how much do we eat?

[Ross]

When provisioning for a cruise how do you determine how much of what kind of food to take. How much drinking water? other beverages? Meat versus fruit and veggies? fresh versus canned versus dried? snack foods and crackers? eggs and milk? pasta and rice? potatoes? onions? ingredients for baking? ice box or mechanical refrigeration?

 

[Gail R]

When provisioning for a cruise how do you determine how much of what kind of food to take. How much drinking water? other beverages? Meat versus fruit and veggies? fresh versus canned versus dried? snack foods and crackers? eggs and milk? pasta and rice? potatoes? onions? ingredients for baking? ice box or mechanical refrigeration?

Good grief! You might as well ask what kind of boat to buy or which anchor is best! Books have been written on this. Provisioning is a very individual thing, and you didn’t indicate how long you’re going out for and how much storage you have on your boat.

We used to plan and provision for every single meal on board. Then we had stuff spoil and we discovered how much fun it can be to eat at some of the local places along our cruise route, so now we figure on half of our meals on board, half out. Assuming a two-week cruise and no refrigeration:

I make a couple good sized blocks of ice in my own freezer at home using whatever large Tupperware I can find. It’s clearer and lasts longer than the ice blocks you buy in the store. My ice blocks are so good, there is still some left into the middle of the second week. A couple days before we set out, I’ll buy one of those POS store-bought blocks and stick it in the ice box to pre-cool it. That ice block is sacrificial.

I'll vacuum pack and freeze about four, maybe five meals worth of fresh meat. And I’ll provision the side dishes (veggies, potato) to go with that. Other dinners are typically some kind of pasta dish (those Knorr envelope pasta sauce mixes are pretty decent). You can also pack a couple “emergency rations” of soups or beef stew or something like that.

Lunches are generally wraps of deli meats/cheeses and whatever lettuce hasn’t gone bad. Iceberg lasts better than leaf lettuce, but I like leaf lettuce better. Or you can make a tuna or chicken salad sandwich with the canned tuna/chicken. I do wraps because they are easy to eat while under way, the wraps don’t take up much room, and they tend to last better than regular bread. I’ve had problems with bread starting to mold in just days.

I don’t do much with breakfast; I prefer a bagel or cereal over eggs and bacon. The latter are a pain to store and dirty up too many dishes for my taste. I’ve found that Thomas’s bagels tend to go longer without going moldy as opposed to the supermarket bakery bagels. But again, you sacrifice freshness that way. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had bagels go bad on day three or four of a 14-day cruise. We also like to patronize local bakeries for breakfast treats. Not particularly nutritious but so good!

Fruit is always good on a boat. We don’t eat enough of it. Provision some fruit, but remember to eat it.

As for beverages, bring as much as you have room for, and plan on re-provisioning partway through your cruise. If you are anything like us, you will drink more liquid than you have room to store. We drink lots of water and Gatorade. We also drink lots of rum and gin, but only after we’re settled for the day.

Seriously, provisioning is a very individual thing. Only you know what foods you like and how often you might like to eat out, and where you can re-provision.

 

[zeehag]

ok ross--open a pandoras box for provisioning..lol.....what we did was figure out how many days we be away from modern conveniences like stores. then we tried to figure out how many days at sea and how many days resting...try to catch fishies for dinnner--had canned meats for the number of days to be away and pasta and such. taters only store fresh for about a month....i had rice--2 of the 5 pound calrose bags, some long grain yellow rice dinners to make stuff interesting, some finger foods for the days at sea -- cant always count of smooth waters..lol...hard to eat when on watch and the autopilot fails...so count on that and load up with whatever finger foods you like. snax--sheesh--we had crackers and underwood chicken and ham and other stuff edible with crackers--we stocked 4 boxes of the 4 pack saltines---and 4 loaves of bunny bread, as it has preservatives and lasts longest--if ye have an oven, making bread may be messy but it does work..for that you have to load flour and yeast and the ingredients and keep in a cool place......depending on the boat being stocked and where stuff fits and all that....on my formosa i use gear nets in galley--helps a lot with the stowage of foodstuffs. i also hang the onions on the grabail near the galley -- i store fresh veggies in the coolest part of the boat--at the waterline in this part of the world--in warm water one could use a bag of ice occasionally to keep the butter from separating--but that is tolerable--the oil is good clarified butter for cooking.....i stash butter in a container, as i found that the separated butter can be useful..lol....i stock nido milk--is powdered whole milk--good for use in coffee and mashed taters and mac n cheese---needs no fridge--and comes from wally world--and publix....
some folks count the days and plan meals--i am not a planner--i figger is i have certain things, i can grow a meal from what i have ----besides i forget to make that which i planned in the store--go figger--so i just count the days and what we wil be doing--if at sea in phils boat , i dont cook meals while underway unless is calm water--lol--not happen a lot....we had weather a lot--so i also counted on finger foods for the same trip---didnt always work out--but the point is to not run out of foods while underway......that would be not good.....i usually overstock...and donot run out of coffee......ever........or cream--nido works well in coffee----have to stir it well-makes lil lumps otherwise...
provisioning is different if living aboard vs using boat occasionally---we dont have refrigeration in our boats--my formosa does while underway--but normally, while sitting, i donot use fridge at all...i make use of the cool weather and cold water under my keel--
i am not able to do the ice thing--duh--so we just use stuff that i knpw can keep well without--since we do passages offshore, is best to make sure that nothing needs to be kept cold or frozen--i donot buy frozen foods, and i donot use ice--is easier to just go without, as i see it--when we goto places we know have a way to get to the stores we do the provisioning there--like we did in psj and ft myers and such-----excellent places for reprovisioning---too bad the gulf is in such bad shape.....i know that in mexico there are family owned veggie stands in many yards--is an excellent way to reprovision fresh veggies. fruits donot keep well for more than a couplafew days...i use dried....lotsa onions for vit C..tomatoes in cans---lotsa canned stuff---found in dollar/99cent stores cheeper than in regular grocers.
count on 1 gallon per person per day plus cooking. i have filters on my boat and on phils so we can drink the tap water ..and we bring the small individual sized powdered drink mixes(gatorade, coolaid type stuff for sweet occasionally, ocean spray cran grape is gooooood.).. if someone doesnt like water....


if passage is 2 weeks i stock for 4, if 5 days, i stock for 2 weeks-----

i usually provision for a month at a time normally, as i am paid once per month, so isnt that hard to transition......

 

[tommays]

We only provision for races of up to about 200 miles and have only ICE for cold

Everything will be premade so we can have a shot at some warm food BUT offen there are long peroids of time were its to rough to heat things so we have to have a plan B

Weight is a big issue so not not much extra

 

[RichH]

Ross -
You can find food stores in almost any port or village in the entire world.

People in these other places also eat food too, therefore its not necessary to overload a boat with stores. Just remember that most wine, beer, 'Parmalat', etc. spoils easily when stored at much over 70 deg. F ..... so buy fresh, buy often.

 

[Ross]

I have a large well insulated ice box the keeps cold for more than a week. I home can all kinds of meat, soup of several varieties, also pasta sauce and certain kinds of fruit. Muffins and biscuits are the bread of choice on a trip and often pancakes because they can work well cold for sandwiches when folded in half. I keep noodles and pasta, flour, oatmeal, cornmeal, rice, sugar, popcorn,spices and dried herbs, nuts and raisins. I make cookies at anchor but not in hot weather. crackers and chips keep best in lunch box size bags. Saltines keep no matter what. I do the cooking and grocery shopping at home so I know how much we need for a week or a month. We always take more than we need and much of what we take is stocked on the boat for the season when we first launch in the spring.

 

[RECESS]

The most important thing to keep in mind when provisioning is that limes keep much longer than lemons when selecting one for margaritas.

 

[zeehag]

omg and kat fudz--lol--if finicky--BUY BEFORE LEAVING AND STORE if not finicky-- is cat fudz everywhere--bubby is a finicky eater, dammit, and his fudz flavor he likes and will eat wasnt stocked in many places, for some reason-----his only flaw besides biting me for attention--LOL....

 

[Ron McCoy]

Depends on how hungry and thirsty you get. Plan accordingly!!!

 

[Benny]

Don't forget limes to prevent scurvy. Rich is on the money, when we go to the Bahamas we provision as we go. They have grocery stores there where you can pick fresh meats and perishables at reasonable prices. The same with fuel and water. No sense in loading the boat up.

 

[zeehag]

Don't forget limes to prevent scurvy. Rich is on the money, when we go to the Bahamas we provision as we go. They have grocery stores there where you can pick fresh meats and perishables at reasonable prices. The same with fuel and water. No sense in loading the boat up.

ye dont need limes for scurvy anymore--there are other known sources of vitamin C nowadays..LOL....take your pills with you if you are worried about malnutrition.

 

[Ross]

Meals on our boat are much like meals at home, first we decide what taste we want and then dig through the stores for the ingredients. I am a compulsive home canner. I do soups, stews, broth, meat in every variety, meat spreads, mushrooms, spiced fruit, I have canned steamed pudding like boston brown bread but Nancy doesn't care for the heavy texture of steamed breads so I don't bother with those. Baked beans are nice in cold weather and canning makes them to my recipe and taste. Canned soups are great because I add the noodles or rice or barley when I heat them. That way the taste and texture can be changed to please the palate. One thing to know canned meat is already completely cooked and won't tolerate much stirring in the cooking pot so I always add that last. When meat is on sale at the market It may be preserved for a small fraction of the cost of store bought canned meat. I have bought fresh turkeys for less than 50 cents per pound, pork for less than a dollar and beef for well under 2 dollars a pound. A 6 ounce can of chicken is often priced at over 2 dollars per can. Jars can be had in 4, 8, 12, 16, 24, and 32 ounces sizes in both wide mouth and regulars tops. The lids are one time use at less than 20 cents each.

 

[RECESS]

Don't forget limes to prevent scurvy.

I try to tell people that two margaritas a day keeps the anemia away! I should write a book. Instead of the South Beach Diet it will be the Margarita Diet, it cures EVERYTHING!

 

[Ross]

Don't forget limes to prevent scurvy. Rich is on the money, when we go to the Bahamas we provision as we go. They have grocery stores there where you can pick fresh meats and perishables at reasonable prices. The same with fuel and water. No sense in loading the boat up.

Sauerkraut will also prevent scurvy. It doesn't take much vitamin "C" to prevent scurvy. A multivitamin each day will ensure a proper makeup of any thing that is missing. cranberries are even better than limes but not in your margaritas.

 

[zeehag]

scurvy is kind of a thing of the past--just watch diet and all is well---so many things with vitC in them --is easy to stay healthy.....LOL...

 

[kloudie1]

Ohhhhhh.. I just KNOW that I'd get scurvy if I didn't have my lime juices and Dos Eques !! (that is my story and I am sticking to it !)

 

[zeehag]

Ohhhhhh.. I just KNOW that I'd get scurvy if I didn't have my lime juices and Dos Eques !! (that is my story and I am sticking to it !)

LOL goood one claude--i love it---say the same for painkillers lol......rum and fruit juices..LOL...:dance:

 

[Ross]

Before they determined the cause and prevention of scurvy the Spanish ships in the pacific sometimes lost half of their crew on a passage from Manila to San Francisco. The New England whaling skippers packed cranberries in the water barrels to keep the water fresh and to provide berries for the crew.

 

[jibes138]

Don't forget to bring a gunny sack full of chia seeds. Peeling and chewing on limes is an excellent past time. Dried beans are also a great source of protien and other nutrients. Should be plenty of meat available by doing some fishing. Have I ever told you my bluefish story?

 

[Ross]

Fish chowder sounds like a nice change from fried or baked or broiled fish.