A foreigner's journey

In the blink of an eye, three months passed.

Under the command of Heather, the Black Pearl departed from Port Royal, passed through many islands and ports, and sailed towards Singapore in a leisurely and stop-and-go manner.

It was a sunny day, and on the deck of the Black Pearl, Heather, first mate Barbossa and navigator Jack were gathered around a large wooden barrel.

The other crew members didn't dare to get close, so they could only pretend to be working while secretly raising their heads and peeking here.

Heather scooped up the liquid in the barrel with a wooden spoon and handed it to Jack: "Try it."

Jack happily took the wooden spoon and took a sip, frowning slightly: "It's too sour and too bland."

As he said this, Jack handed the wooden spoon to Barbossa.

Barbosa also took a sip, but nodded indifferently: "Very good, half a pint of rum mixed with a quart of water, which can effectively curb the consumption of rum and prevent sailors from drinking and causing trouble. And this sour taste... …I’d like to ask, did you put lemon juice in it?”

“Not only lemon juice, but freshly squeezed orange juice.”

Heather picked up a new wooden spoon, took a sip of the mixed wine, and said, "It's really a bit sour. Let's add some sugar to it. Miss Maria, can you please get some sugar from the kitchen?" are you coming?"

"Okay, Captain." Maria, who was getting hotter and sexier, still blushed hotly as soon as she heard Heather speak, and hurriedly walked towards the cabin.

When Heather arrived at Tatuga Island (also known as Turtle Island) two months ago, she took advantage of the opportunity to go ashore for repairs and made a selection of the sailors on the ship. Those brutal pirates who were lazy and had hard-to-change bad habits were all driven away. The Black Pearl left behind some of the sailors previously employed by Jack and a small number of sailors under Barbossa.

Don't look at the players Jack hires who are all crooked-looking players - the alcoholic Mr. Gibbs, the old helmsman who has no tongue and can only train a parrot to speak instead, and the bald dwarf who is not as tall as Heather's waist. But Heather, who has watched the series of movies, knows that these sailors are the kind and righteous people who have always followed Jack.

Of course, Barbossa also has a few treasures under his command, the first being Pintel (bald) and Ragetti (one-eyed). These two people are now loyal to Heather. Although they are not very good at brains, they are better than loyal. .

As for Miss Maria, Heather tried hard to persuade her when she was in Port Royal and Tatuga Island, and was willing to give her enough gold coins to even buy a very good new fishing boat. But the girl just didn't want to get off the ship, and just said with a smile that she was willing to serve as Heather's maid on the Black Pearl.

Heather had no choice but to pay her a high salary and use the captain's privileges to clear out a large compartment for Maria that was originally used to store sundries to serve as her private dormitory.

During these months of sailing, Jack had been receiving lessons from Heather on telekinesis, but the progress was very slow.

On the one hand, it was because Heather had roughly heard about the steps for enlightenment and practice of orthodox mental abilities from Jin Fulis, so she could only guess more details by herself. Heather was afraid that Jack would lose his training if he went astray, so he could only slow down the steps and help Jack practice step by step.

On the other hand, it is Jack's own problem. His personality is too out-of-touch. Even if he is willing to practice telekinesis with Heather, he is always half-hearted. He is either thinking about rum or wondering where to get a treasure map, and telepathy training is the most difficult. What is taboo is having a cluttered mind, which will naturally lead to half the effort with half the effort.

He had a lot of free time and could not be used to play games with Miss Maria. Heather, who was idle and bored, began to make plans for the crew of the Black Pearl.

Or rather, a healthy diet for the crew.

The chef of the Black Pearl was hired by Heather from Havana at a high price, named Bonan Lorenzo. If this tall, muscular middle-aged man didn't mention his occupation, someone would definitely mistake him for the boatswain of the ship.

Bonan is best at Spanish cuisine, but life at sea with scarce supplies is not a problem for him. He can come up with something for Captain Heather every day, and the food the crew eats no longer has to be as good as pig food as before. .

For a time, Bonin's status as a sea chef was second only to Heather, Jack and Barbossa, oh, and Miss Maria, who was under Heather's care.

The blending ratio of rum and stored water was the product of Heather and Bonin's work, and adding lemon juice and orange juice to it was Heather's idea.

Now that the crew are no longer immortal, the maritime nightmare that was hard to ignore in the eighteenth century - [Scurvy] must be taken seriously.

Although as early as the late 16th century, the famous navigator Sir Richard Hawkins discovered that citrus and lemon juice can effectively prevent scurvy, fresh fruits are expensive and easy to perish, while boiled and concentrated juice is easy to preserve. But it does nothing to prevent scurvy, so people in this era still did not pay attention to the importance of fresh fruits and vegetables in preventing scurvy.

Heather, who comes from modern times, is different from other captains. From the very beginning, the supply order requires the purchase of fresh fruits and vegetables in large quantities. Whenever the Black Pearl passes through a supply port or island, it must approach it to replace and replenish the supplies on board.

After sailing for a long time, especially in warm waters, the fresh water stored in wooden barrels will soon become a paradise for algae and insects. Although this rich water is not the captain Heather's turn to drink, it smells good. Wei also knows that it tastes unpleasant to drink. So Heather and Bonan came up with the idea of ​​blending rum with water, which could not only improve the taste of the stored water, but also save the possibility of the gang getting drunk and causing trouble.

Add lemon juice and orange juice, and the most troublesome thing for sailors [scurvy] is no longer a threat.

Ding ding ding!

Maria walked onto the deck carefully holding the translucent glass jar. Sugar was a very precious thing in this era.

Heather took the jar, twisted some sugar from it and sprinkled it into the bucket. After thinking about it, she added some more, and then motioned to Maria to have a taste: "Please, Miss Maria."

Maria didn't hesitate, took the wooden spoon from Heather's hand and put it into the barrel, then took it out and took a sip. Her eyes suddenly lit up: "It tastes good! Captain, this way it's totally fine!"

"Very good. First mate, record the ration ratio."

Heather handed the tube back to Maria, then looked at Barbossa: "Wait until you get to the next port and spread this formula."

"My lord, you...?" Barbossa was a little surprised. This formula, which can greatly improve navigation living conditions and prevent scurvy at the same time, would definitely be firmly in his hands to attract more people. Capable sailors join his ranks to serve him.

Heather smiled: "It's just a small recipe. Since it can change the fate of more sailors on this sea, why should I hide it? Spread it out, it's best to let the whole world know about it."

Barbossa said no more, just put one hand on his chest and bowed deeply to Heather. Likewise, Jack gave a rare serious bow.

Even pirates can't help but admire and respect such a strong man with a broad mind and great strength.

Some people may say that it is just a recipe of rum and water, right?

In this eighteenth century where scurvy was rampant, sailors suffered from a lack of supplies at sea and could only drink turbid green water crawling with insects and algae to quench their thirst. Such a formula would save many sailors from death and pain. .

There was silence on the deck of the Black Pearl. All the sailors stopped what they were doing and looked at Heather quietly.

Heather took a few steps to the high platform in front of the rudder and laughed loudly: "Gentlemen, from today on, every day at 12 noon and 6 p.m., you will enjoy this sweet water after work. Rum! Believe me, the abominable devil scurvy will be far away from you from now on! As for today...double the amount of rum mixed with water to be distributed to each person!"

"Long live the captain!" Huge cheers broke out on the deck.

Maria, who was behind Heather, was holding the sugar bowl and looking at the handsome young man wearing a captain's hat, she couldn't help but fall into intoxication.

But at this moment, the sailor standing on the observation deck at the top of the mast suddenly sounded the alarm bell and issued a shrill warning:

"There's a situation in the northeastern waters! That's... that's the Flying Dutchman!"

PS: This watered rum recipe was actually invented by Admiral Vernon, the commander of the British fleet, in 1756. This watered rum is also known as [Grog]. Because General Vernon always wore a silk-wool blended Grogg tweed waterproof coat, over time his sailors called this watered rum "Old Grogg".