Provisions for a passage gone wrong

[Jammer]

The 71-day Pacific passage recently completed by Barry Perrins makes me wonder about the best approach to provisioning in circumstances where extensive delays could conceivably occur before making landfall.


I'm not new to food storage. Growing up, and for many years as an adult, we produced a great deal of our own food. I've had the blessing of my own gardens, orchards, vineyards, and livestock, and days where we came home from the fields and lakes with a bounty of fish and game. I've canned and frozen and dehydrated and fermented and pickled and smoked more food than most families eat in a decade. I've also backpacked and understand the importance of minimizing packaging, repacking in meal sized increments, and so on. I've used barrier laminate bags and oxygen absorbing packets to prevent bugs. I've purchased commercially produced dehydrated meals and ingredients.


So I have the building blocks.


Now, how do I apply that to a trip that is supposed to be completed in a few weeks but that could be extended to months?


What do you do?

[Mike OReilly]

Hope for the best, plan for the worst.

I normally stock for two-three months at a time. If I were planning a long passage I would add an additional buffer.

[Stu Jackson]

Originally Posted by Mike OReilly

>>>>>>>>>>>>>

I normally stock for two-three months at a time. If I were planning a long passage I would add an additional buffer.

Sorry, Mike, but when I first read this I thought the last word was BUTTER.

[Eder]

I like to add a month of meal replacements like Ensure etc. Small,plastic bottle, long shelf life.

I wouldn't want to live on them but the fact the nutrition is there is comforting.

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by Stu Jackson

Sorry, Mike, but when I first read this I thought the last word was BUTTER.

I bet that curdled your cream. I like butter, but it’s whey to hard to store .

[Stu Jackson]

Originally Posted by Mike OReilly

I bet that curdled your cream. I like butter, but it’s whey to hard to store .

Would you like some Wheat with your chaff, sir?

[rbk]

You two are having too much pun.

[carstenb]

We carry lots of beans that only need cooking, dried onions (for flavor) dried mushrooms (for flavor and fill) and other dried veggies that can be added.

Same for rice. Some cheese that doesn't require refrigeration.
Canned ravioli, canned beans, canned dinners and also some MRE's

Not an inspiring menu - but you will survive

The above is assuming that our refrigeration breaks down. We also carry lots of flour and dry yeast.

you can fish and perhaps you'll catch something

So far we haven't had to use any of the above

[Adelie]

Rice and beans are a complete food.
Potatoes and milk too.
Solar cooker, and a thermos and a little survival desalinated and you are set for as long as the rice and beans hold out.

Personally I would add various dried meats, fruits and veggies to everybody else’s suggestions above.

[conachair]

Originally Posted by Jammer

Now, how do I apply that to a trip that is supposed to be completed in a few weeks but that could be extended to months?


What do you do?

Makes no difference really if a passage might go on much longer than expected, every long passage will be over provisioned.

What works well >
Bag brown rice and bag white rice and a pressure cooker. Perfect for a boat, uses little water, little space and little gas. White rice just let it hiss for a minute or 2, brown takes 10 minutes. Tasty and healthy.
A few bags chickpeas/beans of your choice. Pressure cooker again comes into it's own. Make a big pot of veg curry now and again and save in kilner jars, pressure cooker again to sterilize and keeps for ages.
Fishing line out the back , catch a good size then can it in kilner jars in the pressure cooker.
Sprout seeds for nice tasty fresh green sprouts.
Every time the radr alarm goes off with a squall gt a buket under the gooseneck to catch the rain coming off the first reef in the main.
Then a few years later throw out the tins way past the sell by date that you bought so many of and didn't use

[mikedefieslife]

Originally Posted by conachair

Makes no difference really if a passage might go on much longer than expected, every long passage will be over provisioned.

What works well >
Bag brown rice and bag white rice and a pressure cooker. Perfect for a boat, uses little water, little space and little gas. White rice just let it hiss for a minute or 2, brown takes 10 minutes. Tasty and healthy.

Rice uses a lot of water, unless you like sticky starchy rice. Normally it is washed until the water runs clear, then soaked. That's before adding the water to actually cook it.

Cuscous on the other hand doesn't need much water or energy.

[conachair]

Originally Posted by mikedefieslife

Rice uses a lot of water, unless you like sticky starchy rice. Normally it is washed until the water runs clear, then soaked. That's before adding the water to actually cook it.

Cuscous on the other hand doesn't need much water or energy.

Brown rice needs no washing, cup of rice, cup and quarter of water. White rice comes out a little bit more sticky if not washed but usually i don't bother. Seems worse if not cooked in a pressure cooker. No soaking. Same ratio water volume of about 1.25 times rice volume. This happens onboard probably more than every other day. It works, hardly any water, very little gas. Add whatever bits you like and wait for a little while as the pressure releases on it's own.
Then scoff the lot, plenty more where that came from

[Suijin]

I never wash my rice. I’ve survived and never noticed basmati, brown, or long grain white being starchy as a result.

I carry a ton of beans on the boat of every kind. Also an extensive stock of canned stuff that I rotate through and track the use by dates on. There is a ton of stuff that you can survive on quite happily without refrigeration. Gets a little more challenging in the tropics without a cool bilge to keep some stuff but you manage.

Evans and Beth did not have refrigeration on Hawk and that boat went *everywhere*. One less system to maintain and dramatically lower energy requirements.

[Mike OReilly]

Agreed on the rice. Same with beans. Most will say you gotta waste lots of water washing the beans first, and picking out all the bad ones … bah. Light rinse. Soak, and then use the soak water for the fresh sprouts or spice plants. Pressure cook. Easy, and no wasted water.

I always stock a good supply of dried food as well. Veggies (tomatoes, zuccinni, peppers, mushrooms) and ground beef. I’m in the process of restocking my dried supplies as I type. I dry, then vacuum seal. The food can easily last for many years, with little loss of nutrients or taste. In fact, I just finished off some beef that I dried in 2015. Still tasted great.

Here’s a pic I posted over at Dehydrating Food - Page 5 - Cruisers & Sailing Forums

[stewie]

We used to varnish our tins and mark what was in them clearly. That way they do not rust and last for years. Canned butter lasts too. Wine can be stored under the cabin sole. Red last for years, but white does not in warm waters.