From the Crew 17/03/06 Jayne Russell

Cooking on the Pelican1 is a very demanding and time-consuming job -good organisation is the key.

I spent the first days on the boat in Bundaberg orientating myself with the workings of the equipment in the galley (kitchen) - which is actually a very functional work space - storage is also very important in keeping all the food fresh and dry.

The first leg from Bundaberg to Mackay was seven days at sea with 16 people including two vegetarians.

I planned daily menus - breakfast, lunch and dinner plus morning and afternoon tea. From these menus I drew up a shopping list including fruit, vegetables, meats, biscuits, tea & coffee, milk etc, To name a few.

I went to local markets in Bundaberg to buy the freshest food that would last on the boat for seven days.

The marine biologists are diving every day working up huge appetites. We usually have breakfast between 7am to 8am depending on the dive sessions.

Breakfast consists of: Juice, muesli (Pelican1 special), cereal - the boys love Nutri-grain / Corn Flakes or Vita Wheats - fresh fruit salad - that I make up first thing every morning, yoghurt, honey, coffee and tea.

Ingredients for the Pelican Special Muesli: Rolled oats, puffed millet, oat bran, wheat bran, linseeds, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, shredded coconut, almond flakes, sultanas & dried apricots.

Morning Tea: Biscuits, cheese and crackers, nuts, tea & coffee or hot chocolate

Lunch: Varies - salad sandwiches, roll-ups, home made sausage rolls and pizza or platter of cheese, dips, sliced cucumbers, tomato, rice cakes and everyone makes up their own lunches.

Afternoon tea: Biscuits, cake, nuts, dried fruit, tea & coffee

Dinner: The big meal of the day - everyone is hungry so the meals are hot and nutritious... BBQ fish, potatoes salad, curries, lasagne, chicken, lentils rice, noodles, lots of vegies.

In the first week, the weather was rough so working down in the galley was rocky which causes me to get a little sea sick. I was still getting used to the boat's movement, it has taken about 7-10 days to find my 'sea legs'. I did have to take 'seasickness' tablets for the first week. Now we are in the calmer waters I feel fine - no more 'queezeyness'.

Last week the boys caught a beautiful big Spanish Mackerel - this fed the crew two dinners. We ate some of the flesh raw with wasabi and soy sauce. Pedar showed me how to pickle thin slices of raw fish in a secret family recipe called "Numas". It was very tasty.

Everyone is very supportive on the boat, we all help each other and work together as a team. At meal time we all sit around the central table and talk about the days events, make jokes and tell personal stories. Just like one big family. We are all from different walks of life all put together on the one boat. It is a very interesting and adventurous time for all.