Eating Out
When you’re hundreds of miles from the nearest land, how do you go out for a meal? Answer: with a bit of imagination.
One sunny Saturday afternoon, “Barbecued” food was prepared by our capable chief cook Mr Alfredo Selirio. The deck crew arranged to carry our table-tennis table up to the wide open space just behind the bridge, so that we’d have something big enough on which to put the food.
A table cloth as quickly spread out, a bin with ice was prepared for cool drinks, and we were ready to go. The food was brought to the table – including ribs, rice, sandwiches, salads, and fruit. And away we went.
On long sea voyages it’s possible to arrange social events for everyone on board in order to relieve the sameness of each day, and this was such an occasion. Everyone mingled and chatted, tall tales were recounted and embellished, stories of good times ashore were rehashed and served up again, and punchy jokes exchanged and matched with banter and dry wit.
The required safety permits were completed beforehand and safety precautions put in place so that cameras could be used to record our “meal out”.
Normally, the Ratings – deck seamen, engine room oilers, and the catering staff – will have their daily meal at 1700, while the officers have theirs at 1800. But now and again you need something to bring everyone together on a more social basis.
There are other activities that can do this too: horse-racing nights and bingo evenings are two that spring to mind – and these all help to foster the often unhighlighted but important social life on board any ship.
The work of a ship never stops; it’s a twenty-four-hour a day enterprise and someone is always working and on duty no matter what the time of day – so it’s important to keep in mind that an outlet is required to add something other than the constant focus on work to the mix.
The sun shone down as we ate our food. Everyone seemed to enjoy the event, and there were plenty of smiles as the food was wolfed down and the sun made its way towards the horizon. Although there were a few showers around, the navigators on duty used their expertise to manoeuvre round them and kept things dry for the rest of us.
Soon it started to get dark, which was the cue for the few remaining items of food to be brought indoors, the plates and bins cleared away, and the table cloth rolled up and brought to the laundry for washing. Thus ended our barbecue/picnic, judged a successful evening by all who attended. We look forward to the next one as the weather will allow.
A feast at sea aboard British Trader