With full fuel tanks and jerry jugs, we departed Mexico from the southern port of Zihuateneo. Those first few days heading south to Costa Rica and Panama were uneventful with not much wind or excitement. Even the dreaded Bay of Tihuanapec in Southern Mexico, which can have gales of 80 knot winds come up with no warning, was tame. The seas were flat and there was very little wind as we moved down the Central American coast. We had both sails up but at times, we were moving at only 2-3 knots. We would start the engine to charge the batteries but needed to conserve fuel as much as possible. It had been a slow boat to China, or Panama to be precise. Whenever conditions are so calm, it is a perfect time to cook up a meal that you wouldn’t normally attempt while under way. A pizza sounded just perfect to us.
Sailing on Harmony Too
I made the dough from scratch. Just a bit of flour, yeast, water, olive oil and a pinch of salt. I couldn’t be bothered rolling it out so just pressed it with my fingers into the lightly greased pizza pan. I set this aside to rise while I prepared the toppings. I mixed some dried herbs and chopped garlic with the tomato paste. Then chopped some onion, green pepper (one more day and this pepper would have needed to be thrown out) and sliced a dried beef similar to salami that we had purchased in Mexico. By then the pizza dough had risen just enough to add the toppings. First spread the tomato paste, then the veggies, meat and a sprinkle of Kraft Parmesan cheese to finish it off. Fresh Parmesan cheese would have been better but one must make due with what one has. We were a cruising boat with only the minimal refrigeration. We hadn’t seen Parmesan cheese since we left California but Kraft makes an acceptable substitute that doesn’t have to be refrigerated.
Sailing along the Central America coast
As I prepared the pizza, Whitey was in the cockpit on watch. He mentioned to me that he could see some clouds building toward the mainland. The winds had been so light for so many days that more wind would be a blessing. I was happily prepping away for our little feast as the winds were building a bit. It was still nothing to be concerned with. Whitey had things under control up top and I just had to brace myself a bit to finish my pizza. I popped it into the pre-heated, gimballed oven. Ovens and stoves on boats are gimballed, which means they hang on hardware so they can swing freely and stay horizontal when at sea. I went up to the cockpit, excited about the little treat that would be ready in about 30 minutes.
I looked around and could see that the skies were turning black and the winds had built to 15 knots. Whitey pointed out a funnel cloud, located between the main land and us, that he had been watching. It was moving parallel to us in the distance and we hoped that it wouldn’t start coming in our direction. The sky quickly became even darker with winds at 20 knots and increasing.
We dropped the larger head sail and put the smaller 90% sail up. (This was pre- roller furling days for us.) All this was nothing to be concerned about. We were only making sure that we had the correct sail configuration up for increased winds. After days of very light air, we were happy to be moving along finally. But the situation was becoming more than just a wind increase.
When it’s smooth sailing – cocktails!
A second funnel cloud appeared close to the first one. All of the sudden the sky became very dark. The winds continued to increase. Whitey had taken the boat off auto pilot and slowly steered the boat into the wind. He was lightly feathering the sails as he circled around with the wind. It was taking a lot of concentration. He had to be sure to not go all the way through the wind and back wind the sails. I stayed huddled under the dodger waiting for any instructions from Whitey. I did dash below and turned off the oven. I figured it would be a while before we would be eating.
Eventually the winds began to die down. The sky was clearing up. I looked at the time and only about 45 minutes had passed. It felt like it had been hours. We got the boat back on course while keeping the small head sail up. I ran below to check the pizza and it was perfect. The oven had stayed warm and continued to cook the pizza after I turned it off. We were in heaven.
