Theia of London - Day 12 | Master Chef

 

 

 

Day 12...

 

Rolling seas and huge swell -  Theia is rocking back and forwards continuously in some huge swell which is making life below decks pretty unbearable now.  Anything that is not strapped down or stowed somewhere is now flying around.  Ben flavoured lunch with floor dirt the other day when the whole thing slid onto the galley floor.  This morning Mark had a shouting match with 4 mugs when they launched themselves across the galley.  Iain is rather enjoying the experience as he thinks it is good for his core stability muscles. 

 

The increased activity of the previous 24hrs certainly had an effect on the crew. We are all both mentally and physically tired now although spirits remain high as we start to close in on the finish line at St. Lucia, now less than 600 miles away.  We are predicting a Monday finish.  This will be welcome now as we are ready to get there now.  However, realising that lat night would be his last 'mother' watch (we rotate this responsibility each day) Ben pulled out all the stops to produce a Master Chef-worthy meal.  We really don't know how he does it. 

 

For our readers who have not experienced the challenge of cooking at sea before, here is the Theia crew description so you can practice at home.

 

Kitchen preparation:

- Firstly put the central heating on maximum and wait until the room temperature is unbearable

- Next, take all the ingredients you plan to cook with and throw them on the floor.  Do this several times.  If the floor needs cleaning, all the better

- Finally, if you have oil and sauces to hand, throw some of this all over yourself

 

Cooking

- With the heating on full, turn off the lights and put on a small red-light headtorch

- Stand on a wobble board and start to chop, season, mix and cook food, all at the same time

- All seasoning amounts to to be guessed

- Throw some more food on the floor, step on it barefooted and then scoop it up and put it back in the pot

- When using the oven, ensure you put your entire head about 1 inch from the door when reaching inside to pull out food.  Generally-speaking, the more reckless you can be, the better

 

Serving

- Plate up the meals individually and use a human chain to deliver them upstairs to your guests who will all be sitting in the dark on wobble boards in the bathroom, preferably with the shower running and plenty of wet towels laying around.

- Once food is served, one person will need to return to the kitchen to find a random selection of cutlery with which the crew can eat their food.  Two forks or a spatula instead of a spoon is absolutely fine

 

Post Dinner

- Once the meal is completed, return to the kitchen, get back on the wobble board and proceed to do the washing up using tepid water and cheap washing up liquid that you purchased on some random market, which doesn't actually lather up. 

- Once everything is cleaned, throw miscellaneous plates and cutlery on the floor and leave it them until the next time you need it

 

On other matters, life aboard continues,  Every day we torture Ben with Christmas carols.  The Justice League Advent Calendar has now completely melted and all the little chocolates have turned into one giant one, which looks a big like dog ....  Mike still seems to be happy to eat it.  We have managed to go for 24 hours without breaking anything , which has improved Mark's mood greatly and Iain celebrated the countdown to St Lucia by changing into a clean pair of Bermuda shorts this morning.