Provisioning for a cruise

[NotCook]

We have found that the new vacuum packed chicken breasts, salmon, and other meat products which don't require refrigeration, are very convenient to store on the boat. Likewise, packages of rice that just need to be heated are handy. While we have both fridge and freezer, we have also had them go out on us at most inconvenient times. I also agree with the posts about storing water and other beverages low in the boat. In addition to adding ballast, it also keeps them relatively cool. Finally, I agree with the posts about the grape preserves. We try to keep the rack full with a variety, and one of our favorite pastimes is visiting wineries and restocking.

 

[higgs]

Another overlooked requirement

I am stunned no one has brought this up, so I guess it is left ot me to inform the ignorant.

It is absolutely crucial that one toast Poseidon as one crosses the threshold of a new port. This is done by offering the god of the sea a drink of an alcoholic beverage of your choice as you enter the new port. Just a mouthful is good enough, but if you fail to do this, you are tempting fate. The sea is a jealous lover.

 

[jackhartjr]

When we went to the Grand Canyon and camped below the rim for three nights...and I proposed to Dianne at the bottom...we were the "Galloping Gormets of the Grand Canyon!"
Several weeks before we left Dianne started cooking, then drying with a dehumidifier all of the food we ate, (Other than snacks.)
She might do a breakfast soufflee, or spaggetti and meatballs, chicken cassarole, it was unreal what you can dry like that. And when you add the water and cook it, it tastes EXACTLY like it did when it came out of the oven. It might look like mush, but the taste was AWESOME!
We even did a bunch of French Silk Pie. We did WWAAYY to much. We made a bunch of it up and took it around to other campsites. The folks would smell it as we were walking in. Their eyes would get wide and when we offered it none turned it down.
We simply put it in vacuum sealed bags. Think of the weight and SPACE saving doing that on an extended cruise.
I would never have beleived that you could cook chicken, fish, pork, bacon, even eggs...dry it, keep it in the bags for weeks, then add water, heat and eat.
It is said you can keep most of this food for months and even years if it is totaly dried and put in the vacuum sealed bags.
Jack-N-Dianne

 

[Ross]

I just did a search for DIY freeze dried foods and found this web page: http://theepicenter.com/tow08237.html Very much worth a reading.

 

[Jim Kolstoe]

Appearently you thought I was kidding when I said I'm not a teetototaler. I enjoy an occassional mug of porter, a glass of Gerwurtztrminer or Muller-Thurgau wine, or a shot of Crown Royal or other good quality drink. But after a summer day on the water, a cold lemonaide is also refreshing. I do not denigrate or snub others who chose to indulge, sometimes I join them. I simply remain puzzled by the sentiment expressed in some of your postings that you just have to have alcoholic beverages on board.
Jim Kolstoe, h23 Kara's Boo

 

[Ross]

The end of the day beverage shouldn't be a re hydration necessity, we should be careful to stay well hydrated through the day and of course water is the best choice. The choice after the anchor is down and the boat secure and the sun is low in the west is strickly a personal matter of taste.
Has anyone found a way to make the second beer taste as refreshing as the first?

 

[Mike B]

Jim, I think you're reading too much into some of our comments regarding alcohol on board. It's something we enjoy, so we infer that "we have to have it". No different than certain equipment we install because "we have to have it".
Mike

 

[Ross]

My mother was a teetotaler and you should have heard her when I told her that we had company one evening for supper and discribed the menu that included a couple of bottles of wine. "Two Bottles?" she yelled. I said calmly that there were four of us and we lingered over dinner for a couple of hours. She just couldn't accept the idea that four people could drink two bottles of wine at one meal and then have brandy with their coffee later.

 

[NotCook]

I simply remain puzzled by the sentiment expressed in some of your postings that you just have to have alcoholic beverages on board.
Jim Kolstoe, h23 Kara's Boo

Some of the references to booze are also just adding levity to the thread. We can joke about the spirits being the most important part of the provisioning, and comment"I can't believe no one mentioned...", but that doesn't mean anyone seriously meant that literally.

However, having said that, of course some of us wouldn't seriously consider embarking without the wine rack stocked, any more than we would cast off without our Documentation papers in order...

And yes, I AM kidding...

 

[Ross]

Among the not mentioned provisions here, the absence of which would make me unhappy, are pop corn, and good tea. Of course to pop corn I need bacon fat so I need to stock a slab of bacon. Like the commercial for Columbian Coffee, run out, and the ship changes course to the nearest port.

 

[All U Get]

Hi Ross,
On a long trip do you plan pounds per person aboard or do you figure meals = or - left overs? I can never drink that gallon of water a day even flavored with sports drink or tea. I'm thinking of three weeks or more.
All U Get

 

[jodygoldman]

Provisions for cruising

Some of the items I always have on board:
- butter buds (eliminates the need for butter on veggies, potatoes, etc);
- macaroni/cheese (take out of box and into sealable plastic bag) This eliminates the potential for roaches on the boat;
- instant oatmeal or breakfast foods;
- canned corned beef (can be used for breakfast, lunch or dinners);
- vienna sausages (great snack with cheese/crackers/chips);
-small packets of condiments like the ones used in fast food restaurants (mustard, ketchup, mayonnaise, jelly, honey) They keep for months.
- flavored vinegars (perfect for salads);
- as many spices as I can afford. They can make a mediocre meal taste great.
- canned chicken, tuna, salmon, or meats;
- puddings and fruit cups that don't need refrigeration;
- individual pkts of cereal;
- powdered milk;
These are just the basics, but a leisure trip to any grocery store can open up new opportunities ... use your imagination when you look at labels and contents. A lot of ethnic grocery stores have cans of tasty items we might not find in regular stores. Bon appetite...
See you on the road, Jody

 

[Ross]

Hi Ross,
On a long trip do you plan pounds per person aboard or do you figure meals = or - left overs? I can never drink that gallon of water a day even flavored with sports drink or tea. I'm thinking of three weeks or more.
All U Get

We need about 1500-2000 calories per day. That can come from bread 1200 calories per pound or meat about 2000 calories per pound, fat(butter, vegetable oil, bacon, etc,)3000 calories per pound. Fresh roots are not high calorie foods and green veggies are rather low. So when you put these foods together as meat and potatoes and veggies, I figure about 450-700 calories for a plate full, when I do a soup I figure more like 300-500 calories per bowl plus the bread. Stews are a bit more than soups because of the gravy(more fat). I can meat in 8 ounce jars and add the potatoes, carrots, onions, celery etc. when I make the meal. I stock durable foods(noodles, pasta, flour, oatmeal, cornmeal, sugar, cooking oil, milk powder) several pounds of each. But I figure one jar of meat , a jar of fruit and a batch of quick bread, one potato, 2 carrots, 3 eggs, 1 onion, per day for two small people. I can meat spreads for evening snacks and we keep cheese in the ice box. We figure a bottle of wine each night.

 

[All U Get]

Thanks Jody and Ross,
The first mate was reading the replies and finally found one that she said sounded just like us, it was.
All U Get
PS Now I gotta go shopping.

 

[Auspicious]

Beth Evans' article from Cruising World is here: http://bethandevans.com/pdf/Livingwithoutrefrigeration.pdf . Some of her other articles that may be of interest are toward the bottom of this page: http://bethandevans.com/articles.htm .

I've been living aboard for three years and find that I have made few changes from how I cooked ashore, although I do sometimes really miss my 6-burner Thermador cooktop. I suggest you consider how and what you eat at home and try to transfer that to the boat. Sailing and living on a boat don't have to be camping if you don't want them to be.

Even with a refrigerator and separate freezer there are things I don't refrigerate that I once did. The convenience of the refrigerator door combined with a liability-paranoid food industry have led Americans to refrigerate a lot of things that don't need to be. Eggs are a good example. Most condiments are another.

Some semi-random thoughts that may help:

- Consider how often you shop at home and what you need to do fill-in shopping for. Plan provisioning for a boat trip accordingly. I shop once each week or 10 days. I have staples and just-in-case frozen and canned goods aboard just like I used to have at home.

- Cooking ahead and freezing or vacuum-sealing meals can make cooking and eating more pleasant on long non-stop passages. I usually make a lasagna, goulash, and soup or stews.

- Try to load your reefer and freezer in reverse-order that you expect to use items. The cook will be more cheerful if s/he doesn't have to unload and then reload the box for each meal.

- It takes a while to get a kitchen arranged. A galley is no different. Spend some time thinking about how things went after a trip and be prepared to revise your stowage plan. I'm still occasionally shifting things around.

- If you really enjoy cooking as an activity there may be appliances you use at home that don't transfer well to the boat. An open mind helps. For example, I found that an immersion blender is a dandy replacement for both a blender and food processor.

- Food stored deep can be forgotten. I have baskets on non-skid on the counter top for most of my fresh fruit and vegetables. I do meal-planning based on what needs to get eaten before it goes bad and have greatly reduced the time I spend with my head in the reefer cleaning up after something solid that went liquid.

- Beth left out the versatile cabbage from her article. Keeps a long time and you can make a lot more than cole slaw with it.

There are things I do that work well for me that may not be of interest to you. I buy UHT milk in children's sippie cups; the 1 cup amount is great for cooking and I don't have to deal with stocking something with a short shelf life that I don't often use. I make mayonnaise and mustard from scratch (it's fun); the ingredients are easy and last a long time. I really enjoy baking bread. I make yogurt for the same reason I buy UHT milk -- keeps it from going bad between moods.

If you aren't a foodie than some of my practices may be like torture to you.

sail fast and eat well, dave
S/V Auspicious

 

[Jimm]

She just couldn't accept the idea that four people could drink two bottles of wine at one meal and then have brandy with their coffee later.

What did the other three folks drink !

 

[Ross]

Beth Evans is proof of the value of good knowledge. I read her entire paper and I hope that she has discovered that smaller jars are also available.
The jars in the picture are, from the left, 8 ounces of corned beef, 8 ounces of mushrooms, 16 onces of chicken stock and last 24 ounces of pea soup.
There is also a 4 ounce jar available.

 

[Auspicious]

Ross' post reminded me of something I did change when I moved aboard. My food storage--especially--of leftovers became much more robust. I used to use Tupperware containers and Ziploc bags. Not on the boat. The lids pop off the Tupperware too easily and shifting "stuff" can pop a Ziploc. I use Lock-n-Lock containers for just about everything. The off-brand variants (like Snapware) have migrated to engine and other boat spare parts storage and I use carefully selected Lock-n-Locks so that only three sizes of tops fit a broad range of container sizes.

Having an easy way to store leftovers greatly increased the ease of getting food on the table.

More random thoughts specifically on more social/romantic/spiffy eating:

- Crudités are a great happy-hour appetizer with tremendous leftover potential. Asparagus tips can go in a breakfast omelet the next day, olives and peppers and carrots can go in a salad for lunch or dinner, and broccoli and cauliflower have all kinds of residual value.

- You can dilute store-bought (*shudder*) pancake mix with milk and/or water, or make your own, and easily make crepes with canned or frozen berries for an impressive dessert that is astoundingly easy. Butter seems to work better than oil for making the crepe easy to get out of the pan. YMMV.

- Candle-light makes food taste better.

- Growing sprouts on board (canning jar and cheesecloth are cheaper and every bit as good as an expensive sprouter) is fun and adds a different element to meals. Start with broccoli, radish, and mung beans. Try the nice people at www.sproutpeople.com . Grow as you go and don't worry about lettuce after the intial provisioning if you are going to be out a while. Watering "the babies" twice a day is a fun routine as well. Save the poured off water for something else if water conservation is an issue.

- You can curry nearly anything. Have curry powder and UHT milk on board. Garlic also.

- Couscous is easier than rice or pasta and seems more special.

sail fast and eat well, dave
S/V Auspicious

 

[Seattle Scott]

Spur of the moment overnighter

A nice warm daysail was coming to the return time. Wife said lets just anchor out for the night. Checked the larder, no coffee or OJ, so had to head home. Keep these on board now, with the OJ being the boxed type.

Was crossing into Candada for a 10 day trip. Customs asked if anything to declare. I said a couple of bottles of wine and a few beers in the icebox. He then moved on to ask about beef, so I didn't get a chance to mention that all the beer wouldn't fit in the ice box. :dance:

 

[Ross]

Re: Spur of the moment overnighter

Making a little go a long way is a good challenge. Last night for supper I marinated two turkey drums with soy sauce, onion ,garlic, celery and little crushed red pepper. Then I roasted them with the marinade and we enjoyed them with baked potato and asparagus. Tonight I took the left over meat, half an oinion some chopped, green pepper, cerery and carrot and a cup of frozen mixed veggies and made a biscuit topped cassarole. We only ate half! So we have another meal from two turkey drums worth of meat and some veggies. I achieve the same result by canning the meat at home in 8 ounce jars for the boat.