Day 11 – A quiet day for Casamara

Casamara

Day 11 – and alls quiet and well on Casamara.

Hi everyone,

No too much to report today on Casamara. we have been on same tack all day and creaming along. We constantly supervise chafe and so far so good – fingers crossed.

We run three watches:

Watch 1- Iain (first mate) and Julian the brave chef. Iain is also chief technical officer and fixes things on Casamara as we go along. Julian has prepared feasts as we go along.

Watch 2 – Paul (watch leader) and Tim. Paul (the father of the house) is easily the most experienced yachtsman on board Casamara and nothing phases him. Tim is chief entertainment officer in charge of humour films and sundowners.

Watch 3 – Simon (Skipper) and Charles – Charles is the most active with his course refining, squeezing every last ounce of speed out of Casamara.

There is constant discussion about a huge range of subjects – top 5 films, favourite meals, lots of discussion about families, music and what we will all be doing in five years time. So over to Julian for Gastro update. Regards SP

Last night’s half way party on Casamara was fantastic! It was my night off and I was treated to chicken in a white wine, cream and tarragon sauce with basmati rice. We have gradually gone from eating cooked breakfasts to Muesli and yoghurt as the weather hots up! Lunch and dinner remain the main social event of the day (although it’s hard to call) as there is so much interaction going on all the time, the skipper has managed to pick such a great bunch of people to sail Casamara, it’s one of those situations that would be almost impossible to recreate and I should know having done the Pacific some time ago with one of my best friends Tom and a similarly amazing crowd! Dinner tonight has been steaks (cooked medium rare) with sauté potatoes and garlic butter (delicious)!

Boat equipment on Casamara continues to hold up well, I always knew that Discovery built fantastic boats and I have been suitably impressed with everything so far! It’s all very reassuring now that we really are deep into the middle of the ocean, to know that you are on such a well built yacht!  

There are so many more things that we intend to do and report about. It is a little disconcerting to realise that we only have a week left to fit it all in. I am looking forward though to the London Boat Show in January 2012, where we will, as always have our own stand and in addition I will be presenting three times a day, along with my distinguished colleagues Adam Gray (Michelin starred chef) and Janet Buckingham (published cookery author) who wrote Jupiter Moon Cookery Book (a must in my opinion for anyone planning an off shore trip) a selection of quick and easy nutritional meals to have on board and also highlighting the equipment required to prepare and cook it more easily and most importantly safely!. I will also be talking about my preparation and experiences on this trip, and to how to plan and cater for such an adventure!

All this is in association with most of the major leading UK boat builders, including Contessa, Discovery (of course) Gunfleet Marine, Mystery Yachts, Oyster and Rustler Yachts. These major UK boat builders, along with some well know European builders like Comar and Tecnomar, all have as their ethos, the desire to build the best possible yachts and to enhance the sailing experience for their customers. This naturally includes the efficiency of the galley and they are consequently embracing this ideology of a safer and more user friendly galley system from previous designs.This is where our company GN Espace Galley Systems comes in and I would be delighted to see anyone at London, who has an interest in improving their current set up in this extremely important area. JK

Images:Lavente, OceanChef and OceanChefXL from GN Espace