Familiarization also means bringing food from reefers up ladders, mixing ingredients when the ship is rolling from port to starboard 20 degrees, learning what food cannot be disposed of in a macerator and, outside of the kitchen, not getting bruised on the knee knockers and finding a way to gracefully get in and out of the top rack in a berthing compartment designed for much younger people. Some of that can only be done underway.
This summer we got new people from our team on the Sturgeon Bay to relieve the CS for two consecutive weeks. This leave is something that is very hard for an active duty chef on an afloat assignment to plan for with regularity. One of those weeks was supported by Gary Chapman of Division 2 who also supported Navy League activities on Katherine Walker. Our team has done pretty well learning the ropes and we can be very proud of them.
Carol Ryder and John Gallagher greet dinner guests on board the Barque Eagle