Provisioning for a Long Distance Voyage

[FatBear]

Originally Posted by belizesailor

For example, coconuts.

I like all of your advice. But how do you open coconuts on your boat? I've never tried it, being from the PNW, but when I've tried it at home in a house it was a real mess.

[GrowleyMonster]

Originally Posted by FatBear

I like all of your advice. But how do you open coconuts on your boat? I've never tried it, being from the PNW, but when I've tried it at home in a house it was a real mess.

If u gather them yourself you have to husk them, not practical onboard. You husk them with a stake stuck in the ground. If u buy them they are already husked. Just bore onto one of the eyes and drain the water, then chip off the shell or chop it with a small machete. Let it dry and shrink a few hours then pry the meat out of the shell.

To make oil, grate the meat and soak in water, squeezing the fat out occasionally. The fat floats. Squeeze one last time and use the coconut in recipes or discard. Skim the fat and render it down on low heat. Strain and bottle.

[hellosailor]

Coconuts:

What, no one else owns a Dremel tool?

Good practice in case anyone on board gets concussed and needs emergency trephination, too.

[FatBear]

Thanks, GrowleyMonster. You make it sound so easy and sensible. I will approach it with less trepidation when the time comes. I will, however, continue to feel trepidation at using my Dremel tool for trephination...

[DeepFrz]

Coconut oil. Stop by the health food store before leaving and buy a few large jars. It will keep without refrigeration and is not that expensive.

[StuM]

Originally Posted by DeepFrz

Coconut oil. Stop by the health food store before leaving and buy a few large jars. It will keep without refrigeration and is not that expensive.

I live in the tropics, I use cheap generic vegetable oil all the time. It is never refrigerated and doesn't go off. Why would you refrigerate any oil?

(I also have olive oil and sesame oil plus various others at various times - same story)

[Tensen]

Originally Posted by annk

As to the question of trash this is what we do.
All extraneous packaging is removed at source, I leave it at the checkout in the store that I buy it from.I reseal in reuseable plastic or glass containers on the boat.
As we leave on a long passage I have an ice chest filled with ice for the first 4-5 days. Once this is emptied I spray it with Lysol and line with a strong black plastic bag.
Once well offshore:

Food scraps go overboard as do cans, once both ends have been removed so that they sink,glass jars and paper products such as kitchen towel etc.

All plastic wrap is washed before going in the black bag, heavy paper trash compacted. Once a week I spray inside the bag with more Lysol.

This keeps everything as bug free as possible, I learned the hard way after an infestation of maggots on one of our first long passages! Just try getting rid of those bastards....

Any oils are put in screw top containers and kept for disposal at the destination.

Originally Posted by belizesailor

Even in keeping with MarPol regulations many things can be disposed of overboard. Different categories of garbage have different requirements (just Google up Marpol for the specifics). Glass, metal, and paper for example can all go overboard. Just damage the glass or metal containers so that they sink. Plastics or petroleum products -- never.

Food scraps of any type are just fine and you get a fish-show as a bonus. Just be considerate and don't chuck stuff that will float ashore in a crowded harbor -- like oranges.

These quotes were written in 2012, but now, as of Jan 1 2013, MARPOL prohibits any rubbish going over the side (i.e. including glass, paper, and cans).

The only exception is food scraps which can be dumped 12 nm off shore, or in to 3 nm if they are ground down to no more than 25 mm (1 inch) pieces.

If you had space to take it out with you, you have space to bring it back again.

[SimonV]

Originally Posted by Tensen

These quotes were written in 2012, but now, as of Jan 1 2013, MARPOL prohibits any rubbish going over the side (i.e. including glass, paper, and cans).

The only exception is food scraps which can be dumped 12 nm off shore, or in to 3 nm if they are ground down to no more than 25 mm (1 inch) pieces.

If you had space to take it out with you, you have space to bring it back again.

Spoken as if coming from a day sailor. There is a real world out there and not a lot of garbage cans.

Sent from my GT-N7105T using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

[Blue Crab]

Overheard on the radio Sunday:

xxxxxxxxMarina ... xxxxxxxMarina ... S/V Made-up name

Go ahead Made-up Name.

Will you sell me a half gallon of diesel?

We'll sell you a thimble-full, Captain.

Good. We need water too, and have some trash to dump.

[Answer was too garbled to understand. Understandably.]