Departing from Duluth

It's nice to glance down to the lower right-hand corner of my laptop to check the time out of curiosity and not a necessity, to check how much time I have before I absolutely have to start lunch. When I am on the ship, I look at the time and calculate quickly in my head...will I have enough time for the buns or Cinnamon buns (if it's cinnamon bun Sunday) to rise? I sometimes change my loosely planned menu a bit if I think I can have a few more minutes to finish a story and post. Today, there is no rush; I am sitting, with the September breeze coming through the open door, listening to the birds, and enjoying my cup of coffee. My first two days off the ship were very busy. I went over to the Niagara Falls Post Office with Lorraine (my sister, best friend, and publisher) to mail books and calendars.

This is the size of our bill when Lorraine leaves the post office. We try to only go to post offices that operate with two wickets, so that other people don't have to wait behind us. It usually takes an hour. The nice agent who put our order through said it made his last hour of the day go by quickly. He shared some great stories with us too. 

I never tire of seeing the falls and take a photo every time we cross. 

My first Sunday off the ship, is a more relaxed laid laid-back day. I took a moment before I started writing to you to look through my photos, selecting the ones I thought you would enjoy. I shared a live video from YouTube Wednesday evening. I debated whether I should post it because it was not very clear, and the wind crackled through the audio, but it was such a special moment with all the sailboats and the salutes. You can click on the following link if you have not seen it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYFgmIVRB7E&t=447s

The last few days that I was on the Atlantic Huron were busy, and until I was climbing down the very high ladder, I wasn't really sure when I would be going home. The crew change was scheduled for our trip to Sault Ste Marie. However, the cook who was replacing me could not make it to the Sault in time, so it was decided that he would join in Two Harbors. When we left the Sault with the crew members who had just returned from vacation, we had another change of orders. I originally thought I would be getting off in Windsor, but that trip was postponed/canceled. I then had to accept that I would be flying home. The question still unanswered...flying from where? The company pays for my way back to the Union Hall from where I shipped out which is Thorold. Since Lorraine was in the area making daily trips over to the Niagara Falls Post Office, this part of the plan worked perfectly for me. I have access to the company computer and every morning there is an update for our upcoming trips. Now it looked like I would be leaving from Superior, but the question remained when? I saw that there were several ships ahead of us. During the day on Wednesday, I started to pick up information from the dinner line that we were not going to Superior anymore but would be going to Duluth for fuel Wednesday night and then loading in Two Harbors. I knew the cook coming to relieve me was not scheduled to arrive until Thursday. I wondered if the ship would be loaded and gone before he arrived. I tried not to be the child in the back seat of the car, continuing to ask, "When are we going to get there?" and "Is it much further?" and tried to be patient to get confirmation of when and where. I am a last-minute packer, and the thought of the cook not getting to the ship in time to relieve me and the possibility of having to make another trip to the Sault and flying home from there kept me from starting the last-minute galley clean-up and the packing process. Wednesday at supper I got confirmation that my flight was scheduled to leave Duluth Thursday at 3 pm local time and that the relief cook was scheduled to arrive that same afternoon in Duluth at 2 pm local time. Usually, you are not allowed to leave the ship until you are relieved, but if I waited for the cook to come, I would miss my flight. It was decided for me that I would leave after lunch and the relieving cook would be there before supper. I had already planned to make a lasagna Wednesday night after supper to have ready for the new cook so that they had something easy to make and to serve. A plan was in motion and as Lorraine so often says about me "the planner needs a plan." I somehow misunderstood when we would be getting to Duluth and was happy that one of the crew came into the galley while I was cleaning the stove and said "you might want to come out and wave as we go through the Duluth Piers." As my mother taught me to enjoy, the dishes/cleaning can wait, I took off my rubber gloves and set the cleaning products aside to go out and enjoy going through the piers. The last time I was in Duluth was when I was working on the Rt Hon. Paul J. Martin, December 31st, 2021. It was so much fun to go out and see all the sailboats that followed us into the harbor when the bridge was raised. There were lots of people waving, and it was so much fun and a great way to end my time on the Atlantic Huron.

Hello Duluth. It was perfect timing to come through the Piers. 

I was not the only one who came out to wave and enjoy seeing the crowd of people waving. 

I am just to the right of the orange rescue boat waving. it was such fun.  It was especially fun to see all the sailboats following us in. 

December 31 2021 on the Rt. Hon. Paul J. Martin leaving Duluth in the afternoon. 

December 31 2021. So many people out braving the cold. It's so much fun to see everyone. 

All my dishes were washed and passed through the dishwasher. They just had to be put away.  I use a lot of pots and pans and bowls and...

I finished all my cleaning duties and assembled the lasagna. I could barely lift it to put it into the fridge. I looked around my room and thought the packing could wait until morning. I was still not convinced the other cook would arrive in time. When I woke Thursday morning, I looked out the galley portholes when I went to get my coffee and thought this doesn't look like Two Harbors. I found out that after fueling, we moved over to the Duluth loading dock. I saw the first mate and asked what he thought. Would I be able to leave today? He said he would check with the Captain but I should continue with my morning as if I were leaving. This meant I could not put off packing and I started to pack up my room. I had already removed all of my personal items from the galley the night before and only took three items back into the galley to make lunch, a chopping knife, a paring knife and a peeler. I would need them to make the chicken noodle soup. At breakfast, I found out that the cook who was coming to relieve me was delayed by three hours at the airport. I asked if I would be making the trip to the Sault but they said his luggage is already on the way to Duluth and the ship had to wait for cargo to finish loading so it was confirmed! The cook would have time to join the ship before it departed Duluth. It was officially departure day. I had planned on making Macaroni and cheese, Octoberfest sausages, sauerkraut and roasted potato coins for lunch. I also put rice and fried eggs on the menu one last time. The day before, I wasn't sure when we would get our groceries, and we were down to the last case of eggs, so I didn't have them on the menu, but after the groceries were delivered that morning, I put the now popular item on the board. When the crew came in, the usual crew who ordered the eggs and rice happily said "the usual" I was really surprised when three crew members who never ordered the eggs and rice said "I'll have the eggs with rice." They wanted to see what all the hype was about.

The last lunch was served! I left the rest of the chicken noodle soup on the stove and the lasagna in the fridge. I mentioned to the second cook that he should take it out of the fridge so that it was not too cold when he put it in the oven. It looked like he would be serving dinner on his own because of the cooks airport delay. I had also taken out salmon and measured out the rice for him and put a vegetable out so that he would not have a lot of extra work. 

I felt good about how I left everything. It is always more difficult leaving in the middle of the day. 

My bags were ready and it was time to go. I was lucky that I flew to join the ship so I had already removed items from my bags. If not, I would have had to box them up and pick them up at a later time. 

I had a cutoff to be out of the galley at 12h30 so that I could finish packing my bags and get to the airport in time. Now the adrenaline was running and the excitement setting in. We were waiting for cargo and when I looked over the ship's side I saw how high up in the water we were sitting. It would be a long climb down the ladder. I arranged for a ride to the airport which I paid for and will be reimbursed. It was fun to drive up the mountainside and look back at the harbor, spotting the ship that I had just left. I was checking in my bags at the United Airlines counter and said to the Agent checking me in that I knew I would be under the 50lb limit for each of my two bags because I just got off a ship and had used a lot of the items that I carry with me. He asked are you a merchant marine as I was taking out my credit card to pay the additional $90 fee for a second bag. I said yes. he asked if I had proof and I showed him my dispatch book. He then said there is no charge for the second bag. I was so delighted because I am responsible for paying that. He continued on to say United waives the charges for Merchant Marines. I thought that was great. I went to wait for my flight and before long was on my way home with a quick stopover in Chicago. There was a car service waiting at the Toronto airport and in no time I reached my destination and Lorraine was greeting me to help with my luggage.

The smile is all about getting down the ladder. 

There was a big red iron ore puddle to cross to get to the waiting car but luckily I found a little spot that I could cross without getting my shoes dirty. 

If you zoom in, you can see the Atlantic Huron. 

We were late getting into Chicago leaving barely enough time to make my connecting flight. 

Lorraine made a nice breakast bowl for my breakfast. Banana, raspberries, ground flax seed, cinnamon and coconut milk. It was delicious. So nice having someone prepare a meal for me. 

I will share some of the meals I made on the Atlantic Huron before I left. On the last day I made Mexican beef pockets with chipotle rice and the second choice was sweet and sour pineapple pork. I was trying to use up all my leftovers before I left. For supper, I made butter chicken and basmati rice, and the second choice was beef pot pies.

Almost everyone ordered the butter chicken (there was not enough left to take a photo). There were quite a few beef pot pie left over after supper but by morning they were gone. I find they smell so good when they are in the oven. 

I like to make Mexican inspired meals. I made the chipotle rice for the first time. I will definitely make it again. The Mexican pockets went really well. 

Sweet and sour pineapple pork is one of the recipes I make with the leftover roast pork. It is fast and easy. I use the pork gravy as a base for the sauce and just add soy sauce, pineapple juice, vinegar, and brown sugar. 

The roast pork dinner before the leftovers because the sweet and sour pineapple pork. 

I like to try and make a special supper before I leave. I decided to make this before the crew change in the Sault. I didn't have shrimp left over but with the leftover steak bites I chopped them in my food processor and used them in the Mexican beef pockets. 

The last cinnamon bun Sunday on the Atlantic Huron.  I only frost half because some like them without. 

I had a little feta left in an open pail so I decided to make a roasted beet salad with feta cheese. I also served a spicy beef pie which went really well together. 

I had just enough turkey leftover to offer turkey sandwiches. We didn't have enough bacon so it was just turkey, lettuce, tomato and mayo. I also served a feta spinach frittata. I was making bread every day on the Atlantic Huron. They don't have a big mixer so I was making it by hand. I like making bread and the crew likes eating it. 

I thought it was nice how the sun came in through the porthole and cast a spotlight on my cinnamon bun dough. My goal is to make a video of making bread so that you can see the steps. I find a sticky dough results in a delicious fluffy bun. 

I saved some of my regular bread dough to see if I could make a flat bread to go with my Lebanese inspired plate. Imagine my surprise and delight when they puffed up like pita bread. 

I made a Lebanese inspired plate. I made a cauliflower feta mash, spiced meatballs with yogurt sauce, roasted eggplant, pita bread and radish salad. I find the picture doesn't reflect the deliciousness of this plate. It was so tasty!

Carrot coconut soup one last time with a little ginger sauce  (GPS)

We are looking forward to our book signing events in September and October. I will go back up on the board at the Union Hall and hope to get a couple of ships for November and December to finish my 2024 sailing season. Lorraine asked me to let you know that Lock 3 St Catharine’s Museum & Welland Canal Centre has all the books in stock. We have also mailed out the books to Two Harbors Superior Finds Gift Shop and Duluth Lake Superior Marine Museum Gift Shop. I would have delivered the books in person if I knew we were going there. I will keep in touch while I am on vacation. It will be much easier with unlimited high-speed internet. See you soon.

For more details about the book signings, meet and greets and speaking events click on the following link Events — Ship To Shore | Chef Catherine Schmuck | Author, Entrepreneur & Cook | Canada (shiptoshorechef.com)

You can get the new book at participating stores or order online. Just click on the following link. 

More Recipes & Stories As We Navigate Healthier Eating – Ship to Shore Chef

We have all the books in stock and will be happy to mail them out to you. They are also available in participating stores. 

The 2025 calendar is available at participating stores or you can order online and Lorraine will be happy to mail it out to you. Just click on the following link Ship To Shore Chef 2025 Calendar – Ship to Shore Chef