Provisioning Tricks and Tools

Provisioning for a longer trip is always an interesting task on a boat.  Having to plan what to cook for an extended period of time, how much to purchase, and how to store the provisions are tasks that anyone cruising on a boat must tackle (unless you are lucky enough to be anchored somewhere that has a boat "drive up" or delivery service like Pizza Pi).  In this time of COVID19 restrictions, even though many are not actively cruising, longer term provisioning is a similar task for anyone that doesn't want to visit a grocery store often regardless of if they are living on a boat or on land.  But where do you start.

My galley...which never looks this clean.

Unless you are one of those rare people that could appear on the food show "Chopped" where people whip up decent meals from random ingredients, you will probably need some recipes.  The old school card catalogs, recipe binders and books are one way to have recipes handy, but they can take up a lot of valuable space on a boat, are subject to water damage, and require a lot of manual work for  planning and provisioning.  One tool I have found helpful is a recipe app for my smart phone and tablet.  While electronics are still susceptible to water damage, having the data stored on multiple devices and taking some precautions to protect them will help ensure they are available when you need them.

In addition to storing the recipes, these apps can often help with meal planning and creating shopping lists to simplify provisioning tasks.  I originally started using an app called Pepperplate and found it to be adequate, if a bit glitchy at times.  Unfortunately, just as we were preparing for the Bahamas trip, the makers of Pepperplate suddenly sprung a paid subscription model on their users with no way to export their recipe data.  That behavior didn't sit well with me so I quickly tried to find a replacement  (they later provided a simple export after much backlash and a significant hit to their reputation among their users).  The requirements for the replacement application were:

• It must work on Android and preferably on Apple devices and Windows as well.
• It must store recipes in a local database so it works even with no internet connection.
• It must have some ability to generate meal plans for multiple days or weeks.
• It must be able to generate shopping lists from recipes and meal plans.
• It must have the ability to import/export recipe data.
• It should have the ability to synchronize data between multiple devices.
• It should have the ability to import recipes from popular online recipe sites.
• It should have the ability to scale recipes to vary number of servings.

With limited time, I narrowed it down to the two applications Paprika and RecetteTek.  Paprika is rather well regarded, but the trial was limited, purchase is per platform or per device and per major release (as best I can tell), and I didn't have time to dive very deep into its functionality before purchase as we were preparing for the trip at the time and I needed to manually rescue my data from Pepperplate before they shut me down.  I decided to give RecetteTek a try as it seemed to have most of the features I wanted and was free so my crew could also use it to help with planning without incurring an additional cost.  I'll do a review on it at some later point.  In general, these apps help make planning and provisioning easier and you end up with a shopping checklist of items to purchase without ending up with a bunch of missing ingredients or excesses.

RecetteTek with some of my
recipes and provision entries.

Another trick I figured out that is related to the recipe app is provisioning for other non-recipe or non-food consumables.  I created a "recipe" in the app that simply includes a list of snack and condiment items like popcorn, chips, candy, mustard, salt, and pepper as ingredients so they can be easily added to the provisioning grocery list.  Another has non-food consumables like toiletries and cleaners with estimated quantities of consumption for one person for one week (so you can simply scale the "recipe" for number of crew and length of time and then add it to the shopping list).  This way I don't forget to get the ketchup, dish soap, or toilet paper.

Obviously storage space is limited on a boat, and cold storage is at a premium so canned and dry goods, and recipes that can use them, are a great help.  Still, one likes to have fresh...or at least frozen...items around.  Of course, even if you are lucky enough to have refrigeration on your boat, that system has some quirks too.  Unlike the big refrigerators you find in the average American kitchen, the efficient boat refrigerators are often top loading, smaller overall size, and lack an air circulation fan.  The result is you can put a lot into a smaller space and they can run fairly efficiently on 12 or 24 volt power, but it takes a lot longer to cool or freeze items.

I've found 3 tricks to deal with the boat refrigerator.  The first is to realize the refrigerator is most efficient and works best when it is full, not empty.  So, if I don't have a lot of stuff to fill the refrigerator or freezer, I will place old milk jugs full of water in it to take up space and provide more thermal mass than the air alone.  Another trick is to never put anything warm in the refrigerator or freezer.  Since there is no circulation fan, all cooling is of a radiant nature and warm items take a very long time to come to temperature.  In the process the warm item can also warm up surrounding items which makes the whole thing less safe. The last trick, particularly for the freezer, is to package as much as possible in single serving or single use packages. Smaller packages take less time to cool before putting them in the fridge, can freeze faster than larger packages, can often make better use of refrigerator space, and doesn't require you to repeatedly thaw and refreeze items when you need some.

Turning a broccoli crown into multiple freezer packs using
the hints from the National Center for Home food Preservation.

One last thought about food storage...as this is what prompted me to actually start writing this post.  In this day of COVID19 I've found I'm taking a better look at how I am storing food on the boat.  I know that some things that we regularly refrigerate don't actually require refrigeration.  I didn't realize that cabbage, which seems to be refrigerated in the store, actually does better sitting on my counter than it does in a bag in the fridge. With the shortage of canned options, I've also been freezing some fresh stuff for later use.  I found this website that has recommendations and best practices for freezing all sorts of things (like the broccoli above).  The website theboatgalley.com also has many tips and tricks for food storage.

I hope this is helpful for your provisioning tasks...be it for a long cruise or just waiting out the current virus scare.  If you have other tips or tricks, I'd like to hear about them...so feel free to let me know in the comments below.

Thanks!...and stay tuned.

While we are making preparations for one last, hopefully more enjoyable, run down the Chesapeake and east coast, I wanted to take a few moments to say thank you.  We have received a overwhelming amount of support via the blog and email since I announced the unexpected change in plans.

As I guess is often the case in a public forum like this, there are a few that seem to feel it is necessary to point out how you were wrong and they would have done things differently even though they don't know or understand the whole story. Fortunately, in the cruising world, those types seem to be few and far between. That is the thing about the cruising lifestyle, the people out there doing it or dreaming of doing it are simply the best.  To those, I give my sincerest thank you for all of your support.

In other news...

Plans continue for our trip south and move back to land. I'm letting my wife decide the itinerary and timing and expect we will be taking off in the next week or two. In the meantime, believe it or not, there are a few minor things that need to be done on the boat.  This time they are not really necessary for safety as they are desirable for sale.  This has given me the chance to check out a couple stores in nearby Annapolis.

Our first stop was Bacon Sails.  Known for a large inventory of used sails, they also have a large selection of other used and new equipment.  The store is somewhat similar to Sailors Exchange in St. Augustine, but they have a bit less inventory and, well, less junk.  I actually went in looking for, among other things, a replacement handle for one of the hatches.  Somehow I managed to break the handle at the thickest part (I can only assume this is an old manufacturing defect). I didn't really expect to find the old Goiot handle so I was completely flabbergasted when I showed an employee the broken handle and he pointed to 3 baskets and said he thought he saw one in one of them.  Sure enough, we found it and it was even a never-used part.  Not a bad find for $4.

We also stopped by Fawcett. It is a West Marine like store with better prices.  I ended up picking up a cabin fan to replace a noisy and anemic fan we currently have as well as a couple other odds and ends.

I've added entries for these two stores on my Better Marine page. Well worth the stop if you are in the area.

The past week has been a heat wave here on the Chesapeake, so one good thing about being at the dock is we have air conditioning. Stay tuned...we will be heading out sometime soon.

Designs

The last few days I've been going back and forth on several design options for my hard top bimini replacement. I didn't realize that there would be this many decisions to be made for such a simple sounding project.  It's not rocket science, just a mostly flat fiberglass panel.

I've been in touch with a couple of friends who have Leopard 38's with hard tops to get pictures and design ideas.  One had a tubular aluminum frame, and plastic panels were laid on top to create the bimini.  The other was a molded fiberglass top that only utilized metal for a few struts at the front of top to hold it above the cabin roof (it may actually be one of the $15K tops built in Florida).  They are both nice tops and served their purpose, but the decision on which direction to go was an easy one there.  I'm no welder, so the more I can do out of fiberglass the better.  I guess I'm no expert at fiberglass either, but at least I've done small fiberglass projects with some success.

The next part of the design was how I wanted the top to cover the cockpit.  The soft top comes straight forward from the arch and then curves down as it gets to the helm, and I don't particularly like that.  All of the winches, except for the dinghy/traveler one, are also out in the weather, and it would be nice to have access to them from a dry location while sailing in rainy weather. So it made sense to try to create a 3-D model of the cockpit and see how various top configurations might look.

The top with an example 230 watt solar panel 

I downloaded a program called SketchUp and began working on creating a model of our cockpit. I wasn't looking for a detailed replica of our cockpit, just a rough approximation except for a few critical areas like the dimension and curve of the arch and cabin top as well as the location of the two sheet winches.  It took me a while to fight with learn to use the program but I finally gave up got the model close enough to be useful. Angled and curved surfaces were a pain to model.

I tried a variety of different ideas.  Should I embed the solar panels into the top thereby reducing the amount of materials I may need and allowing for better cooling of the panels?  Do I want to integrate a water collection system into the top? How far can I extend the top and brace it while allowing sufficient clearance for the winch handles? Can I integrate wiring chases into the design for the solar and cockpit lighting?  Can I integrate storage into the top?

The side profile of the top...I think it looks decent.

So far, I've decided that the best approach I can take is one of relative simplicity.  I'm adapting simple designs that I know have worked for other people, adjusting only to simplify the build and as needed to fit the boat.  I've had a difficult time finding solid engineering data so I'm leaning on the existing working designs as well as the advice of a couple of aerospace engineers I've met here at the marina (yep, I did in fact ask a couple of rocket scientists). The pictures you see in this post are what I have come up with.

An underside view of the top.  A couple minor drawing glitches.

The plan is that most of the top will consist of a foam cored fiberglass panel.  I'll use either 3/4" or 1" foam that will then have two layers of 12 oz biaxial cloth glassed on each side.  I may add a third layer to the bottom side for added rigidity as a deck surface.  The best information I have indicates the panel alone should be more than enough to support the weight of people and gear.

The handhold edge, bolt rope and rear tab detail.

U shaped channels will be created that run from front to back on the underside of the top to provide for wire chases as well as add a little additional rigidity across the length of the structure.  At the front and around the window cutout at the helm seat, a foam doubler may be added for additional rigidity in those areas,  Around the edges I'll create a rounded surface to act as a hand hold and to provide a bolt rope slot for attaching fabric dodgers.  The rear tab for mounting the top to the arch will be solid fiberglass around all mounting locations. In all locations where there will be penetrations, holes will be over-drilled and filled to seal the core.

So, what do you think?  I know some of you out there have some experience with fiberglass...so what have I missed?  I think I'm going cross-eyed staring at this drawing on the computer screen.

Starting to Purge

Among all the looking for a new boat, there was also an important step that I made a couple weeks ago.  I started getting rid of things since we need to purge much of our current lifestyle in order to begin the cruising lifestyle.  Actually, to be truthful, I got rid one big item...probably my prize possession.

I think this is the first time I've mentioned it on the blog, I am a pilot.  While I didn't learn to fly as a profession, I found flying to be very fun and relaxing.  My prize possession, as you might guess, was my airplane.  Now, before you think I'm rich, this was a small, single engine, 4-seat aircraft which costs about as much as many cars, used campers, or small (non-live-aboard) boats. Right about the time we were going thru the survey on the Lagoon 37 was when I sold the plane.  I'm happy to say that I sold the plane to a nice gentlemen who I think will take good care of her.

After selling the plane I had a hangar full of stuff that needed to go, so I had the first of what will undoubtedly be many garage sales in our future.  I wasn't entirely sure how an aviation specific garage sale in a hangar would go over, but I was able to get rid of a fair amount of stuff.  This was a particularly good thing as I didn't want to haul a bunch of the bigger or aviation specific items home (it's amazing how much stuff you can collect in 8 years).

It felt good to be getting rid of stuff and putting some extra cash back in the bank.  I will also be getting rid of the hangar rent bill at the end of the month and that will result in more cash in the bank while I still have a job.  I will miss the plane though.

Off Grid and Off Land

One of the big appeals of the Cruising Lifestyle to us is the ability to live off-the-grid.  As we work to narrow down our boat options, I'm currently taking a look at all the various systems and how to best meet our needs in a low-impact (both ecological and financial) manner.  Things that we pretty much take for granted on land by just paying a bill now need to be taken into greater consideration.  Propulsion, electronics and lighting, heat and air conditioning, cooking and refrigeration, hot and cold running water, etc. all require additional thought.

Lets take that last item of hot and cold running water as it makes a good example.  To have water on a boat (yes, there is some irony here as you are floating in it) you need a means of holding fresh water, filling the tank, heating the water, pressurizing the system so it will run, and getting the used water back out of the boat.

Live-aboard boats typically have fresh water tanks, so the only real concern is the size of the tank (and  I have no idea what to say about the size we might need at this point).

Filling the tank is another story.  To get fresh water into the tank, you can fill it up at a marina or run water jugs from shore in a dinghy, but that costs time and fuel in addition to the cost of the water itself.  You can run a water maker to convert that water you are floating in to fresh water, but that takes energy and you need relatively clean sea water to begin with.  Catching rain water seems to be the lowest energy usage option, but requires the weather to cooperate as well as appropriate clean surfaces to catch the rain and the ability to channel it into storage.

ECHOTec Water Maker components

Now that you have fresh water, you want some of it to be hot.  Homes can have solar hot water, and I did find at least one supplier of smaller marine solar water panels.  Due to the power consumption requirements, I don't think an electric heater is viable.  Tankless gas (propane) heater is a typical option. but that uses gas that then needs to be supplied to the boat.  Some systems use the heat generated by the engine(s) to heat water, but those require the engines to be run periodically to keep the temperatures up.

Getting the water flowing, both to the sinks and showers as well as from them, requires pumps.  There are manual pumps as well as electric ones.  I suppose you could run pumps on other fuel sources, but I imagine that is incredibly inefficient.

So, there is a lot to consider just looking at hot and cold running water.  Other systems have similar considerations.  Now we don't want to be spending all our time (or for that fact money) lugging fuels and water to the boat.  We also don't want to be leaving a large carbon footprint.

Electricity seems to be the best "fuel" option for many things.  With solar and wind generators, it should be in reasonably good supply.  It can run pumps, refrigeration, lights and electronics.   There is no doubt that we'll have solar and possibly wind to generate power.Unfortunately it isn't very efficient for cooking (I've heard a microwave can drain a typical boat battery bank in a matter of minutes).  Seems that propane fits the bill here. Would be nice to find a lower impact option.

For hot water, solar would be nice if it would work and propane makes a reasonable backup. For propulsion (when we are not using wind), electric would be a nice option, I just wonder if the technology is up to the task.  Otherwise we will be relegated to either gasoline or diesel.  Maybe we could do a hybrid....hmmmm.

A Good Book on Cruising in the Caribbean

There has been a book that has been mentioned on several blogs that I follow.  I finally got a chance to read "An Embarrassment of Mangoes: A Caribbean Interlude" by Ann Vanderhoof.

The book chronicles the real-life two-year trip of Ann (a publisher) and her husband as they put their careers on hold and sail from Canada thru the Caribbean and back and how that trip changed their perspective on a great many things.  You are introduced not just to the locales that they visit, but the people they meet along the way and the challenges of making a lifestyle change like this.  At the end of each chapter you are also introduced to some of the local cuisine they encounter in the form of recipes.

It is not the typical travel book and is a very good read for anyone that is considering this sort of lifestyle.