Okay, lets try that again - looks like a half finished blog got sent yesterday - here is the rest of it.
Happy Birthday Rita ! It's day 16 on our passage from Epi Island (Vanuatu) to Darwin, Austrailia and 34 days since I left Winnipeg, Mb. Wow ! It's really hard to believe how quickly the time has gone ! Except for a few hair-raising/frustrating experiences, it has been a remarkable adventure!
I woke up to very light winds today and some sounds in the galley. It's 5 am. and Rita is baking bread. I'm still groggy so I'm sure I'm imagining this but when I take a second look, she really is standing there. I roll over and go back to sleep.
It's her birthday and we're going to celebrate but why is she baking bread on HER birthday?? My mom's generation feels they need to work their butts off and invite a lot of ladies over for a party. My generation feels that a day to relax and take it easy and go out for dinner is nice; OR better yet, get taken out for dinner! Being that Rita is only a few years older than I am, I wasn't sure what her customs were but I did decide that she deserved a break from all her cooking. Not that I don't
love her fresh bread, we all do, but she would get the rest of the day off and we would have a party!
After a frustrating watch wrestling with the spinnaker with next to no wind, we decided to turn on the engine. I went below and baked a chocolate cake for Rita, iced it and made a poor attempt at writing Happy Birthday with a makeshift decorating bag. By then it was Happy Hour time. For weeks we had saved our last Pringles and BBQ kettle chips for this occasion. Salivating and with anticipation, we sat and waited as Bob peeled away the lid. For a moment I felt like we were on Survivor, having
just won a reward challenge as we sat there and savoured every bite!
A few beers later, Dennis prepped the veal roast with garlic, carrots and onions and I made cream corn, mashed potatoes and a mushroom gravy. Out came the last bottle of wine, a very precious last bottle, and lets not forget that Cress got an extra glass as he had bartered an orange with me for my glass. (Little did he know that I don't drink red wine.)
It was another wonderful sunset dinner cruise and Rita was very appreciative of our efforts. We all sang Happy Birthday to her and enjoyed her chocolate cake. She commented on how lucky she was to be invited on the boat so she could celebrate her birthday in this way. We all agreed and toasted and thanked our Captain, Cress for this wonderful opportunity!
Now here's the interesting part, being how I'm used to partying with my curling team, I was expecting dishes to be done (it's easier before it gets dark) and then more drinks, conversation, etc. Bob and I were on watch from 6-9 so we were ready to go! At 7:30 pm. Matt pipes up - "well, okay, goodnite, wake me at 8:45 okay? I just starred at him for a while, this coming from the 25 year old on board! By 8 pm the whole boat was dark and quiet.
I guess our overnight watch responsibilities make for short birthday parties !!
Cheers from
Jan - the Prairie Girl at Sea.
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