Aboard the Anima  ·  Below deck, forward

The Galley

A ship sails on her stores. Before the course, before the wind, someone has to count what is left in the barrels.

The cook had appeared briefly at the galley hatch to take stock of the provisions, exchanged a few words with the bosun, and disappeared again. From below came the faint domestic sounds of the ship resuming: the clatter of the cook’s pots, low voices of men at tasks, the creak and settle of timber returning to its working rhythms.

This was what the morning after a storm looked like. You assessed the damage and you began.

From Anima  ·  Chapter 3, Planting the Tree
The cook's manifest

Taking stock of the provisions

Everything the Anima's galley keeps, as it appears in the book. Set the crew and the days at sea; adjust each daily ration if you like.

StoreEach, per dayLoad aboard
Hard biscuitThe ship’s bread. It keeps for months.
Salt beefBarrelled in brine, dark and dense.
OnionsSoftened in fat for the evening meal.
Cooking fatFor the pan and the stew.
ApplesFrom the cook’s barrel, crisp and sweet.
Strong black teaSmoky and scalding, in a tin mug.
Fresh waterFrom the sealed casks, for drinking and cooking.

Energy per 100 g, modern approximations: biscuit 380 kcal, salt beef 250, onions 40, cooking fat 900; an apple of about 180 g, 95 kcal. Tea counted at 2.5 g of leaves a mug; casks of about 240 litres. A rough reckoning, not a menu.

Now reckon your own day
The galley's instruments

Then take stock of yourself

The crew is only as strong as what it eats and drinks. These measure the stores a body needs, and what it is carrying.

Calorie Counter Your daily ration: the energy you burn, and what to eat to hold course, lose weight or build strength. Open instrument → Water Intake Fresh water was the most guarded store aboard. Find your daily share by weight, work and climate. Open instrument → BMI A quick sounding of weight against height, with the healthy range for yours. Open instrument → Body Fat The Navy method: a tape measure, a few numbers, and a truer reading than the scale alone. Open instrument →
From the log
Why Your BMI Can Be Completely Wrong What BMI measures, what it misses, and the better measures to use alongside it.
Anima — The Most Important Investment, 2nd edition
The ship in the book

Anima
The Most Important Investment

A storm, a young apprentice, a captain who speaks rarely, and a crew that simply resumes. The galley is one small room of the Anima. The voyage is in the book.

Paperback Kindle

The galley keeps rough reckonings, not prescriptions. Health calculators give general estimates for education only and are not medical advice. Speak with a doctor or dietitian about your own needs.