What is a good resource for how to provision you Sailboat for long trips?

Question

What is a good resource for how to provision you Sailboat for long trips?

Answer 1

Apart from mentioning that there are several good web sites for this question, I would stick to items which do not need refrigeration. Eggs which are never refrigerated can last for a month. If you dip them in wax or coat them with oil they last longer. The pioneers kept eggs for months by layering them in cans of lard. That way they had both eggs and oil. Cheese can also be preserved by washing with vinegar covering with cheese cloth and dipping in wax. Store these items low in the boat where they will stay cool. Think of your bilge areas as a sort of damp root cellar.

Answer 2

Let's see.... 4 cases of Dinty Moores beef stew and 30 cases of beer... and if you need more room... leave the beef stew on the dock.

Check the book rack at West Marine, they have some good books on cruising which I'm guessing you haven't read or own, or you would already know the answer to your question.

You need to store fruits and vegetables in open net hanging bags.  Anything that needs to stay cool and dry, such as potatoes, and ESPECIALLY if they are heavy, you store down low if your bildge is dry.  as you are loading the boat, establish a level horizontal line across the beam and then use the ships stores to keep the boat loaded as level as you can... same goes longitudinaly... the ships stores are heavy and it's a cheap and easy way to keep the boat level... you can ignore this advice at your own peril.

Either wrap your canned goods with cling wrap or put them in baggies.  Cans will rust very quickly and labels will come of just as quickly so unless you keep them together you will start having some really STRANGE food combinations as you use up your stores and you still have several hundred miles to go.

BUY local when you get in various ports.  AND since many of the foods won't be familiar to you, BUY a local cook book.. it will save your cookies and they are a nice souvenir.

Answer 3

Best resource is ask that sailor you know that just finished or has done a few long passages.

Mark Rosensteins site is good.

http://www.apparent-wind.com/sailing-pag...

is a little dated now,,

http://www.boat-links.com/boatlink.html

Another good one.

http://www.boat-links.com/linklists/boat...

Answer 4

I don't know about resources, but when I did the provisions for a San Diego to Hawaii ferry, I first estimated the amount of time I would be on the water between ports, and then got the things that I usually ate.  If you are going solo, get easy to prepare things, light on the sugar, heavy on protein, that can be eaten on the run-you will appreciate it if you have to do an all-nighter or two.  Time for food prep is non-existent, and Dinty Moore stew out of the can is just plain nasty, come to think of it, it is out of the can also.  If you don't drink your beer at home room temperature, why do you think you will like it that way at sea?  If you don't eat it at home, you probably won't want to eat it on a cruise.  Nothing worse than working on a sleep debt and no food too. Remember, everything will get wet. Period.  And, salt water never really dries out in clothing.  I tried all of the food at home before I left.  I figured 30 days from SD to Honolulu, in our Erikson 30, I did it in about 19, but I had fair  weather all of the way, only a couple of all nighters, and no major mechanical problems, did loose some rigging, but I had spares, and a good crew-and no, I did not care how she looked in a bikini, although she looked excellent, and still does, that being aside, the point is we bought the food that we ordinarily ate, you don't want to change your diet too much, and you don't want to waste the food either.  What ever you decide on, try to live on it solely for a few days before you leave, it will give you a better idea than anything else about what you will need. Do you really want to live on graham crackers and vienna sausage?  I cannot over emphasize the need for a at least 2 good vhf radios, a state of the art raft WITH water desalinization system, and a water proof sat phone. Also, you cannot depend upon the water storage on board as a source of drinking water.  We took along two portable desalinization units, and we sold them with the boat. It was a great experience, I sold the boat to the first buyer, stayed at a really nice condo for two weeks, flew back first class, and have fond memories.  Would i do it again?  No.