Hi! This is Cindy aboard our Selene 2008 Classic Explorer, “Kallisto.” My husband Steve and I have owned our vessel for four years, enjoying our time cruising the beautiful Chesapeake Bay. During this period, we’ve been equipping the boat to travel out on longer-distance cruises along the East Coast and The Bahamas in preparation for Steve’s retirement.
To name a few upgrades, Steve has installed a new navigation system, solar panels, lithium batteries, and Starlink. Steve’s retirement day finally arrived on November 1st, and just two weeks later, we put our plans into motion, leaving our home port to cruise down the East Coast to Florida and spend the winter months in The Bahamas.
One question I’ve been asked by several people is, “How do you provision for food while out cruising?” While I’m not an expert and everyone develops their own approach, here’s the method behind my madness—it might be helpful to others. Can you spot our little dog, Mattie in the picture by the lazarette door? She likes to keep an eye out for her Mommy.
First, I talked to seasoned voyagers to get their advice. I listened carefully to what worked for them and what didn’t, incorporating some of their ideas into my plan. One useful tip I received was to bring steaks onboard for trading with locals in The Bahamas for fresh-caught fish—especially since we aren’t experienced fishermen (yet!).
Next, I invested in a small vacuum sealer. For extended cruising, frozen food is essential, and vacuum-sealed items last much longer. Even though provisioning is possible at various East Coast ports, I didn’t want to risk not having access to certain products. I’m also particular about some items, especially meat.
Two months before leaving our home port, I stocked up on organic chicken and beef from my local Amish market and vacuum-sealed meal portions for two. I also prepared some of our favorite dishes like lasagna and packaged them into individual portions. Once ready, I filled our lazarette freezer, the galley freezer, and a portable freezer we keep on the flybridge. (We just love the storage capacity of our Selene!)
To save space, I removed the original packaging from any prepackaged frozen items. This also helps reduce garbage while cruising, always an issue – especially in The Bahamas where waste disposal options are limited. For items with cooking instructions on the packaging, I took photos and saved them in an album on my phone for easy access later.
To stay organized while planning for our cruise, I’ve relied heavily on spreadsheets. For provisioning, I created a master spreadsheet listing all food items, categorized by sections such as breakfast, protein, baking, cooking, appetizers, snacks, and vegetables. I track quantities and have been updating the sheet as we’ve consumed items, so I’d know what needs to be replenished.
In addition to frozen foods, I stocked our pantry with plenty of canned goods. I never buy items we don’t enjoy, such as canned vegetables, as there are plenty of good frozen vegetable options and we have freezer space for them. I also try to reduce paper good waste. We use dishes instead of paper plates and we use reusable food storage bags or containers instead of disposable.
Provisioning is, of course, limited by the space you have onboard, and you sometimes need to be innovative. For instance, on Kallisto there’s an open space under the cabinet drawer below our stove that initially seemed useless. Steve had the idea of creating custom 3D-grooved inserts to store wine bottles horizontally. That small cabinet now holds 21 bottles of wine – perfect! We also lined every cabinet with non-slip liners to prevent items from shifting while underway, especially in rough seas.
As an interesting side note, I was curious how artificial intelligence (AI) could help in planning my provisioning, so I askedChatGPT for a 120-day food provisioning plan. It provided useful suggestions for food items, quantities, and even recipes using those ingredients. It also saved me a lot of time typing everything out! I printed out the lists (with some modifications) and now keep them in a binder onboard. While I appreciate having digital tools, I like having hard copies of certain information as a backup. The use of AI in provisioning worked so well that I also asked ChatGPT for suggested anchorages and marinas along the east coast and it provided me with a list for that as well! As a cautionary note, if you’re going to use AI, you need to be specific with the questions you ask and read over the response carefully to ensure accuracy. While I’ve found the results to be helpful, there are always little areas requiring review. Trust, but verify!
So, that’s a brief overview of how I prepared for food provisioning (and more). I hope this helps anyone to plan a similar adventure! What are your food provisioning tips? Let me know at: News@seleneowners.org.
Roseanne Tilden (
Koinonia) responded by sharing this fish recipe. Thank you, Roseanne!:
I thought I would share a fish recipe with you that many have asked for after I cooked this for them. It is a Parmesan ranch topper to put on top of salmon or halibut.
2 C mayonnaise
3 Tbl dry Ranch dressing mix
1/2 tsp horseradish
1 1/4 C grated Parmesan cheese
Mix all this together and let sit for a few hours for the flavors to meld.
350F oven
Tip of experience: grease the pan, or it will be very hard to remove the fish when serving.
When cooking fish, season as usual except go light on salt. (there is quite a bit of salt in the topping.) Lay the fish out on a broiler pan or the like with flesh side up.
If some of the pieces are thick, cut in half so all the fish cooks at the same time. Spread on the Mayo/Parmesan mixture about 1/4 inch thick onto all the fish pieces. Bake for 10 minutes then check to see if the fish is done.
Enjoy.
Roseanne