This is really an article about noodles and thermos flasks, and their advantages for the sustenance of dinghy cruisers. During my (brief) tenure of the position of family cook I discovered noodles as an accompaniment to stir fries and other oriental recipes. The noodles came in two varieties - 3 minute (thin) and 4 minute (not so thin) after their cooking times. When I came to consider cooking on the boat three or four minute noodles would provide hot, filling, food much quicker than alternatives such as pasta, potatoes or rice.

My first experiment was on a South Coast rally to a well known location in Chichester harbour, and as the recipe was vaguely oriental I called it East Head Beef. I thinly sliced some steak at home (2-4 ozs., eighth inch thick strips) and put it in a plastic pot with some thin slices of green pepper, a crushed garlic clove, a dessertspoon of soy sauce and of cooking oil, and a little salt and pepper. It marinated nicely under a tight fitting lid over the journey to the coast and the days sailing. I was using a single burner stove and had a small saucepan with lid, and a small (8" or so) frying pan. One of the nice things about noodles is that they can be cooked by adding to boiling water (in my saucepan) and removing from the heat. This leaves the stove free for the stir fry (in my frying pan) which only takes the same time to cook as the noodles if the meat and vegetables are sliced thin. Three or four minutes after the water has boiled your meal is ready to eat. Variants include mange tout peas in place of green pepper, and sliced spring onions in place of garlic. You could also add cayenne or chilli pepper for additional warmth!

Many years ago we were given a thermos food flask as a present - food flasks have a wide neck suitable for the insertion and extraction of food! It must have held about a litre, and had two compartments. It was ideal for bangers and mash, curry and rice and other two component meals. We instituted winter picnics which have evolved to a tradition of four of us huddled on a windswept hill eating a warming curry and enjoying the view sometime over the Christmas break. Much of the food is put in the flask straight from the microwave so the technique doesn't obviously translate to dinghy cruising but it did lead me to think of the virtues of thermos flasks for instant hot food on the boat. I found an inexpensive half litre food flask at the camping shop. About the same time I discovered that my local supermarket did small packs of noodles which came as a slab in a packet with different flavours according to the sachets included in the packs. I know you can get noodles in pots as well but haven't tried those yet!

The flask and noodles proved successful. The flask took the two halves of a slab of noodles side by side, and when topped up with boiling water and sealed, cooked the noodles and kept hot until it was lunch time or it was cold enough to need a calorie boost. It was my father in law who pointed out that the calories you get from digesting food are the same measure of energy as for the heat in hot food and drinks. A pack of noodles is enough for a snack for two people. All went well until the flask fell over (full of noodles) and gave an ominous gravely rattle when we picked it up, although it only tipped onto the surface it was standing on.

We were on the Falmouth rally when the flask broke, so we tapped into the local knowledge (thank you, Aidan) for the most likely source of an unbreakable food flask and were directed to Trago Mills in Falmouth town. This proved a veritable Aladdin’s cave of thermos flasks in many shapes and sizes, all at bargain prices. However forcing dry noodles through the narrow necks of the suitably sized unbreakable flasks looked unappealing, and we chose the smallest, wide necked, stainless flask we could find which turned out to be one and a half litres capacity. While I like noodles, six servings in a flask is probably a bit excessive for single handed sailing and a different regime is called for.

The camping on the boat thermos regime now goes as follows:

1. Get up and put fairly full kettle on. Dress and lay out for breakfast. Wash with any warm water in the flask from overnight.

2. When the kettle boils make tea in an insulating mug (with lid - mine is 300ml capacity) and pour remaining hot water into the flask to warm it through.

3. Cook breakfast, ensuring when you are frying bacon that you are upwind of other boats. By the time breakfast is cooked the thermos mug of tea may be cool enough to drink.

4. Put the kettle on again and use the hot water from the thermos to wash up. Fill the thermos from the kettle when it boils.

5. Use the thermos hot water during the day to make hot drinks such as cup-a-soup, instant coffee, hot chocolate or fruit teas.

6. Cook noodles in the insulating mug (with lid) using half a slab of noodles per mug, sharing the flavouring sachet.

7. At tea time, hot water from the thermos boils really quickly in the kettle to make real tea.

8. Boil the kettle for an evening drink and put the remainder in the flask. You could always make custard from the packets of instant powder if you have a sweet tooth or need some comfort food.

9. You can now turn in ready for step 1 above.

Using only hot water in the thermos means that there is no taint from one drink to another, although I am not sure if I am likely to cultivate some awful bacteria in my almost permanently warm flask. So far I have lived to tell the tale.

Of course the alternative approach, as used by the late and much missed Peter Bick, is to reserve your thermos flask for ice cubes, so that you may sip your evening aperitif at a civilised and refreshing temperature after a hot days cruising. I leave it up to you - perhaps I need two thermos flasks?