When we were planning our trip I was worried about what we would eat, how much to take, and how to keep it all cold. I had spoken about this on an earlier post and it is one topic that people asked me about when we got back. It was challenging and I don’t think I have it quite figured out yet. I had made a complete meal plan for each day right down to snacks and once on the boat I promptly put it away and never looked at it again. It was a good guide though, to help me prepare before we left.

I don’t like to use processed foods. I grow my own garden and prepare everything from scratch. This is hard to do on a boat. Also, I am a vegetarian, the rest of my family is not but I do all the cooking. It was also really, really hot so we all kinda fancied easy, cooling foods. So all the meals I was thinking of had to please everyone on minimal ingredients that could possibly be used in other recipes. It was alot to wrap my head around, I am more of a fly by the seat of my pants kinda girl, not a planner.

First, I perused the internet looking for “boat friendly” recipes, tips on what to avoid, etc. Then I had to look at each family member and include some of their favourites plus omit things I know they won’t eat. For example, the girls like beans (tinned, English baked) but not my homegrown cooked mexican style beans. Plus, you can’t keep leftover beans on a boat with minimal refrigeration, they get stinky really, really fast. So I compromised and ate baked tinned beans even though I don’t care for them. One tin could be eaten in one sitting. I then created a list of things I knew I would need, the basics, potatoes, onions, etc. Nick wanted to buy tinned potatoes. Gag. No way am I eating potatoes out of tin. Thinking of it gives me the shivers. Imagine the texture. Gross, gross, gross. Plus, we only were going for 2 weeks not 2 months. Once I had an idea I made up a list for each day and used lunch the next day for leftovers. One of the girls saw the list and commented that they don’t really like to eat leftovers. Could I just make a fresh meal each time? Seriously? Have we met?

I started with breakfast, I knew we would eat big each morning and then kinda pick throughout the day. I made pancake mix, cookie and biscuit mix before we left so on the boat I only had to add an egg/ powdered milk and we were good to go. We brought unwashed eggs from our own chickens as they keep longer, and most breaky meals consisted of eggs, fruit, beans, and toast. For the first couple days we had milk so the girls had cereal until it ran out. I also made granola and brought that along. We had a strawberry, peas, lettuce and kale haul from the garden so that was on every plate in the beginning as well.

We never had a regular lunch. I was just picking at whatever we felt like, tomatoes and avocados with chickpeas, sandwiches, fruit, or chips with salsa. The girls snacked on cheese and crackers, tuna and veggie sticks. I had a snack container under the table that anyone could grab from throughout the day. It was filled with corn cakes, chips, nuts and dried fruit. The chips ran out first, naturally.

Dinner was a bit of a kicker for me. It was always late, felt hodge podgy and unorganized. It was always after we dropped anchor, had a couple drinks, had a swim, and then just when I would like to relax for the evening everyone would be hungry. I probably could have avoided the feeling of drudgery by not having a gin & tonic first but Nick told me that once the anchor was dropped it was imperative to have a drink and watch to make sure we weren’t dragging.  Aye Aye Captain!

So here’s what I made: burgers and fries, tofu and veggie stir fry, chickpea curry, veggie meatloaf (once we got the oven working), spaghetti with black bean tomato sauce, hot dogs, veggie wraps, caesar salad and repeat all those foods again. Bit boring.  I don’t really know what else I would have liked to have had but I feel like I kinda dropped the ball on dinner.

I need to write a cookbook for vegetarian sailors. I have yet to find one. Has anyone out there seen one? Let me know ’cause I would snap that up. Avocados! That’s what I forgot, I ate a lot of them. Maybe it was the heat and the tropical feel of the holiday but I couldn’t get enough of them. Madeline started putting peanut butter on her corn cakes and called them peanut butter plates and that was easily her go to food whereas Georgia went straight for the chips and Nick for the cookies. I pre made the mix and only had to add the wet. 100% whole wheat chocolate chip, so yummy. We gave half away to our new friends on another boat that were celebrating a birthday.

The BEST part of each day was my morning coffee, even Nick commented that he couldn’t wait for that first cup. I think it is the fresh air, the sunrise and quietness. All you hear are the birds and waves lapping. I ran out of my good coffee but even the crappy over priced stuff I had to buy tasted good in it.

Realistically, we should be fishing and being more self sufficient but we tried and we suck. I think it is a steep learning curve. We will try again next time. We stopped to get more provisions in Refuge Cove ( good selection, prices not bad), Cortes Island ( expensive, not alot of vegetarian choice), Lund ( same as Refuge Cove), and Hornby Island ( the best of the lot but not in Desolation Sound area, it is closer to Vancouver Island and our last stop on the way home).

Our ice box on the boat is vintage, original 1976 and therefore doesn’t keep things very cold. The lid isn’t insulated so ice had to be replaced every 2-3 days. I tried to only go into it once or twice a day so I think next time I will bring a new, well insulated cooler and keep all our really perishable foods in that under the stairs. The drinks and condiments can stay in the ice box and it might just work better.

Garbage wasn’t a problem until 2 days before we got home. We were really careful not to put organics into it and we had a separate bag for recycling but it started to smell in the heat of the day. Apparently, there is a guy in Desolation Sound that comes by in a barge to collect garbage for a fee but we never saw him. I reduced any packaging before we got on the boat so it was minimal but nevertheless it is hard to store on a small boat.

I am sure once we are on my dream boat I will have a luxury garbage system. Yeah right.