What is your best provisioning tip?

[R2boat]

Somewhat surprised no one else has mentioned it. One soda machine, do a Goggle search or go on down to your local Boater's World, means no more logging Coke cans or any other soda cans back and forth to and from the boat. One small bottle of concentrate makes 48 servings of Coke, diet Coke, ginger ale, tonic or whatever your heart desires. Requires NO power and takes up as much room as a 12-pack...check it out.

[hellosailor]

Rick, I've also got a couple of wine blivets saved over the years. Gotta warn you though, if you don't rinse them out well, they can get some funky stuff growing in them. I wouldn't want to take a chance on some odd mold or fungus growing in there, and then transferring into my lungs when I blew it up again. Call me paranoid...but I'd rather wash 'em out well.

[Chrisc]

A little off topic I know,but,
Years ago when I was single handing, I was in Recife, Brasil and needed to re-provision for the next leg of the voyage to the West Indies. What I needed was tinned meat (no refrigeration) and it was a little hard to find in the supermarket but eventually I found some cans of what appeared to contain some sort of meatballs. Like most dumb Kiwis, I could only speak English so couldn't read what was written on the can, but the picture looked O.K so I bought two cases.
Arriving in Trinidad, I was visited by two gentlemen who welcomed me to Port of Spain and invited me to visit the yacht club. One of these gentlemen picked up the last remaining tin of meat balls from the galley bench top and obviously bi lingual, was reading the label. After a moment's contemplation on the can he asked me, a little uncertainly, if perhaps I was sailing with a dog?
That was nearly 40 years ago, and yet it remains one of my enduring memories of the voyage.

Chris

[hellosailor]

Chris-
Umm, yummy!<G>

Here in the US, Ralston-Purina is a major food company famous for their Purina brands of pet foods. "Purina" is pretty much a generic term for dog chow now, but they also make monkey chow (primate chow, I think they call it<G>), cat chow...all sorts. Well, they also own one of the major labels of canned tuna fish, which is a popular food in the US. We jokingly called that "Purina People Chow" because, of course, if it comes from Purina it must be some kind of animal food.<G>

So do you take a dictionary shopping now, or just stick to the pasta section?<G>

[rsn48]

Rick, those wine bags also make great ice bags, then when the ice melts, fresh water bags.

[Talbot]

Those vacuum storgae bags (the bigger ones) are excellent for unused bedding and cloths. Reduces the volume and keeps them dry (will need an iron when you decide to use them!)

[Skylark]

No Refrigeration Recipies
http://cruisenews.net/recipes

[S/V Elusive]

Chris - thanks for that great story!!!

RSN - great idea ... now I'm looking for wine blivets.

[rsn48]

For guys with smaller boats and no oven, don't forget a barbeque really isn't a barbeque unless you are using one of those smoke jobs you purchase in the South. Instead a barbeque is really a grill and oven. Most people get the grill idea alright, but they forget the oven part. You can bake bread, cookies, pizzas, etc in the barbeque; just get a magnetic thermostat for the barbeque so you can control the heat for given temperature.

[Talbot]

The family Christmas Turkey for my rellies in Aus is normally cooked in the Barbeque - doesnt heat up the house, and is large enough for the monster that would normally feed 20 families.

[BBill]

Speaking of bbq...On our first trip to the islands we carried a portable grill for cooking on the beach. Later, we learned all that was necessary was the top wire mesh part of the grill. We gathered rocks to support the grill top, dug a shallow pit and used driftwood for the fire. Small whole snapper laid on the grill, gutted but with scales and head on, cooked beautifully. When cooked that way the skin/scales get hard and make it easy to pull meat out. After cooking, we covered the pit and make the beach look natural again. We cooked this way several times a week and it added a lot of pleasure our cruises. A grill top is standard equipment for us.

[bobola]

Bring lots of honey.

It (generally) has a shelf life of 2 years!

[Sunspot Baby]

My best provisioning tip is to travel with Entlie (she started this thread). She is a master, but often asks this question of other cruisers. Some answers she has received but doesn't seem to be sharing.

Take the expensive stuff with you. Buy the cheap along the way.

Don't carry bone.

Don't expect that you will eat a lot differently on the voyage than at home. If the captain doesn't like canned vegies at home, he won't like them on the boat.

Eggs are cheap nearly everywhere and last a looooonnnnngggg time.

Mark cans top and bottom with Sharpie as to what they are. Saves mystery dinner when labels aren’t readable.

Any can rolling in the bottom of the bilge is s**t or worse.

Food is the next to last thing to economize on. Safety is the last.

From our boat:
Crystal Lite or cheaper Wylers.
A water maker is gold and yields the best flavor you can get.
Canned chicken. Cheaper and more readily available than other canned meats.
Canned Thai curry sauces. Makes great curry without all the work.
If you don't have something to eat besides fish, you won't catch any fish. If you plan other meat, the fish will bite. (my tip).

George

[Sunspot Baby]

My best provisioning tip is to travel with Entlie (she started this thread). She is a master, but often asks this question of other cruisers. Some answers she has received but doesn't seem to be sharing.

Take the expensive stuff with you. Buy the cheap along the way.

Don't carry bone.

Don't expect that you will eat a lot differently on the voyage than at home. If the captain doesn't like canned vegies at home, he won't like them on the boat.

Eggs are cheap nearly everywhere and last a looooonnnnngggg time.

Mark cans top and bottom with Sharpie as to what they are. Saves mystery dinner when labels aren’t readable.

Any can rolling in the bottom of the bilge is s**t or worse.

Food is the next to last thing to economize on. Safety is the last.

From our boat:
Crystal Lite or cheaper Wylers.
A water maker is gold and yields the best flavor you can get.
Canned chicken. Cheaper and more readily available than other canned meats.
Canned Thai curry sauces. Makes great curry without all the work.
If you don't have something to eat besides fish, you won't catch any fish. If you plan other meat, the fish will bite. (my tip).

George

[N.M.I.ke]

Originally Posted by Sunspot Baby

If you don't have something to eat besides fish, you won't catch any fish. If you plan other meat, the fish will bite. (my tip).

George

I think that's more of a life tip than a provisioning tip!