Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Provisioning

Imagine going to the supermarket, well, first imagine walking 2 miles to get there, and then proceeding to buy all the non-perishable food that you can think you'd possibly need or want for one years time. Well, I can tell you from personal experience that one shopping cart is not enough! Try more like 3 carts, full to the brim, and once they are organized and bagged it's more like 4 carts.


Five hours at the grocery store is, for most normal people, an unbearble amount of time to be buying food. We literally walked down every aisle and hoped that there would be enough cans of pears, dried fruit, tuna, salami, canned vegi's or pasta sauce in stock. You know you are from a 'Different World' (i.e. a boater), when you are pushing multiple grocery carts and people start staring at you like, "Is there some Apocolypse that I didn't hear about?". Well, that's what you call "Provisioning" your boat for a year sailing trip.

Then trying to figure out where you are going to fit all this food you just bought in your 32-foot boat that's already crammed with gear, clothes, spare parts, tools, that is the true test. We stowed the food under seats, in plastic bins in the aft cabin, in lockers and shelves and in little nooks and crannies that you wouldn't even know existed, all places that the food will not spill out when the boat is heeled over sailing.


Before our big provisioning excursion, I had been doing some of my own "market research" via other sailers. I asked them questions on the types of meals they cooked on their boat, what non-perishable foods they recommended, anything they wished they had brought more of and how they provisioned their boat in a place where food is not as easily accessible as in the U.S. nor as cheap. I got some great ideas from numerous people and Mike and I began writing out our Master shopping list.


Luckily, in my favor, I grew up with a mother who is an all time bargain shopper, spends hours in the grocery store and provisions her house on a weekly basis for the 'Apocolypse'. We never lacked on choices for cereal in the morning or food in the cupboards. So, with that notch in my belt, I did not miss a beat when we started buying everything on our list and more as we began filling cart after cart of food. Thank you Mom!

What I learned from this shopping extravaganza is that you can rest assured that Mike and I will be eating well this next year, even if it is from a can!!! We will be catching lots of fresh fish, lobster and conch to add to our provisions. If you like food, look for future meal descriptions and pictures in our Boat Food page.

3 comments:

  1. I hope Mike remembered his mother's preparedness foods! Beans,brown Rice and Oatmeal. In large quantities! Onions, Potatoes, Cabbage and Citrus- as many as will keep for 3 weeks. Lentils for sprouting!!!! Can't stress those enough. If he forgot- well, you can buy beans and white rice in third world countries everywhere. Love you two! m

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  2. Great "post", great pictures. You are both looking tan, fit and ready for sea.
    I'm happy to see that there'll be plenty of food on board when i come down to visit my pal, Nellie.

    "I just hope there's cat goodies in all that crap they bought. If they don't have my favorite kibbles they're gonna pay. You can bet on that."

    Oops, how'd Nellie get into my comment section. Hmmm.

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  3. Mary - Yes he did, of course! We have at least 6 lbs of oatmeal, 15 lbs. of rice, tons of cans of beans and some dry beans and lentils! We haven't gotten the onions, potatoes and cabbage yet, will do that in Miami before taking off. Thanks for the tips. Let us know if there is anything else you can think of before we head out.

    Daubie - Plenty of food! Plus a big stash of dark chocolate and coffee. Nelly is stocked on kibbles, 30 lbs!

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