Tips on provisioning a boat without a Freezer for a long passage

The following in based on my own experience of crossing the Atlantic in a 31’ yacht with no freezer and a very small fridge.

Before you even start to provision your boat sit down and make out a set of menu’s to include Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner. I made one out for 4 weeks, we had expected to make the journey in 3 weeks but because of very light winds it took us a full 4 weeks to complete the journey, so always bear this in mind when planning.

After I had made up the menus I then went through every meal and listed the items required on an excel spreadsheet. Once completed just click on the sort button to list all the items alphabetically. When you have done this you will see exactly the amounts that you will require for a month or the length of your trip.

Most importantly the first week’s menu contained fresh meat. Fresh Meat will keep in the fridge for 3 days and once cooked it will keep for another 3 days. For example when you buy minced/ground beef if you make hamburgers the first day cook the rest of the meat at the same time and store in plastic containers in the fridge, this can then make a cottage pie and from the other container you can make chilli. It is well worth the effort to take your time over planning meals. You do not have to stick to the menu but at least you will know you have enough provisions on board for all the meals.

Another worthwhile job before you start your voyage is to think about plastic containers for the fridge. Stackable containers were the best easy to store when not in use and take up less space. I played about with different sizes and shapes to find out how many I could get in the fridge.

When provisioning don’t forget the little things that make a long trip enjoyable such as snacks, like biscuits, packets of cup a soup (which comes in really handy if you have a rough patch of weather and unable to cook), sweets & crisps. Take into consideration the person on night watch, mine was 3am to 7am and I was always hungry round about 5am so would re-heat anything that was leftover from dinner or have a mug of soup.

Liquids - Milk, UHT is best but once opened I found that it would only last a day before going off, so it is best to always take some powdered milk with you.

Wine buy cartons, easy to store and will not make a noise like bottles rattling. As long as it is palatable you can always buy a good wine when you reach landfall.

Cartons of fruit juice are better on a boat than bottles, again less noise and the cartons squash flat when finished.

Spirits, for a long trip if you are taking spirits I would decant them into plastic bottles, you can always recycle the bottles once you reach your destination.

Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Storage

Bananas - Buy when still green and keep in a cool dark plac and only bring out what you need to ripen.

Apples, Oranges, Grapefruit, Tangerines, Pomegranates - you can either wrap them individually in paper towel and store loosely or better still use old tights, pop one item in the leg and then knot then add the next and knot and so on.

Carrots - buy long thin ones with the soil still on them and store in a cool dark place. Check daily and use suspect ones first.

Cabbage - Hard dense ones keep well. Peel leaves off stalk as you need them and will keep for 2-3 weeks.

Lemons and Limes - Buy them firm then thread strong twine through the nipples and hang them up as if on a washing line.

Onions, Potatoes, Tomatoes - Again if wrapped lightly so they don 't touch and kept in a cool dark place will keep for quite a while. Once again old tights make good containers but keep them separated by tying a knot between each item.

Peppers - Store in a plastic bag in the fridge. Green peppers usually stay fresher longer than orange or red. Or before you leave freeze them by slicing or chopping them and freeze on a flat tray then transfer them to an airtight container or heavy duty freezer bag.

Keeping fruit & veg in tights - Depending on the number of crew aboard I tend to put them in small groups so that I can hang some in the galley where they are easily accessible, not a very pretty sight but when you are on a long voyage who else is going to see them.