Eating Aboard.

[rotrax]

First Mate and I left Littlehampton May 22nd to cruise Eastern and Northern Ireland. We are likely to stay aboard until October.

In Ballycastle Marina the other day at dinner time I noticed several visitors bringing take aways to their boats. Every night for the four nights we were there.

We do eat out from time to time and hit the odd take away but normally we eat on board.

We do have the advantage of over 100 litres of fridge space and a 60 litre freezer. Our new 400w Solar install handles this even in the crap weather we have experienced this trip.

A weekly dinner menu is something like :-

Mousaka, made with beef mince and potato instead of Aubergine and lamb. Recipe from a Greek Cypriot work collegue of FM's.
Shnitzel, made from pork fillet, seasoned and coated with Panko. Potato salad, salad.
Chicken Curry, scratch made but using a Madras shop bought sauce.
Braised lamb shoulder, mash and veg.
Pasta Bake, often to use up left over ingredients, Sausage, Chicken, Ham etc.
Scratch made top only pie, Beef or Chicken and Ham. Puff pastry top. Veg and mash.
Fish and rice. Scratch made rice with onion, mushroom and a little chilli. Cooked white fish broken into it and mixed in. Lovely with good bread.

Yesterday I picked up a good sized Lobster in Rathlin.

S o - Lobster Thermidor - well, my simple version anyway - with potato salad, salad and a bootle of fizz.

Lovely.

I know Northern Ireland has had supply problems not too long ago, these now seem to be over. FM and I have been impressed with the quality of the food here, especially from the Butchers. Fruit and Veg too and some first class bakery products.

We use an 'Instant Pot' a compuerised pressure cooker. Uses little electricity and cooks food very well. We do have a genset so good food can be had on the hook or without shorepower.

I wonder how long it will be before a FB Pie is mentioned!

Living aboard all summer we cant be on holiday and eat out all the time. When we do it is usually lunch.

How to other long term cruisers get on with food?

 

[Resolution]

In the Med
Bread honey and yoghurt for breakfast
Scratch salad for lunch, washed down with a couple of beers
Two stiff G&Ts before supper, after which no-one can be bothered to cook so we hit on a restaurant if alongside, or have another G&T if not.

 

[Roberto]

Our boat kitchen equipment is similar to home we can cook almost anything, though we tend to avoid bakery as it makes the inside of the boat too hot and results are often pityful. We go to restaurants when lazy, or curious , or for dishes we cannot make ourselves like whole roasted big fishes, deep oil fried food, sushi/sashimi, or... proper pizza (either wood oven or 380v electric).

 

[Yngmar]

Some people can't cook I guess? We rarely go out to eat, wife is a great cook, I'm okayish but mostly stick to brewing the coffee and making breakfast. We do the provisioning together and the boat is usually very well stocked with fresh and long-term food.

Since we got a Pardini (bit like an Omnia, but cheaper) she bakes bread regularly as well. Unlike the oven under the boat cooker, this doesn't consume vast quantities of gas nor heat up the boat much. There's a sourdough starter living in the fridge now.

She even brewed us some Kvass for summer. And I learnt how to make Arancello/Limoncello in Sicily, which proved very popular for sundowners.

 

[dslittle]

First Mate and I left Littlehampton May 22nd to cruise Eastern and Northern Ireland. We are likely to stay aboard until October.

In Ballycastle Marina the other day at dinner time I noticed several visitors bringing take aways to their boats. Every night for the four nights we were there.

We do eat out from time to time and hit the odd take away but normally we eat on board.

We do have the advantage of over 100 litres of fridge space and a 60 litre freezer. Our new 400w Solar install handles this even in the crap weather we have experienced this trip.

A weekly dinner menu is something like :-

Mousaka, made with beef mince and potato instead of Aubergine and lamb. Recipe from a Greek Cypriot work collegue of FM's.
Shnitzel, made from pork fillet, seasoned and coated with Panko. Potato salad, salad.
Chicken Curry, scratch made but using a Madras shop bought sauce.
Braised lamb shoulder, mash and veg.
Pasta Bake, often to use up left over ingredients, Sausage, Chicken, Ham etc.
Scratch made top only pie, Beef or Chicken and Ham. Puff pastry top. Veg and mash.
Fish and rice. Scratch made rice with onion, mushroom and a little chilli. Cooked white fish broken into it and mixed in. Lovely with good bread.

Yesterday I picked up a good sized Lobster in Rathlin.

S o - Lobster Thermidor - well, my simple version anyway - with potato salad, salad and a bootle of fizz.

Lovely.

I know Northern Ireland has had supply problems not too long ago, these now seem to be over. FM and I have been impressed with the quality of the food here, especially from the Butchers. Fruit and Veg too and some first class bakery products.

We use an 'Instant Pot' a compuerised pressure cooker. Uses little electricity and cooks food very well. We do have a genset so good food can be had on the hook or without shorepower.

I wonder how long it will be before a FB Pie is mentioned!

Living aboard all summer we cant be on holiday and eat out all the time. When we do it is usually lunch.

How to other long term cruisers get on with food?

Pretty much the same as you!!!

 

[ylop]

Intrigued by your people watching… we’re the recipients of the t/aways families/couples or a bunch of blokes out for the weekend? And what age group do they fall in? Do they go and get it or is it a deliveroo/ubereats etc thing? There is certainly a demographic of people (predominantly male) who eat out / order in every night. Based on my stereotypes there would be a large overlap with the sort who have the disposable income for charter or marina fees! They may use a m/wave at home but not all boats have them and not ideal pinging multiple meals for a large group.

 

[rotrax]

I dont conciously people watch, but our boat has a large pilot house and those walking on pontoons often make a noise so my eyes will be lifted from my writing or my reading.

In Ballycastle it was a family group with a motorboat and a couple on a yacht.

We did take advantage of the excellent Mortons Fish and Chips one night, and very good it was too!

 

[Concerto]

I certainly agree that many visiting yachts do seem to have a preference to eat ashore (and have a pint or two) or have takeaways. Being singlehanded, eating out alone is never much fun, so I normally eat on board whilst on my round Britain trip. My preference is good quality meat or fish locally sourced but no ready meals from a supermarket. This with a combination of fresh vegetables and sauces can be made into a wide variety of meals. I am certainly no masterchef, but reasonably competent. In the cupboard I always keep a limited stock of tinned emergency food for days when I need a very quick simple meal as I am tired. The only takeaways have been fish and chips a few times. Eating ashore has been a couple of fried breakfasts or lunches.

My 85 litre cool box I converted to a fridge this year and it has been a big bonus, but no freezer. The one thing I have done is use a small digital thermometer to check the temperature. It is now set to be about 4C, give or take a degree, so I can ensure no food will go off. One trick I have learnt whilst grilling something, is to use the excess heat from the grill to keep a preboiled saucepan hot, rather than use an extra burner.

 

[Poignard]

We have no fridge so when fresh food is no longer fit to eat we eat tinned food.

 

[capnsensible]

In 23 years of living aboard we ate like......normal people.

 

[Clancy Moped]

Perhaps these people are on holiday, and are enjoying themselves, and cooking goes out the window for a week or so.

 

[Minerva]

Our boat kitchen equipment is similar to home we can cook almost anything, though we tend to avoid bakery as it makes the inside of the boat too hot and results are often pityful. We go to restaurants when lazy, or curious , or for dishes we cannot make ourselves like whole roasted big fishes, deep oil fried food, sushi/sashimi, or... proper pizza (either wood oven or 380v electric).

My wife bought me last year, a gas Ooni Pizza oven. It's brilliant! For various reasons we never got away for longer than a long weekend this year, but if we had, I was planning on taking it with us!

 

[Wandering Star]

Perhaps these people are on holiday, and are enjoying themselves, and cooking goes out the window for a week or so.

yep, I loathe cooking and on the very rare occasions I do cook, the finished product is barely edible anyway - I can destroy Weetabox just by pouring milk on it. So eating out is the way to go for me.

Strangely though, I do cook underway (simple meals) and enjoy the challenge of preparing a meal in a rolling bumpy seaway! I particularly enjoy a meal of freshly caught fish, mash & tinned peas!

 

[Poignard]

In 23 years of living aboard we ate like......normal people.

If what is on supermarket shelves is any guide, normal people eat food from tins and packets ?

 

[Clancy Moped]

yep, I loathe cooking and on the very rare occasions I do cook, the finished product is barely edible anyway - I can destroy Weetabox just by pouring milk on it. So eating out is the way to go for me.

Strangely though, I do cook underway (simple meals) and enjoy the challenge of preparing a meal in a rolling bumpy seaway! I particularly enjoy a meal of freshly caught fish, mash & tinned peas!

Don't worry your not the only one, I can burn water.

 

[Neeves]

We catch fish usually, small tuna and at anchor we have a crayfish pot (and licence) and collect oysters. We bait the crayfish pot with the head of the tuna. Sadly a diet of tuna and crayfish becomes a bit tedious and we stock up with red meat and chicken before we leave. Our diet is almost identical to home, maybe better as we have more time to invest in the preparation - except we eat more seafood. The biggest issue is keeping fresh green vegetable for months. We bake our own bread and make our own yogurt. We carry long life milk, fresh milk takes up fridge space. Rice, pasta, potatoes. Name a Chinese dish - we eat it + roast leg of lamb, stews (we have Shuttle Chef).

Shuttle Chef Thermos Thermal Cooker Review - Practical Sailor

We don't eat out - the nearest outlet will be 100 miles away.

We tend to be away on cruise at Chinese New Year - and we are not stingy (we take a frozen duct and roast it)


Jonathan

 

[mjcoon]

We catch fish usually, small tuna and at anchor we have a crayfish pot (and licence) and collect oysters. We bait the crayfish pot with the head of the tuna. Sadly a diet of tuna and crayfish becomes a bit tedious and we stock up with red meat and chicken before we leave. Our diet is almost identical to home, maybe better as we have more time to invest in the preparation - except we eat more seafood. The biggest issue is keeping fresh green vegetable for months. We bake our own bread and make our own yogurt. We carry long life milk, fresh milk takes up fridge space. Rice, pasta, potatoes. Name a Chinese dish - we eat it + roast leg of lamb, stews (we have Shuttle Chef).

Shuttle Chef Thermos Thermal Cooker Review - Practical Sailor

We don't eat out - the nearest outlet will be 100 miles away.

We tend to be away on cruise at Chinese New Year - and we are not stingy (we take a frozen duct and roast it)

View attachment 140517
Jonathan

That blow-out deserves a larger and cleaner plate! ;-)

 

[Neeves]

That blow-out deserves a larger and cleaner plate! ;-)

Thank you.

Don't you start

My wife insists that we eat of real china. I've been told - we are not camping, its the 21st Century - and she reminds me - rationing finished when I was about 5 (we had coupons for orange juice).

So if I want company - I need to be accomodating.

Its a small price to pay.

The contents of the Shuttle Chef in the linked article are more of my wife's contribution to our fare.

She likes cooking more than sailing and rises to the challenge of a tuna and bunch of crayfish.

I have no complaints.

Jonathan

 

[Neeves]

No-one believes you can get tired of crayfish




They become more desirable when you cannot catch them for free.

Jonathan

 

[capnsensible]

Underwater insects.....allegedly.