We are a day out of the Azores now. It was great to get ashore and the chance to stretch my legs was very welcome. Now it’s good to be back at sea and on our way again. I was woken three times last night. The first time was around midnight when the stove started smoking and needed to be turned off (carbon build up). Secondly, around 3:30, to the noises on deck of striking sails. I lay awake for a half hour listening to the deck crew dealing with sails in the midst of squall. It was dramatic listening to the sails whip in the wind. I found out this morning that we reached 10.1 knots, a new record for the boat.
            

This morning just before 6, there was yet another smoking stove issue.  All of us still asleep in the main salon evacuated to deck in our varying states of undress to wait for the sooty smoke to clear (ah, diesel stoves). By 11, we had sorted the stove out enough for me to make a hot soup for lunch, and some brownies for snacks.

We are now watching her closely. I say her because the stove’s name is Madame Pele, after the volcano in Hawaii. She has all the characteristics of her namesake, cranky, temperamental and she puts out lots of heat. I spend a lot of time trying to get on her good side. Too hot, too cool, it’s always different and the cooking needs to be adjust to her moods.

Baking is always an adventure. With the boat heeling over and the heat source only on one side of the oven, at the back, the baking needs to be constantly rotated and flipped end to end. When the oven door gets opened for rotations the heat escapes and temperature cools in the oven and rises outside the oven. The end result is mostly uneven baking and a sweaty cook. It is an exercise in patience and letting go of any need for perfection. The brownies still taste good, though they are baked in an imitation of the waves around us, all the peaks and valleys included.

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