Before I leave on a
cruise, I go to sams club and stock up on cases of canned goods, toilet paper (5cases last one winter season) box milk (parliment is one of the best)
IN the canned goods, i get canned pink salmon, Tuna, Canned cooked potaotes, corned beef, green beans, canned tomatoes (or in the island s you can get soft packets of tomatoe sauce, Pasta of all sorts (lbs of it) Olive oil and corn oil, Tomatoe Paste, Kraft boxed Spagetti dinners, Walmarts Great food brand soups , cambell soups, Great foods Mac and cheeze (absolutley hands down the best ) canned oilves and pickles (sweet ones) they are great for sweet cravings. Crackers usually 3 or four big packages, NUTELLA (several huge jars) it is a spread of skim milk chocolate and hazel nuts, great on bread or crackers. Chips in small bags (two cases at least)
chips in islands are very very expensive, Dry beans of all sorts esp
navy beans, black eyed peas and chick beans (garabanzos esp dryed are the best)
long lasting frig idems to have are
salt pork (last forever) Bacon, Butter ( you can never buy enough and if you bag it in plastic baggies it last ages) eggs (try to get fresh from the farm- those lasted me 2-3months. dinner rolls (great for fast dinners)
Condiments (catsup, mustard and mayo) i buy the 3packet of small cans of mayo by hellmans, that way you dont have to open huge ones and worry.. Sardines and smoked oysters (a good appitizer to bring to onshore parties is crackers topped with good mustard and smoked oysters and cheeze. Oh plenty of cheeze, usually sharp chedder last the longest and u can use for any dish, staples like flour sugar
salt (oh make sure all those are in sealed plastic containers and rice is added into salt as will turn to a block of hard stuff if left out. Salt shakers (two with rice and salt) handy for salting pasta water (make sure to add olive oil to pasta water to get better tasting pasta cooks faster anddoesnt stick) Rice (usually 20-30lbs for a winter) i buy mexican rice at the dollar store its great and
cheap, i put a bit of olive oil and spices in water with rice too , its great)
Meat is the hardest thing to find traveling, the most expensive. A steak in st thomas for one lb
rib eye was $18, it was great btw but pricey..
again Milk in boxs, Milk in virgins is $13 for a gallon.. box milk for a qt is $3..
I also buy bulk idems like Cannelli beans (white kidneys) and Powdered milk and powdered cheeze (like in mac and cheeze boxs) its on bulkfood.com.
For winter
provisioning food only takes me 3months to buy and get the amts i need, dry goods are one trip, I stock up on dog food for my cavalier (her bin is 80lbs) and the cat food bin holds 40lbs enought for one season (one 3lb thing of dry cat food was $8 down in virgins and higher elsewhere if you can find it)
ON fruit buy the delmonte case of mandarin oranges, you can put them in salads and they are great snacks,s uper good eating, peachs, pears and such in cans,
OH a tip on
storage, put things into plastic bags esp packaged foods, they will last longer and be fresher. dry food goes into plastic boxs with tops, and dont store can goods in shelves, i put them into plastic boxs i get from walmart the ones like you store sweaters in. I found they wont rust that way. Make sure your can opener is in a plastic bag, it will rust due to salt in the air exposure.
Luxury idems like cigarettes, chocolate and candys are also plastic bagged, i buy gallon
freezer bags in a case from sams club and bag it all when i get it, if i can take it out of the box, i do, remember to take the instructions and put them in the bag if its a prepared meal. try not to keep any cardboard on the
boat even for stuff from the store like pasta boxs, roachs love paper of any sort esp newspaper and brown boxs.
If your out and run out of something and there is a local place on the islands check them out, go to where locals shop, there are usually two stores in most places one the tourist go to (higher prices) and the one locals shop at , ask soemone, they love boaters were there economic base in winter. buy local stuff, if you find butter check am prices to british or dutch brands, the
import is usually cheaper in the islands.
When im in
long island bahamas i stock up on
english drinking chocolate as is cheaper and easy to get, same with chocolate bars i buy the cadbury brand its cheaper than the american stuff and much better tasting last long in the frig in plastic bag too.
ON fresh produce check out local out door markets, usually they are on weekends, also check out local transportation, like in boqaron pr there is no laundrmat it closed ages ago, but there is alocal bus (like an open mini van) that you can pay .50 cents and got to
cabo rico and do
laundry and find an open fruit and veggie market
Laundry is expensive, buy soap in quanity in the US, a 5gal thing of tide in US at sams was $12, one tiny bottle in
bahamas was 12 dollars (10ozs) get a small bottle to take what you need. do small loads, most washers are old and dont wash good, if they have big ones ask how many loads andhow well it washes to the attendent, most are honest and they will save you
money
in st thomas i did 4loads and two loads of rugs, for $17. The rugs were small area ones like kitchen rugs.i get at the dollar store. if they are terrible or you cant wash rugs for ages ( iget two sets) you can toss one or two if you need to..
I do alot of stocking up at general dollar before i leave. esp soaps, and
cleaning tools and also keep lots of bar keeprs friend for spot
cleaning inside and out
Another staple on the
boat is VINEGAR
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