Provisioning Update and Boat Meals

We had heard how limited and expensive groceries are in the Bahamas, so we provisioned before leaving the marina. We did some final provisioning in Marathon. Here’s our updated provisions list. The rumors turned out to be completely true. A local once told us that the Bahamian way is Kraft dinner and tuna salad with crackers. Fresh produce is difficult to come by. So how did we do? What did we wish we had more of? What meals did we eat on the boat?

Overall I’m very pleased with how much we provisioned. We were in the Bahamas for 6 weeks and we were never close to starving. We had enough provisions to last us about 8 weeks. Though expensive, both Nassau and Georgetown have large groceries stores where you can get almost anything you want. The other inhabited islands have very small stores with a very limited selection, but you can usually get cabbage, potatoes, carrots, onions, bread, eggs, and tomatoes for reasonable prices. These produce are great to have on a boat, because they tend to last awhile.

What We Did Right

1. Planned Meals. As much as I love the challenge of cooking a dinner with refrigerator and pantry left overs, for most efficient provisioning, plan meals in advance. I made a list of meals we like to eat and then developed my provisioning list assuming we’d eat each meal 3-4 times during our stay in the Bahamas. This ensured that we always had the correct ingredients to make our go-to meals and prevented over provisioning. We really didn’t pack anything that we won’t use.
2. Just Add Water. Freeze dried meals are amazing after a long passage or after a day full of exploring. Sometimes we just didn’t feel like cooking and it’s not like we could order take out. Freeze dried meals are perfect for these times. We brought 15 Mountain House dinners on board. Although a little pricey, they came in very handy. We used to eat these all the time on backpacking trips in Colorado. Just add boiling water to the bag and let it sit for 9 minutes. I would often add onions, potatoes or carrots to spruce it up a bit.
3. Freshly Caught Fish. Some of the best fish I’ve ever had has been aboard Kairos. So far we’ve caught 5 dolphin fish, a lobster, conch, and a tuna. While you can’t always rely on catching fish, you should set yourself up for the opportunity. We don’t use a lot of fancy fishing gear, but we do have a few hand reels and a variety of lures. Our new cedar plug is a favorite. Before taking off cruising, do a little research and ensure you’re stocked up on the right fishing gear for the area.
4. Spare Parts. It’s impossible to prepare for every possible scenario. We would never have predicted that our braided fuel line on the engine would spring a leak. However, we left the marina stocked up on common spares, such as, rescue tape, pump impellers, fuel filters, oil filters, oil, an alternator, fuel pump, water pump, equipped ditch bag, belts, gaskets, and a mixing elbow. We did replace our filter system in Clarence Town. It was difficult to find fuel filters for our old system, so we swapped it over to a Racor system, which can be found at most marine stores.

What We Could Have Done Better

1. Got Meat? Carrying meat aboard for long periods of time is not possible for us, because we don’t have a freezer. It’s something that I wish we would have invested in prior to leaving Florida. We made it through the Bahamas eating fresh fish we caught and picking up some ground turkey along the way. If you have a working freezer, be sure to stock it full of chicken, beef, and pork before leaving for the Bahamas. Don’t forget the bacon.
2. Snacks. You just can’t have enough snacks on board. We packed a lot of crackers and cheese which turned out to be wonderful. However, I wish we would have packed more cookies, peanuts, chips, olives, hummus, etc. We purposely didn’t keep a lot of snacks in the house back in Denver, but on the boat it’s a different story. Snacks are important if you are going out exploring for the day, during a rough passage, or when you invite other cruisers over for happy hour. It may be necessary to ration these snacks. I hid ours away so Rob couldn’t get his grubby fingers on them and then I’d bring out a few each week.
3. Canned Beans. To save space, we purchased dry beans. It was such a hassle to hydrate them and required a good amount of propane to cook them. We ate a lot of beans in the Bahamas; bean pasta, aloo matar, rice and bean breakfast, taco bowls, and chili. Next time we will make room for canned beans.
4. Mixers and Sodas. We packed more than enough booze, but nothing to mix it with. We don’t drink a lot of soda, so we didn’t think to provision for it. However, there are days when we just want something cold and refreshing and ambient temperature water from our tanks just doesn’t hit the spot. I found myself drinking beer just to have something refreshing. I wish we would have brought some soda, juices, and mixers with us.

Cooking on board has been a lot of fun. We’ve had some spectacular meals on board. Take a look at some of our favorites.