Departure Day

The end of a great month on the Atlantic Huron. I joined by punt boat and departed by punt boat at the Windsor stone dock. I will share extra photos from my departure day tomorrow.

Another relief job completed

It's December 2nd departure day. I just came back from the galley with coffee in hand. I am looking around my room and the task at hand...packing. It is easier to pack to go home because I don't have to decide what to take or what to leave, I have to take everything that I brought. I shared with you that I would like to sail for the month of December and it would have been so easy to just stay here but there is another adventure waiting for us. I do not have another ship yet. The Union Hall is closed on the weekends so I will have Sunday to relax with no anticipation of a job call. Starting Monday I will always have my phone with me. There is only a few weeks left in the shipping season and I do anticipate a call to relieve a chief cook but I will hold true to only accept a job with a second cook. Keep your virtual sea bags by the door and ready. I enjoyed my time here on the Atlantic Huron. It is my second time here cooking for this crew and I would definitely come back. I was treated so well. I really liked my cabin on this ship too and as I look at the rumpled sheets on my bed that I need to remove before lifting my empty suitcases onto the mattress to make packing easier. I am hoping that my next ship has a comfy bed too. I have only been on one ship where the bed was awful. I was only a relief cook but if it was my job, I would replace the mattress. I bring a few little pictures to hang or set on the desk in my room. It adds a little of home when I join a ship and I enjoy them every day I am out here. It is a little more to pack, but each item has significant meaning and adds to the joy of my day. I was asked to make the grocery order. We had discussed letting the next cook make the order to get the things that they want but the office asked me to make the order. I find it hard, especially this time of the year. I like to try and get the groceries down to the bare minimum for winter lay-up, but for a new cook, it is easier if there are a few extras to choose from in the freezer. I just looked at the clock on the bottom right hand corner of my screen and the last drops of coffee in my first cup of coffee and realized I have to start packing. The fantasy that my items will magically swirl around the room, hover above the open suitcase and land perfectly folded with a plop in my open suitcase like an episode of Bewitched is not going to happen. I remember that TV program and as a young girl thinking how wonderful it would be to have Samantha's magic powers. Haha. 50 + years later I am still thinking it would be fun to have her magic to pack my bags.

I have a company laptop (which needs to be replaced as I impatiently waited 30 minutes for it to decide to start, trying all the tricks I know: gentle encouragement, the 10 second hold of the start button, unplugging and re-plugging and finally calling for help. Help arrived. We had electricity to the laptop and after a few attempts my “help” managed to get the familiar picture of the product screen to appear.) I set the laptop on top of a pot to the perfect height and I was ready to make the order. I hope that the new cook is happy with the items I chose.

I took this photo when I first got on the Atlantic Huron. I had these beautiful flowers and I couldn't leave them behind so I brought them with me and enjoyed them on board. The flowers really add life to my room. I could not leave them behind, even though I know Lorraine would have enjoyed them. I wrapped them tightly in newspaper, found a secure spot in my cooler bag and they made the punt boat ride with me onto the Atlantic Huron on October 31st. As I packed my things 30 days later all that remained of the flowers were the dried rose buds. They looked so perfect I couldn’t throw them out with the other wilted flowers. Today, however, the perfectly dried buds would not make the trip back with me on the punt boat.

I had an easy day planned for my last day. It is always easier to leave at the end of the work day but we were due to arrive at the stone dock in Windsor at lunchtime. Usually I do pizza for lunch on Friday or Saturday but with all the extra cleaning and packing I took an easier approach to my last day’s menu. I had seen 7 inch flat breads in the freezer and thought they would make a good base for nice individual pizzas. I got a pot of soup ready on Friday. I made the grate hamburger soup. I didn't cook it but covered the vegetables with water. I also thought I would make a spinach cheddar frittata. Once I was satisfied with my menu for Saturday I could focus on the last minute cleaning and of course very last minute packing.

I made 28 individual pizzas using the 7-inch flat breads as the base. We would be changing crew at lunch time and I knew that I may have some extra crew who were just coming onboard and may have been traveling for hours and might appreciate something to eat on arrival.

my grate ground beef soup came out really nice. I am glad I chose this for my last soup.

I did a lot of my organizing and cleaning on Friday. Friday I started with my bread dough one more time. It came out beautiful and I shaped them into narrow buns to accommodate hotdogs. I made a big pot of fish chowder too. My second choice was a huge pot of butter chicken. As some of the crew came in for lunch and ordered the butter chicken I mentioned that I was going to have butter chicken for supper too. Each one said they will have it twice. One crew member who enjoyed it twice said it was even better at supper after it sat on the stove all afternoon. He also mentioned that I filled his plate to capacity. I laughed adding that It was the last meal I was making for him and knew he liked my butter chicken. The chicken had broken down as it sat on a warm spot on the stove so by supper time it was a really rich thick shredded butter chicken. It was so delicious, especially with a bit of ginger sauce. (GPS in the book). For supper I made fried fish, french fries with the rest of the butter chicken. There was the perfect amount of butter chicken . I had a little rice leftover but didn't keep it. I was emptying the fridge for the new cook. After I finished my dishes I cleaned the stove, the convection oven and washed the floor. The oil was too hot after frying the fish and french fries so I saved changing the oil for departure day morning. My lunch menu for lunch was almost ready, I just had to make the spinach and cheddar frittata. I had also made a huge pot of spaghetti sauce the day before and which now was also sitting on the stove on the low simmer spot. When I join a ship it always takes a few days to get used to a new stove, where is the hot spot, the perfect simmer without burning spot, and the Goldilocks spot, not too hot and not too cold. The last days are quite a contrast from my first days. I walk around the galley reaching confidently for the things I need. I know what the crew like and don’t question myself, did I make something that everyone would like. I was happy with my morning and took a moment to reflect on the last month before I made a little galley tour video of the Atlantic Huron. I will share the video with you soon. I also have some photos and meals to share with you from our trip back from Milwaukee, passing under the Mackinac bridge( in the daylight) and loading in Meldrum Bay. There are too many photos to share with you today so check in with me.

Butter chicken “part 2” . I served butter chicken for both lunch and supper on Friday to make sure that everyone got my famous butter chicken one (or two) more times. This crew member has a great laugh and sense of humor as he arrived for supper in his reindeer onesie.

I have so many photos from departing the ship that I will share them in a story tomorrow. I will finish this story with the photos of Lorraine (my sister, best friend and publisher). She has been busy mailing books. We are still taking book orders for Christmas. She and our friend went to deliver extra cookbooks and children’s books to The Claxton Hepburn Medical Center Gift Shop. We had a lovely book signing there earlier in the year. They had mentioned their 20th Annual Festival of the Trees and Lorraine said she would like to attend. She told me it was beautiful and festive She also made a trip to mail a large stack of books which she brought to the Ogdensburg Post office. I like to think of the books being lad under the Christmas tree. She also dropped off books in Cornwall, Ontario and yesterday together we dropped off books at Lock 3 Museum Gift Shop. I just got off the ship but still love going to the canal and searched the familiar area to see if I could see a ship. You can get a full list of the stores where the books are located on our website www.shiptoshorechef.com look under the tab “shop” When Lorraine and I are in the canal together we always try to make a trip over to the US and our first day together was no different. We had a really nice dinner together and we crossed back over the rainbow bridge we could see the beautiful Christmas lights. Lorraine took us for a drive along the falls and we remarked at all the new beautiful lights and would question each other when we saw some lights that we were sure were not there the year before. They really are worth the drive. to see.

Lorraine and our friend Tammy at the Claxburn Medical Centre annual Christmas Tree event. Lorraine said it was beautiful. She left extra books at their gift shop if you are looking for a special Christmas gift.

Sisters reunited

Niagara Falls New York Post Office

It was fun to see this familiar building during the night.

This photo is a little burry but gives you an idea about the beautiful lights on display at Niagara Falls, Ontario

The heart was added to the LOVE sign this year

It was a fun evening touring looking at the Christmas lights. It was the perfect first day off.

I love sailing but also love time on land and I find myself filling each minute with things that bring me joy. After I post this story for you, I will call the union hall and register. I will keep you posted on our next adventure. I will write to you again tomorrow morning. I love these leisurely mornings with coffee in hand and no rush to get up and start my day. I have lots of photos to share that I didn’t have a chance to share and a few videos too. Have a wonderful day. See you tomorrow. Fingers crossed that I get a good ship to finish out my 2023 shipping season. It’s been great so far.

Lorraine has lots of books on hand and will be happy to mail them out to you. There is still time to get them to you in time for Christmas.