Day 5

Air / Water temperature: 12°C (5°C at night) / 11°C

Wind direction / Bft: North / 1

Area: LACUS DOLIORUM (low draft) – Nautical chart showing the route

Combuse: Rainbow trout (300 g) remove intestines and gills, rinse and pat dry. Rub fish inside and out with salt and pepper, sprinkle with lemon juice, turn it around in some flour, tap off well. Heat oil over medium heat, fry fish for 5 minutes per side, arrange on plates. Pour off fat, wipe out skillet with paper towel. Add some butter to the pan, briefly swivel some chopped parsley, add some lemon juice, pour sauce over fish. Decorate with peeled lemon slices. (More recipes from the Chief cook of «PS Narina»)

When I woke up early this morning, it was raining lightly on the deck over my berth. I promptly closed my eyes and imagined I was a chocolate cake being sprinkled with icing sugar. I fell asleep for a bit and dreamt that I was tramping with bare feet through powdery snow. When I roused myself and climbed on deck a little later, it appeared as though the world had vanished. We were sailing on the tail of a hardly tangible wind through a dense fog – now and again rocky patterns would loom out of nothing, only to be instantly swallowed up again. Within seconds my skin was covered with a fine layer of water, which made me feel as though I, too, would in time dissolve in the mist.

I was reminded of the story of a few Vikings who had left their home fiord in the far north to travel down to the Holy Land to take part in the Crusades. After a turbulent night on the high seas, during which their boat was badly damaged by angry winds and waves and their belief in Christ dented by an intense struggle with their fear of Odin, they glided without wind into a dense morning mist. After hours, they saw a shore. Convinced that they had arrived in the Holy Land they began to gird their loins for their battle with the nonbelievers. Slowly, they drifted into a long bay that seemed to hold no visible end. As the mist slowly began to clear the Vikings startet to conjure up images of what the exotic shoreline would hold. They imagined the towns and villages of the non-believers, which must definitely be hidden behind the trees, while devising the most effective methods with which to kill their heathen enemies. Finally, they noticed some activity on the shore and moved forward to anchor their boats with utmost caution. They waded tensely through the reeds and then, with hearts pounding, stumbled into a village, only to gasp in disbelief – they were looking straight into the sleepy and astounded eyes of their own wives and children.

Not all Vikings were great seafarers – nonetheless, a few did succeed in voyaging over the Atlantic.

Next day (6)

© HOIO 2012 – powered by xcult.ch – kept in form by e-hist – triggered by activerat – SL