Provisioning for a Long Distance Voyage

[Hannah on 'Rita T']

And always have one canned ham. That way you'll never go hungry: no one will eat the ham, it will always be there in case you become desperate.

[gjordan]

When we left Mexico we took as much fresh stuff as we could. The thing that lasted the longest was Hicama(spelling?) and it was still sweet and crunchy 3 weeks later. There is another common name for it, but the memory fails me.Trying things before you stock up is a good idea, but unless you are tired and hungry when you try them, they wont seem as good as what is available in the corner supermarket. There are no supermarkets at sea. It was recommended by the the old salts to keep cheese fresh by wrapping it in cheese cloth soaked in white vinager. We made the mistake of buying a 3 or 4 pound block of swiss cheese, which stayed good where the cloth was on it, but turned very bad in the holes that the vinager could not reach. After that we bought cheeses that were solid, and they stayed reasonably well.____ I had never looked over this part of the forum before, and I think it is great.____Grant.

[Auspicious]

Originally Posted by gjordan

Eggs only last if you buy unwashed/unrefrigerated eggs which are really hard to find in America.

That hasn't been my experience. Regular eggs from the market last a long time at room temp as long as I flip them once a week. As they get older the yolks have less structural integrity so over easy doesn't look so pretty. Other than that there isn't any issue for three months.

Originally Posted by Paul Elliott

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

+1

Originally Posted by Hannah on 'Rita T'

And always have one canned ham. That way you'll never go hungry: no one will eat the ham, it will always be there in case you become desperate.

Agreed. We took a canned ham for Christmas dinner a few years ago. It was awful. Never again.

It's like buying Carling Black Label beer. If you have a party and run out of beer someone will go get more. If you get down to the Carling everyone will go home. *grin*

[bobconnie]

You guys must be buying some BAD Canned Hams !LOL there are some brands out there that actualy taste pretty good LOL, we get a canned Smithfield ham down here in Louisiana. now theres some fine kine eatin !! just our 2 cents

[hellosailor]

Walloon, there are many classic cookbooks written a hundred years ago, before refrigeration and freezers were common, and many more recently addressing campers and backpacking. Any of those work for cruisers. Many are now old enough to have expired copyright and be legally available online, free. "The New Settlement Cookbook" is one of the classics in the US.

[Snore]

I spent a month living off packaged oatmeal for breakfast, dried beef for snacks, and Natural High (real name) dehydrated foods with Jack Daniels for a night cap. Natural High foods are not loaded with sodium or chemicals that require degrees in science to pronounce, let alone understand. They make breakfasts, lunches and dinners.

While there are cheaper ways to provision, some of dehydrated meals make a nice change and are handy when things go ugly. Consider that you can have a hot meal in minutes- boil water, add it to the pouch, shake, wait, and eat!

Finally, a French Vanilla Mousse with Raspberries or a Cinnamon Apple Crisp is a great treat when you are cold, wet and asking yourself WTF am I doing here?

Bill

Disclaimer- two years ago NH did sponsor me (JD wouldn't!). But I only took sponsorships from firms I believed in!

[hellosailor]

Sure is nice to see fd foods without a big chemical mix in them. But

"BBQ Beef with Mashed Potatoes * INGREDIENTS: Potato Flakes, Crushed Pinto Beans, Cooked Freeze-Dried Diced Beef,"
probably should be called "Potatoes with Beef" not the other way round, no? I thought the FDA or FTC required the main ingredient to come first in the name?

Kraft Cheese-n-Macaroni, right? (G)

[AiniA]

It is a good idea to make a list of good places to shop for various things - either because of price or selection. For example, Panama City (not Florida, the other one) is terrific for both. There are a couple of stores like Costcos (may be subsidiaries since they have Kirkland stuff) and prices for beer and liquor are incredibly good ($8 case for beer and $2 a litre of box wine). Some places are great, but expensive (Papeete has an incredible 'hypermarche' but very pricey. Etc.

[savoir]

It's a good idea to buy a ridiculous quantity of your favorite brands of a few things. Think around a two year supply. That is very subjective but my list includes coffee, marmalade, peanut butter, pickles, mustard . . . . Those foreign stores will be loaded with brands you never heard of - some will be great and some will be dreadful.

You also have to learn to search for the local native market which might just be a few women sitting under a tree on Saturday mornings. Those places always have the best and cheapest food.

[bblaisen]

Astronaut Ice Cream is a must...

[mpc7002]

The question of provisioning then leads me to ask if your out for 3 months, what do you do with your trash? I read somewhere to repackage stuff into glass containers, which can be broken and recycled into sea glass , and I would think that food scraps make good chum , but what about paper products, or *gawd* plastics?

[belizesailor]

My 2c, mostly in the context of cruising the tropics.

Buy Local. Most folks leaving the US provision like nowhere else on earth has food. We made this same mistake the the first time too. Not only is it unnecessary, but it diminishes your cruising experience. My strong preference is relatively minimal provisioning and then visiting local markets to pick up fresh produce and locally unique foods. This enhances your cruising experience because you interact more with the local culture and learn more about the local cuisine. I've had some very memorable experiences shopping in local mercados and interacting with the locals -- including being invited into their homes for some great authentic meals. One of the great things about cruising is that the locals don't usually treat you like a typical tourist and delight in showing off their local cuisine. Sure is a lot more interesting than hauling another can out of the bilge!

Fresh Food = Real Food. The stuff on the shelves in developed countries is getting scary -- what is really in that can anyway? I strongly prefer to eat fresh unprocessed food which is surprisingly hard to find in the developed countries (for some items even illegal!). Much of the stuff you buy off the shelf in developed countries has more mystery or unpronounceable ingredients than real food or often no real food at all. But, you can still find real food in the markets of developing countries.

Mother Ocean. Also, don't forget that you are on the water -- fresh caught seafood is a great addition to the menu. Seafood is also best when eaten fresh. When we catch a suitable fish, sashimi or sushi is usually the first thing on the menu! And, the rest is then cleaned and chilled to eat later, but rarely frozen (it is just not the same) -- if we have too much then we give it away (this can help grease the skids when entering a new port -- offer the officials some of the nice fish you caught on the way in). A fish of even just 20 lbs is a lot of food for a cruising couple. Therefore, be responsible, never take more than you can realistically consume in a short time (ie: the time it will keep refrigerated or iced).

Fresh off the Tree. Lots of tasty stuff is available right off the tree or at the market here in the tropics. For example, coconuts. Readily available anywhere in the tropics, keep well, and have an almost infinite number of uses. Our favorite cocktail is fresh coconut water and rum -- yumm! Coconut oil is great for cooking. Coconut milk is also good for cooking and making cocktails. Also: plantains -- many ways to prepare and keep well -- just hang'em up in the cockpit and pull them off as needed. Many other fresh tasty fruits available in the tropics. Most fruits and veggies do not need to be refrigerated -- most in fact keep better out where they can breath. A small hammock or open weave basket is a great way to keep them handy and fresh.

Eggs. Many people accustomed to life in developed countries also think that almost everything has to be refrigerated. Eggs do not need to be refrigerated. At home we have chickens, we get fresh eggs every day and they last for weeks unrefrigerated and untreated in anyway. Another plus for eggs -- the contents are totally sealed so no risk of contamination with fresh eggs in good condition (unlike leafy veggies for example).

Bottom line: leave most of that highly processed mystery "product" at home and add food to your cruising experience!

[JanetGroene]

My book The Galley Book is long out of print but copies are available on Amazon for pennies. Book describes several methods for provisioning plus many ways to preserve foods. Some cruising areas provide re-supply. Some, such as the out islands of the Bahamas, do not. My method is to carry as much of everything as will fit. A packed pantry is cheap insurance against inflation, stranding or lack of funds.

[annk]

My take was that the original poster was talking about provisioning for either a long passage or to a destination that was extremely remote.
Whilst I concur that you will find foodstuffs in many of the cruising destinations there are certainly many places where that will not be possible, or you don't want to move from that idyllic anchorage in order to go shopping!

For sure there are super tropical fruits in the tropics but they don't keep that great in the heat either :-) We found that the best keepers were onions, squashes(hard skin varieties),potatoes,tomatoes. Coconuts are good but turning them into coconut milk for cooking is a tedious chore!

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.

After a 32 day voyage we arrived with only one black bag full, all contained within the ice chest.

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by mpc7002

The question of provisioning then leads me to ask if your out for 3 months, what do you do with your trash? I read somewhere to repackage stuff into glass containers, which can be broken and recycled into sea glass , and I would think that food scraps make good chum , but what about paper products, or *gawd* plastics?

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.