Zaurak's Bimbling Blog
Sunday 8th December 2019
Provisioning
Day 15 at sea. This morning the crew chose from a mixed breakfast of muesli, bran flakes, toast and tinned peaches, alongside tea, instant and fresh coffee. Lunch was freshly baked bread, creamy butter, freshly made coleslaw and boiled eggs, Gran Canarian cheese, and the skipper's favourite, Marmite. We are soon to tuck into the end of the post-mid-point Toblerone. How, after 15 days away from land and food markets, are we able to maintain this level of variation and deliciousness?
Over to our provisioner for the trans-Atlantic crossing, Claire Walsh.
A: Claire, what made you take on the task in the first place?
C: the fact that my dad [skipper] would have had nothing but Marmite, instant coffee and Weetabix on board had I not done this. And I like cooking.
A: We sailed together across the Bay of Biscay and from Lagos to Gran Canaria, both four-plus days at sea. What did you learn from provisioning for these shorter trips? Did you adjust anything for a crew that includes my brother, a notorious four-thousand-calorie-a-day type of sailor?
C: Yes, I learnt loads from the trips. I found the perfect bread mix during the course of the journeys. I still cannot get milk quantities right, I kept reducing and reducing it and still too much milk! And I learnt that cabbage keeps forever but not in a damp cupboard.
Yes, I counted Pete as two people, I provisioned for seven people, rather than six, for twenty-eight days for this trip. And then re-provisioned when Pete ate three days of muesli in one sitting before we left port.
A: There's a book on board called 'The Care and Feeding of Sailing Crew' by Lin and Larry Pardey in which some advice before leaving port includes: 'I would have the wife of married men prepare one main evening meal [...] The single fellows contributed hors d'oeuvres'. I also know the ARC have some insightful tips regarding provisioning. Did you take on any of the Pardey's 1980's advice? If not, where did you do most of your research in the end?
C: Google, the Sailing Anarchy forum and trying things out at home.
A: I saw a picture of a rather mouldy cabbage that had been stored for over a month on the boat in harbour to test how long it would last. What other tests did you try and learn from?
C: So I have tried every way of keeping carrots at home out of the fridge. It's impossible. Everyone has their own method and they're all lies. I've tried dry, moist, soil covered, dark, newspaper wrapped, foiled wrapped and none of the above work. The fridge was the final option, but I had been reliably informed that carrots could be kept out of the fridge. Hmpf.
A: The fresh bread is a great success, providing crew with a task and a little bit of competition into who can make the best. This was a stroke of inspiration and means we don't have to eat too much of the bread with suspiciously long date stamps into 2020. Apart from the bread, what has been the most successful of your discoveries for provisioning a boat for six people for a two to four week trans-Atlantic voyage?
C: To give Adrian his credit, fresh bread was his idea and he bought the loaf tin. Other than that, realising how long you can keep fresh fruit for in hanging baskets. And the bananas. Perfecting the green banana picking, there should be a colour chart for it, four week bananas, three week bananas,... In fact, the Claire Walsh Banana Colour Chart, copyright pending.
A: one of the most satisfied I see you is when talking about your provisioning Excel spreadsheet. Tell us about it.
C: It's been through four iterations, it has five different tabs. It is now at the stage when you can put in how many days you are sailing for and how many crew are on board and it spits out all the stuff you need to buy -- which you then inevitability cannot buy in the local supermarket.
A: Any other comments about the provisioning?
C: It's been an opportunity to reduce the meat intake of my father, in a bid to make him healthier. It's the only moment when I have full control over his dietary intake.
Also chocolate! People are just erratic with their chocolate consumption, sometimes they eat loads, other times nothing. I had a bit of a panic on day four when half the chocolate had gone, but now there is still some left, so for now it's fine.
A: Adrian asks how you feel about having a dry boat [alcohol free]?
C: Gave me more space for chickpeas.
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