Surviving Covid-19

[KnightSailor]

Last fall, due to a lapse of judgment, I allowed a stranger to sit beside me at Karaoke night. She had just moved from New Orleans, was coughing, and I caught the virus. Four days later, the VA confirmed that my elevated temperature was due to Covid-19. My temperature went up and down from 100.5 to 97 every day, but I have had colds that were worse. My loss of the sense of smell for over a month was the most irritating thing.
As a Survivalist, I was prepared for the worst. I had 120 face masks, TP, paper towels, hand sanitizer, 80 cases of water, and 6 months of food.
However, I reaffirmed what I already knew and what I had written in my Survival Book, never underestimate the importance of some comfort food. Although I had everything I needed to survive, I found that it was some very small things that made the isolation less stressful. Fruit & fruit juice, trail mix, honey and PB, gravy, and cocoa were right up there at the top. Something as simple as cup of hot tea can be more comforting than all the riches in the world.
Although I have never been out on a long sailboat cruise, I suspect that the same thing would apply to extended isolation at sea, regardless of how much of the basic staples you have.


Perhaps there are cruisers here who can comment on that comparison.

[JPA Cate]

Knight Sailor,

I've been cruising more or less full time since March of '89. People who wrote the sailing provisioning books didn't use the words "comfort foods", but they wrote about planning many of them, to include special to them dates (like b'days, anniversaries, etc.), crossing the equator libations for Neptune/Poseidon. So while I don't think the isolation is the same--being at sea is qualtitatively different from being isolated on land-- yet we all benefit from being kind to ourselves, and perhaps that is the bridge. Also, marking important life events seems to be in the same category. I sure as heck didn't expect to cross the equator on a sail boat when i was 16, and it came very long after that.

Ann

[GordMay]

Repurposed medicines for long COVID

For ‘long COVID’, drug development is even more of a shot in the dark than usual. The condition is still poorly understood, and vaguely defined, and its prevalence is unknown. The risks of making new drugs are prohibitive, so repurposed, or repositioned medicines, seem to be the best hope. Several trials have begun in the United States, spurred by a US$1.15-billion funding initiative, from the National Institutes of Health.

“COVID-19 long haulers” ~ by Charles Schmidt
➥ https://www.nature.com/articles/s41587-021-00984-7

[boatman61]

Back on topic..
Isolation at sea is entirely different to being shuttered within 4 walls on land.. every day is different and nature is throwing things your way by air and sea to entertain and lift your spirits from dolphins, whales and turtles to Tropic birds, Boobies and terns.
As for comfort foods.. Yup, very important in my provisioning, chocolates, marmite, biscuits, cake, beer, rum and mixers etc are as important to me as my everyday meals when I hit the supermarket..
Its amazing how something as simple as a Kit Kat or some salted Cashews can make that difference to one's day.

[Manateeman]

We found a bottle of marmite on a ship and thought it was a gasket sealer. It had the same color and consistency as Permatex Form A Gasket so that’s what we used it for...gaskets....it’s a snack?
Completely stunned manatees.

[Nord Sal]

A can of anchovies, some saltines and butter, and a beer. Comfort!

[grantmc]

Agree with Boatie that there's little comparison. More relevant is that when under isolation on land you can still buy anything you want. No such deliveries at sea. No internet either. And you're forever worrying about the weather and stuff breaking down.

And as for being a 'survivalist', let me have some fresh air so I can stop choking with laughter. How can you possibly be a survivalist when you live in the richest, most industrialised country that has ever existed in the history of the world? I think you'd have a job to explain survivalist to someone living on an atoll only visited once or twice a year by ship in a country like Micronesia.

Marmite is only good for greasing bearings. But vegemite, now that's the real deal.

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by grantmc

Marmite is only good for greasing bearings. But vegemite, now that's the real deal

Yup.. Vegimite destroys everything.. bearings, housing the lot..

[LittleWing77]

Originally Posted by boatman61

Yup.. Vegimite destroys everything.. bearings, housing the lot..

Here's the thread you'll want to read, KnightSailor:

Could One Substitute Vegemite...?
https://www.cruisersforum.com/forums...te-248407.html

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by LittleWing77

Here's the thread you'll want to read, KnightSailor:

Could One Substitute Vegemite...?
https://www.cruisersforum.com/forums...te-248407.html

I posted in it.. several times.
And.. I lived in Poole for 14yrs.. the best Indian restaurant is Not there..

[grantmc]

Originally Posted by LittleWing77

Here's the thread you'll want to read, KnightSailor:
Could One Substitute Vegemite...?
https://www.cruisersforum.com/forums...te-248407.html

Oh how wonderful, so many recipes to try. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

But just to let you know another simple recipe.
Spread a little vegemite before you add the cheese when you're making cheese on toast, then under the grill. Wonderful!
For those with a sweet tooth substitute tomatoe sauce.

[Wotname]

Originally Posted by grantmc

Oh how wonderful, so many recipes to try. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

But just to let you know another simple recipe.
Spread a little vegemite before you add the cheese when you're making cheese on toast, then under the grill. Wonderful!
For those with a sweet tooth substitute tomatoe sauce.

Tomato sauce on top of the Vegemite????
Oh well, to each his own!

[LittleWing77]

Originally Posted by LittleWing77

Here's the thread you'll want to read, KnightSailor:

Could One Substitute Vegemite...?
https://www.cruisersforum.com/forums...te-248407.html

Originally Posted by boatman61

I posted in it.. several times.

I know you did! (So did I.)

That's why I directed my comment to KnightSailor...

[grantmc]

Originally Posted by Wotname

Tomato sauce on top of the Vegemite????
Oh well, to each his own!

I wrote "For those with a sweet tooth substitute tomatoe sauce." And I meant substitute the vegemite.

[GordMay]

Societies Urge Congress to Base COVID-19 Investigations on Evidence-Based Research

A coalition of 36 scientific societies have urged leaders of the U.S. House Appropriations Committee to base any investigations into the origin and transmission of the COVID-19 pandemic on evidence-based research.

“We caution against adopting policy changes absent scientific evidence, because doing so could further undermine the public’s confidence in science,” wrote the groups in a July 14 letter [1]. “We urge you to reject attempts to impose restrictions on federally funded research or the operations of federal science agencies based on premature conclusions about how the pandemic emerged. Such efforts could have serious, negative unintended consequences for potentially lifesaving research.”

[1] ➥ https://www.aibs.org/assets/collecti...etter-2021.pdf