By Nyla Deputy
Pen Name; Nautical Nancy
I’ve been boating off and on since I was 8 years old. But it wasn’t until 27 years ago that I got my first boat with a galley. It was a 1982 28ft Chris Craft Catalina power boat. And for the first time, I had to figure out how to outfit a galley. Then we moved up to a 31 Silverton convertible which presented new challenges in the galley. Just when I had that one figured out, by 1988, we moved to our present boat, a 34 Silverton convertible. That one was really good for several years, but then I began to see lots of room for improvement, so in 1995 we had an extensive make over to make it ‘closer’ to perfect and make it more suitable for extended cruising and living aboard.
Starting back in 1990, came the first of more than a dozen long distance cruising trips that sometimes took us north and some times south of the Chesapeake Bay. A change of cruising grounds took us to Florida for 5 years. Then back to the Chesapeake for 5 years, and now back to Florida.
In the mean time, I founded the Silverton Owners Club in 1997 and became the editor of the club newsletter and president of the group. Over the years I have written a number of articles on outfitting and organizing a galley along with putting together easy boat friendly recipes. I’ve done a lot of experimenting with gadgets and cooking on my boat and not everything turned out perfect. I’ve brought stuff to the boat that I thought would work out great, only to take it back home because it took up too much room or was too much of a hassle to use and just addedd to the waterline. We have all had a few of those experiences.
I made arrangements for and presented cooking demonstrations/seminars for many of the Silverton Rendezvous from Rhode Island to Florida. My late husband and I regularly hosted potlucks, dock parties and raft ups which frequently required me to whip up, (some times on short notice) hors d’oeuvres or a dish for a potluck. I am a certified and licensed bartender so I have been known to whip up pitchers of drinks to pass around.
In another life, for 33 years, I was a quality control auditor for major Detroit auto manufacturer. For several years I worked for DIY-Boat Magazine and the Mad Mariner. I wrote a galley cooking column for the Nor’easter boat magazine too. I operate the Silverton Owners Club web site and write a weekly E-News column and a monthly newsletter. I was chosen as one of the Mad Mariner’s Outstanding Women in Boating and still frequently do onboard entertaining.
Now, as I take on the job of developing and writing this blog, it is my goal to make it an informative and onboard entertaining column where I will incorporate some food and drink recipes along with tips for entertaining on board with a dash of onboard interior decorating. All topics that are rarely found in the pages of the boating magazines found on newsstands. (most of the boating magazines on newstands are geared to new boat sales & new gadgets & equipment)
Some of my receipes I make at home and take them to the boat already up so all I have to do is to re-heat in the microwave or heat up in the oven. In my case, I have the luxury of having a Seaward Princess stove with an oven. I realize many boats don’t have that luxury so I’ll bring plenty of stuff here that doesn’t require an oven so everyone can keep the captain and crew fed along with any guests that stop by or happen to be onboard for the weekend.These days this topic should appeal to guys and gals because I know a lot of guys who are doing a great job of whipping up something tasty too.
So sign up to receive notices when new postings are put up on this blog. And if anyone has receipe ideas for this free blog, or ideas for interior decorating, (drapes, bedspreads, sheets, throw pillows, etc) pass them along to me at galleycook@gmail.com.