After you have planned your next cruising adventure and located boat slips in your intended destination, you must consider how to properly provision your boat for extended cruising. Provisioning is an important task that should not be overlooked. Here are five essential tips to keep in mind when provisioning:
- Prepare your menu and shopping list. The menu should be a good base to build your shopping list for your provisioning. Also, be sure to stock up on some very simple to prepare meals. No cook ingredients and pre-packaged meals are life savers when the weather is rough.
- Consider perishability. When provisioning, keep an eye out for foods that will stay fresh for long periods of time or are packaged in such a way as to say fresh longer. Dried foods like pepperoni and sausages will stay good for months, so add these types of foods to your provisioning list.
- Plan storage. Store your provisioning snacks anywhere you can find a space in your boat. People seem to get hungrier more often when boating. Healthy snacks are better. Boating doesn’t provide the opportunity to stop and make something fancy. Also, take note of how foods pair up in storage. There are some foods that when stored together affect the other’s taste. Onions will steal moisture from potatoes and apples will cause bitterness to carrots. Apples will also hasten the ripening of bananas, so store these items separately.
- Produce. If possible when provisioning, buy fruits that are not yet ripe. When stored away, it will slow down the ripening process, thus lasting you a few more days. One trick is to wrap citrus fruits in aluminum foil to prolong freshness. Produce is best stored in storage lockers closer to the hull and below the waterline because it is cooler in that area. This is best when boating in warm, tropical areas.
- First in, first out. Cans and dry goods should be rotated, bringing the older ones to the front. This will not only help you keep track of what you have but will also insure that rust will not eat the cans or cause salt water rot.
In our next post, we will discuss how to effectively organize your boat and your provisioning to best take advantage of available space when you to stay on the boat for an extended period of time.
If you are still researching your next destination or want to find available slips in prime areas across the country, please search our extensive database of available boat slips for rent.
If you have a vacant boat slip for sale or rent, please visit our article on boat slip advertising tips.
