June 8th: Spicy by Brett

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Volpaia Time: 21:30:00
Zulu Time: 03:30
13 00.88 N
123 09.82 W

Speed: 10 knots
Wind: 13 knots 027 T
Course: 260 T
Seas: 3-5 ft
Crew: Shay on deck, Colby and Cyrus sleeping, Brett on deck, Alix on deck, Liz helming

Comments: Brought to you by Brett Cary, in partnership with Yerba Mate.

The food cycle on S/Y Volpaia, June 8th, 2011. My day starts at 130am Volpaia time, which isnt always congruent with local time and has been distancing its self from this more and more everyday. My first task in being awake is finding my vice, coffee. Of recent I have been reaching for something more potent, Yerba Mate. This jungle dwelling plant thrives in nutrient rich rainforest soil and delivers a buzz that coffee cannot contend with. This particular morning Colby left me a rather thick, toung numbing mug of the "tea" and I made my way on deck. We were motoring and our autopilot Jimmy was hanging in there so I decided to take a shower on the swim step. By the time I had rinsed off, the Mate had me wired and I began writing recipe upon recipe in my cookbook. I spent my entire watch writing and fending off the impending attacks of flying fish who were landing on deck through out the morning. All the caffine and thought about food hit a critical apex and I could feel nourishment was necessary before I had a catestrophic sugar crash. Liz's granola, yogurt and a banana saved me at about 430am. I finished my watch at 6, got some sleep and woke up at noon to a breakfast of Liz's mac-n-cheese. The wind was talking a break but our mainsail was able to carry us slowly through out the day until it was time for dinner. The past two days have been culinarily kind and exciting to us starting with the capture of a yellow fin tuna resulting in seared Ahi, Ceviche, and a giant sushi party lastnight fronted by Alix; who until then loathed anything spicy but managed to scald a number of us with wasabi and sriracha. This evening was just as exciting and revealing for anyone who finds food enjoyable. I made a pineapple stirfry with spiced brown rice, chicken for the meat-ers and tuna for the non-meat-ers. There is an on going quest of spice-heat on board which has escalated to the point of tears, sweat and belly-burn; and on this occation Shay, Cyrus and I went for the full vision quest of heat enlightenment. Observing the evolving hot pepper scenario is Alix, who remains confused why someone would choose not to eat meat. With a few probing questions a dare is arranged in which Cyrus would have to eat a piece of chicken, if Alix would eat a seed-n-all slice of serrano pepper. The deal went down, and with a firey yelp Alix paid homage to what has become a trend on Volpaia; the transformation from eating bland to spice. Im sure that Cyrus, a man of heat, was taking one of the team in consuming flesh, a selfless act only to recruit a new member to the world of spice. All it really takes is one bite to get the adrenaline flowing like chili-oil, because one taste leads to another. With who knows how many days left in our journey to the Marquesas, Im sure the tales of fire and glory will deepen. I just hope we dont run out of steam before we get there. Best wishes for now, and stay spicy. Brett

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