Hello from Kingman Reef!

After spending yesterday afternoon capturing stunning videos of some curious sharks on the reef using the ROV and an evening enduring some wet & windy (40 knots) squalls, it’s cleared up to be a blue-sky day here on the RCS. In fact, today’s been full of excitement – we’re talking a water bottle overboard rescue (“this is not a drill!” – blog to come on that tomorrow), tagging three tunas, and celebrating the birthday of our very own steward, Ashley!

You may be wondering how we’re getting by out here on the sea – what’s filling our bellies? How many meals are we eating a day? How are we surviving without our Starbucks and other comfort foods? Are we catching fish for dinner? While we did catch our first, second and third tunas of the trip within the last 24 hours (all yellowfin tuna!!), we caught them for research and released them back into the ocean after tagging them for science.

But don’t worry, our bellies are full, the galley (kitchen) is most people’s favorite space on the ship and we couldn’t be luckier to be graced with the warm & humorous presence, radiant smile and unparalleled focaccia making & wooden spoon whittling skills of our steward (chef), Ashley. Ashley does much more than fill our bellies with food. Being assigned a day in the galley working as Ashley’s assistant steward as part of our watch rotation schedule is the most highly coveted job on the ship. In fact, it’s one of the most highly bartered things on this vessel (aside from midrats). When you’re assistant steward, you get to dream up delicious meals with all the flavors you’ve been craving, take occasional trips to the reefer to grab some veggies (and linger a little longer to cool your body temperature down a couple degrees), and of course, sit on the galley stools and chat about life (or boat gossip) with Ashley. Long story short: Happy birthday, Ashley! We love you!!! Simply put, you’re such a delight.

An Ode to Ashley, Our Galley Queen:

What a Day!

In the wee hours of the morning, our queen rises from her bunk, slips her apron over her head, and gravitates towards the coffee station.

Dawn Watch has completed their mission – brew a fresh pot of coffee before Ashely wakes up: Check!

As the sun’s rays begin to peek above the horizon and glisten through the galley portholes, our queen is already perched in front of the griddle.

As she turns up the heat, she chuckles to herself remembering the dance move that A Watch and Duncan taught her last night – the griddy. She scrambles the eggs and flips the bacon as she rehearses the steps in her head, preparing for her next Swizzle performance.

She eyes the hutch, where last night’s “midrat” (midnight snacks) containers lay picked bare. The cookie bars, of course, were a hit once again.

Moments later, Dawn Watch is graced by the presence of our queen on the quarterdeck. Everyone pauses for a minute to feel the warm light of the sunrise break through the layer of cumulus stratus on the horizon, to listen to the faint flap of the sail as it luffs with the gentle gusting winds, and to breath in the blend of salty sea spray and bacon wafting up from the galley.

Someone turns to our queen Ashley, points their finger towards the sky and exclaims, “Delight!” – a gratitude practice she has spread amongst the ship’s co.

After the brief sunrise appreciation is over, Queen Ashley returns to the galley to ensure that no one has been snack jacking.

Just as she steps into the galley, the ship surges forwards & backwards, left & right, up & down all at once, causing a raucous crash of pots and pans and all other loose miscellaneous items.

An unattended cup of hot chocolate unfortunately left on an un-gimbled table goes tumbling to the floor.

“Sole towel sole towel sole towel!” The nearest idle hands rush to the cleaning locker to retrieve a towel to clean the mess from the floor before it spreads with the rolling of the ship.

Our queen, observing from her galley throne, looks on to the commotion in the salon.

She taps into her sixth sense and knows that it’s going to be a day of rough seas (confirmed also by the radar in the doghouse).

The assistant steward enters the galley, proudly dawns the lime green rooster apron, and locks eyes with the queen. They give each other a nod to acknowledge the high likelihood of hip bruises from bracing themselves against countertops, pruney fingers from washing dishes and inevitable pit stains.

On a day like today, Queen Ashley considers choosing a recipe that is simple and time efficient, such as ramen.

Sigh   She remembers that the social snackers have blown through the ramen stockpile weeks ago

Plan B: maybe a quick and easy PB&J sandwich bar? Nope, the peanut butter ration is running low too… She thinks to herself, “Dang, either these Stanford students need to work on their self-control, or I really need to put a padlock on the snack cabinet.”

Luckily, our Queen can step up to any challenge, and within a couple of hours, she has prepped one of the hardiest, most nourishing meals of all our lives.

We leave the gimbled tables feeling rejuvenated, connected to one another after some meal-time laughter, and full of delight.

It’s safe to say that our queen Ashley, as well as the entire ship’s co, can go to bed tonight (or this morning or this afternoon), letting out an accomplished sigh, saying “what a day!”

-Jessie Kaull

Editor's note: we had some technical difficulties with this post, so it is a bit out of sequence here, having been written on 5/26 when the ship was still at Kingman Reef. Sorry for any confusion this causes!