It's tough to keep crew morale up. Working seven days a week, nothing but service, little free time, and constant slavery to the details of boat life all tend to keep fuses short and nerves frazzled. To make matters worse the ship ran out of water last night. Well, "ran out" in this case actually meant that we had only 900 gallons out of 8,000 gallons left. Apparently on the Safari Explorer 900 gallons left is equivalent to empty for whatever mystical mechanical reasons. So the bridge crew and chief engineer got up early to make a B-line for Petersburg and dockside water. There was enough of a trickle coming out to boil potatoes for BBQ lunch (best done early), make oatmeal and Glacier Bay Porridge, but dishes had to wait. Though I don't see a lot of what goes on down in the galley, I'm sure plenty of tempers flared at the whole debacle, especially based on the crew meeting we had later that day.
I ran some errands in Petersburg; bought fish, toothpaste, ordered menu paper, picked up an invoice for Shelly from Viking Travel, and most importantly, procured some party favors for the crew rave we were planning. As fate would have it, the Rexall Drug Store had a whole bunch of Dora the Explorer party hats, napkins, paper plates, treat bags, and a Diego and Boots centerpiece - all half price. So Dora the Explorer has become the Safari Explorer's unofficial mascot. She's been living on top of the burn kit in the galley. About the size of a baby, with a permanent watermelon smile and kickin hair locks, she's brought good juju to the ship, and lo and behold she helped turn a slap-dash crew rave into a themed event. So how perfect is that?
The passengers were celebrating the 11th birthday of one of the kids, even setting up a poker night, and Shelly spent all afternoon making a stunningly perfect and beautiful birthday cake. With green, blue, and pink frosting, she sculpted three chocolate cake rounds into three perfect poker chips with a big stylized "11" on the top. With 11 sparkler candles on top it was a truly impressive sight. Meanwhile, Ang carried the prep work for the day as usual, giving me time to finish consolidating and updating my i-Pod, after which I was able to create a 3.6 hour Galley Rave playlist - all hip-hop, mostly from Angie's i-Pod. The BBQ buffet didn't get broken down until 3:30 pm since all the male passengers came back late from their morning fishing charter. We've got the little Halibut the boys caught downstairs on ice, and since I spent all of my free time preparing for the Galley Rave, I still have no idea how I'm going to prepare it for them (probably smoke it and serve it with some kind of rice - saffron? - for lunch). Even though it's now midnight, and I'm typing instead of sleeping, I'm going to have to get up at 5:30 in the morning just to make sure I'm not in the weeds all day long.
After dinner was served (Ribs are the kid's favorite and some huge Alaskan Weathervane Scallops I picked up in Petersburg) and clean-up was mostly done, Galley Rave preperations began in earnest. Shelly assembled the Diego Centerpiece and then began blowing up balloon/bubble things (a little kit I bought that is basically a tube of rubber cement with tubes for blowing through). We got dolled up (hopefully I'll get some photos on this blog - wireless willing). Chilled the non-alcoholic beers, and put pizzas in the oven. Can't get delivery, so we settled for DeGiorno. At this point, I couldn't stand waiting any longer, so the Galley Rave Mix began bumping at loud volumes. Trash bags went up over the lights we couldn't turn out. Darkness was important because of the other key element of a galley rave; all three of the boats I've worked on have emergency strobe lights of some kind. So I gathered three of the floating, self-activating strobes attached to the life-rings. They're designed to turn on any time the unit is pointing floaty end up any more than horizontal. Once the lights were killed, we hung the strobes from the ceiling, got out the leftover silly string from the birthday party, and waited by the door to spray each crew member coming down to the party. Once they were provided a Dora or Diego party hat, they were offered near-beer and pizza and thus the party began. Until Gabe came down I was the only boy crew member there, trying to keep the party live by dancing around all the wall flowers. Everyone had a great time and thus our goal was accomplished. And what a mess. But Ang, Shelly, Lisa, and I cleaned up everything and finished up dishes.
As we were finishing up, I made my way up to the ledo deck for a smoke (a must with non-alcoholic beer) and was greeted by a handful of humpback whales swimming around the boat. I could tell they had caught the rave vibe by their proximity and the frequency of their festive sounding blow-hole blowings. Clearly we're blessed and blessing the waters we rest in.
Good night.
Friday, June 20, 2008
Quite A Day
Last night they didn't like my Two Fish in Phyllo. The carrots were very disappointing as well. I've done this kind of thing long enough that I can let it go pretty easily, though it always stings when you put your heart into your work and come up short of the mark. Better veg, plainer better cooked fish; heard. As I was printing out menus for the next day that night, the Glacier Bay Ranger came up to me. "You the chef?" he asked. Yes. "Well I'd just like to shake your hand. I don't know how you do it, but this is the second week I've gotten to come onboard and I just wanted to say thank you. I love to cook, but I could never cook for this many people, and I'll tell ya', you just make everything perfect all the time. Perfectly cooked, perfectly seasoned. I don't know how you do it. Thank you." Funny how the universe sometimes speaks to you through other people. Because, honestly, as confident as I am in my profession, there is nothing to drag your heart down like having the better part of a whole family send the message that they were disappointed in your food. So thank you ranger. Because you said that, I was able to push past the oopsies and charge into today with that Tiger Woods calm confidence. If you believe in yourself and believe in your passion, then you have a whole lot more love available to put into your work.
I definitely needed all that love today. Breakfast and lunch were fairly routine. I caught an hour and a half nap and had not too much work to do when I woke up. Angie has been working a lot and being very productive, even more than usual, because she's leaving for some much needed time off on Friday, and she knows we'll miss having all her help everyday. I've done the same thing; giving as much as you can to your crew-mates before you leave since you know they have to keep working after you leave. You're the lucky one, so you ante up a little more.
Everything was smooth tonight until about ten minutes before service. I was putting finishing touches on Blueberry Cabernet Reduction for the Baked Halibut, and finishing off the Coconut Curry Butternut Squash Soup, when Shelly walked up behind me and directed my attention to the floor. A cloudy pool of water was starting to flow out from under the oven (which is pretty much fixed now by the way). Ang yelled up to Dani, our Hotel Manager, to go get one of the engineers immediately. You see, under the prep counter next to the range is a big hole where all the dishwater and prep sink water goes into. The drains on them are so low that the waste water has to go down there, and when it reaches a certain level, an electric pump kicks on and sends the water to the regular waste water tank. Well, the pump wasn't doing its job for some reason. Since the dishwasher was still running, and none of us thought to turn it off, the pool quickly became a lake. A few minutes later, Eric and Kevin came down with loads of rags, buckets, a siphon, and a wet-vac to begin cleaning and fixing. Meanwhile, soup garnish is prepared, Halibut goes in the oven, and dishes start piling up. Phone rings. "Galley swim center." "Hey galley, this is the bridge, we've got humpback whales, so dinner has to wait." "Heard." Halibut comes back out of the oven, soup goes into a cambro to be reheated in the microwave, and amidst the dirty chaos, the chef can't think of anything better to do than get a crew plate and fill it with that nights crew chew - mini corn dogs, fries, and some brilliant (if I do say so myself) homemade buttermilk ranch dressing. Extra garlic salt and a dash of Maggi seasoning is the key. A half hour later I make my way up to see some humpback whales bubble-net feeding, a rare and most spectacular thing, and something I've probably already written about at some point. On the way back I notice some people sitting down ready to eat. Dani gives us the green light, and the Halibut goes back in the oven, along with the duck breast, which is much better hot than warm. Phone rings. "Hey Galley, this is the bridge again, the whales are bubble-netting right next to the bow, so we're going to watch a few more minutes then move on." "Heard, thank you bridge." Oi.
Halibut stays in the oven this time. The little one wants some carrots. The older one wants mushy vegetables. No problem. Special order vegetarian pasta comes out, along with White and Brown Rice Pilaf with Scallions and Cranberries (no pistachios because of three nut allergies). "Hey Phil, is there any butter in the Blueberry sauce, cause one of the passengers just told me he's lactose intolerant now," says Gabe the Stew/Server. "Really? Wow, that's the second one today. Hey Angie, we need to start making wheat bread." "Heard." "Um, you know Gabe, I'm just not going to put any butter in the sauce tonight. I'll have to rework it a little, but we should be fine." "Fire all tickets," comes the call from upstairs and plating begins and is finished quickly tonight. Gee the floors look clean tonight. "Extra side of Duck Cacciatore." "Duck coming up the Dumbwaiter." "Extra side of fish." "Coming, hold on." Wow, they must like me again tonight. "Hey Phil, everyone's happy with everything up there." "What did they say?" "I asked if this is what they wanted and they said 'yes, it looks fantastic.' "Woooo-hoooo."
Dessert goes out - Angie's latest magical little treat - Chocolate Panna Cotta (really it's chocolate milk jello, but don't tell her I blabbed). Phone rings. "Hey Galley this is the bridge, is it OK if we have orcas off the bow." "Of course, desserts gone out already - they're [the passengers] are all yours." "Thanks galley." "No problem."
Later, up on the Ledo deck, I saw some orcas mating (or so I was told later) and about a half a dozen times there was a breeching orca that showed us his/her whole glorious form by jumping clean out of the water. I got to talk to Carey on the phone (just enough reception for a decent conversation) while watching the spectacle. She could hear the squeals of the passengers every time something incredible happening. We were also blessed by one of the orcas near the ship squeaking hello very loudly out of his/her blow-hole. Sounded like flipper. Very cool. Heard.
I definitely needed all that love today. Breakfast and lunch were fairly routine. I caught an hour and a half nap and had not too much work to do when I woke up. Angie has been working a lot and being very productive, even more than usual, because she's leaving for some much needed time off on Friday, and she knows we'll miss having all her help everyday. I've done the same thing; giving as much as you can to your crew-mates before you leave since you know they have to keep working after you leave. You're the lucky one, so you ante up a little more.
Everything was smooth tonight until about ten minutes before service. I was putting finishing touches on Blueberry Cabernet Reduction for the Baked Halibut, and finishing off the Coconut Curry Butternut Squash Soup, when Shelly walked up behind me and directed my attention to the floor. A cloudy pool of water was starting to flow out from under the oven (which is pretty much fixed now by the way). Ang yelled up to Dani, our Hotel Manager, to go get one of the engineers immediately. You see, under the prep counter next to the range is a big hole where all the dishwater and prep sink water goes into. The drains on them are so low that the waste water has to go down there, and when it reaches a certain level, an electric pump kicks on and sends the water to the regular waste water tank. Well, the pump wasn't doing its job for some reason. Since the dishwasher was still running, and none of us thought to turn it off, the pool quickly became a lake. A few minutes later, Eric and Kevin came down with loads of rags, buckets, a siphon, and a wet-vac to begin cleaning and fixing. Meanwhile, soup garnish is prepared, Halibut goes in the oven, and dishes start piling up. Phone rings. "Galley swim center." "Hey galley, this is the bridge, we've got humpback whales, so dinner has to wait." "Heard." Halibut comes back out of the oven, soup goes into a cambro to be reheated in the microwave, and amidst the dirty chaos, the chef can't think of anything better to do than get a crew plate and fill it with that nights crew chew - mini corn dogs, fries, and some brilliant (if I do say so myself) homemade buttermilk ranch dressing. Extra garlic salt and a dash of Maggi seasoning is the key. A half hour later I make my way up to see some humpback whales bubble-net feeding, a rare and most spectacular thing, and something I've probably already written about at some point. On the way back I notice some people sitting down ready to eat. Dani gives us the green light, and the Halibut goes back in the oven, along with the duck breast, which is much better hot than warm. Phone rings. "Hey Galley, this is the bridge again, the whales are bubble-netting right next to the bow, so we're going to watch a few more minutes then move on." "Heard, thank you bridge." Oi.
Halibut stays in the oven this time. The little one wants some carrots. The older one wants mushy vegetables. No problem. Special order vegetarian pasta comes out, along with White and Brown Rice Pilaf with Scallions and Cranberries (no pistachios because of three nut allergies). "Hey Phil, is there any butter in the Blueberry sauce, cause one of the passengers just told me he's lactose intolerant now," says Gabe the Stew/Server. "Really? Wow, that's the second one today. Hey Angie, we need to start making wheat bread." "Heard." "Um, you know Gabe, I'm just not going to put any butter in the sauce tonight. I'll have to rework it a little, but we should be fine." "Fire all tickets," comes the call from upstairs and plating begins and is finished quickly tonight. Gee the floors look clean tonight. "Extra side of Duck Cacciatore." "Duck coming up the Dumbwaiter." "Extra side of fish." "Coming, hold on." Wow, they must like me again tonight. "Hey Phil, everyone's happy with everything up there." "What did they say?" "I asked if this is what they wanted and they said 'yes, it looks fantastic.' "Woooo-hoooo."
Dessert goes out - Angie's latest magical little treat - Chocolate Panna Cotta (really it's chocolate milk jello, but don't tell her I blabbed). Phone rings. "Hey Galley this is the bridge, is it OK if we have orcas off the bow." "Of course, desserts gone out already - they're [the passengers] are all yours." "Thanks galley." "No problem."
Later, up on the Ledo deck, I saw some orcas mating (or so I was told later) and about a half a dozen times there was a breeching orca that showed us his/her whole glorious form by jumping clean out of the water. I got to talk to Carey on the phone (just enough reception for a decent conversation) while watching the spectacle. She could hear the squeals of the passengers every time something incredible happening. We were also blessed by one of the orcas near the ship squeaking hello very loudly out of his/her blow-hole. Sounded like flipper. Very cool. Heard.
Challenges
I'm going to bed very late tonight. This is mainly because I found out a few hours ago that we're having brunch tomorrow. It's nobody's fault in particular that I never found out until tonight - just general breakdown of communication. Sadly enough I had already printed menus for tomorrow with the usual Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner hoopla. So, I had to reprint menus after figuring out what we'll serve at 10 am tomorrow morning. Since I was hoping to use the original menu for tomorrow on the next day, I had to refigure the whole day, but the frittata we already made is on both menus. Guess I'll reprint again.
Despite all my efforts to inform the passengers of what they'll be eating that day, it never fails that some seem to need to wait till the last minute to make special orders. Turns out we have three people with nut allergies instead of two (every week we have a manifest with nutrition requests and the like), a mushroom allergy we didn't know about, and at lunch today someone told us they couldn't eat chicken. No problem - that's why chefs always have back-up plans. Smoked salmon in the microwave became their entree. Our Gluten-Free passenger has special pastas we bought and breads and desserts that Angie has been making. We made her some Gluten-Free Apple Oat pancakes this morning. At dinner, the one lady who requested something other than King Crab or cranberry cornbread stuffed pork tenderloin got a special pasta primavera with tomato sauce, salami, chickpeas, and fresh basil. Turns out a couple other people wanted pasta at the last minute. That's why chefs tend to cook more than is needed. A couple of passengers can't have cream or butter, so before we add that stuff to anything, we pull some aside for them and do our best to make it tasty.
Feeding crew is sometimes as challenging. After the first two weeks I was informed that crew wasn't being sufficiently fed. So, with sixteen mouths to feed and twelve different schedules, tastes, appetites, etc. the solution has been to cook a seperate "crew chew" meal about an hour before meal times and have them hot and waiting in the hotbox. Then, in addition, we'll take all the leftovers after passengers are finished eating and make crew plates for anyone who wants to wait for something fancier than crew chew. So far crew chew has been stuff like spaghetti, tuna mac, leftover elk stew refurbished with veggies and potatoes, and beans and rice. Today we even made some frozen burritos. They loved them, though several asked for salsa. Sorry, no salsa today. Guess I'll buy some at the store next time I go.
Galley folks don't really tend to eat "meals"; we eat cookies, peanut butter cups, chips, cereal, and of course end up taking tastes of everything all day long. We drink a lot of water and caffeine, or anything that is in front of our face. We bought chocolate milk since our captain for the next two weeks is very fond of it, so I've indulged in about a half gallon in the last three days. Chocolate milk is definitely my biggest and best vice.
Crew wanders down when they're hungry or when they're told to, depending on their relative rank. Expedition Leaders are usually only free to eat when the guests are eating, so we try to take good care of them. No matter how hard we try though, seems like every couple of days we'll decide we can finally throw something out, only to find out a bit later that someone never came down for food. P B and J time for them. But, as they're all busy working their own jobs, we do try to accomodate as much as possible.
Between the special orders and the gastronomic whims of the crew, we stay on our toes all the time. It's hard for me to imagine anyone ever going hungry, but I'm literally surrounded by food all day long. With all this stress, I impagine we'll soon be breaking into that huge bag of candy I bought in Juneau. Smarties are gourmet, aren't they?
Despite all my efforts to inform the passengers of what they'll be eating that day, it never fails that some seem to need to wait till the last minute to make special orders. Turns out we have three people with nut allergies instead of two (every week we have a manifest with nutrition requests and the like), a mushroom allergy we didn't know about, and at lunch today someone told us they couldn't eat chicken. No problem - that's why chefs always have back-up plans. Smoked salmon in the microwave became their entree. Our Gluten-Free passenger has special pastas we bought and breads and desserts that Angie has been making. We made her some Gluten-Free Apple Oat pancakes this morning. At dinner, the one lady who requested something other than King Crab or cranberry cornbread stuffed pork tenderloin got a special pasta primavera with tomato sauce, salami, chickpeas, and fresh basil. Turns out a couple other people wanted pasta at the last minute. That's why chefs tend to cook more than is needed. A couple of passengers can't have cream or butter, so before we add that stuff to anything, we pull some aside for them and do our best to make it tasty.
Feeding crew is sometimes as challenging. After the first two weeks I was informed that crew wasn't being sufficiently fed. So, with sixteen mouths to feed and twelve different schedules, tastes, appetites, etc. the solution has been to cook a seperate "crew chew" meal about an hour before meal times and have them hot and waiting in the hotbox. Then, in addition, we'll take all the leftovers after passengers are finished eating and make crew plates for anyone who wants to wait for something fancier than crew chew. So far crew chew has been stuff like spaghetti, tuna mac, leftover elk stew refurbished with veggies and potatoes, and beans and rice. Today we even made some frozen burritos. They loved them, though several asked for salsa. Sorry, no salsa today. Guess I'll buy some at the store next time I go.
Galley folks don't really tend to eat "meals"; we eat cookies, peanut butter cups, chips, cereal, and of course end up taking tastes of everything all day long. We drink a lot of water and caffeine, or anything that is in front of our face. We bought chocolate milk since our captain for the next two weeks is very fond of it, so I've indulged in about a half gallon in the last three days. Chocolate milk is definitely my biggest and best vice.
Crew wanders down when they're hungry or when they're told to, depending on their relative rank. Expedition Leaders are usually only free to eat when the guests are eating, so we try to take good care of them. No matter how hard we try though, seems like every couple of days we'll decide we can finally throw something out, only to find out a bit later that someone never came down for food. P B and J time for them. But, as they're all busy working their own jobs, we do try to accomodate as much as possible.
Between the special orders and the gastronomic whims of the crew, we stay on our toes all the time. It's hard for me to imagine anyone ever going hungry, but I'm literally surrounded by food all day long. With all this stress, I impagine we'll soon be breaking into that huge bag of candy I bought in Juneau. Smarties are gourmet, aren't they?
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