News Archive
26 March 2006
Recipe for 'Barrabas Pancake'
I have recently developed a food craving for sweet and stodgy - so my breakfast now consists of coffee and "Barrabas Pancake" - oil, flour, oats, sugar (lots) and evaporated milk blended together and deep fried. Once cooked, I consume it rapidly with a coating of condensed milk.
I have also taken to making twice daily tours around deck, at dawn and dusk armed with my spear gun peering over the sides, particularly at the bow and stern for any fish who believe they have found the protection of the mothership but which to me might look good in a curry. No joy as yet.
I have now gone a considerable length of time without seeing a single sign of human habitation on the planet - not a single aircraft or the lights of a faraway ship. The last ship I saw was just prior to going round Cape Horn - February 12th.
We are making good progress downwind towards Hawaii, though there is a doldrums belt either side of the equator which doubtless will slow us down. Most of the time I am running dead downwind with the headsail poled out on one side and the boom carrying the mainsail out at right angles to the hull on the opposite side. With the swell coming up from astern, the boat does roll quite dramatically - but of course this provides an excellent excuse to lie down.