We eat well at sea! Here is our menu from Porto Santo (Madeira) to Portugal.

Worth noting for those of us who have a propensity to eat their lunch at 10am it was quite a test to have to resist eating ALL OF THE FOOD on the first day, since a lot of prep was done in Porto Santo. It would have certainly put the pressure on to catch fish!

You may spot a high level of vegan and gf; the skipper and I elected ourselves chefs, it meant she and I could avoid washing up duty, and got to have our say with the menu…..

Day 1

Lunch: Tuna tartare with avocados (gf) and crusty bread

Dinner: Thai green curry with mushrooms and green beans (vegan), chicken option, and sticky rice (gf)

Midnight snacks, daily: Mini mars/snickers/etc or dark chocolate coconut (vegan and gf)

Comment: After the first five days at sea, and a zero fish count from fishing, a pair of us decided to promote sod’s law and buy half a tuna from the supermarket: it worked a treat, the other boat caught two fish almost immediately.

Day 2

Breakfast: Scrambled egg on toast

Lunch: Spiced carrot and coriander soup (vegan and gf), with crusty bread

Snacks, daily: Madeira cake/biscuits, fruit, or soya yoghurt and seeds

Dinner: Veggie lasagne or vegan chilli with rice (gf)

Comment: There was a full selection of fruit on board, which tended, unfortunately, to fall out of its basket onto the bed, or head, of our skipper when healed over. Therefore the basket ended up in the sink, or relegated to the floor whilst one of many cups of tea were being made. I acknowledge the floor is a strange place to keep fruit, but almost everything ends up down there anyway at one point or another…..

Day 3

Breakfast: Ham and cheese omelettes and toast

Lunch: Squid in tomato sauce with capers and olives (vegan), and gf pasta

Dinner: Lentil dahl (vegan), with bacon and chorizo option (gf) and spicy potato wedges

Comment: Thirty six meals (excluding breakfast and snacks) since we departed meant the fridge was looking decidedly less well stocked – indeed, you could now see the bottom of the fridge, which prompted some concern: there didn’t appear to be any tonic for arrival G&Ts at whatever day and time we arrive in Portugal. Not a mayday situation, but perhaps a panpan.

Day 4

Breakfast: Tea and sugarsnap biscuits (going through a TSS was more important than eggs)

Lunch: Red pepper, mushroom, courgette and tomato sauce, with rice (vegan and gf)

Comment: We diligently do our best to ensure little, if nothing, is wasted. A banana and two apple halves which failed to survive being suspended and healed over; something which looked like a cross between truffles and figs (which we believed to have actually been ancient garlic!); and some ten day old cauliflower rice made it over the side for the fish – along with half a packet of biscuits, thrown over by an overeager crew member who declared “Dolphins love biscuits!” before being reminded that people like biscuits too, and having the biscuits confiscated.

Dinner: On land. We accidentally gatecrashed a Portuguese restaurant’s birthday party. It would be amiss not to mention the fact that once the hog roast was finished the chef donned bells, brushes, a weasel foot, and doled out lethal strength local spirits in a small wooden cup…..

There was also champagne and cake (not gf).