Provisioning for a Long Distance Voyage

[walloon]

Hello,

Could anyone give me some advice or direct me to any books or articles regarding provisioning for long bluewater cruises?

Thank you!

[rigormortis]

Unless you sail in circles, wherever you go there will be people and they, too, eat. They might eat different foods than you have been used to but that is one of the joys of sailing the world's waters. Take enough food for your passage plus some extra and you will be fine. Take what you like. If you have a fridge of any sort you can last a hell of a long time out there.
I did a solo passage from Chile to French Polynesia (35 days, 3500 miles) and I had a fresh (?!) tomato left as well as a heel of bread. There are longer passages, but not many, if your boat is sound and you're not trying to break some record.
Eggs don't need to be refrigerated.
If you're doing a non-stop around the world take a lot of fishing lures, rice and valium.
Pete

[annk]

The Care and Feeding of Sailing Crew 3rd Ed. | Sailing Blog | Lin & Larry Pardey

A good basis to start from.

[walloon]

Thanks! I'm all for trying new things (why I want to travel by sea in the first place!) I was just looking for some ideas for easily stowable, long lasting foods. So it was a very good start, thanks again!

[sv Winterlude]

Define "long distance voyage". We're planning 3 months in the Bahamas where food is expensive, so we're taking a 3 month supply and supplementing with fresh along the way. I just did a post on my website that includes our simplified provisioning spreadsheet if you want to take a peek at what we have aboard and how we're planning.

Now if the wind/gale conditions would abate a bit so the 9-11 feet seas in the gulf stream give us a break -- before we eat all the food! Here's the link:

Provisioning For a 3 Month Cruise to the Bahamas | Commuter Cruiser

[bobconnie]

And label all your canned goods with a water proof marker!! ( don't ask!!) and you can make it almost anywhere in a cruiseing sailboat in 21 to 25 days, of course if ya plan for 40 days and 40 nights as my dad used to say, ya can't go wrong !! and his other saying was ALWAYS Bring more coffee then you could possibley drink ! Cus you will use it up !! Just what we have always done when cruiseing, plus a little hold out stuff that lasts forever LOL just our 2 cents

[sv Winterlude]

P.S. Also, there's a great provisioning spreadsheet and tips for the galley over at TheBoatGalley.com - worth checking out!

[Paul Elliott]

There is some good general provisioning advice on the Pacific Cup website. Look at the "Food" section of this page: | Pacific Cup
This emphasis is on provisioning for the two-week race, but the advice is worthwhile for non-racers as well.

[Jon Hacking]

We also provide some provisioning advice, as well as a sheet on what's available where, in our Provisioning section. But as others have said, folks everywhere have to eat, so food is available, & part of the joys of cruising is sampling the different quisines.

[Adelie]

Annie Hill has a wonderful section on how well fruits and veggies keep without refridgeration and how to maximize their lives in her book "Voyaging on a Small Income"

[svBeBe]

Provisioning will depend entirely on what you and your family or crew normally like to eat. Write down what you are now eating for each day for a week. Multiply each of those items by 2 months or more. Stock ingredients required to cook those dishes. Then fill any extra storage areas with your 'special' items that might not be available in distant places.

I stock heavily in areas where 'home' style 'convenience' foods are available. Certain items are not available outside your home area. For us, it is dill pickles...very difficult to find in the South Pacific.

For long passage: 10 jars peanut butter; 10 jars of sliced dill pickles; lots of powdered milk, flour and sugar; large can of powdered eggs (for baking only and lasts years -- save the whole fresh eggs for scrambled, etc.); huge container of pancake mix that requires adding water only; ample supply of favorite pancake syrup (many places sell only honey--YUCK!); a dozen or so cans of various soups or stews for those times when it is too rough to cook. Also instant potatoes last a long time and come in handy to round out many types of meals or to thicken soups when fresh potatoes are not available.

After those basics are covered then your storage limits determine what else you want to stock. I try to keep extra bags of sugar, flour and corn meal stored away because I bake a lot. Baking powder is another item that is sometimes difficult to find, but you have to watch expiration dates. We have 2 large locker freezers on our boat. One of the convenience items for long passages that we like is rotisserie chicken. I remove the bones and skin and vacuum seal into single meal serving sizes. So many things one can do with these.

Judy

[gjordan]

Eggs only last if you buy unwashed/unrefrigerated eggs which are really hard to find in America. They can last longer if you seal the shells with vaseline or EGG KEEP which is a silica product that any (older) pharmacist should be able to supply. We had eggs last two months in the tropics with very little spoilage , but remember to never break an egg into a dish that you are cooking. Always break them into a cup, then sniff before adding them to the pot. You would not want to ruin a 3/4 prepared dish with a bad egg. Also remember to turn the cartons once a week so that the yolks dont stick to the shells. Our first long passage(Mexico to Marquesas) with no refrigeration was stocked with what we had read about in sailing books. 2 weeks out I would have killed for a package of Pringles or some other treat. All of the proper foods got boring after a while. Hide some favorites away to cheer yourself up at times. Remember to hydrate properly! I think some of the fatigue on our first passage was from being a little dehydrated. We were too conservative in our water usage. Make sure your lockers are well ventilated and dont store onions and potatoes in the same locker or the fumes will rot the potatoes. I am sure other people will chime in on what worked and what didnt._____Grant.

[Paul Elliott]

Cabbage. It keeps well and stays crunchy. Use it where you would normally use lettuce.

[justwaiting]

Dont take anything with you that you have not tried out at home first

[BettiedelMar]

We are just going through this exact process, as we are leaving in less than a month! When my boyfriend and I pushed our extremely overburdened cart through the Costco parking lot, we both looked at each other and thought, oh, dear, now it's getting serious. We even bought canned chicken, a first (and possibly last!) for both of us.

Here's a provisioning post I just wrote about it.