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Planning the Best Passage Meals

Published on January 18, 2023 ; last updated on January 16, 2023 by Carolyn Shearlock

Let’s talk a bit about eating when on passage and preparing meals for a passage. Some of the same principles apply whether it’s an all-day jump or a Pacific crossing! 

Passage Meals Tip #1: Finger Foods 

First off, we tend to “graze” more than eat sit-down meals, and almost everyone else I’ve talked to says the same thing. I learned this on our first overnight passage! You won’t find it practical to sit down to eat if the sea-state is choppy. Or if the boat is heeled over. And even if the off-watch crew is sleeping.

So, don’t plan on too many “real meals”. Keep your focus on healthy convenience foods . 

We eat a lot of grab-and-eat snacks, but not junk food. Trail mix, yogurt, applesauce, raisins, boiled eggs, nuts, apples, oranges, cheese, pre-cooked chicken breast tenders, and sausage slices are all good. People are likely to eat more than they do normally unless conditions are very calm. Set up your passage meals like you are feeding an army of teenagers. Have plenty of high protein and carbs. Ideally items you can eat with one hand. 

Passage Meals Tip #2: Pre-Packaged Foods 

Another way to increase convenience is to purchase items in single-serving containers and/or package into single servings ahead of time so that it’s very easy to just grab something underway.  

A favorite example is to pre-make sandwiches and have them bagged up and ready to grab out of the fridge. Having a stack of ready-made sandwiches is a big help when you’re hungry and need a relatively large meal. We use a slice of cheese between the bread and tomato to keep the juice from making the bread soggy but still get a nice, market-style sandwich with plenty of turkey meat. You can also make a batch of tuna or chicken salad that can easily be eaten with crackers and a piece of fruit.  

Even though lots of snack foods come in single-serve containers, you can cut down on single-use plastic. Just make your own snack mixes and store them with a serving scoop inside the container. 

Passage Meals Tip #3: Batch Cook Casseroles 

Yep, that old standby, the casserole. Before you head offshore, it’s smart to make a few dinners in advance. This is for two reasons: (1) if someone has a tendency towards seasickness, the less time spent inside the boat, the better, and (2) if someone is on watch, they need to be on deck and not down fixing their snack.  

If you know you’ll have a few days of queasy stomachs to start off with, make a batch of something nice and bland, like chicken and rice. Keeping bellies full of something starchy can help ease the symptoms of nausea. Pop in a couple of cups of broccoli or peas and carrots, and you’ll be set with a relatively nutritious meal that is easy on the tummy. 

Other options include baked ziti, shepherd’s pie, enchiladas, chicken alfredo bake, and of course, the breakfast casserole. All these options can be easily reheated from frozen and eaten in a bowl with a spoon or fork. No knife required! Check out all our boat friendly recipes for options you’ll enjoy.

Remember that if you’re on a multi-day passage, time of day tends not to matter with what you eat since you’ll be sleeping at odd hours. Don’t think of things in terms of breakfast, lunch, and dinner. You very well might be eating your first meal of the day at noon! 

Passage Meals Tip #4: Cooking Underway 

Cooking underway takes some practice. But there are a few techniques (cooking and boat handling) that will make it a bit easier.

One-Skillet Recipes

Let’s say you’re on a multi-week passage and will run out of your pre-made meals – even the casseroles! Now’s the time to lean into those one-skillet recipes. You may be forced to get out ingredients and a pan but trying to cook underway should be made as simple and safe as possible. 

Mise en Place

You can give yourself a head start on those one-skillet meals by handling your mise en place in advance – including pre-measuring the spices the recipe calls for. Think of it as preparing a meal kit so all you have to do is grab the containers and dump the ingredients in the pan. Remember to include something to thicken sauces, like a sprinkling of corn starch or flour so they don’t slosh. 

A word about using the stove and oven underway: If the sea state is making cooking underway too uncomfortable, heave-to for a half an hour and get your meal made. There is no reason to risk spilling a hot skillet all over the galley (and yourself!) to try and make some arbitrary deadline. Wind dies, squalls happen, sheets wrap on cleats, furlers bind, and meals must be made. Sometimes you just slow down and get the job done.  

A final word about longer passages. Even without weather or mechanical challenges, passages are tough on your body, with heat or cold and watch standing. Avoid sugar crashes and sleepiness by limiting junk food and high carb treats. Use caffeine sparingly, since when you are off watch, you want to be able to sleep!  

Passage Meals Tip #5: Keep the Weather in Mind 

Hot or cold meals? It depends on the weather. If you’re hot, a cold meal is generally welcome, and hot food is a great comfort if it’s cold. Either way, try to prepare things ahead of time: a big bowl of pasta salad (with meat or cheese to make it hearty) or soup that can just be re-heated.  

Cold, fresh fruit, especially juicy things like watermelon, really hits the spot on a hot day. And no one can resist a mug of hot cocoa on a cold, wet night! Never underestimate the joy a well-timed and thoughtful snack can bring to an exhausted crew member. These small joys can lift the morale of everyone and make happy memories of long passages. 

Passage Meals Tip #6: Use Your Freezer 

For a longer trip, mix up your pre-made meals as you pack them into the freezer, so that you can pull things out from the top without getting chili three days in a row. If you have to unpack the freezer to get to things in the bottom, you will never get things packed back in the same way!  

You probably don’t have enough freezer space to pre-make enough meals for the whole trip, so if you are enjoying a relatively calm day, use that time to restock the freezer. 

Above all, plan foods and meals that everyone aboard enjoys. A passage is not the time to try new recipes or figure that you can “stand to” eat something just for a few days. Tried and true favorites are best. 

Passage Meals Tip #7: Have a Meal Together 

I recommend that you plan to have one meal together each day. Otherwise, you really don’t get to spend much time with each other on passage – one of you will be on watch and the other, trying to get some sleep. And for that meal, I do try to have more of a meal, but still foods that are easy to eat if conditions are at all sporty.  

Being able to change watch at sunset or sunrise and enjoy dinner or breakfast is a wonderful way to enjoy being on passage together. 

Passage Meals Tip #8: Make Up Food-Related Rituals 

In addition to toasting your first crossing of the Equator and pouring a shot for Neptune, make up your own rituals around food to create memories and mark the passage of miles under the keel. Some ideas include: 

• Toast the sunrise with your morning coffee and express gratitude for safely making it through the night. 
• With your evening meal or sundowner with the whole crew, do a round of Best, Worst, Surprise. (Take turns telling everyone the best, worst, and most unexpected thing that happened that day.) 
• Pack a few Latitude Snacks (or Longitude Snacks) when you cross the next 5- or 10-degree line of latitude (or longitude). Bring something special from home, bake a treat, or make a special meal to mark those milestones and break up the passage. 
• Make a point of having a “halfway cake” to celebrate the mid-point of long passages. (Hat tip to Sailing Totem for this one.) 
• Enjoy a celebratory arrival beverage after pulling into port or greeting new crew members’ arrival. Break out the bubbly, cider, or a favorite rum and toast to your successful voyage! 

Finally, enjoy the trip! 

And check out our other courses and products

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Reader Interactions

Paul Harmina says

December 20, 2023 at 11:38 am

Very good information, especially concerning cooking under way. My favorite cookbook is “the One Pan Galley Gourmet”. I like only having one pot or pan to clean as well. As a delivery captain i like to make things as simple as possible

December 20, 2023 at 11:27 pm

Great Ideas. We use our vacuum bagger a lot for trips. Pre measure rice, pasta, grits etc with the time to cook and amount of water for rice or grits. Just cut open the bag, dump in the boiling water, and time. Keeps for ever, no bugs or boxes. Also bag cooked manicotti, stuffed shells, crepe filling, soups that are kept frozen. pork chops, chicken, steak. All in serving size for the two of us (or if more people larger to suit). In vacuum bags the stuff keeps for 4 times longer than in zip lock bags. Also vacuum daily servings of vitamins, Citrical, powdered drinks. Use 12 inch bags cut into 4 inch strips, seal between 6 segments. Keeps forever. We have 3 boxes for the top loading freezer, bottom for last week, next for two weeks out etc.

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Food for sailing: Our guide to the best options

• June 8, 2021

Looking to choose the right food for sailing? Toby Hodges and Rupert Holmes highlight and review a variety of easy meals, snacks and supplements for the galley locker

Clarisse Cremer delights in fresh citrus during the 2020/21 Vendee Globe

While we know the top professional sailors, Olympians and America’s Cup grinders are lean, mean machines who inhale protein shakes to fuel their elite exercise routines, there is also a growing appetite from us mere recreational sailors to take nutrition more seriously when we consider the best food for sailing.

And while a liveaboard lifestyle of growing your own salads and herbs and living off fresh fish may be the dream, the reality for most is that we’re sailing for short periods and convenience food often comes first.

Volvo Ocean Race sailors tuck in to some much needed freeze dried food. Photo: Matt Knighton

Food for sailing typically still consists of ‘meal deal’ affairs, comprising sandwiches, sugary drinks and chocolate bars, but replacing the sandwich for a nutrient and calorie rich meal could pay, and certainly opting for snacks and drinks based on natural ingredients rather than sugary foods which cause spikes and slumps in energy.

There are also a growing number of natural products becoming available in easily digestible forms to help with sports recovery, which could prove useful to keep in the galley lockers. Turmeric for example has been linked with aches and pain relief and ginger can help alleviate seasickness.

Expedition Foods

Perhaps the most well-known brand of freeze-dried and vacuum-pack meals is Expedition Foods. This UK brand, favoured by sailors, rowers, mountaineers and adventurers, has a big range of dried and wet food, ration packs, gels, and snacks, with good information about calorie intake and three different calorie versions of each meal.

Will Hodshon and Richard Mitchell relied on Expedition pouches as their main source of food for sailing during their record breaking sail around Britain in a Wayfarer open dinghy in 2019. Having ingested two 1,000 calorie meals a day for their 15 day voyage, Hodshon says these ready meals were often a highlight of their day.

“Rich being a veggie, crossed his fingers for the mac and cheese, but I thought it was hard to beat the spag bol for a bit of home comfort on the high seas,” he tells me.

Buy Expedition Foods’ Spaghetti Bolognese from Amazon (UK)

Buy Expedition Foods’ Macaroni and Cheese from Amazon (UK)

Note: We may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site, at no extra cost to you. This doesn’t affect our editorial independence.

This French firm is a giant in the industry and supplied a number of Vendee Globe skippers, including Louis Burton and Jean Le Cam, as well as Dutch Golden Globe Race competitor Mark Slats.

The premise is to produce meals that are as close to restaurant quality as possible. Portions are vacuum-sealed in aluminium pouches and can be boiled in their bags or heated in a conventional oven.

The cuisse de canard confite (confit duck leg) is super tender and juicy – if plated up with veg and potatoes you’d never guess it had come out of a sachet with a 3-year shelf life at room temperature.

On the downside this option falls short of being a complete meal in a bag and needs to be accompanied by carbohydrate and veg. It’s one of a range of 20 different recipes in which classic French meat dishes figure heavily.

Buy confit duck leg from Le Bon Bag

Available in pouch form to which you add boiling water, or, as we tried, as a ready to go meal with self-heater supplied with the pack. The heater bags just need a little water (50ml) to activate them, and can then heat the meal (or a soup or hot drink) in 12 minutes, with no fuel or fire needed.

The food pouches are ready meals, so no need to rehydrate them. This means the texture and taste is a lot closer to a freshly made meal than dried food, yet they still have a three-year shelf life.

The chicken Madras is tasty and spicy, with proper chunks of meat and texture. I was puzzled by the ‘zero trace’ claim on what looks like landfill packaging, but Forestia says all its packaging is 100% recyclable.

Buy Fiorestia Chicken Madras from Amazon (UK)

Adventurers started this Dorset company in 2017 after they couldn’t find tasty natural portable food. Founder John Fisher wanted a preservative-free alternative to the freeze-dried meals he was used to relying on when trekking and insisted on using locally sourced fresh ingredients with no additives or flavourings.

The complete one-pot meals are hand-cooked and then dehydrated – as opposed to the common method which mixes ingredients after they have been freeze-dried.

I have tried a couple of these, back when the company was fairly new and was impressed with the taste – particularly the chilli and risotto meals. Perhaps there is a psychological element at play, knowing you’re eating properly sourced and prepared food, but it certainly helps it taste a cut above any other dehydrated food.

Firepot has now extended the range of foods offered and developed a range of eco-packaged meals, which use bio-sourced compostable bags. These obviously need to be heated in a pan not a bag and have a reduced shelf life (one year as opposed to the three of its yellow plastic waterproof pouches), but present a great eco-alternative for those seeking environmentally friendly food for sailing.

Buy Firepot Chilli at Amazon (UK)

Freeze-dried alternatives

I’ve found that vegetarian freeze dried meals can have a more realistic texture than those with meat and Summit’s vegetable chipolote chilli with rice is no exception. Indeed there were few signs that it was freeze dried, though I allowed it to absorb moisture for longer than the stated period.

A recommendation from Tony White, veteran of many double-handed Rolex Fastnet races, as well as the AZAB and Round Britain and Ireland, is to empty the contents of a freeze-dried pack into a wide-neck Thermos jar, then leave the meal to soak up water for at least 30 minutes (three times the usual recommended period).

As well as the palatable texture, this chilli tastes good as well, especially if you like spicy food, though my first choice would still be a wet meal.

Buy Summit’s Vegetable Chilli with Rice from Amazon (UK)

Part of the Katadyn group, which includes Katadyn and Spectra watermakers, these German made products cater for all meals, snacks and rations.

TreknEat has partnered with the Global Challenge Race 2023 to provide skippers with reduced cost meal options. These freeze-dried products are quick and easy to make. The Chicken in Curried Rice smells and looks like it tastes – not great. Stodgy and unnecessarily sweet.

However, while these are not an everyday option for a cruising sailor, their five year shelf life makes them a handy alternative to have in the locker to warm you up and give you the protein and energy needed on a cold day at sea.

They average 600 calories per pouch. Breakfasts and desserts are also available, including muesli and mousse.

Buy TreknEat Chicken in Curried Rice from Amazon (UK)

Tribal Baobab smoothies

Described as the ultimate super-fruit, this African fruit is one of the most nutrient dense foods, which is rich in calcium, iron, potassium, and vitamin C.

The smoothies are created by blending wild harvested baobab with high-quality organic ingredients to provide a pouch that aids slow energy release, digestive health and strength.

These vegan friendly products are less concentrated than most energy smoothies so are easier on the stomach. Taste wise, if you’re not used to energy gels it does feel like you’re ingesting pureed baby food and it’s a tad acidic.

But I like that this Westcountry-based firm is bringing out prototype recyclable propylene pouches this summer and its founder Chris Martin tells me it is “part of an initiative to produce a compostable pouch from seaweed in Falmouth bay – which will take 18 months.”

Buy Tribal Baobab Smoothies from Amazon (UK)

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Sailing recipes perfect for cooking aboard a yacht

By Yacht Week

Posted on 29th January 2020

Sweet potato and steak salad with honey mustard dressing

• 4 golden sweet potatoes (cubed)
• 5 sirloin steaks (or similar)
• 1 large packet of Greek feta
• 3 bags of fresh arugula/rocket
• 2 sliced red onions
• 2 cooked white onions (optional)
• 2 packets of cherry tomatoes (sliced in half)
• 1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
• 1 Tbsp honey
• Lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp butter (for cooking)
• 1 garlic clove (peeled and crushed)
• 1 tsp balsamic vinegar
• 2 Tbsp cider vinegar
• 6 Tbsp sunflower oil
• Begin with seasoning your cubed potatoes with paprika, salt, pepper and a drizzle of honey, and then roasting them in the oven. Preparing this in the morning ensures they cook up nice and crispy.   For the dressing: mix dijon mustard, honey, garlic, balsamic vinegar, cider vinegar, sunflower oil, salt and pepper in a bowl to taste. Mix well to a smooth runny consistency. You can always use a blender if it’s available.   For the steaks: generously season the steaks with salt and pepper on both sides. Heat your skillet (preferably cast iron) to high for 5 minutes, then add butter to the pan and immediately top with a steak. Cook for 3-4 minutes before turning over, and cook for a further 2 minutes for rare (or a further 3-4 for medium-rare). Continue this process for all your steaks, then leave them to rest for five minutes before slicing and serving. At this point, you can add your sliced white onions to the pan.   While steaks rest, add your salad ingredients to a bowl then add the feta and sweet potato, making sure it is well mixed.   To serve firstly plate the salad and potato mix, then place the steak on top, being careful with the aesthetics. Finally, top with cooked white onions if you want too, and drizzle the honey mustard dressing over and around the plate.

Chilli and lemon prawn linguine

• 2kg king prawns (frozen or fresh)
• 1.5-2kg dried linguine (depending on everyone's appetite)
• 1 fresh lemon
• 1 white onion (diced)
• 2 packs cherry toms (sliced in half)
• 1 yellow pepper (sliced or diced)
• 3 garlic cloves
• Small glass white wine
• 1L carton cooking cream (or half and half)
• Fresh chilli flakes
• Black pepper
• Fresh parsley
• 100g parmesan (grated)
• Parmesan shavings (extra for serving)
• Fresh arugula/rocket
• Start by dicing the onion and frying it off with one of the garlic cloves and a dash of olive oil. When the temperature is up, add the prawns.   While prawns are simmering, put your linguine on to boil in another pot.   Once the prawns are cooked through and smelling delicious, add the white wine and cooking cream. There should now be a lot of liquid now, so if your frying pan is not deep enough, you can transfer the ingredients to a pot.   Add your sliced (for texture) or diced yellow pepper. Turn the heat down to a simmer.   Add black pepper, paprika, chilli flakes, parmesan and a large dash of lemon juice to the mix.   Leave the sauce to simmer for around 20 minutes to let all the flavours come together. Add another glove of garlic if you feel it needs more flavour.   Once the pasta is ready and you are ready to serve, add the cherry tomatoes and finely chopped fresh parsley to the sauce.   To serve, either mix the linguine into the sauce or layout the pasta and spoon the prawn mix over the top. Finish with a bundle of fresh arugula/rocket, fresh parmesan shavings, cracked black pepper and a lemon wedge.

Slow-cooked sweet and sticky beef pad thai

• 2kg boneless roast beef
• 1 cup beef stock
• 4 garlic cloves
• Large piece of ginger
• 4 eschalots, thinly sliced
• 800g stir fry noodles (4 x 200g packs)
• 1 head of broccoli (or other veg as substitute)
• 2 white onions
• 1 packet of peanuts (crushed)
• Sesame seeds
• 10 eggs (one per dish)
• 5 limes (sliced into wedges)
• Sliced chillI
• Spring onions
• Heat oil in a large heavy-based ovenproof saucepan over medium-high heat. Cook the beef for 10-12 minutes or until well-browned all over. Set aside.   Reduce heat to medium. Add eschalot and stir for 5 minutes or until softened in the same pan. Add garlic and ginger and stir for 1 minute or until fragrant. Return meat to the pan and add soy, sugar and stock until all meat is covered. Bring to the boil. Cover and cook on a simmering stove for 2 hours or until very tender. Using two forks (or your own preferred method), shred the beef. It should fall apart very easily if it has been cooked for long enough.   Stir-fry your broccoli (or other veg) with garlic and sesame oil until soft and set aside. Cook your noodles until al dente and set aside. It is very important not to overcook the noodles or they will become mush in the pan.   Cook each serving of pad thai individually (or two at a time), using a large wok or frying pan. Add sesame oil, soy sauce and fish sauce to the noodles in the wok, then toss and add one egg (per serving) and vegetables. Toss until mixed well and egg is cooked through.   Plate noodles first then add beef on top, using lime, peanuts, sesame seeds and chilli for garnish. Repeat for all ten servings.

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• Digital Editions

Cooking on a boat: how to create delicious meals in the galley

• Stef Bottinelli

There's nothing quite like enjoying a meal at sea, but it can be tricky to cook in a small galley and ingredients may not always be available. YBW speaks to Fiona Sims, the author of 'The Boat Cookbook: Real Food for Hungry Sailors', a book full of easy and mouthwatering recipes - many contributed by sailing and cooking legends such as Robin Knox-Johnson, Dee Caffari and Angela Hartnett - that are perfect to make on a boat.

Doesn’t food always taste better at sea? The smell of the sea in the air, sprays of salty water on the skin as you sail, the sun disappearing over the horizon… .Is there a better place than on a boat to crack open a cold beer or drink a glass of wine and enjoy a delicious meal? There’s nothing quite as lovely as eating on board, but nothing quite as tricky as preparing a delicious feast in a small space with limited tools, ingredients and often no fridge or oven.

Food, drink, travel writer and sailing-enthusiast Fiona Sims knows this all too well after many trips and many meals on boats. Faced with the reality of meals on board, Sims has come come up with the idea of The Boat Cookbook: Real Food for Hungry Sailors . The writer has put together this wonderful recipe book with practicality in mind. She asked top chefs and sailing legends to share some of their favourite recipes. Angela Hartnett, Chris Galvin, Sir Robin Knox-Johnston and Dee Caffari are just a few names who have contributed to the book.

What inspired you to compile a cook book specific to cooking on boats with minimal equipment?

It’s who, rather than what – my Dad. He kept losing the scribbled-down recipes that I gave him to improve his basic cooking skills on board, which used to be all tinned Bolognese and powdered mash. And while some of the recipes might be useful for those on long ocean crossings, The Boat Cookbook is really intended for people, like me, who sail at weekends in boats with tiny galleys, and are looking for some inspiration.

How did your love for boats start?

I’ve been sailing since I was 8 years old. I grew up in south London and on weekends, from Easter through to the end of the summer, my parents would cram me, my younger sister and brother into the car and head down to Hythe on the south coast trailing a Mirror dinghy (and later a Laser), packed with a picnic and lifejackets hidden underneath the tarpaulin. I only started cooking on board in my early 20s when Dad owned his first proper sailing boat – a 23ft Virgo Voyager, with a postage stamp-sized kitchen, later progressing to cooking on Dad’s current, yacht, an aged 29ft Westerly Konsort, moored in Yarmouth Harbour on the Isle of Wight.

What’s the most basic dish you’ve made with the fewest of ingredients and kitchen tools that turned out to be a success?

My baked Vacherin, on page 95. When shoved in the oven in its box with a little wine, it makes an instant fondue, without all that grating and stirring. I might open a bag of salad and toss the leaves with a vinegary dressing to serve with it. And if Vacherin isn’t available, you can use a bog standard Camembert.

What are the most common mistakes people make when cooking (or hoping to cook) on a boat?

The secret to cooking on board is to go for dishes made with the minimum fuss and the maximum flavour, so don’t get too ambitious. Space is at a premium, so choose your kit carefully. Pots and pans should stack easily, and the dishes should be both oven- and table-friendly. There are lots of space-saving options around, so take advantage of the latest clever kitchenware – Joseph Joseph is a good source. Measure the top of your hob first and check that the pans will be able to sit together in most combinations.

What tips and tricks could you share with our readers?

Keep a master list of everything you stash on board, then every time you finish something, cross it off so you remember to replace it the next time you shop. Always have a store cupboard supper or two stashed away for when you arrive too late for the shops, or can’t get ashore. If you’re missing an ingredient, be brave and substitute another. Buy a good knife, keep it sharp and store it safely; it will make life on board easier and cut down on preparation times. Keep a stash of dried porcini on board – they tart up ordinary mushrooms a treat, and act as a flavour bomb for soups and stews.

Have you ever foraged your ingredients and what were the best ones you’ve found that went into a great recipe?

Come late summer you’ll find me in the hedgerows. British hedgerows in particular are bursting with wild blackberries. I add them to my porridge in the morning, or for a quick delicious dessert on board, smother sun-ripened blackberries with thick double cream, sprinkle over caster sugar and grill for 3-4 minutes.

Can you share a couple of dos and don’ts when cooking on a boat?

Do buy cheap non-stick frying pans (Ikea is a good source), far easier on the washing up and you can just bin them when the surfaces are worn

Don’t be afraid of a pressure cooker – it’s the fastest route to a sustaining meal on board, transforming dried beans into soups and stews in just 20 minutes, and it will survive happily after an errant wake.

See the recipes here

The Boat Cookbook: Real Food for Hungry Sailors by Fiona Sims is published by Bloomsbury

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From Dee Caffari's tortilla pizza to The Boat Cookbook's author Fiona Sims brown shrimp and borlotti beans salad, these delicious…

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SailingEurope Blog - Sailing, Yacht Charter and Beyond

What to Eat when Sailing: 10 Simple Meals Ideas for Your Sailing Holiday

Dear sailors and sailing lovers! Looking for some fresh ideas on what simple meals to prepare during your sailing holiday? You’ve come to the right place! Learn how to prepare simple but delicious food aboard your bareboat charter in no time following the recipes written by Janko, a professional skipper with vast experience in all areas related to sailing.

What Food Should I Bring on a Sailing Trip?

On a sailing trip, you should bring pasta, vegetables, fruit, bread, meat, cheese, milk, rice and eggs. These are the ingredients you can make almost anything with. Therefore, it would be great if you brought these ingredients on board.

You should always bring some food on a sailing trip. It is the best option as you will not always need to go back to the land to fill your stomach. Nothing is stopping you from making delicious meals right there on your boat.

Foodwise, on a sailing trip you must bring pasta , vegetables , fruit , and bread . Those are the essentials. Even better would be to plan your meals ahead of time, and bring all the food necessary. You can store the food in the fridge and just cook it as the days go by. Besides the essentials, we also suggest bringing meat , cheese , milk , rice , and eggs . If you’re skilful or you just feel lucky you can catch your fish or even shellfish . But if you just want to lay back and enjoy your holiday, you can buy it at a good price.

What do You Eat on a Boat?

Our suggestions include the following: tuna salad with lentils, carrot salad with marinated anchovies, farfalle with anchovies, prawns with green noodles, shellfish pasta salad, pasta carbonara, pasta bolognese, tagliatelle with olives, fusilli with tuna and tomato sauce, meat risotto, tapenade, and bruschetta. There’s a ton of simple meals you could prepare while sailing. The most important factor is that it is not time-consuming because you want to enjoy your holiday to the fullest.

What Kitchen Appliances does a Sailboat have?

Charter boats come with standard kitchen equipment – dishes, cutlery, mugs, glasses, bowls, and pans. When it comes to kitchen appliances, you will find a refrigerator and stove with an oven on every boat, whereas larger boats will also have a microwave, ice-maker, and other appliances at your disposal.

Now let’s get back to our simple meal’s recipes. Bon Appétit!

10 Dishes to Eat when Sailing:

Bonus – Simple “boat-made” Meals:

Refreshing Salads

Tuna salad with lentils.

Fresh tuna combined with lentils in a fabulous salad

Tuna fish has always been one of the most important fish species , and tuna fishing has a long tradition in the Adriatic. This fish is a delicious source of healthy omega-3 fatty acids and protein. Even though it is just a salad, this is a plentiful and delicious meal. Learn how to make yummy tuna salad with lentils yourself.

Ingredients

• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 cup green or brown lentils, washed and picked over
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/2 medium onion
• 1 fresh tuna
• 1/4 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
• 1 tablespoon chopped chives
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 1 tablespoon sherry vinegar or red wine vinegar

The preparation time for this meal is 20 minutes and the cooking time is 45 minutes. Recommended serving is 2 large scoops. This recipe yields 4 servings.

How to Prepare

• Place the lentils, half the garlic, the bay leaf and the onion in a medium-size saucepan. Add water. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat and add salt to taste. Cover and simmer 30 minutes until the lentils are tender. Remove the onion and bay leaf. Drain the lentils through a strainer and set over a bowl.
• In a large bowl, mix together the tuna, parsley, chives and drained lentils.
• In a small bowl or measuring cup, whisk together the lemon juice, vinegar, mustard, remaining garlic clove and salt and pepper. Whisk in the olive oil and 2 tablespoons of the broth from the lentils. Toss with the tuna and lentils, and serve.

Carrot Salad with Marinated Anchovies

Carrots and anchovies mixed in an interesting salad

Marinated anchovies are a speciality on the Adriatic coast, and the Adriatic anchovies stand among the finest in the world! If you like the idea of marinated anchovies in a fresh salad, check out how to prepare carrot salad with marinated anchovies .

• 5 medium carrots, scrubbed, thinly sliced
• 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 2 teaspoons pepper
• 12 marinated white anchovies
• 1/4 cup parsley leaves

The preparation time for this meal is 15 minutes and the total time is 20 minutes. Recommended serving is 1 scoop. This recipe yields 4 servings.

• To begin with, mix carrots with lemon juice, olive oil, and pepper in a medium bowl. Season with salt. Massage carrots with your hands until softened.
• After the first step, transfer carrots with their juices to a platter and top with anchovies. You can also add feta cheese if you want. Drizzle with remaining olive oil and scatter parsley and remaining pepper over the dish.

Simple Seafood Meals

Farfalle with anchovies.

Classic Italian pasta with a Mediterranean twist

Another dish containing this delicious small fish is farfalle with anchovies. Farfalle refers to bow-tie-shaped pasta whose name is derived from the Italian word meaning ‘a butterfly ‘– Farfalla. Find all the details on how to prepare farfalle with anchovies .

• Farfalle pasta
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• Marinated anchovies
• 4 peeled and cut tomatoes
• 3 cloves of garlic, minced
• 80g black marinated olives
• Salt and black pepper
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
• Half a glass of dry white wine
• Few oregano leaves

The preparation time for this meal is 20 minutes and the total time to prepare it is 30 minutes. Recommended serving is 2 scoops. This recipe yields 5 servings.

• Farfalle should be cooked in a lot of boiling water. To reach the additional flavor you can add a pinch of salt, few drops of olive oil, and one big clove of garlic, squeezed or cut into large pieces. Cook farfalle strictly according to the manufacturer’s instructions to gain a perfect consistency of the pasta. The sauce should be cooked before the pasta.
• Remove the pits from some 80 g of black marinated olives, cut the olives, and put them on the warm olive oil in a deep pan. Don’t fry the olives! Add two squeezed cloves of garlic and simmer it all on moderate heat until the garlic leaves its scent.
• Add four peeled and cut tomatoes (better fresh than tinned) and continue simmering and stirring it gently. Finally, add some salt and black pepper and after approximately two minutes add half a glass of dry white wine. After another two minutes of simmering the wine should be vaporized and you should remove the pan off the heat.
• Put cooked farfalle into the sauce; add thinly sliced marinated or salted anchovies and dry oregano leaves. Stir it all well but gently and take it back on fire. Warm it up once again making sure it doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan. Top with Parmigiano Reggiano.

Prawns with Green Noodles

When prawns fall in love with green noodles

It’s time for prawns – our favourite seafood.  This combination of green noodles and prawns is a true symphony of tastes and is as simple as possible. Find here the recipe for prawns with green noodles to find out more.

• Salt and pepper
• Finely chopped parsley
• Grana Padano or Parmigiano Reggiano cheese
• Glass of white wine

The preparation time for this meal is 30 minutes and the total time to prepare it is 50 minutes. Recommended serving is 2 scoops. This recipe yields 4 servings.

• Green noodles should be cooked according to the manufacturer’s instructions.
• Meanwhile, the prawns should be cooked in a warm deep pan on olive oil. Make sure that the oil is not too hot because we do not want to fry them. When they release their liquids add salt and pepper and finely chopped parsley.
• Stir it gently while simmering and, in the end, add cream.
• Cook it on medium heat until all the ingredients mix together. Pour the prawn sauce over the noodles in each portion and serve it with cold white wine.

Shellfish Pasta Salad

Amazing combination of shell shaped pasta and seashells

Of all shellfish, mussels have the most impressive nutritional profile. If you are a pasta and shellfish lover, you will appreciate our shell-shaped pasta salad with shell recipe.

• Shell shaped pasta (conchiglie or conchiglioni)
• 1/2 cup onion (finely chopped)
• 4 peeled fresh tomatoes
• Bit of sugar
• A glass of white wine
• Balsamic vinegar
• Ground Chili
• Cut green peppers
• Cold white semi-dry or aromatic wine

The preparation time for this meal is 20 minutes and the total time to prepare it is 28 minutes. Recommended serving is 2 large scoops. This recipe yields 4-6 servings.

• Like every other pasta, conchiglie should be cooked in salted boiling water. You can add some oil to the boiling water to prevent pasta from sticking when it is done.
• The soul of this meal is its sauce. Warm some virgin olive oil in a deep pan or a pot and add squeezed onions. When onions leave their sauce and scent, add peeled tomatoes cut into small cubes. Prepare this sauce preferably with fresh tomatoes but tinned ones could also do. Simmer the tomatoes constantly stirring them and add some sugar, the inevitable ingredient when cooking tomatoes; add a glass of white wine and cleaned mussels.
• When the wine is vaporized add salt and pepper and some water if you notice that sauce is getting too thick and starts to stick to the bottom of the pan. Remove the sauce from fire when it is half reduced. Remove the mussels from the sauce and strain the sauce through a sieve. Put the mussels and cooked pasta in separate dishes and leave them to cool down. Now it is time to finish the sauce by adding some more virgin olive oil, balsamic vinegar, ground chili, and stirring it all with a whisk.
• The meal is ready to be served when cold mussels and tightly cut green peppers are added to cold pasta, overflowed with the sauce, and stirred together. I did not find a specific name for this cold pasta and mussels salad but I can guarantee that it goes well with a glass of cold white semi-dry or aromatic wine.

Pasta Carbonara

One of the classic pasta dishes

This simple recipe originated in the Italian region of Lazio, or to be more specific, the city of Rome. Some believe that this dish was named after charcoal workers who allegedly regained their energy from it. Others believe that the name comes as a tribute to Carbonari, the secret society prominent in the early stages of Italian unification. You have probably already guessed what we’re talking about. It’s pasta Carbonara , of course!

• Pasta of your choice, spaghetti preferably
• 100g pancetta
• Few cloves of garlic
• Grated (goat) cheese
• 50g Parmesan cheese

The preparation time for pasta Carbonara is 15 minutes and the total time to prepare it is 30 minutes. Recommended serving is 2 large scoops. This recipe yields 4 servings.

• Firstly, pasta should be cooked in boiling salted water just as much as stated by the manufacturer, don’t overcook it.
• Meanwhile, warm some olive oil in the pan and add bacon cut in small cubes and few cloves of garlic. When both ingredients get a glassy look and start to release their tasty scents, remove them from the pan and remove the pan from the fire.
• In a separate bowl whisk two eggs with grated (goat) cheese into a compact mixture.
• Put the pasta into a warm pan where bacon and garlic were warmed, add bacon cubes and pour eggs with cheese over all the ingredients. Stir vigorously until the mixture is even. Add some freshly grated black pepper while stirring or just before serving. Top with Parmesan.

Pasta Bolognese

The king of pasta

The popular pasta Bolognese is really delicious and easy to make – it’s all you need for a nice meal on board. Learn some tricks for making a perfect Bolognese sauce . A great and easy snack for when you don’t feel like cooking.

• Two small onions
• Celery root
• A glass of red wine
• 500 g minced beef meat
• Canned peeled tomatoes
• Mediterranean herbs

The preparation time for pasta Carbonara is 25 minutes and the total time to prepare it is 1 hour and 50 minutes. Recommended serving is 2 large scoops. This recipe yields 6 servings.

• Warm some olive oil in a dish and stew some onion cut into small pieces. Add some celery root and carrot when onions get transparent. After a while add a glass of red or white wine and lower the flame intensity.
• For a decent Bolognese you will need minced beef meat, but you can use any other minced meet as well. Stir it thoroughly, add salt and pepper and cook it over a low fire. When the meat gets brownish it is time to add canned peeled tomatoes. Let it cook for a while. That would be the basics of Bolognese.
• Your sauce will taste more authentically if you add some Mediterranean herbs into it. First of all, there is bay leaf which can be fresh or dried, and is very common in the Mediterranean. Secondly, if you cut some rosemary leaves into tiny pieces your Bolognese will ‘start talking’.

Tagliatelle with Olives and Pancetta

A dish you will never get tired of

This is a typical Italian recipe. Tagliatelle, olives, and some pancetta – very simple but crazy good. Try it topped with Grana Padano. Delicious! Simply click for the tagliatelle with olives recipe or scroll down.

• Tagliatelle
• 1 clove of garlic
• Black and green olives
• Pickled capers
• Few salted anchovies
• Fresh basil
• Fresh tomatoes

The preparation time for Tagliatelle with Olives and Pancetta is 25 minutes and the total time to prepare it is 50 minutes. Recommended serving is 2 large scoops. This recipe yields 4 servings.

• Tagliatelle should be cooked in boiling salted water with a few drops of oil, just to prevent sticking when taken out of the pot. Follow the instructions on cooking time very strictly so that tagliatelle become perfectly consistent, or al dente, as our fellow Italians like to say.
• The sauce is very simple to prepare. Gently fry some pancetta on hot olive oil along with one clove of garlic and one bay leaf. Frying should not last too long while the oil should not be too hot – don’t over fry or burn the ingredients.
• After you take the pan off the heat (or just turn the cooker off) prepare the topping – chop black and green olives and mix them with a handful of pickled capers, a few salted anchovies, and extra virgin olive oil.
• To finish off, stir the mixture and add some ground pepper and fresh basil before you put it in the still-warm pan with the pancetta. Stir the mixture once again in the warm pan – there is no need to light the fire again. Divide tagliatelle into portions; add the topping and garnish each portion with small pieces of fresh tomatoes and fresh basil leaves.

Fusilli with Tuna and Tomato Sauce

Fusilli in a refreshing sauce

This quick pasta recipe with olive oil, garlic, tuna, tomatoes, oregano, and basil takes only 30 minutes to prepare and is sure to wow everyone. Don’t forget a glass of red wine! Read more on the fusilli with tuna and tomato sauce recipes.

• Five cloves of garlic
• Peeled and cut tomatoes
• Teaspoon of sugar
• Fresh tuna chunks
• Dried oregano and basil leaves

The preparation time for this dish is 10 minutes and the total time to prepare it is 35 minutes. Recommended serving is 1 large scoop. This recipe yields 4 servings.

• Start with the sauce. Warm some olive oil in a deep pan and squeeze five cloves of garlic as the oil warms up. Make sure the garlic is not fried. You may also cut it into fine and thin pieces using a sharp knife. Some use the razor blade, as in “Goodfellas” by Martin Scorsese…
• The idea is to spread the taste of garlic all over the oil where you will add peeled and cut tomatoes, fresh or tinned. The sauce should be gently stirred and cooked on low heat. Also make sure that you add at least one teaspoon of sugar, just to neutralize tomato acids.
• As the sauce gets denser, lower the heat and add tuna chunks – preferably tinned but remove the oil before adding them to the sauce. Leave the sauce on low heat and stir it from time to time while you prepare pasta.
• Boil water; add some salt and a few drops of oil as my grandma used to do, as this way pasta would not get sticky after cooking. Fusilli should be prepared according to the package instruction – believe me, if you stick to the instructions completely, you will never fail! A minute before the fusilli are ready, get back to your sauce and add some dried oregano leaves or thinly sliced fresh basil leaves.
• The proper way of serving is to share plain pasta into portions and everyone can add the sauce to their taste. Make sure there is enough Grana Padano or Parmigiano Reggiano on the table to round off this delicious meal. A glass of red wine is not necessary but wouldn’t be redundant.

Meat Risotto

When you get tired of seafood while sailing

Cooking and eating seafood comes naturally when sailing. However, people who are not used to eating a lot of seafood sometimes wish to have some meat meal during their sailing trip. For such occasions, we recommend a meat risotto instead of classic seafood risotto. Find out more about meat risotto . Wonderful snack if you ever get tired of fish.

• 2 small onions
• Veal or beef meat cut into cubes
• Beef or chicken broth
• Full-fat grated cheese

The preparation time for this meat risotto is 15 minutes and the total time to prepare it is 1 hour and 45 minutes. Recommended serving is 2 large scoops. This recipe yields 4 servings.

• Like many other Dalmatian and Mediterranean meals, this one too starts with finely chopped onions on warm olive oil. Simmer the onions until they get translucent and yellowish. Now it is time to add the meat and briefly fry it on the onions. Traditionally this risotto is made with veal or beef meat but chicken would also be fine. If you prepare beef or veal risotto simmer meat cubes for some fifteen minutes while the chicken is to be simmered shorter.
• Generally, you should simmer the meat until it releases its juices and flavor. Add rice and simmer it all together until the rice absorbs the flavors of oil and meat; add salt and pepper, reduce the heat and continue cooking constantly stirring the ingredients. Continue adding beef or chicken broth as you stir the mixture.
• Risotto is ready to be served when meat and rice are soft and full of tasteful juice. Make sure you don’t overcook it so it does not get too dry. Serve the risotto with some finely chopped parsley on top of it and season it with full-fat grated cheese.

Bonus – Simple “boat-made” Meals

Great appetizer when your crew can’t wait any longer

Tapenade is a simple but delicious olive spread. It originates from Provence, France. There are different types of tapenade available in supermarkets, but a homemade one will for sure taste the best, and you can prepare it in just a few minutes. Find the full list of all the ingredients for tapenade .

• Black or green olives
• Few drops of extra virgin olive oil
• Salted anchovies fillets
• Toast, crackers, or bread
• Cold dry wine

The preparation time for tapenade is 10 minutes and that is also the total time for preparation. When it comes to serving just spread it on a toast. This recipe yields 4-6 servings.

• Black or green (or both!) olives should be chopped into very small pieces as well as the salted anchovies fillets. Mix them along with capers and few drops of olive oil until you get a smooth paste.
• Roast yesterday’s bread in the oven and rub it with garlic. If there is no bread you can do it with toast or crackers. Spread the tapenade over it and allow your hungry and inpatient crew a sip of cold dry wine.

Fresh and delicious appetizer

Spread the tapenade over the toasted bread and you will get a delicious bruschetta ! Almost everyone who has ever sailed has faced the situation when there has been too much bread left on board. The simplest and probably the most efficient way to use this bread is to grill it or toast it. There are hundreds of ideas to prepare a delicious  bruschetta .

• Bread or toast

The preparation time for bruschetta is 5 minutes and the total time for preparation is 11 minutes. When it comes to serving we recommend 4 slices. This recipe yields 4 servings.

• There are some yachtsmen (like me) who do not allow the wasting of food and bread that is neither eaten nor fresh anymore. The simplest and probably the most efficient way to use the bread is to grill it or toast it in the oven.
• When the bread is grilled you can easily rub it with garlic, pour few drops of virgin olive oil, add some salt and pepper and serve it as a snack or a starter/appetizer.

Additional Tips for Cooking On Board

The kitchen on board is not much different from your regular kitchen, but there is one significant difference – the size . In a galley kitchen, space is limited, as are fuel and refrigeration, so you need to plan simple meals and organize. Below you may find a shortlist of tips, and a full list of tips is available on cooking aboard a yacht .

• To use the space wisely, bring only the minimum of cooking equipment (it is good to have at least one pan with a locking lid for cooking one-pot meals in rough weather)
• Attach pockets for storing silverware, spices, and tools to the wall
• Put away any dangerous utensils if you are not using them because a boat moves even when docked
• Make sure that everyone in the crew knows how to light the stove and control the fuel supply safely
• If it is a gas installation, keep the gas turned off at the bottle when you are not using the oven
• Bring enough water
• Check out this useful tip for cooking fish onboard

Now that you’ve prepared your favourite dish from the list, all that is left to do is put on a good sailing movie , open a good sailing book or put on some fine sailing music and you’re ready to enjoy yourself. Furthermore, don’t forget to see what we’ve put on a list of Greek food and Spanish food you must try.

Or if you don’t feel like cooking, you can always find some great restaurants nearby. Also, check out our Pinterest board dedicated entirely to cooking on board.

We wish you fair winds and calm seas!

4 thoughts on “What to Eat when Sailing: 10 Simple Meals Ideas for Your Sailing Holiday”

I shall be sailing for two weeks with little chance to top up the larder with fresh supplies, and with the fridge off to spare the batteries, I have been looking for a website or blog that might advise me what to buy on the basis that I won’t be able to refrigerate it. Your website comes close, but do you have other suggestions? Rupert Hancock

Hello Rupert,

Thank you for your question. It’s true, in our post we have gone through a lot of easy recipes to prepare while sailing but a lot of them (if not all) require groceries that must be kept in a refrigerator. Your situation for sure looks specific but there is a solution to everything!

For instance, a lot of vegetables do not require to be kept in a refrigerator. Even better, a lot of vegetables we keep in a fridge is usually kept there out of the convenience rather than necessity. I believe all vegetables would be fine and would last for all 2 weeks but that also depends on many other factors, for instance, how fresh have they been when you bought them etc. Same goes with fruit too.

Other things you should consider taking are all kinds of grains and nuts. They have a lot of fiber and protein make a great breakfast. Also, they do not go bad in a room temperature so easily. Don’t forget to bring tea and coffee as well. Honey is also a must have and bread that has been out for a couple of days can always be grilled.

I must recommend bringing fresh lentils, beans, chickpeas and groceries like that. They can’t go bad on a two week sailing holiday and they can be made into delicious soup like dishes very quickly. My personal favourite is lentil soup that’s simply amazing and it can be made in under 30 minutes.

Good idea is to prepare some food in advance. For example, banana bread, muffins, energy bites or whatever comes to mind. Dessert wise, chocolate, fruit and premade raw cakes are a good idea.

Hope this helps. Have a great time sailing! Tin

That’s really nice post. Appreciate your skills. Thanks for sharing.

Excellent blog!

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6 Simple Meals To Prepare While Sailing

Sailing is a great way to get away from it all and relax. But what do you do when you get hungry? Don’t worry. This blog post discusses six simple meals that you can prepare while sailing. All of these recipes are easy to follow and require minimal ingredients. So, whether you’re an experienced sailor or a first-time cruiser, these recipes are sure to please.

Meal shakes

Invest in a portable blender that you can use to make smoothies on the go. There are endless combinations of frozen fruit and vegetables that you can put into a shake. You can use milk, almond milk, or fruit juice as the liquid base for your smoothie concoction. Apart from fruits and vegetables, you can add protein powder or energy-rich nuts and seeds to your shakes. This way, you can keep your energy levels up throughout the day. The great thing about meal shakes is that you can get all the nutrition in one drink. You will also tend to feel full without preparing a full-course meal. 

Oatmeal cups

This is another great breakfast option for sailing trips. All you need to do is mix ingredients such as oats, dried fruits, nuts, and seeds in a bowl before transferring them into individual cupcake molds. Bake them in the oven till they turn golden brown. Oatmeal cups are full of energy to keep you going throughout the day. You can also make variations such as peanut butter and banana, mango and coconut, or blueberry and almond oatmeal cups. If you are not a fan of baking, you can also try overnight oats. All you have to do is add all the ingredients into a container and put it in the refrigerator overnight.

Whether it’s breakfast or lunch, sandwiches are always a great idea. You can prepare simple fillings such as nut butter and jelly, tuna salad, or egg salad in no time. Make sure to use whole-grain bread to get the most nutrition out of your meal. You can also top it off with vegetables and greens such as lettuce, spinach, or tomatoes for an added nutritional boost. Be creative and make a twist on classic sandwiches – why not try a pesto and feta sandwich? If you have kids on board, prepare a range of sandwiches they’ll love, such as cheese and ham or peanut butter and banana. You can also cut them into fun shapes to make them more appealing.

Wraps are another excellent option for lunch or dinner on the boat. All you need to do is grab a tortilla shell and fill it with your favorite ingredients, such as beans, cheese, and vegetables. If you’re feeling adventurous, add some shredded beef or grilled salmon for a protein-packed meal. You can also make Southwestern wraps with black beans, corn, tomatoes, and avocados. If you want something lighter, try making some simple lettuce wraps. All you need is a few leaves of iceberg lettuce and your desired fillings. Wraps are easy to assemble and will be a hit among everyone on board.

Since pasta doesn’t require special cooking techniques, pasta is an excellent option for a quick meal on the boat. All you need to do is cook the pasta in boiling water and mix it with your favorite sauce or vegetables. For example, you can try making a tomato and basil pesto sauce for a classic Italian flavor. To make it a more substantial meal, add some grilled chicken or pan-fried shrimp for an added protein boost. For the vegetarians on board, try adding some sautéed mushrooms, zucchini, and bell peppers to give your pasta dish a hearty flavor. Regardless of what ingredients you choose, pasta is always a crowd-pleaser.

Tacos are a great way to enjoy a delicious meal without cooking for hours. All you need is some ground beef (or turkey), cheese, salsa, sour cream, lettuce, tomatoes, and tortillas. You can also add some black beans and peppers as a vegetarian alternative. Tacos are easy to assemble and will leave everyone satisfied. Make sure to have extra ingredients to make variations based on everyone’s tastes. Depending on your preference, you can serve the tacos in soft taco shells or crunchy taco shells. There is also the option for you to go for naked tacos that involve no shells, just the fillings.

No matter what type of meal you’re looking to make while on a sailing trip, these simple and delicious options are sure to be great crowd-pleasers. Make sure to stock up before your sailing trip. A well-stocked pantry is the key to any successful voyage! With these simple meals in mind, you can look forward to nutritious and delicious meals while at sea.

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Helpful Refrigeration-Free Food Ideas for Your Next Sailboat Outing

A lot of people can't imagine cruising without refrigeration, but in fact it was done successfully from the beginning of boats until about 20 years ago-and we're much better equipped to manage it today. here are some guidelines to help, if you're of a mind to give it a try..

The campaign, started by the marketers of the sailing industry in the late ’70s or so, to make life onboard cruising boats indistinguishable from life ashore has always been arduous, because no matter how many fruit baskets a builder exhibits at a boatshow, once the proud new owner leaves the dock, things tilt and slam, and they get wet, and break, and cost a lot of money and aggravation, and then the people get miserable and take up other pursuits. Even golf. That’s how bad it gets.

While we’re not in the business of promoting hair shirts, we still think that a main reason for cruising in the first place is to get away from your onshore life. How far away, of course, is an individual matter. Many cruising sailors depend upon an onboard refrigerator for food storage. There’s no doubt that a refrigerator/freezer offers the greatest number of options on an extended cruise, and our recent refrigeration survey (October 1, 2002) showed that the systems available today are remarkably robust and trustworthy.

A refrigerator, though, commits you to a hefty (and bulky and expensive) set of batteries and/or operation of your engine’s charging system or your genset for more hours per day than you might wish to put up with. It’s certainly not an absolute necessity. Sailors made extended voyages for several thousand years without electricity-powered refrigerators, and many still do. This contingent shouldn’t be seen as a lunatic fringe, and if you’ve ever harbored the sneaking suspicion that refrigeration may have a few too many strings attached for your liking, then read on.

Before reading on, however, please bear in mind that what follows (mostly in the photos and captions) is in no way intended to be a culinary treatise. If you have any question about the ability of this editorial staff, such as it is, to provide advice about either cooking food or eating it, refer to the editorial on page 2, “Not Your Mom’s Kitchen.” That about sums up our qualifications as chefs and fine diners. However, in our ongoing commitment to remind readers of the virtues of simplicity on board, we feel qualified to offer a bit of advice about food up to the “not bad” or even “pretty good” level. More to the point, these are foods you can keep aboard for long periods of time in any temperature. They’re easy to stow. They will sustain you, and enable you to cook to your palate’s content (up to the semi-civilized level we’re dealing with here). They’ll let you hop aboard for a long weekend without stopping at the supermarket first, or head offshore for weeks at a time, and eat pretty well without having to hassle with a reefer and all its attached strings.

Now, let’s go ahead and discuss what we could call “the elements of food preservation.”

Refrigeration and Freezing. Storing food for more than a couple of days is, essentially, a matter of checking the growth of harmful bacteria. There are many ways of doing this. Refrigeration-keeping the temperature down to approximately 40 F-drastically reduces the rate at which bacterial growth occurs. The effect of lowering temperature on the rate of bacterial growth can be dramatic. The bacteria naturally occurring in milk, for example, can cause it to go sour in two to three hours at a room temperature of 70-80 F. The same milk at a refrigerator temperature of 40 F can easily last a week or two.

Enzymes that occur naturally in foods can also cause a food to discolor or spoil quickly-but don’t normally provide a health hazard.

Refrigeration works well to extend the storage life of almost any food or drink, and has a minimal effect on food flavor or texture.

Cooling below the freezing point of 32 F stops bacterial action completely, for all practical purposes. Freezing works well for most meats and vegetables, and some fruits, but unless you can speed up the freezing process well beyond the capabilities of home or marine-style equipment, you can’t avoid the formation of large ice crystals. These crystals puncture the cell walls in the food, tending to produce a mushy texture. The versatility and effectiveness of refrigeration and freezing, together with the wide availability of refrigeration equipment have made these the most popular means of food preservation in the world.

If your boat doesn’t have a refrigerator, you’re back to the old-fashioned icebox. This can either be a built-in insulated box or a cooler. Insulation of iceboxes and coolers has been improved considerably over the past 50 years. Even the most effective insulation, though, can’t maintain a temperature lower than that of what you put into the box–32 F if you’re using ice, and minus 65 degrees if you’re using the harder-to-find and more hazardous dry ice. With some common-sense restraints -don’t open the icebox more often than necessary, keep the cooler out of direct sunlight, start out with pre-cooled or pre-frozen food rather that putting warm food or beverages in the icebox-a good icebox or cooler chest can keep its contents adequately cold for roughly five days. If you’re not using dry ice, forget about storing frozen foods.

Canning. About 200 years ago, a method of food preservation was introduced that consisted of boiling the food (with added water, if required) in a container that can be sealed. The boiling kills the bacteria present in the food, and the container is sealed before the food boils or when the food is boiling. The food in the sealed container is effectively sterilized and free of bacteria, and can be stored indefinitely without refrigeration-until the container is opened or its seal is broken. At that point, the contents are exposed to airborne bacteria, and must be refrigerated if bacterial growth is to be limited.

When someone mentions “canning,” we generally think of the familiar “tin can” (generally aluminum or plated steel). Actually, any sealable container that will withstand cooking temperatures will do-you can “can” in a glass jar, a plastic pouch, or even a box made of plastic-coated cardboard.

Milk that has been made sterile by being heated to a higher-than-normal pasteurization temperature-Ultra High Temperature or UHT pasteurization-and sealed in a cardboard box is canned milk. It can be stored at room temperature for months on end without refrigeration, until it’s opened. Canning works well on a variety of foods, but the cooking process changes the taste, and texture of foods, and generally has a deleterious effect on nutritional values. Onboard, canned foods present the problem of dealing with the emptied can.

Dehydration. Dehydrating or drying foods is a method of food preservation that’s been used for centuries. It works because bacteria require moisture to multiply, even at room temperature. A wide variety of foods can be dehydrated: powdered milk, powdered eggs, and powdered potatoes are familiar grocery items. Dried meats-jerky-and dried fruit/nut mixes are old standbys for hikers and campers. While they’re not usually thought of as dehydrated foods, pasta and instant rice are good examples of what can be done in terms of storage life and reduced bulk by removing water. Dried fruits-raisins, apples, apricots and prunes-are a time-tested means of storing fruit in tropical countries without the need for refrigeration. Dried soup mixes and sauces have become increasingly available on supermarket shelves, as have rice or pasta-based entrees. Dried beans, in a dazzling variety, are also popular.

Dehydrated foods are usually reconstituted by adding water and boiling, although some dried fruits and meats can be eaten as is. Dehydration generally changes the taste, texture and appearance of foods, though often a new food is created, which people like just as much as the original.

Freeze-Drying. Freeze-drying is a relatively new technique for preserving food. It consists of quick-freezing the food, and then placing the frozen food into a vacuum chamber. The water in the food sublimes-a process in which the water is converted directly from ice to water vapor, which is then removed. What remains is a stable solid mass that can be stored indefinitely at room temperature, but can be readily reconstituted by adding water and heating, Probably the most popular freeze-dried food is coffee, which retains much more of its flavor than does the older dehydrated powdered coffee.

Freeze-drying is one of the more expensive means of preserving foods, but it has much less of an effect on flavor and texture than does dehydration.

Complete freeze-dried entrees are available from camping supply sources and some marine chandleries and catalog stores. They offer the maximum convenience in storage and preparation. Typically an entre for two to three servings comes in a sealed plastic envelope weighing a half-pound or so. Preparation consists of opening the packet, adding boiling water, allowing the contents to sit for 10 minutes or so, and serving. No pot to clean, and only a foil or plastic envelope to dispose of.

Salting and Pickling. Bacterial growth, as we’ve pointed out, requires water to be present in the food-but water containing high levels of salt won’t support bacterial growth. Up until the advent of mechanical refrigeration, salt pork, packed in barrels, was a staple on board ship. Fish was similarly preserved. Today, salting remains as a food preservation method primarily in salt-cured hams and delicatessen meats such as pastrami and corned beef. In many of these products the salt level has been reduced to a point that refrigeration is required for extended storage.

Pickling works in much the same way, except that the acid characteristics of vinegar are used in combination with salt. In the past, pickling was widely used for meats, fruits and vegetables; today it’s mainly used for preparing pickled cucumbers.

Irradiation. If you seal food in plastic, and then subject the entire package to ionizing radiation (gamma rays), the bacteria in the food are largely destroyed, with a minimum of effect on the food itself. Irradiation alone, though, doesn’t eliminate the need for refrigerated storage. That’s because of the word “largely.” It’s difficult to be sure that all the bacteria in the food are destroyed, and some studies indicate that there’s a higher probability of mutation in the irradiated bacteria that remain alive. Still, the benefit of increased storage life of food has caused irradiation to be declared safe by the Food and Drug Administration and World Health Organization, and has caused irradiation to be accepted as a food preservation technique in some 40 countries.

Radiation is a word that has a good deal of scare value, particularly in the US, where an image of glowing in the dark after eating is prevalent. This isn’t a real problem, though other problems may well exist. Regardless of the merits of irradiation, it’s not a practical solution to extended food storage for your cruise, simply because it’s very difficult to find irradiated foods in US markets.

The Icebox and The Plan

You can eat well without a refrigerator, but you might as well make use of your icebox. These things did a pretty good job back before mechanical refrigeration came upon the scene, as long as they were well-insulated and used wisely. And if you don’t have, or choose not to use, a refrigerator or Peltier-effect cooler (examples of which we’ve reviewed before and will review again), the icebox is your only option. Step one is to make sure it’s in top condition. Are there any spots with dented, leaky or crushed insulation? Is their room inside for some additional insulation? Is the door gasket worn or dried out? If your icebox or cooler is located where direct sunlight strikes it, a reflective space blanket drape over the box can reduce heat gain enough to provide some extra hours of effective cooling.

An additional cooler chest can help extend the time that you can keep food cold, if you use it wisely, At the very least, it can provide more room for ice.

With your cooling spaces figured out, all that’s left is planning. The choices you make in provisioning your boat depend upon how you plan your voyage. An extended passage without the possibility of restocking when you make intermediate ports presents a different set of problems than a weekend cruise, or one where you stop at marinas frequently.

The size of your galley, and the amount of time you wish to spend on cooking are also considerations, as are considerations of storage and trash disposal. You’re best off planning your menu in some detail, and fitting to the needs of your upcoming voyage.

A useful strategy is to cook meals back on shore, and freeze them-the frozen food acts as extra ice, and one icebox can be reserved for frozen food while the other can store refrigerated food. This last approach works best if you can add dry ice to the frozen-food chest.

On a long cruise, it’s a safe bet that you’ll run out of ice before you reach your destination. Plan your menus so that perishable food will be used at the beginning of the cruise. And remember, of course, that the more frequently you open your icebox or chest, the more rapidly your ice (dry or otherwise) will be exhausted. Every once in a while, we hear a recommendation that you wrap your ice in some form of insulation to keep it longer. Don’t. The object is to preserve the food, and not the ice. Insulating the ice will only provide poorer cooling.

Alternatives

There are many alternatives to foods that require refrigeration for safe storage. Milk, for instance, can be purchased as UHT pasteurized milk, like Parmalat. It can be stored in closed containers for at least six months at room temperature. Once you open the container, though, the milk will sour almost as rapidly as conventionally pasteurized milk. If you go this route, buy a variety of container sizes, favoring the small ones, and don’t plan on storing partially full ones.

Powdered nonfat milk is readily available, economically priced, and can be stored indefinitely (as a powder). If you don’t like the taste of skim milk, mixing in a bit of any of the powdered coffee creamers definitely helps. (See the “recipe” in the caption on page 35 for more on that.) The creamers, of course, don’t require refrigeration and can be a blessing for folks who don’t like black coffee.

Vegetable oil or olive oil makes a perfectly adequate replacement for butter in most cases; both survive nicely unrefrigerated.

Breakfasts are usually no problem. Cold or hot cereals store well-granola is filling and nutritious-as do items like pancake mix. You can buy orange juice-almost any kind of juice, for that matter-in sealed boxes or bags that require no cooling. Coffee, tea and cocoa present no storage problems.

Uncooked eggs store quite well if they’re bought fresh (right out from under the hen, some people say). Contributing editor Scott Rosenthal says he has pretty good luck with regular store-bought eggs. They last him a couple of weeks unrefrigerated, but he always float-tests them before cracking them open. (Sinkers are good; floaters, cracked open, are really unpleasant.)

Lunches-usually sandwiches-are fairly easy to deal with. Bread stores well at room temperature if it’s in its original packaging. Buy bread in small loaves, if possible, or try pita bread or tortilla-type flat bread. Or try baking some yourself. Keeping opened bread in a plastic bag will minimize the growth of mold.

Many hard cheeses can be stored with minimal refrigeration (you may have to cut off some surface mold, but the rest of the cheese remains good for several weeks. Some processed cheese is available in individually wrapped slices that keep well.

Canned or vacuum-sealed meats and fish will last indefinitely without refrigeration, but of course will spoil quickly once opened. Buy meat in cans or packages small enough that you can use all of it in one meal. Salted and smoked meats as sold today don’t usually have enough salt to permit them to be stored at room temperatures.

Jams, jellies, preserves, honey, and peanut butter can be kept on an uncooled shelf indefinitely. Condiments such as mustard and ketchup also store well after being opened. Mayonnaise definitely doesn’t. (Some studies recently have indicated that commercial mayonnaise has a high enough acid content to discourage bacterial growth, but you wouldn’t want to test that far from shore.) Again, buy mayonnaise in small containers that can be used up right away. Individual servings of mayo in foil packs, as featured in your upscale roadside diners, would be ideal.

The variety available in non-refrigerated main dishes is huge, depending on how much work the cook is willing to do. Ramen meals-those pre-packaged Asian noodle soup dishes-are easy to prepare, inexpensive, and quite palatable, particularly if you add some shredded vegetable or meat left-overs. You can get canned meats, vegetables and prepared dinners, or you can use a canned or bottled sauce with freshly cooked pasta or rice. Keep a variety of your favorite spices on board to dress things up.

Dehydrated meals, ranging from the old standby macaroni-and-cheese to some fairly exotic Thai and Cajun dishes are available on supermarket shelves. Root vegetables-potatoes, onions, and carrots-store well, and go nicely with fresh fish.

Freeze-dried meals, available from camping stores and websites, and from some chandleries (including West Marine) are very convenient and somewhat pricey (typically $10 to serve two.) But they can be stored indefinitely, take up little space, and offer the minimum water usage and clean-up time. Several of us tried West Marine’s fare in preparing this article and found the entrees pretty good. You have to follow the directions closely-don’t stint on the water amount or the water temperature (boiling) or try to eat the stuff before it’s steeped long enough. And stir it all carefully before eating-the spices can clump together.

Conclusions

There’s no question that you can eat and drink quite well without onboard refrigeration. You do have to plan things out, as you would in any galley and with any meal schedule. You have to deal with a somewhat reduced variety of foods, and when the ice runs out you’ll have to learn to drink your liquor the British way-neat. As for cooling your beer, try the Lowenbrau Solution, proposed in a PS Advisor in the May 1, 2002 issue: put it in a net bag with an old galvanized cleat and dangle it overboard, under the nearest thermocline.

Bon Appetit!

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Better Sailing

How To Cook On a Sailboat

In all your adventures on the vast expanse that is water, have you ever tried cooking on a sailboat? Such a question is not an attempt to test your love for sail boating or anything similar that you do on the vessel. It aims to probe into the genuinely gratifying things you have done out there. So again, have you tried cooking on a sailboat, say, make a scrumptious delicacy out of your catch? Nothing hardly feels better.

Even though moving through scenic waters, anchoring on a new location, and unearthing hidden jewels on your way are an essential part of a sailing adventure, cooking on a sailboat adds a unique dimension to the entire experience.

You will most likely discover incredible spots to eat through your voyage. However, there will be many occasions where cafes and restaurants are remote. That it is the time that knowing what to cook and how to go about it becomes a huge thing.

In the case that you have not tried such cooking before, do not raise your expectations concerning the kitchen in the yacht. Cooking on the boat is different from cooking in the kitchen by thick margins. If you are cooking for company but you do not know how much food to cook, check the number of people on board. Also, consider the quantity of food they can consume daily and add a slight surplus. People asking for more food is not uncommon.

Creativity is King Especially On The Boat

The moment you set sail, you lose the luxury of jumping to the store to get what you need for the meal. It could be recipes, tools, pans, or provisions, but you have to deal with all you have available aboard. It can be a little overwhelming, sometimes, especially when you forgot to get something. But do not be scared. Times like that are when you can look inwards and be creative. And if you do that well, it could be your best-cooked meal on a sailboat.

Organize and Plan to Get All You Need:

• Curate a list
• Again, creativity and innovation, lack of ingredients, or the use of alternatives would not re-make the meal you intend to cook, but it will certainly work out to be a new one you might not have had before. In essence, do not be scared to experiment.
• Ranks in order- prioritize your needs. Drinking water, more booze, canned food over snacks or vice versa, you decide. Just plan adequately for what you will drink and eat.

Account For Limited Space

Space is the biggest difference between cooking in your kitchen and on a sailboat. Space is very limited but cooking on a boat makes you manage space properly while cooking. You are expected to know where to place each kitchenware or else the set up will look disorganized. It is more complicated than cooking in your house.

Tips For Cooking On a Boat:

• Get the demanding tasks done before getting onboard: Chop the salad, onion, carrots, and any other thing from home.
• Take along dynamic objects: a Swiss army knife, for example, is the go-to preference as it has a can opener, a knife, bottle opener, et al. This goes for food too. Purchase groceries that can be used for various meals, like pasta, rice, potatoes, et al.
• Maximize space: do not waste space on things you will hardly need. Boneless meat that is refrigerated will be a good option here. And do not dispose of cans and similar objects in the garbage because they can be used again for the little garbage cans.
• Enough drinks: people on board will come to appreciate your discretion when you get enough drinks aboard. Ensure you her not less than 2 liters per person daily. Purchase enough or a little more of alcohol and soda drinks. Tea and coffee should be available as well.
• Groceries: Items are not simple to estimate. This is true, especially because people on the sea often get hungry and eat more than they are on the land.

Do not forget that groceries like meat, milk, vegetables, and bread need to be restocked from time to time.

Equipment 

Space is limited, so equipment and utensils come limited too. Here are few tips to bring the important ones aboard:

• Get cutting boards that either fold down or clamp onto something.
• Get a spatula, can opener, wooden spoons, bottle opener, and wine opener.
• Make use of lightweight metal or plastic for all dishes.
• Ensure that there is safety railing over the stove’s edge and be sure you put away every ingredient or item as you cook.
• If the boat does not have safety latches on cupboards, get some before coming on board.

To mention a meal at this stage might seem redundant, but it is because of its importance. Plan the meals well in advance with this information:

• Make a dinner list for every night you will be on board with the prepared recipe.
• For both breakfast and lunch, plan to have simple meals (Granola bars, toast, eggs).
• Calculate the gas required before setting sail. This is because space is not much.

Fast Recipe Suggestions For Boat Cooking

Risotto with shrimps and apples.

Before setting out, get fresh shrimps. With 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a frying pan, cut two little cubes of apples and brown them. After they are softened, place them in a dish. Then make a liter of broth in a pot. In the pan where you have browned the apples, brown a half white onion along with about 3 tablespoons of oil. Add a glass of water to it too.

As for the uncooked rice, add 2 pinches per head with 2 punches for the pot. Douse the rice in wine and cook it slowly as you add the broth and dose with a ladle. Shortly after the cooking (preferably a few minutes), add the peeled shrimps and apples. Then you can add about a hundred grams and cook it until it becomes creamy. Add fresh parsley after this. And there you have it- a sizzling risotto with shrimps and apples. 

Couscous with Vegetables and Chicken 

The only challenging stage of this course is getting someone on the vessel to cut the vegetables. This can be skipped as earlier stated. Doing such a task before embarking will save you much stress and time. To make the seasoning, cut 3 peppers and 5 courgettes into small cubes. Then heat 6 tablespoons of olive oil where you will heat the pepper and courgettes.

Then make a saucepan of four glasses with a few broths made with a vegetable stock cube. Place it in the pan to cook, and halfway through this, put one can of drained chickpeas, chili powder, curry, and salt and attempt to dose all these by your taste.

After these, put the vegetables in a bowl. In the pan where the vegetables were cooked, fry a white onion there and cook a chicken breast. Place the couscous in a bowl before adding one teaspoon of turmeric for every glass in it. Then boil the saltwater in a saucepan and pour it on it before covering with a cloth or wrap for about 5 minutes. Then you can serve in every dish a portion of delightful couscous covered with chicken and vegetables.

Trofie with Tomatoes, Pesto, and Chickpeas

How about a fast and tasty Italian treat on the sailboat? You should know that cooking a pasta dish aboard can be somewhat different from the regular fast recipes. Fry five tablespoons of olive oil in a pan, with some cloves of garlic. Then add cherry tomatoes (a pack and half) cut and washed into desired pieces.

Remove the garlic after the tomatoes are soft and add a pack of 200 grams of chickpeas. You can opt for the dried ones to soak them for about 4 hours a day before. But using those readily-cooked ones in a glass jar is simple and fast. Then make a kilogram of Trofie before adding the cooked sauce.

How To Cook On a Sailboat – Summary

I hope that after reading this piece, you would have gotten everything you need to cook safely when next you are in a boat. Cooking on a boat is not technical, and all you will mostly need is a little bit of luck and someone to help with the slicing and peeling. It is a task that will require you to dig deep and navigate your culinary proficiencies: especially when major ingredients are missing. You just have to be creative, and when you deliver, don’t be too shy to accept accolades and rounds of applause complimenting your skills in the kitchen.

Peter is the editor of Better Sailing. He has sailed for countless hours and has maintained his own boats and sailboats for years. After years of trial and error, he decided to start this website to share the knowledge.

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Sailboat Galley Equipment List: Essentials for Meals Onboard

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Cooking in a sailboat galley is different than a spacious kitchen with land life conveniences. 

Making meals aboard is challenging enough in the small space. Now add in managing heat and steam while being conscious of water and propane usage. You have a challenge on your hands.

The hurdles of cooking aboard and limited space mean we have to be selective about sailing galley equipment. 

For this list, I used the criteria below:

• Does it conserve resources (power, water, or propane)?
• Is it high-quality and built durably for a boat environment?
• Is it easy to use and clean?
• Does it store easily?
• Does it have more than one purpose?

These questions helped determine which items made our galley equipment list. 

Best Galley Cookware / Bakeware

Magma stainless steel cookware.

Great cookware is a staple of any great kitchen, no matter where you live.

Luckily, Magma builds high-quality cookware with small space dwellers in mind.

The Magma set distributes heat evenly and has all the trademarks of quality cookware, with the nesting bonus for your small boat galley.

Why Magma Pots are Essential

• They are 18/8 grade stainless steel with triple clad bottoms for an even heat distribution
• The pots are oven safe to 500 degrees for use on the stove or oven
• They hold heat well – they’ll conserve propane and keep food hot long after you’ve turned off the burner
• They are efficient with space – the set is about 7-inches high and approximately 14-inches at the widest point of the handles

7-Piece vs. 10-Piece Set

7-Piece Pot Set

10-Piece Pot Set

As an owner of the 7-piece, I would highly recommend the 10-piece set. We added the 1 1/2-quart pot, which has been a workhorse in the galley. The 1.5 quart is helpful for heating leftovers, a can of soup, or a single cup of oatmeal. If you opt for the 7-piece set, be sure to pick up an additional small saucepan.

You can also purchase these sets directly from Magma (often they have additional colors and options).

Read more about why these pots are sailboat galley essential and make the Best Nesting Pots for Small Spaces .

BONUS: The Magma cookware is also induction compatible. So, if you want to ditch the propane for induction, you won’t need a new cookware set.

Runner up: silicone mats.

Silicone baking mats are a big kitchen staple on a boat. They are flexible, distribute heat evenly, and are incredibly non-stick.

The Silpats silicone mats come in a variety of sizes. I have the Petite Jelly Roll (8 1/4″ x 11 3/4), which is perfect for our oven on the boat. But they also come in a toaster oven size that’s even smaller.

• Petite jelly roll size mat, 8-1/4" x 11-3/4"
• Made of the highest quality food grade silicone
• Safe for use in the oven, microwave, and freezer (-40° to 500° degrees Fahrenheit)

Why Silicone Mats are Essential

• They save on oil and eliminate parchment paper
• They are easy to wash
• Storage is a breeze; they roll up to squeeze in tight spots in a sailboat kitchen
• They are great for baking and any scenario where you would use parchment paper

I have used the Silpat brand for over 15 years and can attest to its quality. They’ll last forever if you treat them well—no knives or cutting on the mat and no harsh dish soap.

Use these mats to roast vegetables, bake pizza evenly, make granola, or bake cookies. They also work for rolling dough and making chocolate bark.

Check out Silpat silicone mats and size options here .

Best Galley Drinkware

Stainless steel wine glasses.

Our stainless steel wine glass set was a thoughtful gift from friends when we left Colorado to start cruising.

These glasses have been my go-to for happy hour on the boat and during our RV days sitting by the fire.

They’re so versatile – great for Chardonnay, rum liqueur, or boxed red wine with a couple of ice cubes (no judgment, please).

• Stainless steel tumblers, set of four
• Unbreakable and shatterproof, 18 oz.
• Great for camping, boating, and other outdoor activities

Why These Wine Glasses are Essential

• They are 304-grade stainless steel and absolutely won’t break
• They keep wine and other iced drinks cold and are freezer safe
• They’re super easy to clean
• They don’t get as many fingerprints and hard water spots as our GCI wine glasses that are made from a Copolyester material.

Get ready for sundowners with your set of these stainless steel wine glasses .

BONUS: You’ll fill a whole lot fancier drinking your run and coke without any added hassle.

Runner up: yeti tumblers.

A good everyday glass is essential on a boat. You don’t have room for a cabinet full of drinkware, so what you have needs to work.

The Yeti insulated tumbler is a versatile piece of drinkware. It works for iced tea, hot tea, rum and coke, and coffee.

• 18/8 grade stainless steel BPA-free, dishwasher safe
• 6 7/8" high with a lip diameter of 3 1/2"
• MagSlider lid

Why an Insulated Tumbler is Essential

• As with the wine glasses, stainless steel is easy to clean – we use a small amount of diluted bleach to clean the tea stains every month or so
• They have double-wall vacuum insulation, so if it’s cold, it stays cold, and hot stays hot
• They are very durable at 18/8 stainless steel

Yeti is known for being a high-quality brand. Still, any well-made insulated tumbler will be a versatile cup amongst your sailing kitchenware.

View Yeti’s insulated 20 oz. tumbler , which is available in a variety of colors.

PRO TIP: You can clean coffee and tea stains on the steel and lid by soaking in water with a little bleach.

Best galley storage solutions, quality storage containers.

I discovered the OXO Smart Seal storage containers when we moved into the RV. Finally, after buying one-offs every time I would see a Bed, Bath & Beyond, I broke down and bought a full set.

• 5.7 oz. containers (2), 1.6 cup containers (2), 3 cup containers (2), 4.6 cup container (1), 6.2 cup container (1)
• All containers nest and stack for easy and compact storage
• BPA free - microwave, freezer, and dishwasher safe

Why These Containers are Essential

• They look and feel high quality
• The removal silicone lining on the lid makes them very easy to clean
• They are microwave and freezer safe, helping to eliminate freezer bags (the 4.6 cup size is perfect for freezing broth)
• They stack and nest without issue

These have a locking tab on each side and are leak and spill-proof. This is key, so you are 100% sure the lids are locked.

They come in plastic or glass. We have the plastic, and they are holding up well since we hand wash.

You can view the OXO Smart Seal containers here .

BONUS: They come in a 5.7-ounce version that is perfect for little bits of herbs, chopped veggies, freezing pesto and pizza sauce, and more.

Runner up: basket with handles.

These are the solution for all the lost food on the back of the shelf. Whether in the fridge or cabinet, you want these baskets.

You can easily pull them out to get what you need while staying organized and maximizing space.

• Set of four plastic food storage baskets with handles for ease of use
• Great for use in the kitchen in cabinets, fridge, and freezer
• 100% food safe BPA free shatter-resistant plastic.
• Bin size 12” long × 6.75” wide × 4.45” high

Why These Baskets are Essential

• They make use of hard-to-reach space in the galley cabinets or fridge
• Although not pricey, they are durable – we have consistently used ours for two years with no cracks
• They clean up quickly, even when we have big spills in the fridge

We found ours at Walmart, but I’ve seen them at the Container Store and Amazon. Be sure to measure your space before committing to a size.

Best Galley Zero Waste Product

Reusable paper towels.

One of the first things I tackled when we moved aboard was how to be more sustainable. I was previously a die-hard user of paper towels.

I immediately discovered that sourcing and storing such giant disposable products was zero fun on a boat.

• Eco-friendly, reusable paper towels
• Made from 100% organic cotton

Why Unpaper Towels Are Essential

• They reduce trash and increase storage space occupied by rolls of paper towels
• They are easy to wash and do even better if you initially rinse stains with a little dish soap
• If you don’t use cloth napkins, these can also double as casual dinner napkins

I sourced our reusable paper towels in Brunswick, Georgia, at a locally owned store, Dot & Army. Check out their unpaper towels online . They carry lots of other eco-friendly options as well.

BONUS: I love that these are trimmed in a rainbow of colors that add a little fun to the galley.

Runner up: beeswax wraps.

These have been all the rage as an eco-friendly item for the kitchen, and with good cause. I was a bit spectacle when I bought the Beeswax Wraps but quickly jumped on the bandwagon.

With a small fridge, a big concern is how much space a container occupies. The beeswax wraps adhere nicely to the shape of any fruit, veggie, or cheese, while efficiently using the room in the fridge.

• Made of certified organic cotton (plastic and silicone free)
• Washes easily with soap and cold water
• Made in Vermont, USA

Why Beeswax Wraps are Essential

• They maximize space and minimize trash since you can reduce plastic bags
• They clean easily (a little cold water and minimal dish soap if needed) 
• They fold up for easy storage when not in use (I keep them in a jar in the cabinet)

You can get the Beeswax Wraps here .

If you are planning your move aboard, start your sustainable journey now. The sooner you can learn what works for you and your crew, the better.

READ NEXT: Check out our full zero waste swaps list for more sustainable products in a small space.

Best galley gadget, hand-powered food chopper.

In the growing list of boat galley accessories, the Chef’n VeggiChop is at the top. It checks all the boxes for cooking equipment in the cruising lifestyle.

• Manual, hand-powered food chopper for veggies, fruits, herbs, nuts, and more
• Perfect for travel, RVing, tent camping, boating, and more
• Bowl, blades, and storage lid are dishwasher safe. Hand wash the pull-cord lid.

Why the VeggiChop is Essential

• It’s easy to clean, especially compared to blenders and food processors
• The convenience of a food processor with no sacrifice to power
• It’s durable – I have been using it consistently for over a decade
• You can also use it to chop nuts or make guacamole, salsa, and even pesto

How to Use the Chopper

• Roughly chop your onion, celery, carrot, or bell pepper
• Plop it in the container with the blades inserted
• Put the lid on and pull the ring like you are cranking the dinghy! (Ok, not quite that hard.)

Pull more times for finely chopped veggies. Presto, chopped in no time, and it’s completely man-powered.

Just recently, we took apart the top to oil the inner workings. There is minor fraying on the cord after ten years, but it is working great after oiling.

Check out the Chef’n VeggiChop here .

BONUS: If you are sensitive to onions, this is a lifesaver. Seal your onion while chopping, and keep those tears at bay!

Runner up: immersion blender.

A stick blender is excellent for soups, chili, hummus, and blending ice for smoothies or shakes. Most importantly, it does the work of a blender while fitting in a small boat galley.

This KitchenAid model breaks down into two 9-inch pieces for easy storage.

Why an Immersion Blender is Essential

• It’s effortless to clean compared to a full-size blender
• It does take power (about 200 watts), but most things you are blending will only require 20-30 seconds
• It is relatively small for a kitchen gadget (especially compared to regular blenders, Ninjas, etc.), which will allow you to store it conveniently for quick use

NOTE: I had an older version of the KitchenAid immersion blender, which lasted 15 years. I recently replaced it with the newer KitchenAid model above, and the quality is similar so far.

Some blenders are cordless with a 12V lithium battery, which I am curious to hear more about. If anyone has used the cordless version, please let me know your thoughts in the comments!

You can browse KitchenAid immersion blenders here .

Best Galley Small Appliance

Thermal cooker.

Like many boats out there, our oven is older and tends to put out as much heat as it retains. Anything that takes more than 20 minutes to cook can really heat up the galley.

• Saves energy, approx. 80% on electricity or gas
• Saves time by reducing stovetop cooking time to 10 - 15 min.
• Perfect for picnics, camping, travel, and more
• Food stays warm for over 6 hours

The thermal cooker reduced heat dramatically compared with the oven. It cooks with an insulated container by locking in heat once your food has come to a boil. It’s a good alternative to the stove when simmering beans or broth for hours.

With a thermal cooker, you are trading cooking time for the convenience of less heat. In the heat of the summer months, that’s a fair trade.

Some thermal cookers have a second inner pot allowing you to cook two things simultaneously. Make potatoes in the bottom and a casserole on top.

Things to Put in a Thermal Cooker

How to Use a Thermal Cooker

• Sauté any veggies and bring your food (beans, soup, broth, etc.) to a boil in the large inner pot. If cooking a casserole, boil water only in the large pot.
• Boil for 5-10 minutes.
• Remove from the stove and insert the large pot into the insulated container. If cooking a casserole, prepare it in the small pot and place it over the large pot of boiling water in the insulated container.
• Lock the lid and wait. Generally, the thermal cooker time is relative to a slow cooker.

NOTE: Don’t forget to use the boiled water for washing dishes.

Why a thermal cooker is essential.

• It saves on propane and keeps the heat out of the boat
• It serves as a cooking and baking appliance
• Inner pots are stainless steel and clean up as quickly as any regular pot

We have this thermal cooker . For more on cooking with a thermal cooker, The Boat Galley has some great information.

BONUS: Experimenting is fun! We tried making banana bread in the second inner pot, which turned out delicious and gooey. It was moist due to being cooked with water instead of the oven’s dry heat. But if you are open to trying different textures, you won’t be disappointed in the taste.

Runner up: ice maker.

I’m ashamed to say I was against an ice maker when we became liveaboards. It didn’t seem like a smart trade-off for space. Obviously, I had not been cruising during the summer in the southeast.

If you have the space and the power, an ice maker is a huge morale booster for hot afternoons and happy hours.

• Can produce 26 pounds of ice per day
• Makes ice in less than 6 minutes
• Can produce two different sizes of ice cubes

We opted for the Frigidaire, which has worked well with heavy use for over a year.

This model makes ice in under 10 minutes, making nine cubes per cycle. The specs show it draws around 200 watts when producing ice and a little more when it’s cooling ice in the basket.

Why an Ice Maker is Essential

For this last essential, I threw out most of the criteria. An ice maker can drain power, is sometimes hard to clean, and has just one purpose. But because having ice has been a daily treat for us, I had to include it on the list.

As we learn more about how to live with less on a boat, I find sometimes you just need something that makes you happy, even if it requires a little more time and energy. For our lifestyle, the ice maker is worth it!

There is now a newer version of this Frigidaire ice make found here.

Deciding on Galley Kitchen Equipment

Defining your galley cooking style, what you like to eat, and how conservative you can be with resources will dictate your boat galley equipment. Everyone will be a little different because we all have our own priorities regarding how we cook and what we eat.

I hope this list has been helpful and given you a few ideas for items that will make cooking on a boat a little easier and more enjoyable as a liveaboard.

Want to learn more about cooking on a boat?

Read more on meal ideas, provisioning, and outfitting your boat galley on our guide.

Like this post? Save it on Pinterest for later.

Morgan, the founder of The Home That Roams, has been living nomadically for over five years. She began her journey traveling across the U.S. in a motorhome and cruising on a liveaboard sailing catamaran. Currently, she lives full-time in a travel trailer, sharing resources on RV living and boat life to help others downsize their lives and thrive in an alternative lifestyle.

Just stalked your whole site and love it. So informative ❤️ Thank you so much for posting and sharing

Thanks, Nakailla! I’m so glad you found it helpful 🙂 I love sharing about this lifestyle, but love it more when readers find it useful. Thanks again!

This has been SO helpful on putting together our list for what we need on board! Thank you so much for putting this together!

Hi Jaclyn! I’m so glad you found this helpful. There’s definitely a lot to think about for that first outfitting of the galley! Wishing you many delicious meals on board 🙂

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Best Dishes for Sailboats: Galley Dinnerware Plates

Last Updated by

Elizabeth O'Malley

June 15, 2022

Wanna keep morale high on board? Choose the best dishes for your boat! Galley dinnerware can make (and hopefully not break!) meals underway and dockside.

Outfitting your galley -- whether you are dockside 90% of the time or a hard-core cruiser – means picking the proper dishes and glassware for safe, easy, enjoyable meals. From material to motif, consider the following when shopping for bowls, platters, mugs, and more!

Many sailors have amassed a mishmash of galley items over the years, and, while some are always going to be appropriate, newer options are making galley-stocking decisions more diverse from both functionality and aesthetic angles. Whether it’s the way a plate stays in place when heeled over 30 degrees or the way a wine glass feels in your hand, on your lips, and when it crashes to the deck, you’ll want to consider your personal dinnerware preferences and design taste as you outfit or upgrade your galley.

As a person who spends a lot of time on both sailboats (and, yes, power boats) and as a person who loves to entertain family and friends on board, I have come to appreciate the interplay of how dinnerware works, stows, and looks.

Table of contents

Best Dishes For Sailboats

Plates, dishes, and bowls can be made from the same materials as dinnerware in a landlubber’s kitchen, but boat life presents different considerations for the composition of galleyware. Here are various options for galleyware, presented in order of my least to most favorite:

Disposable and Paper Plates for Boats

While paper plates are easy and disposable, the mere thought of a true sailor opting for such an environmentally-antagonistic product makes me a bit seasick. Literally, the disposable nature of today’s society is making our seas sick and why any self-respecting sailor would opt for this, I simply can’t fathom.

Stainless Steel Plates and Bowls for Boats

Stainless steel – plates, bowls, mugs, and glasses – can certainly stand up to the rigors of boat life, much as they do for camping life, but dropping a stainless plate on pine-needled forest floor versus the deck of a boat has different outcomes. Yes, stainless steel, with regular use becomes pretty dented and we’ve had plates get bend-y and not flat after a while. Possibly more so than the denting, I just don’t like the taste of metal or the sound of metal while I’m eating. Clink, clink, clink. While I do like the clink, clink, clink of a halyard at night (yes, I know, many people hate that sound), I don’t like the sound of utensils clinking on a metal plate. And food really does taste differently when served on metal. It does, really! Having said that, if you feel compelled to go with stainless steel galleyware, here’s a complete stainless galleyware set  folks seem to like. Candidly, I’m kind of a sucker for the “packaging” of these various pieces -- but practically it does seem like a good option for people who may step ashore for some hiking (or even beach camping which some pals of mine do because they “sail to surf” all over the world!).

Although it doesn’t necessarily fit in the “plate-dish-bowl” category I’m covering in this article, one stainless steel galley item that you may want to add to your wish list (especially if you do a lot of onboard cooking) is this set of nesting stainless steel cookware .  It is 100% 18-10 marine-grade stainless steel and a real space saver.  When nested, it stores in less than 1/2 ft³ of space.  While I haven’t used it before, to me this stainless tiered, multi-step lid  that can work for different sized pots and pans seems like it’d be helpful to have on hand.

Plastic Plates and Bowls for Boats

Plastic is a popular option and, admittedly, I’ve got plastic drink tumblers that get regular use. I sort of feel like plastic is just one step above paper relative to its environmental impact but I can’t argue that it stows well, is lightweight, takes a beating and (unless it’s a more brittle plastic) rarely breaks or shatters. Over the years, most of my food storage containers are plastic – and the only real negative with that is they’re prone to absorbing color and odors, which seems even more prevalent in damp boating conditions.  I started with a version of this lightweight, unbreakable plastic dinnerware  a while ago, and it may suit your needs if you’re comfortable with plastic and not too considered about attractiveness.

One of the clear advantages of plastic is that it can be microwaved -- and in some cases put in the oven (typically at no more than 300 degrees and for no longer than 45 minutes if you take it from freezer to oven). If you’re a big fan of the microwave, plastic definitely is a leading contender for galleyware.

I recently visited with a friend and her husband who were on the Intracoastal and docked in nearby Beaufort, North Carolina for several days. I fell head over(board) heels for the personalized plastic plates they had on their boat. It came as a big surprise to learn that she had purchased the plates from Amazon and, while $20 a plate is more than I think I want to spend, if you want to keep up(wind) from the Jones, you can check these fun, classic customized plates out for yourself right here .

Plastic is probably the most common material that I see folks using, and I definitely get the benefits of it.  Like paper plates, though, for me, it has a pretty substantial drawback -- it’s just so not eco-friendly.  

Wooden and Bamboo Plates and Bowls for Boats

Wooden galleyware has a nice warm feel to it, and aesthetically, at least for me, it often works well with a boat’s appearance. Wooden plates and bowls are great in terms of the breakage and the bounce-factor and they can hold up to regular use. When stored and not used on a regular basis, though, I have seen wooden galleyware deteriorate from the damp environment typically associated with boats; however, when I was in San Diego for a decade, the desert-like dry air (even dockside) never impacted the bamboo trays that we used on board.

I still have an earlier version of this wooden galleyware ,and every now and then still use it casually (but not for impressing guests). If wood is your thing, they do last well but will eventually begin to splinter here and there. These bamboo plates  are nice because of their square shape – they seem to take up less space than round plates but maybe that’s just my imagination. My wooden beer mugs  always elicit a variety of comments – mainly the surprise that there’s even such a thing as a “modern” wooden beer mug. And these coconut shell bowls  are also a fun favorite due to both their depth and their material.  They are not supposed to be used for very hot items but I’ve served soup in them before -- just not piping hot, burn-the-roof-of-your-mouth hot.  

Melamine Plates and Bowls for Boats

My absolute preference for dishes and plates on the boat – and my ever-growing collection of it reflects my affinity for it – is melamine. Like plastic, it’s fairly lightweight and stacks well without sliding around too much (and options with non-skid material on the bottom alleviates this issue). Melamine galleyware comes in soooo many attractive designs – that rarely fade and hold up well to rough-and-tumble boat life. The biggest negative to melamine is that it is not microwavable. So, a quick reheat of last night’s leftovers can’t happen on those cute anchor or nautilus shell-themed plates. For me, that’s a tradeoff that I’m comfortable with but if you’re a leftover hound (and use the microwave a lot), keep that con in mind.

Melamine isn’t a whole lot better for the environment than plastic -- it’s actually just really hard plastic. Sigh. It just seems like the design options (both dimensions and graphics) are better and, dare I say, classier than plastic.  In my mind, melamine is like the Nordstrom of plastic so if design and appearance really matters to you, I suspect you’ll find much better choices than with plastic. As an example, I love this setting for four  for its minimalist in design -- it can be mixed and matched with various patterned napkins, charges, placemats, etc. A plastic version of this would look and feel, well, chintzy.  

If your see-worthy taste tends toward nautical (and isn’t that way you’re here on this site?) this melamine set with a nautical flag design  might just appeal to your sail flag fetish. There is a third melamine set  that I have my eye on and it is from a small, woman-owned business (Relish in Atlanta).  This style marries the look of pottery with the efficient ease of melamine.

Bowls on Board Sailboats

While not something one might think to consider when acquiring galleyware, you should definitely ponder the seemingly simple bowl before you buy.  Bowls by nature are intended to corral foodstuffs that don’t cooperate with a flat surface, i.e. a plate or dish.  When sitting still on land or even standing at a cocktail party, it’s fairly easy to eat off of a plate without too much risk of food falling or sliding off.  But it goes to a different level of complexity on a boat -- which means that bowls become much more often used vessels for meals.  

Bowls come in different sizes (as you can see with the three different melamine set options I have already linked) and size matters. It’s sometimes better to get a bigger bowl (20 oz versus 16 oz) so you can put the same amount in the bowl but the contents don’t  come up as high on the sides of the bowl – just in case you’re eating while it’s a big rough on the water. No one likes to see their Rice Krispies sloshed onto the deck…

And because the contents of bowls tend to be more slippery than plated items (think cereal versus sandwich), anti-skid bowls are definitely something to look for.  I recommend purchasing more than you think you’ll need -- all the same size because you want them to be nesting and stackable.  The more variety you have the less likely that they’ll nicely cozy up with one another and then you’ve got a jumbled mess in your galley cabinets. I’d recommend this good looking and versatile stacking, nesting, anti-skid bowl , recognizing that it is melamine and not recommended for microwave use.  For something of the microwave-friendly variety that apparently is eco-friendly, check into this set of eight deep and large (30 oz!) bowls .  (Note: they do not have the non-skid feature.)

While i think it goes without saying, I’ll mention it just in case:  anti-skid or non-skid/non-slip features are certainly helpful to have on plates too.  It’s not just bowls that move around.  

Using anti-skid placemats can be another way to address the slip-slide challenge.  Some placemats are non-skid between the mat and the tabletop, and others are non-skid between the mat and the plate or bowl on top of the placemat.  The latter are often made of silicone which grips both on the top and the bottom side.  Regretfully, I have yet to see a really attractive silicone placemat but the  light gray one linked here  is neutral and at least not primary-color childish or amusement-park garish like most of the other silicone mats that I have seen out there.

There are plenty of dinnerware material options from which to choose when it comes to having a well-stocked galley, regardless of whether you’re a solo sailor or the hostess with the mostess. You may have learned some of your preferences through trial and error and hopefully I’ve covered (and linked) some unique plate, dish, and bowls considerations here.  In a future article, I will provide an overview of some of the best beverage containers and family-style serving pieces for boats that have made for plenty of convenient, fun, and fine dining experiences on the water. When you’re on the water and the food is good and it stays where it is supposed to stay, you can be pretty sure that the crew’s morale (and the cook’s too) will be better than shipshape!

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Elizabeth has sailed Sunfish, Catalinas, Knarrs, and countless other boats. Forty years later, she finds herself back on the waters of Bogue Sound, where she lives and sails with her daughter, Morgan, and chocolate lab, Choco.

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Living Aboard: Make it Easy

• By Wendy Mitman Clarke
• Updated: January 16, 2014

Over four years of cruising, as we put equipment to the test aboard Osprey , our Adams 45 steel cutter, we came up with a list of ideas and gear that fall under what’s known as the “pink jobs” category. Unlike the “blue jobs” list (see “ Simply Indispensable, ” January 2013), this is generally made up of simpler, mostly inexpensive systems or items that just plain work for everyday use. In their own small ways, they make the care and feeding of a family of four on board a little more efficient and easier.

Water Savings

1. Galley saltwater foot pump

This sounds old school, especially on many new boats that seem to want to make people feel like they’re living in a condo, not on a boat. But more than one fellow cruiser has envied ours. They resort to schlepping buckets of saltwater down to the galley to pre-rinse their dishes, or they lug the dishes to the transom to do the same. We just use the saltwater foot pump at the sink, then wash and final rinse with fresh water.

2. Freshwater foot pump (or hand pump) in the galley and head sinks.

This is the partner to number one, and I bring it up because so many boats I see use constant-pressure water in the head and galley. It doesn’t matter how frugal you are; pressure water systems invariably use more water than foot pumps.

Osprey came equipped with a freshwater foot pump for the galley and the head. In the head, hot water is pressure, but cold water (for daily stuff like tooth brushing) is via foot pump. In the galley, we added pressure hot and cold water but we rarely use it. It’s become so much a part of our routine to use the foot pump at either sink. If we want warm water for washing dishes or faces, we just heat it in a tea kettle and pour it in a bowl, rather than run the engine to make hot water and then turn on the pressure water pump to deliver it.

Even though I consider myself a low-maintenance female when it comes to personal buffing and fluffing, my one prerequisite is a hot shower. Daily. Osprey has a terrific shower, but whenever we are in climates and circumstances that permit it, we use the outdoor sun shower, which we hang from the aft arch. It accomplishes two things: One, it uses less water than a pressure-water shower; and two, the sun, rather than the boat’s engine, heats the water. So it’s a triple bonus, minimizing wear and tear on the boat’s hardware, saving fuel and helping conserve what is arguably the world’s most precious resource. We try to keep two on hand, since no matter the manufacturer, they only seem to last a season under heavy use.

In the Galley

4. Carbonated water makers

We don’t drink a lot of soda on Osprey , but we do mix carbonated water with fruit juices, and when you’re sick of Crystal Light and plain water there’s nothing so quenching as an ice-cold ginger ale or orange soda. Many of our cruising friends like the Sodastream system. It does take up counter space, and it’s a challenge to get replacement gas cartridges once you’re out of the country, so load up on them before you head out. We’d grown fond of the iSi Twist ‘n Sparkle, which is a smaller system, but the company has recalled its plastic bottles, citing a risk of bursting. The manufacturer is working on a redesign. For the record, nothing has exploded on Osprey . Either way you go, these eliminate a ton of can and/or bottle trash, and you don’t take up valuable storage space with flats of soda or spend stupid money to buy it in other countries.

Pressure cooker

This is the most basic piece of galley gear every serious cruising boat should have. They come in all sizes and models, ranging from the simplest jiggler to those with snazzy pressure-relief systems — whatever suits your fancy and comfort level. Osprey is equipped with an older-model Presto. From Presto online I ordered new gaskets and seals, and it works like a champ. Here’s how it makes life easier: You can cook complete one-pot meals hours in advance and they’ll stay warm and secure on the stovetop without having to reheat them. It’s a bonus when sailing in rough weather. You can make a nasty, tough cut of meat tender and tasty; you can cook the potential bacteria out of foods of questionable provenance. A recipe that requires several hours on the stovetop or in the oven can be cooked in a fraction of that time, saving on whatever cooking gas you’re using.

Recipes from Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day ** by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoë François

This book explains a method for quickly making excellent bread with no kneading that helped me keep a hungry family fed when we were sailing in remote areas that were short on just about every food staple but flour. You need enough space in your fridge for a plastic container of at least four quarts: I use a vertical rectangular container and there’s still plenty of room for everything else. This is where you toss the ingredients — flour, water, salt, yeast — mix, let rise once, and refrigerate for up to a week.

When you want a quick loaf of delicious, crusty bread, you pull out a hunk of the dough, shape it, let it rise 20 minutes, and then bake it in a hot oven for half an hour. The book recommends you use a pizza or bread stone; we bought one and cut it down to fit Osprey ‘s stove. But my friend Julie has also had success simply using a cast-iron frying pan that she pre-heats, and you can also just use standard bread pans.

Stand-alone 12-volt freezer

Osprey has 12-volt cold-plate refrigeration, and if you lay something right against the plates eventually it’ll freeze. But it’s not a practical method, nor can you freeze a lot of stuff. We debated installing a full freezer but then had the good sense to learn from our friends, who raved about their Waeco 12-volt freezer. This cooler-size unit lived beneath their saloon table and easily froze meats, cheeses, ice and ice cream. We used a Waeco for the first three years and it performed admirably. In this last year we have switched to an Engel, which we like even more because it seems more efficient and sweats less than the Waeco did in humid climes.

Food vacuum-bagging system

There are several brands; we bought a FoodSaver because Sam’s Club carried it and the proprietary bags in quantity. We use this versatile tool all the time. When we catch fresh fish that’s too big to eat in one or two meals, we can instantly vacuum bag and freeze it. Likewise, I can buy bulk quantities of meats, divide them into smaller portions and freeze them. Vacuum bagging eliminates freezer burn, and it also compresses the food so that you can fit more into the freezer. I also use it to seal and store coffee, flour, sugar, pasta and anything else that bugs can otherwise get into. Johnny has even used it to seal tools, spare watermaker filters and any other parts that he doesn’t want exposed to salt air.

9. Galley chamois and cloth napkins

Living in a house I routinely bought truck-size quantities of paper towels. On a boat, I lack the space, and in many countries paper products cost twice as much as they do in the U.S. Both reasons were incentive enough to try out Trader Joe’s Super Amazing Kitchen Cloths. These are like chamois cloths for the galley, and at $4 for a two-pack it’s hard to go wrong. They’ve completely eliminated the need for paper towels, with the exception of when we check the engine oil (we keep one roll for that). We use the cloths for cleaning all surfaces throughout the boat, inside and outside. When they’re dirty, we wash, dry and reuse. Saves on trash, saves on trees, saves on money. Likewise, we now use cloth napkins that we make from quilting scrap remnants you can buy cheaply at any fabric store, and you can use the same thing for wrapping paper.

10. Portable spin dryer and washer

These are on my wish list, because I haven’t figured out a place to store them on Osprey , but I have enough cruising friends who’ve had great success with them that I feel confident recommending them.

There are several brands; my friends swear by the Wonder Wash from the Laundry Alternative . It’s a little hand-cranked washing machine that uses only elbow grease and minimal fresh water. Then, switch to the Laundry Alternative Spin Dryer, which does use 110-volt AC, but spins your clothes nearly dry in a couple of minutes, so a half-hour on the lifelines does the rest. I could recoup the cost of these nifty machines in maybe six laundromat trips in a destination like the Bahamas. These tools are a lot more fun than hand-washing in a drywall bucket, believe me.

Communications

11. Yotreps

This wonderful service, provided by Pangolin, a New Zealand-based website, costs nothing and enables family and friends to follow your track anywhere in the world, as long as you have an SSB and Sailmail or Winlink to send position updates. By registering your boat and sending daily position reports, you provide weather and sea state information to other sailors, and those at home with an Internet connection simply click on your boat’s name to see where you are. A Google Earth map pinpoints your latest position with whatever pithy little report you wish to add (it limits you to 80 characters).

12. Powered Wi-Fi antenna with router

A powered Wi-Fi antenna that you run up a halyard can mean the difference between handling email and surfing the Web comfortably at anchor or dinghying ashore to spend hours in some dirt-floored hut sweating onto your keyboard. Likewise, an onboard router makes it seamlessly easy for more than one computer to access the Internet at once, thereby preventing nasty territory disputes among spouses and siblings. There are many options for these; on Osprey we use an all-weather Ubiquiti Bullet and POE (power over Ethernet, which powers the system), a multidirectional antenna and a standard Cisco router. The whole system costs about $200 and can reach out and touch Wi-Fi sources several miles away.

Handheld VHFs

These are the cellphones of the cruising family. Get a lot of them. It doesn’t really matter what brand. Especially when you have kids who spend a lot of time on the beach, running around and dropping stuff in the water; they’re vital for staying in touch and they take a beating. We used to have two; now we have four. Two for standard use, and two for backup. And we’ve had to use all four, at one time or another.

Osprey has landed for a while on the Chesapeake Bay and its crew is between voyages. This article first appeared as “Make it Easy” in the October 2013 issue of Cruising World .

Click here for more articles about living aboard.

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