Dining while sailing?

[Joel]

This weekend me and my wife went out sailing in the St. Pete basing, our new digs. It was about 6:30 p.m., the wind was about 5 - 10 knots, the water was calm and it was just a beautiful sail. My wife had prepared a scrumptious dinner and that’s when the argument started. In order to eat this dinner the table in the cockpit had to be up. The cockpit in the 79’ Hunter Cherubini is rather small, the boat was moving at about 6 knots and healing at about 10 to 15 degrees. I thought that plates on the table would not be a good idea and eating a formal dinner under these conditions would be difficult at best.
Now the question is: what kind of very nice meal can you have while sailing? Am I too paranoid in not wanting to have the cockpit table up while sailing? I really appreciate my wife’s efforts and the meal was delicious. I just don’t like obstacles in the cockpit. Thank you for your opinions. As you can tell we are rather new at this.

 

[Stu Jackson]

what kind of very nice meal can you have while sailing?

a very high class sandwich. Plates and a tabel up int he cockpit are best saved for at the dock or at anchor, not when moving. It's not fair to the plates.

 

[seadaddler]

At the Dock

Save the fancy dinner for back at the dock
after sailing all day.
We just eat what ever is easy to hold on to
while the boat is heeling.
Nick

 

[Ross]

Heave-to and eat. Then clear away the dishes

and set sail again.

 

[jviss]

Snack, not "dine" underway with two on board

I caution against both of only two on board "dining" in the cockpit or anywhere else. Best if you can just eat a sandwich so you can maintain a sharp look out for traffic, and properly and safely sail the boat. Heaving-to is an option, but note you will make no progress towards your destination, and will be moving about 15. kts.

 

[Breaking wind]

I don't think I have ever

eaten a meal at my table in the Mac. definately lower the motors and then eat,

 

[Nice N Easy]

Eating while dining

If you are sailing the boat, with only two aboard, I would not be concerned with the table. You can anchor up or heave to. With more aboard, it's not such a problem, but still not with the table up. When TonyB brought his boat home to Houston from Tampa, we had excellent meals, and I am talking things like shrimp scampi, and fresh mahi mahi filets. But we had four bodies aboard, so someone was at the helm and paying attention. Still we did not use a cockpit table. Hold the plate in your lap.

 

[BobD]

Heave to - STBD

Joel,

Ross has it exactly correct.

If there is no alternative to keeping the peace;

Heave to on a starboard tack.

The boat will stable and comfortable with virtually no attention for the duration of your dinner and the starboard tack makes you the stand-on vessel.

BobD
Boston

 

[Chris Burti]

Relax a little.

Those conditions are almost like being anchored.

Though you don't say so, it seems apparent that you were likley sailing close hauled which makes things a little dicey at times. If so, fall off a few degrees to the point where she settles in the groove and then set your AP and dine in comfort.

We bought some perforated foam drawer liner material and cut it into placemats. They won't slide off the table and our nice Correlle(R) plates won't slide off of them in decent wetaher. They also come in attractive colors and also make good anti-skid mats for use under rugs and on top of the nav table. Corelle tableware is inexpensive, very break resistent in the event of mishap and a lot nicer than eating out of a paper towel or paper plate in good weather.

Sailing doesn't have to be like wet camping...although at times it can be...and I suspect that those those who limit their creature comforts to the dock, are probably spending too much time there...heheheh (just kidding)

 

[Ross]

One of my classmates in third grade told of an

oceanliner crossing to Bermuda that was very rough and the stewards put wet towels on the tables and set dinnerware on those. No slipping and sliding.
Hal Roth writes of an ocean crossing that He and Margaret were making and she asked him to heave to as she was putting a cake on the oven and wanted the boat on an even keel for the next hour.

 

[ITMaster]

I would do exactly as Ross Said

Heave to and maintain the relationship. If I didn't, that would be the last good meal my admiral would fix me. If you had no schedule to keep, no tide to worry about, no other reason to not heave to, then that really wasn't the best thing to do for that time and situation.

 

[Dan Johnson]

We make...

sandwiches up ahead of time, before we leave the dock, then eat in the cockpit while sailing. Chips in a sandwich bag clothespin clipped to the plate set to leeward of the wind direction keeps the chips from getting under foot. If the boat is heeled more than ten degrees we don't use the china......

 

[Recess]

The best lesson is one learned from someone else's

experience. If my wife makes a sweet dinner while we have good wind, I will crank up the motor. I absolutely love to be on the ocean. She really likes it when it is not an adrenaline sail. For me, it is all about her falling in love with it as much as I am.

 

[RichH]

You missed your big chance .....

If my wife (or me) has cooked a scrumptious meal, we'll drop the traveller put in a fisherman's reef and simply 'forereach' along until the meal is over. Sandwiches be damned, good food on a moving boat is damned difficult .... power-down and enjoy life a bit. Remember sailing is 'the voyage' not the 'destination'. Heave-to, nah, who wants to eat while the boat is heeled over?

 

[Stu Jackson]

Might be a tad difficult, without fiddles on that table!

nm

 

[Patrick , S/V Shangra-La]

Hove to, beam reach, down wind run

If she took the tiome to make that kind of meal, and you want to have a happy ending to your day...you better do what you can so she knows her efforts are appreciated!!

There will be many more days to sail, but one awe shit and there will be no more dinners!

 

[Joe]

first rule of dining aboard........

never serve dinner while sailing upwind. Change direction, let out the main and save your marriage.

 

[Dan Johnson]

RichH...

How do you manage to sail at night, eat a sumptious meal, and not get indigestion with all those crab pots down your way? ;-)

 

[Scott B]

you could have a lot more room

in the cockpit and end up sailing all by yourself. If she went to the trouble to make a really nice dinner, which would have taken a lot of time and effort, you should acknowledge the fact and accomodate her thoughtfulness no matter what you have to do. I doubt she was being selfish in wanting the nice dinner. Return the gesture and it will pay off where it counts the most.