More on Sailing and Uncrustables

It seems I was not the first to find Uncrustables unsuitable fuel for sailing. Today I received this email from a reader in Iceland.

I had to write concerning the Uncrustable sandwich. Your post caused me to spit out my morning coffee laughing and subsequent marital discord. During 30 years as a pilot for a major airline I made some thousands of trips to the US and became quite fond of peanut butter (Jif brand). Peanut butter is somewhat rare in Iceland but a few months ago my wife was shopping and in a very thoughtful moment bought a case of these Uncrustable sandwiches in assorted flavor. Her thought was I could eat these while sailing. Sadly they are inedible by humans and testing on my own dog (who is omnivorous to the extreme) and some of the local livestock indicates other species are not too fond of them also. I had taken to unwrapping them and throwing them in the sea on the idea that fish and whales will eat anything.

So I had my wife read your post as a gentle way to express that perhaps others had the same impression of this miracle of modern food engineering. She said:

"I thought you liked them?"

I said:

"They are in the sea."

She sulked for a bit while I explained that her idea was great but the Uncrustables were not. In the end all is well and I am back to cheese sandwich. The Uncrustables were donated to the local church.

It seems that our friend had also been reading this post about sailing nutrition because his letter goes on to say...

Now as to drink. It is cold here, not as cold as you might suppose but chilly. As I write it is 48 F and the sea temperature is 11 C. While I agree that:

"The goal of your pre-sailing diet should be to optimize fuel stores and hydration levels while relaxing your mind"

drinking Mimosas, Margaritas and iced rum drinks would mean sure hypothermia. So to rephrase:

"The goal of your pre-sailing diet in cold weather should be to provide warmth and optimize fuel stores and hydration levels while relaxing your mind"

Next time you sail in cold weather I suggest:

Morning

Strong Coffee
Decent Brandy

Directions - mix to taste, put in thermos

Afternoon

Bumbo

* 2 parts rum
* 1 parts water
* 2 sugar cubes
* Sprinkle cinnamon
* Sprinkle nutmeg

Directions - combine, heat and drink

Evening

Cafe Orange

2 to 4 oz Cointreau
hot, strong coffee (decafe is smart)
whipped cream

The above provide the caffeine and alcohol mixture one requires to be both alert and relaxed.

Enjoy your blog, been sailing Laser, Finn and Windmill for 25 years and for the past 4 years sailing almost daily in the fjord.

Best Wishes.
Kristjan

I think I like this guy.