Let’s Spend the Day in the Galley Together

Ship: Johnny
Date: 3rd November 2025
Position: Brest, Harbour
Nautical Position: 48°22.7871’N, 004°29.1508’E
Etmal: 0 NM
Total: 715 NM

Hello everyone!

For the whole day, I not only have to work in the galley but also write the daily report, so I thought it would be nice to take you with me on a day in the galley.

As you might know, life on board is very tough – we all need enough energy to work on deck, clean our cabins, participate in all-hands manoeuvres, stay awake during watches and complete all the other necessary tasks which need to be done. So of course, we need enough good food to be energized and motivated.

That’s why every day, a new galley team, consisting of three people, has to take the responsibility of catering to 37 people. And let me tell you, that’s not very easy.

The galley team’s day starts at 6 a.m. – an hour before the others wake up. During that time, breakfast has to be prepared. Something that’s always well received is porridge or overnight oats. Another food highlight is baguette with scrambled eggs or Nutella.

When every plate is empty and the stomachs are full, the galley team can’t think about taking a break. Now the real work begins: dishwashing. Without a dishwasher, it’s not the funniest task to do, but with the right music, every dirty dish will find its way to being dry and clean.

For lunch, we try to add all the leftover vegetables too, because we want to throw away as few vegetables as possible so we don’t waste anything. Luckily, we have the proviant team, which always tries to keep an overview of our inventory. For example, today we had a yummy carrot-potato soup with all our leftover carrots. As a side dish, we used old bread as crunchy croutons.

While cooking, we always have to face the challenge of cooking in our big monster pots. Of course, it’s not something we’re used to from our cooking sessions at home. Sometimes, the galley is lucky and gets support from others who have nothing to do at the moment or are hyped to cut vegetables. This help is always very welcome because in the kitchen, every helping hand counts when time is running out.

After the „Stille Minute,“ which we take before breakfast, dinner and lunch, everyone tries really hard to get everything he or she wants to eat. It’s always a big battle, but up to now, the galley has always been able to satisfy and fill everyone’s stomach :). Then the game of dishwashing starts again.

In the afternoon, everyone is looking forward to the coffee and tea break at 15:30. Sometimes there are sweets like biscuits or gummy bears, but if we’re lucky, the galley team finds the time to bake a cake. And as you can imagine, for 37 people, we need a lot of cake! The pear cake and the cinnamon cake from the last two days will always stay in our minds as a delicious memory.

To end the day happy and full, dinner is one of the last points on the galley’s to-do list. The very last will be cleaning the galley so that the new galley team can start the next day in a clean galley.

Greetings:

Melanie: Naa ihr Landratten, ich habe in letzterZeit viel an euch gedacht. Grüße an Oma und Opa (ich hoffe, ihr lest das). Mom, könntest du mir Briefmarken mitschicken, wenn die Briefe kommen, die hab ich dummerweise vergessen. Und an die 12. Klasse: Machen (noch)nie Mathe 😉 Rebecca und Laura, ich hoffe, es geht euch gut. Mama und Papa, ich hab‘ euch lieb und vermisse euch.

Leopold: Hi Leute, kurzes Update von mir, weil mein letztes hat sich ein bisschen zu negativ angehört. Mir geht es grade super, auch wenn wir irgendwie immer noch in Brest sind. Die Leute sind alle mega nett und ich bin super gut angekommen. Gestern hatte ich meinen Pathway und es war eigentlich richtig gut. Hab‘ euch alle lieb!
P.S.: an Mama und Papa: Denkt dran, meine Handy Zeiten an die anderen weiter zu leiten.

Ylva: Liebe Luzie, ich denke ganz dolle an Dich! Ich hoffe, Dir geht es gut und Du hattest einen tollen ersten Schultag. Mach‘ Dir nicht zu viele Gedanken, du bist die Allerbeste – so wie Du bist. Und an meine Freundinnen: Hoffentlich hattet ihr schöne Ferien und eine gute erste Woche! Übrigens, bei mir geht es auch bald los mit Unterricht, sofern wir nicht direkt wieder alle seekrank werden, wenn wir morgen ablegen (:

Ellena: Hallo alle zusammen, wir sind wieder in See gestochen und ich hoffe ich füttere diesmal nicht die Fische, aber man weiß ja nie. An meine Klasse und Frau Bachmann, Schule wird für mich diese und nächste Woche wohl noch nicht anfangen und ich hab nur sehr begrenzte Zeit zum Lernen, deswegen bitte Hr. Kretschmar sagen, dass ich den Test morgen nicht schreiben kann. Liebe Grüße