We got a Job Atlantic Huron Mid November
I have exciting news. Pack your virtual sea bags—We got a call to join the Atlantic Huron in mid-November. I have to be honest, when the job offer came in, I wasn't completely surprised. I had sent out messages to some friends from previous jobs/ships asking if they knew if their ship might be calling a relief chief cook. At the time, all the text replies said the same thing, not that they knew of, but they would keep me posted. I was beyond delighted when I received a message from a friend this past week. They just heard their ship would be calling for a chief cook. I was excited; this tip didn't mean the job was mine, but it meant there was a possibility. I have worked for CSL multiple times, and I am now in their "job pool," which means the company can call me directly for a relief position. Even though I knew a job was coming up, I had to be patient until I got the formal offer. I put out all my positive thoughts into the universe, telling Lorraine (my sister, best friend) that if it was meant to be, it would be. I didn't have to wait long; the following day, I received an email offering the job. I was so excited and read the email message aloud to Lorraine. I was happy that she was sitting beside me so that we could celebrate that I got a ship. We clinked coffee cups and Lorraine added a toast, "The planner has a plan."
I’m so excited to share this news. I will let you know when and where we join. Pack your virtual sea bag with warm clothes and maybe a few Christmas lights. We might be there until after Christmas.
This will be my fourth time on the Atlantic Huron. I have a feeling it is going to be special. I will keep you posted when I have the date and location where we will join. I think we will be there over Christmas, so I plan to pack a few extras to make the Christmas dinner special if I am, in fact, still there cooking for the crew. The email described the job as ETO (Extra Time Off) for 30 days, from November 15 to December 16, but, based on experience, I know this could be extended due to weather or traffic in port. I also don't believe that the regular cook will return so close to the holidays, so I expect to be there until the end of the season. One advantage of being in "the company job pool" is that, in general, I have more notice of the job. Having three weeks' notice is perfect. I was grateful to read that the dates to join are mid-November. I am so looking forward to the Dossin Great Lakes Museum event on November 9. Lorraine commented that the timing could not have been more perfect. I will confirm the details of our participation in the Special Event next week. We have already received some messages from those who plan to attend, and both Lorraine and I look forward to seeing you in Detroit. Click on the link for the event schedule
https://www.detroithistorical.org/events/edmund-fitzgerald-50th-anniversary-commemoration
It is a three day event and we will be there on the 9th. We look forward to seeing you there.
The end of the year is always a busy time, with companies trying to get as many cargoes delivered as possible before winter and the closing of the Locks and the Seaway. I like the Atlantic Huron, and the crew is great. The first thing I do when I get a ship I have already been on is look in my discharge book to remind myself when I was there last. I was there three times: October 2022, October 2023, and July 2024. I then go to my photos and request photos taken during those dates. I was specifically looking back at my pictures to see if they have a big mixer on the Atlantic Huron. I remembered that they had a nice convection oven, which was great for baking bread, cinnamon buns, and pizza. Still, I couldn't remember if they had a big mixer. When I came across a photo of me kneading dough, I was reminded that no, they don't have a big mixer. Not a problem, they have everything else and a great crew! I can knead the dough by hand. The chief cook's room is very nice, and within a few feet of my room is my very own washer and dryer.
I thought I had been on the Atlantic Huron twice before but it was actually three times. This will be our fourth time there.
I did recall that one time I joined the Huron by punt boat on one occasion. They were very careful helping me into the little boat which barely had room for me once my luggage was inside. I am wearing an inflatable life jacket and recently saw how much they expand when you land in the water. I watched the demonstration when Lorraine was taking the Marine Emergency Duties course end of September.
I remembered that the Huron had a great convection oven which did a great job cooking Pizza.
The oven also did a great job on Cinnamon bun Sunday. I saw this photo first and thought, the dough looked like it had been in the mixer machine, it looked light and fluffy.
I then found this photo November 2023 which confirmed, that there is no large mixer, just a small one for cakes and cookies.
When I have been home for a while and I am waiting for a job call, my thoughts are all about wonder and which ship. Now that I know which ship I am joining, I can put that wondering and wishing in the back of my mind and focus on my other favorite things to do while I am home. Lorraine and I have had a great week. We planned to visit a friend in Montreal. We hadn't seen each other for years and looked forward to getting caught up. We arranged to meet at a coffee shop downtown in Montreal at 13h00. I thought of my Dad and how proud he would have been that we met our friend at the crosswalk just in front of the coffee shop. Dad loved punctuality! We chatted for a couple of hours over coffee and the most delicious Hibiscus iced tea. We could have continued, but the 2-hour parking voucher Lorraine purchased was about to expire, and parking tickets/towing in the City are very expensive. Our friend sails too, and we shared lots of stories about working on the ship. It was great fun, and as we parted, we promised not to let so much time pass before we got together again. We love to go into the City and usually arrange a few stops while we are there. One of these stops was to pick up my new aprons. I could not wait to see them. I designed a new logo for my apron. I have been buying my aprons and have them embroidered at the same place for years. When we had the restaurant, our waitresses wore the embroidered aprons with a logo we designed. Shortly after I returned to sailing in 2019, I designed a new apron. I put the word Awesome on my previous apron because I was so overjoyed to sail again, and I wanted to announce it to everyone, so I had the letters AWESOME embroidered in red on the bib. I recently had to reattach some of the straps to the 5-year-old aprons. There were burn marks on the aprons from getting a little too close to the stove, and I thought I needed to order some new aprons. It took me a while to decide what I wanted embroidered, and the first attempts weren't right. I finally came up with something that I thought would be nice. The aprons are very well made. I knew I would be wearing them for years, so I wanted to be happy with my little design. We went into the Uniform store and announced that we were there to pick up our aprons. The box was placed on the counter, and like a Christmas present begging to be opened, we opened it right there in the store. Lorraine and I were both so pleased, and even the woman who worked at the store commented on how nice they were. I ordered five for myself and three for Lorraine. She will wear them too when she gets her first ship. I told Lorraine I was looking for a new shirt to wear and found one that was lightweight and would come out of the dryer wrinkle-free. I added five of those to my bill. I'm all set for joining the Atlantic Huron.
My waitress staff and I wore these aprons for years. This photo was from the Food Networks show “You Gotta Eat Here.” (Season three episode 11). We had embroidered I love Crepes in French. I still have one apron as a souvenir from our restaurant years.
I had these aprons made for the ship. I thought my job was AWESOME and had the letters saying just that embroidered on the bib.
We were so pleased with the new Galley Girl embroidered apron. This is the grey work shirt I picked out too.
On our way back North, we had one more stop to make —an annual Chinese food dinner in Ste. Agathe. Ste Agathe is about 25 minutes South of Tremblant, so we thought it would be fun to stop there on our way home from the City. Normally, the drive from Montreal to Ste. Agathe is about one hour. However, we were driving North during rush hour with everyone and their Uncle. In general, we never drive out of the City between 15h00 and 19h00. Montreal is on an Island, and joining the 100,000s at the end of the afternoon can add extra time. We entered our Chinese restaurant address into the GPS and couldn't believe it would take almost 3 hours to get there. Our original plan was to take a walk when we got to Ste Agathe; now we were just hoping to make our 18h30 reservation in time. We wound our way through the City, opting to avoid the highway that was a solid red line on the GPS. We thought rather slow and steady, and have something fun to look at. The GPS would cut in, offering to redirect us to the highway, but we stayed on the course we chose. I thought of my commute to my job on the ship every day. Thirty seconds from my room to the galley. We made our reservation with 8 minutes to spare. It was delicious, and our group of four enjoyed all the delicious items we shared. We all ordered an extra eggroll. They have the best egg rolls. It is a family-run business, and we have been eating there for years. In my excitement to dive into my eggrolls, I didn't take any photos. Then I had to remove my phone from the table to make room for all the plates that came: pork fried rice, general Tsao chicken, honey garlic ribs, Chicken Soo Guy, Beef, and fresh vegetables. We finished our dinner with Chinese tea and an almond cookie. I like Chinese food, and while I was enjoying my meal, I thought about making Chinese food for the crew of the Atlantic Huron. Lorraine just called, and we will go for a walk later. She reminded me to mention to you not to forget to order your 2026 Porthole Calendar. We were late ordering our calendars for printing this year due to the Canadian postal strike. We hesitated and wanted to make sure we could mail them out before offering them for purchase. All the calendars will be mailed from Canada this year, so Lorraine will mail them immediately after we receive them in mid-November to try and get them to you in time if you plan to gift them for Christmas. They will be ready for pickup after the Detroit event. I am happy I can see them before I leave for work.
Don’t forget to order your 2026 porthole calendar. They will be read to pick up from the printer on November 10th Click on the following link to order yours.
Calendars – Ship to Shore Chef
I have some more exciting news. I enjoy my Sunday mornings with you. I can't wait to share my stories from the Atlantic Huron. Our friend, whom we met this past week, suggested that we consider sharing our weekly stories on the platform Substack. I had never heard of it before and looked it up. I was so intrigued. It looked like Substack was the platform that I had been looking for. It refers to itself as "a media platform for video, writing, podcasts, and creator-centered communities, all powered by subscriptions." I often get messages from people saying they can't find my stories or that Facebook has locked them out. Substack is a free subscription that will email you every time I post. It's user-friendly for you and me, and I can easily add photos, videos, and podcasts to my weekly stories. I can even add audio and read you my weekly story. I am excited to try this new platform. I will continue posting on Facebook until I am certain that migrating to Substack is the right move for you and me. I like that Substack offers interactive threads, and you can still comment on my stories. I always enjoy hearing from you. Facebook has many challenges; the biggest frustration is scammers and suspicious friend requests. I wish I could just accept your friend requests, but it's difficult to sift through all the requests, most of which are suspicious. The new Substack media platform will prevent scammers from attaching themselves to your comments or asking to be your friend. I like that Substack recognizes the importance of community and my accessibility to the community that I enjoy sharing my stories and thoughts with. I will keep you posted on updates, but feel free to visit the Substack.com to see what it’s about. Later today, I will post my first story there. It will be an introduction message and include today's story. I wish you the most wonderful Sunday, and thank you for spending some time with me.