Blue Friday

Yesterday was Thanksgiving and our cook did a wonderful job of putting together a Thanksgiving meal.  The winds and waves are still beating us up a little, but the meal came out perfect.  He’s been a cook at Dunlap for 20 years and has his technique pretty dialed.  It’s nice to see someone so comfortable in the galley for a change.  He put together a turkey, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, green beens, rolls, cranberry sauce, stuffing, gravy, deviled eggs and more.  I couldn’t have planned a better meal at home.
Today, he’s baking lasagna and we are all excited about that as well.  Lasagna is one of my most favorite foods of all times.  The last trip I was on, we had a great cook but he wasn’t a red sauce fan and barely made anything with red sauce.  I’ve been craving Lasagna for over a month now and am really looking forward to dinner tonight.

The bouncy ride messes with my head a little and makes me want to just lay down in my off time, which then leads to sleep, and then over-sleep.  I think I’m averaging about 10 hours/day right now and it tends to make me feel groggy during the waking hours. I’ve finally acquired a chair for my room in an attempt to sit up and watch some shows vs. laying down, which will hopefully help cut down on the over-sleep problem.  I’m well stocked on TV shows and movies, probably enough to last me through the spring.  I’ve started a few new series in addition to the Sopranos that I’m still plugging away at.  If you are reading this because you are joining the merchant marines, one bit of advice… buy a big external hard drive, bring a laptop and get some good noise canceling headphones.  It’s the only way take your mind off the monotony and boredom of long trips.

I was up in the pilothouse a while ago, and I checked the “mileage to go”… which was well over 1000 miles still.  We’ve been underway for one week and we STILL have over 1000 miles to go at 8-9 knots.  oy.  This run certainly tests your tolerance, on many levels.

So, that makes today Black Friday, but the sun is out and the closest shopping is over a 1000 miles away, so today is blue friday for many reasons.  One because it’s sad to be out here in the middle of nowhere on a holiday period, and 2 because the water is becoming bluer each day as we make our way southwest towards Hawaii. The one saving grace is that we make double time on holidays, plus extra ATO. 

Capt seems to think that this low-pressure system that has been stalking us for the past few days is finally turning back north and we should be good to go for the remainder of the trip. 
The temps are rising and I’ve pulled out my cargo shorts since the boat is starting to get a bit muggy.

I got a few emails today from the family and it sounds like all is well and that Thanksgiving was a success as usual. Megan (daughter) has taken on the roll of making the pumpkin pies and that has me very excited.  I taught her a few years ago, so it’s nice to see that she’s finally got an opportunity to shine.  I guess she’s making apple as well, which is always a hit in my book.

Looking forward to getting home and laying down on a floor that doesn’t move.