First trip off shore

[mestrezat]

We are taking the sailboat we just bought(Liberty 458) from Birch Bay, WA to Newport,OR next month. It's our first time "coastal cruising" and would like suggestions on provisioning. It's got the normal refrigerator/ small freezer combo and plenty of storage. Expect we will be sailing straight thru. Not sure how long it might take to get there. Expect to leave on a Wednesday and have to fly out from Portland the following Wednesday. Expect that should give us plenty of time to get there(weather permitting). Any suggestions?

[Amgine]

You have a refrigerator/freezer, and plenty of storage space. The longest you will possibly be out is 7 days, roughly 21 meals. (Depending on your probable route, you're unlikely to spend more than 2 days actually away from a marina/port with its attendant grocer.) It is a very common mistake to load up with goods you can buy en route, especially cheap/bulky things (toilet paper) or tinned/preserved foods when you could instead be eating fresh.

So, go to the grocery store (not REI or any other fancy backpacker's/survivalist store) and pick out 21 separate meals, plus a few handfuls of on-watch munchies foods. Emphasize vaguely sticky/semi-liquid meals (oatmeal, stew, chili) because they stay in bowls held between your knees when the wind is up. Have a few no-prepare meals on hand, even poptarts will do in a pinch.

Don't buy bulk if you can avoid it; if you do, break it out into individual use packages like 1 cup baggies of rice instead of a big bag of rice. The small boxes of UHT milk designed for lunch boxes are much better than the one-liter tetrapaks-there's just enough for a batch of pancakes or to use as creamer for a day, and not enough to sit around and spoil before you use it up.

If you're planning on long-distance "someday", you may want to take this cruise with an eye to ending your addiction to soda pop. It can be pricey on some cruising itineraries, and it's *certainly* a pricey part of most families' monthly budgets in the USA. Bring tetrapaks of juice if you can't deal with coffee/tea/tank water.

If you have a chance, practice cooking. Try out "boat" recipes at home, so you know which tools you'll really need on the boat. Try them out on the boat at the dock so you know where those tools are, and whether it's going to work out when heeled a bit.

The main thing is not to sweat this. If cooking is important to you (like it is to me), you'll figure out how to do it well. If not, you probably won't really care much whether you're eating gourmet fare or not while you're boating. Just like you already do at home.

[Sandero]

We like to buy frozen prepared meals from Trader Joes. Most will cook in a single pot or the oven. Stir fries, chimichangas, Mandarin chicken... pot pies, dumplings... even rack of lamb and so forth.

jef
sv shiva