We spent five days at anchor (July 5th to July 10th) on the CSL Laurentien (Louis R). It is a nice anchorage location on the St Lawrence River, just up from the Three Rivers Bridge, (Trois Rivières). We sat in close proximity to the pilot station and watched multiple ships make their pilot change. Some of the bigger vessels/container ships proved more challenging for the pilots. However, they climbed down the rope ladder with ease. It takes some time to make the pilot change. In the distance you can see the pilot ship come up to the ship's side and begin the pilot change. The ship’s Captain is in the wheelhouse when the exchange is made. The pilot boat pulls alongside the moving vessel and the pilot climbs aboard by the gangway or pilot ladder. The pilot onboard does not leave the wheelhouse until he is relieved. The departing pilot makes his way down the deck, descends down the gangway or pilot ladder and the exchange is complete. It was fun to watch.

We watched numerous ships pass and make their pilot change during our five days sitting at anchor.

If you look closely, you can see the pilot halfway down the gangway. The gangway was not long enough to reach the pilot boat so the pilot stepped over to the rope ladder to make the last few steps to reach the deck of the pilot boat.

The pilot ship leaves once the change has been completed and the ship continues on its way downbound. The next pilot change will be in Quebec city.

I did not find out we were going to anchor to wait our turn to unload in Bécancour until the day before we dropped the hook. Up until that point I was trying to use up the last of my potatoes and other items making room for the fresh produce that would be coming with the groceries on the morning of the 6th. I am pretty good with budgeting my groceries and looked at the remaining items in the fridge and thought it looked good. When I got the news that we were going to anchor for multiple days, the same fridge that I walked through earlier thinking "good" took on a different interpretation, something along the lines of "oh dear"" I had 24 regular potatoes and 3 lbs of red skin baby potatoes for the next 6 days. I would have to use them carefully. . I went to the freezer for any version of potato I could find and made a plan. My goal is to try to cook so that the crew doesn’t know we are missing anything. I did make the decision to share our milk situation with them. This gives them the opportunity to take a moment and perhaps take a little less or finish a glass of milk. The note worked and we got an extra 18 hours from a 20 litres milk bag.

My crew who love pasta were happy to see pasta at almost every meal and I enjoyed the challenge of trying to make a variety.

I don’t usually use macaroni to make Mac and Cheese. I choose a larger noodle and like to use rotini. I like how the cheese sauce gets into the spiral pasta. We were out of rotini pasta so I used the traditional macaroni. it turned out really nice and by the end of lunch, the entire pan was gone.

I had lots of flour and eggs so I could still make bread. I made sub sandwiches this day. I shaped two buns differently because I knew a couple of crew who would like the bread, but not a sub sandwich.

Mexican meals are always popular and don’t require potatoes which was perfect because I was trying to conserve my potatoes while we were at anchor. I made beef or cheese quesadillas with homemade pickled jalapenos, refried beans, rice and beans and corn.

When I selected this photo I was reminded that we were also low on lettuce. Normally my salad plates would have more lettuce. I served the salad plate with corn, roasted peppers and onions, cheese, chicken and homemade chipotle dressing over homemade nacho chips.

I made a Greek inspired meal. I like making a themed meal and offered pork souvlaki with tzatziki or salmon with chimichurri, roasted potatoes (before I knew we would not get potatoes for another week), vegetable rice, and Greek salad. This crew member asked if he could have both salmon and pork. I said “yes, one combo plate coming up.”

I like to serve the leftover pork souvlaki in a wrap, pork bowl or pork salad bowl. The dish was more delicious served with the black olives we had in the fridge. We usually get canned olives but I ordered “the good” olives when I came onboard here.

I made carrot noodles to add to my pork bowls. The carrots we received were very large so it was easy to spiralize them into noodles. I roasted them in a little olive oil and Adobo seasoning.

This ship did their pilot change on their port side so we could not see it.

I used two potatoes to make 10 beef pot pies. I had 22 potatoes left.

Butter chicken is another good meal that does not need to be served with potatoes. I didn’t have a lot of basmati rice and had saved it for this meal. I think Basmati rice makes butter chicken even better. I still had lots of regular (Uncle Ben’s Rice) and Jasmine rice. My favorite rice to make and serve is basmati rice. On our last order I had ordered 30bls but only got 10lbs so I was using it sparingly and for special occasions. butter chicken is a special occasion.

I could not believe that everyone ordered my chicken enchiladas for lunch. I was trying to make fun interesting meals to distract from the monotony of sitting at anchor.

My friends always request chicken enchiladas when I ask the question, “What would you like me to make for dinner?”

Chinese food is always popular and does not need potatoes so it was another perfect choice for a meal while at anchor. I found ground pork in the freezer and decided to make honey garlic meatballs. I don’t use a lot of ground pork in my meal preparation. When I tried my pork meatballs before adding them to the honey garlic sauce I made, I thought to myself that I should make pork meatballs more often. They were delicious.

I could not fit all the pork meatballs into my large pot of honey garlic sauce so I put them on the side and thought I could have them for my lunch the next day. I sliced them in half , warmed them up and served them with a chopped cauliflower salad. It was so delicious. I tried to remember what I had put in the pork meat mixture so that I could make them again.

I made smoked salmon bagels for Sunday while we were at anchor. Toasting the bagel and preparing the sandwich takes some extra time but no one is in a hurry to go or do anything while we are at anchor so it was a good time to offer this special treat.

I had planned on making ham for Sunday supper and decided that using 10 huge potatoes to make scalloped potatoes was a good choice for my potatoes leaving me with 12 potatoes for Thursdays supper. I wanted to use them for mashed potatoes to go with the Swiss steak meal I planned. It was the second cooks birthday on Friday and I knew that she liked Swiss steak. Friday is fish day so I told her I would make her birthday dinner the night before. I used all 12 potatoes and had 0 potatoes left. At that time I thought we would still be at anchor on Saturday and had already planned on making steak frite (steak with French fries for Steak night.)

I made the swiss steak with mashed potatoes for the second cook’s birthday.

The initial word was anchor until Friday or Saturday. I knew we would run out of coffee cream. With the last crew change came some serious coffee drinkers and we were going though coffee cream much faster. Missing coffee cream is not that big of a deal because the crew can make their coffee and add milk, or carnation canned milk or 35% heavy cream if they like. My concern was running out of milk. We were going through the milk fairly quickly, we usually go through about 10 litres a day but since the crew change we were replacing the 20 litre milk bags before the end of the second day. I shared a little video the other day explaining the "Got Milk" plan and it went off without a hitch and the worry of running out of milk was no more. We still had everything else needed to cook for my crew of 24.

Sitting at anchor doesn't change anything for the galley. We are still responsible for feeding the crew. Sitting at anchor for the rest of the crew is different. The first day is nice because it is a moment to catch your breath but by day two, three and four, there is a restlessness and everyone is ready to start moving again. We had a nice surprise on the morning of the 10th. The news that we would be going to the Becancour dock before midnight on the 10th. You could feel the excitement in the air that we would be leaving the anchorage. The first thing I did after hearing the news was call Lorraine and give her the update. She is familiar with following a ship and knows there are often delays or changes, It's unusual that the arrival is moved up, but we were happy to get this news. We knew that we would be unloading for at least 24 hours, so it was perfect for receiving groceries and Lorraine visiting.

Lorraine put on the safety harness before climbing the ladder. We had such a nice visit together.

Lorraine climbed the ladder with ease and the deckhand carried up her two bags. She brought a few treats for me and a few birthday treats for the second cook.

Lorraine climbed the last set of stairs to the deck where the galley is located.

The groceries arrived at 09h30 which is perfect timing. I knew they would be coming and planned an easy menu. I made carrot ginger soup, one of Lorraine's favorites. I made Asian beef and noodles, and the second choice was beans and wieners. It takes one hour to bring in the groceries and when I looked at the clock at the completion of storing the groceries, I knew I would have to hurry to complete lunch in time. It was Friday so there was no question, I would be making fish and chips for supper. Both Lorraine and I like fish and chips and we sat down after I finished serving the crew and doing the majority of the dishes. Lorraine washed all my dishes and organized my corner of the counter where I kept all my personal kitchen gadgets. I had saved our pieces of fish and fried them just before eating. They were crispy and delicious and we both like to eat the fried fish with my homemade tartar sauce. We finished the dishes, swept and mopped the floor and decided to sit outside on the swing bench. I had asked the Captain if Lorraine could stay overnight onboard and asked her to pack an overnight bag. I forgot one detail when I invited Lorraine to stay overnight. My early bed time would not give us much time to visit. I am in my third month here and I am tired at the end of my busy days. I also heard that the unloading would be completed in the morning so we decided that she would drive back to Tremblant (a 2 1/2 hour drive from Becancour) at the end of the day. We had a wonderful day together and talked about plans for my time off when I come home.

I made a birthday cake for the second cook. She makes a birthday cake for the crew on their birthday. I made my mom’s white cake and for her special occasion I took a can of peaches and made a peach jam to fill between the layers. The second cook said she likes butter cream frosting. I had never made it before but I thought it came out really nice. My writing on the cake needs some work. I used a little tube of scribbler green and wasn’t sure I would have enough. I had to stop myself from trying to “fix” the lettering. I knew the cake would be delicious, even if the writing looked messy.

I was concerned that my layers would not be equal so I decided to divide the batter into three long loaf pans and bake the layers separately. I thought it would also be easier to spread the frosting. I was very pleased with how the birthday cake came out.

We sat for more than an hour on the swing bench after supper. It had cooled off slightly from the very hot day and we chatted getting caught up. I had invited Lorraine to stay overnight onboard but the reality of my invitation was that Lorraine could stay but my early bed time and our early morning departure would not give us much time to visit.

Lorraine made her way back to the pretty red car just as it was starting to get dark.

The end of another fun day and visit with Lorraine.

I have less than two weeks left onboard. The upcoming trips are posted so I have a tentative idea of where I will be disembarking the ship at the end of the month. There is always a possibility that there will be a change but for now I am checking on the trips every morning when they are posted on the company computer. I couldn’t believe how quickly we were in and out of Superior to load. We got into Superior Friday night shortly after supper and we were already on our way at 04h00.. It was a quick load. I have been onboard since April 26th and feel great, still excited to start each day and cook something that will appeal to my crew. However, I have less free time now because I find myself pushing the snooze button more frequently when my morning alarm rings and my afternoon breaks where I like to sit outside, work on projects, or write to you have been replaced with nap time. Lorraine always says “Listen to your body, if you are tired take a nap” She’s right but I miss my free time. I’m ready to start my Sunday morning. After I served the steak dinner last night I announced “one more steak night until I go home” You will often hear a chief cook count their weeks by steak nights. I have completed 12 steak nights. Have a great day! Here are a few more photos since my last story I shared with you.