Let’s face it, even the biggest procrastinator needs to plan a little when it comes to provisioning. Good thing is, I’m a planner, unlike Capt Steve, so we have that going for us. When you’re provisioning, especially with little ones on board, you need back up plans. Use your fresh produce first. We also use any seafood we buy during the first night or two. Chicken and meat can last longer in the fridge and freezes well if you have to. If you buy a loaf of bread and don’t use it all, stash it in the freezer.
Also, take anything out of a box (if you can) and throw away. Bugs and roaches love cardboard and it’s the perfect place to hide on a boat. It takes up room anyway. I always do a trash run with all our boxes, before we set out on our trip.
You will need to leave the power on to your fridge while you’re away from the boat unless you want to gut everything, every time you leave, and re-stock.
So, we have bought groceries on our way to the boat before (but that takes serious forethought because you have to know what is left on the boat from last time) or it’s usually after we set foot on board to take a quick inventory. If you’re lucky enough to have a grocery store that delivers, we have used Publix a few times, this saves a lot of time. I used to take a picture of our fridge and pantry before we left each time so we could plan in advance, but with kids, I usually am more worried about making sure we have them and all our stuff with us, so I forget to take a pic.
Here are some staples we always have on board
- WATER!! We usually go with the 2.5gallon jugs or large 1/2 gallon bottles. Unless your boat has a water maker, you can’t drink the water from the tap. It’s coming from your fresh water tanks, but term “fresh” is not the same as at home. Also remember if you’re wanting to fill ice trays you need to use bottled water for that as well.
- Breakfast sammies or waffles for breakfast. These can be stashed in the freezer and are a quick go to if we don’t eat out or need something easy. Cereal is always a go to as well, as with a 14 mth old we always have milk on board.
- Bread and buns. We never use a whole loaf or package, so leftovers end up in the freezer so we can have whenever
- We can’t talk about provisioning for several day cruise (especially with 2 kids) without talking about Booze. Yes, you will need it after 2,3,4 days at sea with little ones. Glass bottles take up ALOT of room in your trash. Cans can be crushed. Boxes of wine are great to keep stashed as a back up, but they do take up fridge space. Sometimes we’ll do a double bottle of wine. Takes essentially same fridge space, but you have more variety in types of wine. I’d love an extra beer/wine fridge on our aft deck (it’s on the list).
- All snacks such as crackers, chips, etc that come in a box are immediately taken out and put in an airtight container. They will last a few trips max, depending on how soon and often we get back to the boat.
- Pouches for the kids. Applesauce, yogurt, other fruit/veggie pouches. They take up no room in fridge/pantry or trash.
- Coffee and Tea. We have a single serve K-cup machine. Capt loves his coffee and I love my green tea in the morning. K-cups stay fresh, take up little room and you don’t have to worry about running out of grounds or filters.
- PB & J (or PB & honey).This is hands down the best sandwich option for not only our kids, but us, if we need a quick snack. Tuna packets and mayo are also a close second.
One other thing I’d like to mention is, if for some reason our generator dies or shore power goes out (like at our last marina where the breaker kept tripping), we keep an extra gallon size bag of ice in our freezer at all times. Yes, it takes up space, but I’d rather factor that in, than lose all our food if power goes out.