Since our current trip to the Bahamas was the first major provisioning opportunity for Mahi, I knew there would be a steep learning curve. Mistakes would be made. So, I decided to share what has not worked in order to help future cruisers.
In preparation for leaving, I had read multiple books on how to provision for your boat, store the food, which basic supplies to have on hand, and most importantly, what not to do. I thought I had a pretty good grasp on the subject. I even talked to several experienced cruising friends to learn from them.
Despite all my research, I made many errors in provisioning for the Bahamas. No matter how well you prepare, you will make mistakes, too. Just accept this fact ahead of time, and you will far ahead of the game. So, what lessons did I learn the hard way?
Before Stowing
Lesson 1- Costco Oops! Do not overbuy any one item at Costco. This mistake was my biggest one, and I am sure to have this story retold over and over for many years with lots of laughter involved at my expense.
Joe and I were at Costco, and our conversation went something like this:
Carla: “Joe, we need rice, which bag should we get?”
Joe: “These are too big, just buy rice at the grocery store instead.”
Carla: “No, we love rice, we will be gone a long time on the boat, and we need it.”
Joe at this point shakes his head, and decides to let me have my way, since I am stubborn and had my heart set on buying a Costco rice bag. He picks it up and places it on the cart. We haul it to the boat.
I quickly learned my mistake- it was a 50 lb. bag of rice! In my head, that bag was a lot smaller, really. So I bagged up about 15-20 lbs of it, then gave the rest away. Joe was right, of course.
What is funny is that we have only had rice once in the last 3 months. Twice, if you count the time Joe got his new android phone wet and he used the rice to dry it out. Or the time I put some rice into the salt shaker to prevent clumping. Do not go crazy and overbuy any one item at Costco or Sam’s Club. Especially not staples easily found outside of the US whatever country you live.
On the flip side, there are items I wished I had bought more of at Costco that we used up quickly: Trail Mix, Dried Mangoes and Coconut, Turkey and Beef Jerky, to name a few. Paper Towels are another Costco favorite.
Postscript: I heard yesterday from a cruising friend that a sailboat she just met had 50 lb. bag of couscous on board their boat. See? I’m not the only one who made this mistake! 🙂
Lesson 2- Produce Mistake. The day before we left, I stocked up on tons of produce from Publix Supermarket in Fort Lauderdale. I even brought those green bags that are supposed to extend the life of produce. Half of the produce fit into the fridge and the other half I organized into bins on the counter.
What really happened is that most of the produce in the fridge froze, then turned bad. Many of the produce in the bins went off quickly in the tropical heat and humidity. Within a couple of days, we had to throw out rotted produce.
The solution is to buy just enough that you can use quickly. Better yet, plan in advance and can vegetables to use on the boat. Bring some frozen fruit and vegetables for when you run out of fresh.
In buying fresh produce, read on for my next lesson.
Lesson 3- Not All Produce is Equal. Some produce keeps well and others do not. Here is my list of what produce lasted: cabbages, potatoes, carrots, sweet potatoes, yams, onions, garlic, citrus fruits including lemons, limes, oranges and grapefruits. Apples lasted about a week.
Unripe bananas, mangoes and similar fruit will ripen quickly. You will learn to buy when you find, then use up later that day, if possible.
Lesson 4- Buy What You Love– Many cruisers will buy items because they read an article or blog post- or want to try out new recipes. You stock up, then discover that you do not really use that item. I did this with some Trader Joe purchases and some recipe items. They are just sitting in my provisioning bins gathering dust at the moment.
The moral of this topic is keep a running list of items you love and will use day to day before moving on board your boat. These are the items you want to have on board. At the end of this first season, I will remove what we didn’t eat and I’m keeping a list of groceries and provision items that we need more of.
Here is an example- Joe happens to love canned peanuts. I stocked up on some in Florida, paying about $2.50 per can on sale. However, our peanut supply is about to run out. While shopping in the local store here on Spanish Wells the other day, I found some canned peanuts, however, the price was over $10 a can. Ouch! I should have devoted more provisioning space to peanuts and less to rice and flour.
Ethan’s milk storage. UHT milk is easily found all over the Bahamas.
Lesson 5- Staples. Basic staples are found all over the globe. Sure, they may cost more in other countries, but I would rather have the storage space devoted to items we love and eat everyday- especially items not readily found outside my home country.
We all have our favorite food items or treats that we like from time to time. Trader Joe’s makes a few items I really like, including seaweed wraps, that can be eaten alone as a snack, or used to make sushi wraps with rice. (For the record, Joe thinks they are gross) I picked up about a half dozen, and they went within the first few weeks. This is a specialty item only found in the states, so once I ran out, they could not be replaced. Flour, sugar, milk and other staples are found in every small store, but not so rarer items.
Lesson 6- Stowing Inventory. I started with good intentions using the “What’s On My Boat app, then as I moved things around, my inventory system fell apart. Keep a good inventory list that will be easily modified. Keep groceries that you use most often in easier to reach locations.
It will be worth it in the end to properly maintain your boat inventory list. Whether you use an app, an excel spreadsheet, 3×5 cards, whatever your system is- keep it up to date as you move things around. Trust me on that!
Lesson 7- Potluck Provision. Once you are out cruising, you will attend lots of potluck gatherings, even if you are not a potluck type of person. The hardest part for me is always figuring out what to prepare and bring.
Making tortillas for potluck tacos.
Next season, I will plan ahead of time a list of crowd pleasing potluck dishes and desserts, then provision especially for those events. Right now, I am just winging it. Last potluck we had I made chicken tacos (homemade tortillas) with chocolate chip cookies for dessert.
You can improvise in a pinch, but I would prefer to have this all thought out ahead of time and provisions at the ready pre-bought and organized.
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In the future, I will write a post on what I did correctly, and what provisioning lessons actually worked well for our boat. 🙂
Being first year cruisers on a new boat, everything is a new adventure to Joe, Ethan and I. First time crossing the Gulf Stream, first time in the Bahamas, and weathering our first storm with our boat at anchor.
Obtaining daily weather information is critical to boaters, especially boats at anchor. A change in wind direction and intensity could turn your lovely, pleasant anchorage into a nightmare where you end up on the beach or rocks of a lee shore.
The storm arrived with an impressive display of lightning all around us, then the winds went into high gear. Looking at our wind gauge, we saw over 35 knots of wind, which exceeded what had been forecast. The rain came next, so there is the mad scramble to close any open hatch or portholes.
Now that we are out cruising, it is time to begin boat schooling 4-year-old Ethan. We are using an eclectic approach to boat schooling, which means we are not using any one program or curriculum.
Ethan likes to use playdoh, to cook and bake, and any art activity. Since we have been on Great Harbour Cay the last few weeks, Ethan has taken up golf, so that would count as Physical Education. Time in the ocean is another common physical activity:
Even though Joe spent his career at a technical company, we limit how much iPad time Ethan has each day. We noticed that if he gets too much electronic time, Ethan’s behavior gets cranky.
Here is a terrific map of the Berry Islands, though it is small. We will leave Great Harbour Cay, and head to the top of the map to swing around Little and Great Stirrup Cays in order to anchor at Soldier Cay.
important to know because once we hit the Exumas, we will be relying on our anchor and ground tackle to keep us safe. Our backup anchor is a large Fortress.
The Mahi crew decided during our stay on Great Harbour Cay to rent a golf cart and visit the beaches around the island. If you come here, we highly recommend this as some beautiful locations are too far away to dinghy or easily walk to.
After an hour or so, we headed north in the golf cart to Sugar Beach Sea Cave. This spot was spectacular, and the rising tide was low enough to snap a quick image from inside the cave. This turned out to be one of my favorite pictures so far as I love the juxtaposition of the turquoise waters against the cave interior.
I also climbed a large rock to get a good view and perspective shot of the turquoise coast and the cave from the outside. If you visit Great Harbour Cay, please do not miss this spot. The cove and the cave are simply breathtaking!
Our day was not finished. After shopping for provisions in town, where Ethan was greeted by name numerous times by locals, we headed for Shark Creek Beach at low tide. This place is perfect for shelling, plus Ethan loved the shallow depth. It was like one big kiddie pool!
I did have some time to collect shells here, plus found a sea fan. I am a beachcomber at heart, so I collect sand, shells and sea glass wherever there is a beach.
Teaming up with the crew from SV Dalmation, SV C’est La Vie, and M/Y Carry On, we waited for the tide to rise high enough to travel over the shallows by dinghy to visit Fanny Cay, Ambergris and Money Cay.
Been having a blast now that the wind has shifted and settled down this week. This means we can travel by dinghy without becoming airborne, snorkel, and just get out to see the beaches on the island and also visit nearby cays to snorkel.
Along the way we saw manta rays, sea turtles and star fish. Here is Joe snorkeling around the blue hole, which is a deep blue color compared to the surrounding sea.
Great Harbour Cay apparently has a drug lord past in the early 1980’s, with an air strip, old drug houses, and a rather sensational drug plane crash just offshore, which you can snorkel over. We saw a large variety of reef fish at the crash site, and was thoroughly interesting to visit.
I just happen to love conch… conch fritters, cracked conch, conch salad, and conch burgers. I knew I wanted to learn how to catch, clean and prepare the conch while out cruising the Caribbean.
So I asked a wonderfully nice Bahamian named Trameco to show me how to clean a conch that I had found. He was kind enough to teach me, and I took pictures of most of the steps. Here is a rough overview:
First you take a hammer and in a certain location, you open a small area so you can insert a knife (shown above). The knife is so you may remove the conch (shown left) from the beautiful shell by severing its attachment point. so far so good.
When you are finished, you have some lovely cleaned conch to use in your favorite dish.
I leave you with a terrific picture of Trameco, holding my cleaned conch. Coming post, how I made a conch horn to blow at sunset!
