Thursday 22 March
The weather forecast for today indicated rain this morning after snow showers overnight, so Mate planned to have a domestic day, baking (a belated birthday cake), doing some advance meal prep for upcoming passage days, and attending to some overdue cleaning below decks. However, the weather gods had different ideas, and the morning turned out dry and sometimes sunny, so Skipper decided today was the day to get me properly dressed with my foresails re-rigged and ready for action.
After much discussion, the crew has decided that antifouling and sail overhaul should wait for a warm, dry week in an accommodating boatyard on the Southern coast of the Baltic, by which time local boats should be in the water and the necessary specialist services should have time to take on the work we require doing – right now they’re all inundated with pre-season preparations.
Anyway, galley duties were well underway when Mate’s assistance was required on deck, demanding a degree of multi-tasking that was far beyond her powers of concentration. Consequently the chopped stem ginger for the (gluten free) cake mix ended up in the bowl of (regular) bread flour, resulting in a selection of choice phrases and a lot of panning and washing of tiny pieces of preserved root – think gold rush without the chance of prosperity.
It all came good in the end, with the planned museum visit postponed until tomorrow, ahead of another departure for another town in the afternoon.