The Royal Treatment

It can be tough saying goodbye to your loved ones as they sail off for a month at sea in the great, wide unknown. And perhaps some of you are concerned about the conditions we might be exposed to – which tropical storms will we collide with, what crazy hours will we be working, and what state of malnourishment will we return in? For the time being, we seem to have dodged the first tropical storm bullet (phew), and while I can’t promise that your loved ones are getting enough sleep at night, I can promise that their stomachs are very well tended to (perhaps a little too well…).

We are certainly getting the royal treatment here aboard the R/V Atlantis, complete with a five-star restaurant catering to our every need. For dinner the other night, we had “lemon, garlic, butter-crumbed scallops” and last night, it was “maple glazed salmon with steamed red potatoes and chives” on offer (and that was only one of the available options)! Now I don’t know about you, but my home-cooked meals don’t come within a cat’s whisker of the caliber of cuisine we receive on the boat. Despite this being my third NAAMES cruise, I am still finding new and exciting foods to try (sometimes in the snack tray, sometimes the meals themselves). The first day at breakfast, I tried a lychee, which screams “do not eat me” from its prickly red outside and isn’t any more inviting on its slimy inside, but it tastes pretty good. The second day, I needed something dry and salty to relieve my churning stomach and resorted to a pack of Fritos (yes, if you hadn’t picked up on it, I’m not from around here) – Fritos are not something I recommend to eat daily, but they get the thumbs up from a sea-sick stomach! Yesterday, I was super excited to try a Chaco taco… I shouldn’t have been! At the risk of insulting fond childhood memories for some, the waffle taco was reminiscent of a damp piece of sweet, chewy cardboard. It’s only redeeming feature was the ice cream. But still, I will continue to relish the new flavors I am lucky enough to experience on board the Atlantis. I wonder what new and exciting foods are in store for us today…

Breakfast is by far my favorite meal! Not only does it top off a stunning sunrise (well, most days), but it begins the flurry of activity in the science labs, and as always, tastes delicious! The array of fruits, yoghurts, and cooked delights enlightens our taste buds and prepares us for the day ahead. And boy are we are going to need it as we finish transiting to our first station this evening. We expect to deploy our first CTD at 1:30 am tomorrow and life will be all hustle and bustle and strange sleep cycles for the next fortnight. But I can assure you that we will be well-fueled and rearing to go!

Wish us luck!

Cleo Davie-Martin

P.S. Today, it turns out it was zucchini/banana muffins at breakfast and crab cakes for lunch!

Tags: NAAMES-III 2017