How do you get to the grocery store when your a thousand miles from shore, and a thousand and two miles from the nearest grocery store? The short answer is you don't. The longer answer will be presented here, and it begins with a trip down below to see what you've got stashed in the galley of your boat. Provisioning for a extended boating trip is no small task. If you forget something, there's no quick run to the convenience store to pick up a couple of things. Out in the middle of the ocean, if you can't catch it, or find it somewhere in the galley, your not going to eat it. Here's a few quick ideas to get you started thinking about boat provisioning.
To start a list of what kind of provisions you think you'll need, draw up a menu with a weeks worth of meals your boating crew would enjoy. Then figure out what would be required to make each meal. This list should be a good base to build from when you actually start buying items for the boat trip.
Be sure to have some very simple to prepare meals. When weather is rough, and the boat galley is an unworkable environment, some pre-packaged meals that require no heating will be a saving grace.
Keep an eye out for foods that will stay fresh for long periods of time, or are packaged in such a way as to say fresh longer. Cheese that is packaged in wax, will stay good for a very long time. Some salami, sausage and pepperoni that is keep in the non-refrigerated section of the grocery store will stay good for months at a time.
Anywhere you can find a place to store snacks, be sure to take advantage of it. Boating always seems to make people hungry, but doesn't always seem to provide the opportunity to stop what your doing and make something fancy. Healthy snacks will be better to fuel the fires that keep the crew and the boat going.
Be careful of what foods you store together. They're not always compatible. Apples and carrots stored together, will often cause bitterness in the carrots. If onions are stored with potatoes, the onions will steal moisture from the potatoes.
Most fruit should be bought in the not-yet-ripe state, and then stored in a way to slow down the ripening process. Green apples stored in the dark should last a couple of weeks.
Give some thought to were you store items in the boat. Storage lockers closer to the hull and below the waterline will be cooler, and better for produce. Especially if you are going to be boating in warm tropical areas.
While there is a lot to consider, some thorough and logical planning will make things smoother come launch day. And while you may forget a few items, or lose a few perishables in transit, don't fret. It's only a thousand and two miles to the nearest grocery store.
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