Having easy passage meals planned in advance makes for a happier journey. As long as I can remember, preparing meals ahead of passages has been a rite of cruising. Having some meals that just need heating up makes it far easier to get into the watch-keeping routine, as well as getting used to that of cooking on a moving platform.
We have a number of articles about eating while on passage:
Planning the Best Passage Meals
Having Meals When Underway on a Boat
10 Great Meals Underway on a Boat
But this past week, I think I got the best tip ever!
My friend Behan of Sailing Totem got a local restaurant to pre-cook four dinners for their passage down the Sea of Cortez. She handed over her reusable Snapware, spent 5 minutes picking dishes from the menu, and returned to have everything ready to go into the fridge and freezer.
Said Behan, “I didn’t realize how stressed I was about getting meals ready along with everything else we were doing until I didn’t have to do it and just felt that weight off my shoulders.”
A bonus was putting a little money into the local economy and a favorite business that was struggling in the slow season.
The biggest thing is to pick foods that will warm up easily, using no more than one or two pans. The second biggest? Meals that are easy to eat even if the boat is rolling in following seas or pounding to windward. You want good, nutritious, tasty food, but “fancy” just doesn’t work.
Really, everything I talk about in the linked articles above is equally true when working with a restaurant. It’s just that you don’t have to spend a day or two buying ingredients and doing the cooking!
Buen provecho!
Carolyn Shearlock has lived aboard full-time for 17 years, splitting her time between a Tayana 37 monohull and a Gemini 105 catamaran. She’s cruised over 14,000 miles, from Pacific Mexico and Central America to Florida and the Bahamas, gaining firsthand experience with the joys and challenges of life on the water.
Through The Boat Galley, Carolyn has helped thousands of people explore, prepare for, and enjoy life afloat. She shares her expertise as an instructor at Cruisers University, in leading boating publications, and through her bestselling book, The Boat Galley Cookbook. She is passionate about helping others embark on their liveaboard journey—making life on the water simpler, safer, and more enjoyable.
Simplify meal prep on board with proven strategies for provisioning, maximizing fridge space, and cooking delicious meals aboard your boat.
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