One thing I knew for certain when we started this first year of cruising, was that it would be a steep learning curve. At the time I probably thought the learning curve was steep when we set off last April to move the boat from NH to Virginia, but looking back on it now, that was more of a hill than the mountain of learning curve I started climbing once we were at the point of leaving the country. Then enter the pandemic. Yikes!
In prior posts I’ve talked about my struggles with learning how to adequately utilize weather data for cruise planning. I continue to work on that. No better time than the present since I’m stuck at home for the foreseeable future. I’ve also talked about struggling to create and maintain a routine, figuring out how to keep in touch when in foreign countries and when traveling offshore, taking inordinate amounts of time to plan routes and learn about the places we will be visiting, and about honing my boat-driving and anchoring skills. These are all part of the learning curve.
For me, the biggest challenge for this part of our first cruising year was provisioning to leave the country. There were so many questions buzzing around my head. How much can we really fit on our boat? Are there additional nooks and crannies we can make use of for food storage? How do I determine what we will need for 6-8 weeks? How do I best determine how much of each item we’ll need? What fresh produce can I store out of the refrigerator and how long will it last? What provisions will I be able to get once in the Bahamas and other countries further south? I had so many questions and only did a little research (a little too late) about how other cruisers handle this. I found some helpful tips, but many of my questions were boat (space) and people (eating habits and preferences) specific. Plus I was provisioning not only for me and Dave but also for my folks who have different preferences and habits. What I settled on may have been mostly sufficient under normal circumstances, it was not sufficient for a pandemic, let alone in an area with limited access to groceries.
I have learned from this experience, however. In part that learning came from experiencing the impact of my provisioning decisions. Other stuff I learned from cruisers we met while in the Bahamas, several of whom were prepared to be self-sufficient for up to 2 months. Here are my biggest provisioning lessons.
Plan for being self-sufficient for 2-3 months. This is a multifaceted lesson. For our situation, this means stocking a lot more for making our own bread products and baking in general. Think bread, English muffins, bagels, pizza dough, tortillas. Fresh produce runs out quickly and we have a small fridge, and the freezer, while quite large, can only hold so much. Next time we will stock more canned fruits, veggies and meats as well as some freeze-dried foods (including eggs), and more powdered milk. I’m conflicted about freeze-dried and powdered provisions because they are highly processed and come in a lot of packaging, which is not environmentally friendly. However, they are much lighter than canned goods and have a long shelf-life, both important considerations on a boat. I will have to curb my guilt by doing some environmental penance to ensure our larger environmental impact is balanced (not kidding). Eating canned and freeze-dried items requires a different approach to cooking, as I’m learning. These items are best in meals like soups, stews, stir fries and casseroles, so this will necessitate stocking more rice, grains and pastas.
Find airtight food storage solutions. Things like flours and grains often (not always) come with insect eggs. Storing them in home in the US for immediate use rarely results in an issue, although a couple of times I’ve found meal worms in something I let sit a little too long at the back of the pantry. In the hot and humid climate of the Caribbean, however, hatching can occur more quickly. If stored in an airtight environment, which has much less oxygen, these items will last longer without revealing the hidden insects within.
We did have some provisioning successes. We did a good job of provisioning the types of foods we enjoy eating; we didn’t stock anything we wouldn’t eat. We had plenty of frozen meats, more than plenty frozen veggies (Dave does not consider this a success, but I do), and plenty of canned chicken and tuna (for lunches). Even though we enjoy cooking meals from recipes we’ve come to love that require specific ingredients, we are also good at substituting when we don’t have something on hand. Dave is also very good at creating meals from what’s on hand, and I’m getting better at it. We haven’t had a boring meal aboard yet. I learned about and tried sprouting seeds. They are incredibly easy to grow on the boat and provide fresh greens (sprouts) when store-bought fresh produce runs out or runs thin. (I enjoyed them so much I even ordered some for here at home.) We acquired big blocks of cheese that kept in the freezer (shelf side that is less cold); we even came home with some. We had 5 lbs of clementines that lasted 3 weeks out of the fridge and we only lost one to mold. I had powdered whole milk on board and was able to make yogurt. We had plenty of paper products, cleaners and toiletries aboard (also an important part of provisioning). I’m sure there were more successes, but these are the ones that stand out.
I am hopeful for our next round of provisioning for the Bahamas. Our successes combined with the lessons learned should serve us well; there’s no greater teacher than experience. Next time I think I’ll pass on that side of pandemic 😉
Life on Lady 