Sunday, March 4, 2012

Provisioning for the Puddle Jump


Vicki has been hard at work planning, purchasing, and stowing the food we will need for our passage to the Marquesas, which is now less than 3 weeks away. This means a big shift in our diet. While we've been in La Paz, we've enjoyed plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables, including a fair amount of locally grown organic foods. There are plenty of shopping choices nearby, and we can pick up whatever we want whenever we want it. Plus, there is a tremendous selection of affordable prepared food. There is little incentive to prepare lunch when we can get a tasty fish taco for a little over one dollar.
The passage will impose a number of limitations on us. We won't be able to shop for at least 3 and possibly 4 weeks. We have a very limited amount of freezer space. We may not have enough power to run our refrigeration enough to keep things frozen anyway. We have a limited supply of propane for cooking. Conditions at sea may be too rough for complicated meal preparation. We have a limited amount of stowage; not only do we have to find room for food, but we have to carry all plastic trash onboard until we get to the next landfall.
Based on these limitations, we find that we are loading up on a lot more canned food than we are used to eating. Of course, we have a lot of dried foods too. We'll also stock up on fresh provisions at the last minute, but we have to account for the possibility that much of the fresh produce will not survive for more than a week or two.
Many books have been written on the subject of provisioning, and every cruising boat approaches this challenge in a different way. We hope our plan will provide adequate and reasonably tasty meals for the duration of the passage.
Big thanks to Vicki who has worked so hard on this, even though she will not be along for the ride.

1 comment:

Connie Jones said...

Thanks for your help in getting the guys ready to go, Vicki. Wish I was going to meet you all in the Marquesas. Maybe we will just have to fly over and sail with you in the South Pacific. My good wishes and thoughts will be with the crew every day.

Connie Jones