Living on a Sailboat - Where Do You Eat?
Living on a sailboat in the Caribbean was a way of life for 8 years. Sailing from Trinidad and Venezuela in the south to the Virgin Islands in the north. We had a ball and lived very well.
One common question was where did you eat? Simple answer was 90% of the time we ate on the boat. Hard to believe that a small galley on a 35 foot boat could put out such great food but it did. We had turkey on Thanksgiving and bread made from scratch at any anchorage we chose.
Now we modified the 90% rule when we docked at Puerto La Cruz in Venezuela or in Trinidad. The restaurant food was so cheap we ate out practically every day for lunch. By cheap I'm talking 2 full meals, some beer and tip for less than $10. Living on a sailboat is a cheap way to go I tell you.
The street food was especially good in Trinidad, rotis (a doughy burrito with chicken) and doubles (chickpeas and ?) were our favorites. We never once got sick. If you don't take advantage of the local cuisine when traveling, and not just to the Caribbean, you are missing out.
On board the galley contained a three burner gimbaled stove, with an oven big enough for the Thanksgiving bird and the bread pan. The oven ran on propane, we had two 5 gallon tanks on board. A pressure cooker also came in handy at times. We did not miss much in the food department living on a sailboat.
Whenever we cooked out we used a very small grill attached to the stern rail, fueled by a small propane container. Some used charcoal but it is not a good idea with the dinghy and its gas tank around.
Our boat, an Island Packet 35, had a very nice feature for dining. When the wind was up we ate below. The table below folded away against the bulkhead. Lots of room during the day. A dropdown table for the evening meal. One Thanksgiving we had 6 hungry people below for a memorable meal.
Most commonly it would be the 2 of us and we ate up top off another teak fold down table in the cockpit.
We had a division of labor on the boat the mate was the cook and the captain was the dishwasher. We used fresh water very sparingly to do the dishes. Fresh water was a valuable commodity on board. We had 90 gallons which lasted us 2 weeks. A daily shower apiece, drinking water and the dishes. The average American family uses 400 gallons a day ...that would keep us going for 9 weeks.
So living on a sailboat was not only a lot of fun, it meant eating well. So if you are contemplating giving this lifestyle a try...bring an appetite. Enjoy.
One common question was where did you eat? Simple answer was 90% of the time we ate on the boat. Hard to believe that a small galley on a 35 foot boat could put out such great food but it did. We had turkey on Thanksgiving and bread made from scratch at any anchorage we chose.
Now we modified the 90% rule when we docked at Puerto La Cruz in Venezuela or in Trinidad. The restaurant food was so cheap we ate out practically every day for lunch. By cheap I'm talking 2 full meals, some beer and tip for less than $10. Living on a sailboat is a cheap way to go I tell you.
The street food was especially good in Trinidad, rotis (a doughy burrito with chicken) and doubles (chickpeas and ?) were our favorites. We never once got sick. If you don't take advantage of the local cuisine when traveling, and not just to the Caribbean, you are missing out.
On board the galley contained a three burner gimbaled stove, with an oven big enough for the Thanksgiving bird and the bread pan. The oven ran on propane, we had two 5 gallon tanks on board. A pressure cooker also came in handy at times. We did not miss much in the food department living on a sailboat.
Whenever we cooked out we used a very small grill attached to the stern rail, fueled by a small propane container. Some used charcoal but it is not a good idea with the dinghy and its gas tank around.
Our boat, an Island Packet 35, had a very nice feature for dining. When the wind was up we ate below. The table below folded away against the bulkhead. Lots of room during the day. A dropdown table for the evening meal. One Thanksgiving we had 6 hungry people below for a memorable meal.
Most commonly it would be the 2 of us and we ate up top off another teak fold down table in the cockpit.
We had a division of labor on the boat the mate was the cook and the captain was the dishwasher. We used fresh water very sparingly to do the dishes. Fresh water was a valuable commodity on board. We had 90 gallons which lasted us 2 weeks. A daily shower apiece, drinking water and the dishes. The average American family uses 400 gallons a day ...that would keep us going for 9 weeks.
So living on a sailboat was not only a lot of fun, it meant eating well. So if you are contemplating giving this lifestyle a try...bring an appetite. Enjoy.
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