Provisioning for an Atlantic crossing can be a daunting and time consuming task. ARC seminars on the subject were extremely popular and many top tips have been shared at the nightly ARC sundowners to save space on board and ensure food keeps well for as long as possible whilst at sea. In the middle of the Atlantic, there’s no corner shop to pick up missing ingredients!
On the pontoons in Muelle Deportivo today, you can see ARC participants washing their fruits and vegetables carefully to ensure they are clean before stowing on board. On many boats, labels are removed from tins and cans, which are then marked on the top according to their content allowing them to be easily identified once stowed. Only after the washing and marking is the food then placed on board and is carefully stowed away according to a more or less sophisticated system. Order is a must, and with over three weeks of food stored in every available cupboard, it’s important for the crew to know where things are.
As well as food, huge amounts of water are taken on. Other popular beverages are soft drinks and, on the cruising boats, beer and wine. Many sailors like to have a sundowner or a glass of wine with their meal. On the racing boats however, alcohol is a “no go” and only permitted at the half way celebrations at sea.
On boats like BOINGO ALIVE with 9 crew on board you can spot a whole pork leg and the obligatory banana bunch; others like ALBATROS have got a freezer on board and can freeze fruits and vegetables in portions. The meat is vacuum packed and is delivered pre-frozen on board. Luxury items like Christmas pudding, foie gras and champagne for the year-end-parties can also been found in some of the delivered boxes.
Whatever the quality of living as to food and drinks on board may be, nobody will die of thirst or hunger during ARC 2013!