on the
menu, with leftovers ready for nachos at lunch tomorrow.

All of this prepared in a compact galley at a weird angle, with the big
Atlantic waves sending us up and over, rolling from side to side, whilst
still trying to chop veggies with a huge knife, stir the pot, boil the
water and not spill anything on delivery before eating together.

Definitely a highlight and important feature of each day, without fail, we
always eat lunch and dinner together. The auto-helm is put on duty, we
chat, we eat, we catch up on each others experiences throughout the day
and the conversation always takes you in new and unexpected directions.
From Des's travels through Afghanistan as a young man before it was
destroyed through conflict, to places we want to travel to in the future –
Dave was very keen on Japan, Des not at all. From films we love to
recommended reads, this time to chat is fantastic. I grew up in a home
where we always ate together in the evening and today I do the same –
residential trips away or quiet dinner at home, that element of
conversation you can't put value on.

So, what will the next 12-14 days have in store for us? Well, our fresh
produce is already starting to dwindle and we're using it up steadily,
The supplies have been good, although we did have to discard a few rotten
oranges and a seriously manky piece of brocolli before we left, and where
we've stowed them well, they've lasted. The bananas took an early hit
though, getting pulped on the bulkhead (wall). not mentioning the
exploding red pepper that made the saloon (living room with beds!) look
like a murder scene this morning, We are lucky in that we have a water
maker on board keeping supplies up, some keen cooks and we'll stocked
lockers courtesy of some epic shops before departure, Mike has an army of
bread recipes so is making bread daily from now on and the Gitana Bake Off
standards are high, set by the boys before we left port.

So, imagine cooking at a funny angle in a kitchen that never stops
moving... what would you bake?

--
SY Gitana