I am writing to you from home. I am still waiting for word about my next ship/job. I am the first on the board at the Union Hall and it's been weeks with not one call for a chief cook job. I received a call the end of February but I had to turn it down because we were planning to attend the 2025 opening of the Soo Locks. I'm not completely surprised that there haven't been any other job calls since the end of February because the regular cooks don't usually go on vacation until the summer.

If any chief cook jobs come up, I will be the first person they call.

I love sailing and the next best thing to sailing is writing about sailing and sharing photos and stories of the ships I have been on. Before I started writing to you I thought I would look through my photos to see where I was previous years on March 30. I discovered that I was sailing the last three years on March 30. I am always excited to get that first call early spring after being home for the winter. On March 30, 2024, I was on the Spruceglen. It's a great ship with a great crew, and without needing time to conjure up memories, I knew immediately that I had enjoyed my time there. I hope to work there again one day. I looked through the photos stamped March 30, 2024, and saw that we were on our way to Thunder Bay to load grain. I saw some of the pictures of the food that I made that day and remembered how the crew liked to try new recipes. That day, I made my beet-meat shepherd's pie, and the other choice was beef stroganoff. The kale salad that accompanied the beet-meat shepherd's pie reminded me that the fridge was filled with some of my favorite items I ordered for the fit-out order. I recognized my peanut butter cookies and then remembered that the second cook had no experience, and I was doing the baking. He was very nice, and I didn't mind doing the extra work of making desserts and salads. He helped by doing all my dishes, which was a real treat for me. I have a great video showing him how to make cookies. Seeing these videos reminds me that I have many photos and videos to share with you.

Last year I was on the Spruceglen March 30th. That day I made beet-meat shepherds pie with kale salad and beef stroganoff with roasted beet spinach salad. I also made peanut butter cookies. I hope to work on the Spruceglen again one day.

On March 30, 2023, I was on the AlgoTerra. It was another great job with a great crew. The AlgoTerra is a tanker, and I worked by myself, feeding the small crew. The Terra has great windows and the galley was bright. Breakfast on the tankers is at 05h00 so the days are long, but I was happy there. One of the photos that I had taken that day reminded me of one of the downsides of the job. The sign indicating No mobile devices on deck, reminded me that I had posted a video that I took onboard and the office wanted to know how I took the video, if mobile devices were not permitted on deck? That ended my picture/video taking on deck. I looked back at the blog I shared that day and was reminded that Lorraine was coming to Sorel to visit me on the 31st. The memories of that day came flooding back and the photos of her helping me organize the ship and using the shopvac are pictured in my second book. I looked at the photos I took on the 31st and laughed when I saw a photo of a dessert I made. Lorraine had mentioned it the other day when we were having a coffee together. She asked, "Remember that strawberry rhubarb crisp that you made? It was so good." I remembered the dessert but couldn't remember which ship I made it on. There it was amongst my photos that I took March 31 2023. I was also reminded that it was the day that I had three pilots come onboard. That memory made me smile too.

That day I made burritos with homemade nachos and cheese sauce, pot roast with roasted baby potatoes, peas and homemade horseradish. The strawberry rhubarb dessert was made on the 31st

On March 30 2022 I was on the CSL Niagara. I was working with a very nice second cook and enjoyed the extra time that this offered me each day so I could walk on deck, take photos/videos and do the things I like to do in my free time. Like 2023 and 2024, I looked at the photos I took on March 30 2022. We were in Chicago unloading salt, and I was surprised to see a photo that was a recent topic of conversation while we were at the Soo Lock 2025 Official Season Opening. Someone was telling me that three years earlier, they came to wave to me in Chicago in the rain. I asked if that was him on the bridge and laughing he said "Yes! it was." I remembered him waving, but I didn't know which ship I was on, and honestly, I didn't remember what time of the year it was, so it was really funny to come across the photo today. I always enjoy going into Chicago. Its fun to go under the bridges and make the tight turns.

If you look closely at the 100th street bridge you can see the two who came to wave at me. I met one of them again last week. He mentioned that he came to wave and I couldn’t believe the picture popped up when I looked where I was on March 30th 2022. That day I served pasta with sauces and Italian sausages, grilled cheese with homemade tomato soup and a Mexican plate with homemade corn bread.

Today, March 30, 2025, I am waiting for a ship/job. I can’t believe how quickly the month has passed by. April is only a few days away. April showers have come early and it's raining this morning. Like many in the path of this weather system, I am staying in, heeding the forecast of ice rain, knowing how dangerous it is to walk/drive when everything is covered in ice.

During my last story, I shared that we had planned an overnight trip to Montreal. I booked a room in downtown Montreal and looked forward to going to our favorite places. Lorraine called me Wednesday and said the weather forecast did not look good and perhaps we should postpone an overnight trip. We decided we would drive to Laval and spend the day together on Thursday. We left early Thursday morning and had a great day. It was our sister's belated celebration of my birthday, so we had a few treats in mind that we usually don't indulge in. It was fun to spend the day together and we enjoyed sitting in coffee shops, book stores and finished our day with a trip to one of my favorite grocery stores. The Adonis store has the best marinated meats, and we pulled a numbered ticket from the ticket dispenser to wait to be called on. I bought Merguez lamb and beef sausages and lamb chops. Lorraine purchased the marinated pork chops and pork souvlaki. We walked through their vegetable section, and Lorraine selected a beautiful bouquet of tulips for me. They are sitting on my desk to the right of my laptop.

On our day off we had a few treats that we normally don’t indulge in. They were delicious.

I saw the price of the Look Roasting Bags and bought 24. They were such a good price. I take 20-30 with me on the ship so I was super happy to find the great deal.

There is the slightest scent of cinnamon in my home lingering in the air. It's not from cinnamon buns but from my supper last night that I made with the merguez sausages. Being home this spring offers me the free time to cook and experiment. I will keep you posted if I get a call for a ship/job. For the time being I will enjoy looking through my photos and videos and experiment on new recipes. Have a wonderful day.