New York
With only one week left in New York, and a few weeks before we cross to the Bahamas (the boat is in Florida), my thoughts have turned to provisioning -- or at least a provisioning list. Buying food to last for five months can be daunting.
My first job back on
Cara Mia next week will be a thorough inventory followed by filling some shopping carts!
Looking back at my own thoughts on provisions, I welcome the chance to revisit my thriftiness and ultimately my appreciation of
Food by spending a few months away from the total food glut of our culture -- but not before a few more indulgences here in New York (more on that later).
As I remember how confounding it was to provision as a new cruiser, I think of my soon-to-be-cruiser readers. My best advice is don't fret. You won't starve. However, there are two reasons to stock up: you'll save money, and you're buying freedom to hang out in remote spots without worrying about food. But what to buy???
RESOURCES:
The Boat Galley is a great site, and check out their
provisioning resources.
Southern Boating has more general but helpful tips:
Southern Boating
Moondance and
Commuter Cruiser have spreadsheets listing exactly what they stock. (My method is less spreadsheet and more flow chart, as in flowing through the store and guessing what to buy.)
If you have the luxury of time, provision slowly to take advantage of sale items. This does require some inventory tracking so you won't have too much of a good thing, but it will save you a lot of money. As others have reported: Taste it before you buy a lot of it!
Things available in the Bahamas: butter that's better and cheaper than in the U.S., yummy English cookies, yogurt, onions, potatoes, peppers, basic canned goods, RUM, yellow cheese that's not cheddar but not bad, eggs.
Things I regretted not stocking more of: dried meats (pepperoni and salami sticks), olives (never found good ones), dark chocolate.
My list-in-progress looks like this:
rice cakes (have you seen the new flat ones?)
peanut butter
dried meats
dried beans pinto, garbanzo, white, black
powdered milk -- LOVE
Nido brand, whole milk
canned cream -- make
sour cream from this
canned beets
pasta sauce -- some good ones in soft boxes now
tofu -- also in soft boxes!
pickles
relish
coffee (not many good options in Bahamas)
chocolate -- NO dark chocolate over there
salsa
nuts
mustard
mayo
crackers
coconut milk
olives
seltzer water
granola bars
cereal
ginger ale
almond milk -- almond or soy in boxes keep nicely and are hard to find in the Bahamas. When available, they are expensive.
dried fruit
pringles (easily stowed -- bags of chips take up copious amounts of precious space)
Already onboard:
rice
pasta
flour
yeast
baking supplies
catsup
tomato sauce
cornmeal
spices
couscous
risotto
olive oil
Perishables we'll buy at the last minute:
eggs
cheese
fresh vegetables and fruit
yogurt
Things we'll make instead of buy:
bread
tortillas
muffins
Questions? Ask me.
