Boat Tucker Trial

[willk]

The premature expiry of The Gurnard's sassages due to high temperatures made me think of starting this thread. I have a history of occasional overnight hiking, with ultralight food being a key consideration. I've done quite a bit of vehicle camping (away from civilisation) where multi-day supplies were required. I now find myself doing some boating were non-perishable supplies are desirable. We can be living aboard, camping ashore - whatever. Anyway, to the point! I'm going to list some of the tack/scran I've been using. I'd be VERY interested to see what others have tried/recommend. Some of my options are very different, in appeal, cost, storage space, resultant packaging waste, equipment needed. But here goes:

[willk]

Knorr Pastaria packs - Boil and simmer - need a pan and stove. Quick, calorific and reasonably tasty. Cheap. Needs some bread, you can make garlic toast slices from baguette that keep well and suit these well. Serve with a nice red wine

Laydees Lunches - example a Tuna Salad by John West. Keep forever, c/w pasta and veggies. Serve cold with some vac-packed flatbread.

Instant "in a pot" pastas or noodles - just add boiling water and hold. Meh!

Dolmio Pasta sachets. Various recipes, generally OK. Serve with quick cook mini pasta. Needs two pans and a stove. Serve with some parmesan and choice of breads above.

Cassoulet in a jar. As good as you make it (or buy it). Keeps for months and eats well warmed up or cold (if you're in the sh1t). An entire meal.

Instant Pancake mix (in a bottle). Good brekkie tack if you have a reliable heat source and frying pan. Use catering packs of jam etc.

Instant porridge pots - i.e. Apple and Raisins. Breakfast of Champions. Add honey/whiskey to taste. Also in dry packs but you'll need dried milk to make them up.

Dried milk powder - getting hard to find in full fat form. Great for making coffees, adding to other recipes (soups, porridges, pancakes).

MREs (self heating meal packs) - a whole subject of their own - more later.

Coffee - I've given up on instant. I carry a stainless vacuum coffee press now when travelling (not hiking) and the world is a better place. Add whiskey, sugar and aerosol cream to taste

There's more I've forgotten - but feel free to bail in with your ideas. I'll return to the MREs later in the thread.

[willk]

Alongside the above "meals" I carry fillers. They can be stuff like:

Cereal bars and their ilk
Flapjacks
Hard fruit - basically apples but including dried fruit and nut mixes
High sugar sweets/jellies (for underway)
Chocolate portions - i.e. small packs of various chocolate things
Fruit cake (portioned) - excellent for dessert with coffee

[The Black Pig]

“Give a man a fish and he’ll feed for a day
Teach man to fish and he’ll feed for a lifetime”

[willk]

Originally Posted by The Black Pig

“Give a man a fish and he’ll feed for a day
Teach man to fish and he’ll feed for a lifetime”

Greetings proverbial piggy! Less Huff, more Puff it seems...

That said, the Gurnard (who can fish with the best) found the fishies scarce when he most needed their sacrifice. I've fished to eat on a couple of islands where I had all day to secure dinner, but I wouldn't rate the plan for a reliable meal on the move

[Poly]

“Cassoulet in a jar” - taking glass on Board? Now you are just showing off your hull’s ride quality ;-)

I’d have thought with the cavern up front you had plenty of opportunity for a small fridge/chiller. Peltier cooled ones guzzle battery but not too much of an issue with your big alternator. In days before fridges were prevalent on small wafis, and indeed in the wayfarer and drascome camping crowd, a good coolbox packed with frozen water bottles is able to keep stuff chilled for several days if not opened too frequently.

[The Gurnard]

Good post Willk .. and one Im interested in too.

As you say.. fishing can be a bit hit and miss.. especially in a bright sunny heatwave. The fish tend to lie dormant in bright condition.

However the bait I sometimes use is always freely available..so I collected some mussels ..boiled them and had them with a bag of savoury rice. I get the small packets of ready cooked rice so it just needs heating up. Beware of shellfish if there is algae bloom around..as they can turn poisonous and give your liver hepatitis (Dont ask how I know !!)

I take the supermarket cooked curry too.. They also just need heated but only last the first couple of days away. I boil eggs and they last a few days.. as do sassage rolls ..pork pies etc. I don’t like to spend too much time cooking..so tend to stick to cold foods or stuff that only needs heating.

I take a lot of bread rolls.. butter them then put them in individual poly bags ..sucking the air out the bag before sealing it. They last surprisingly long this way although eventually get stale.

Fish is my staple when they are biting ..mackerel are only just arriving in Scotland but will be plentiful soon enough..so a fishing rod is essential. However at the end of the season..I tend to crap like a seagull ..white and fishy ..so dont recommend overdoing the fish dish. Variety is important.

Fruit is essential and I find apples and oranges travel well. I take the odd big potato to bake in the campfire too.. delicious with melted cheese and cooked in foil in the embers. I don’t go in for much in the way of veggies..to much cooking involved.

I have to have my muesli for breakfast ..and often as snacks. The problem is keeping milk fresh. I carry it in the boat bilge as its about the coolest place I have ..however after a few days it still turns ..so I have to have my muesli with water..and Im not so taken with that..but it fills a hole.

Choclate is a must for my sweet tooth. Last week I had to put it in poly bags in the sea to solidify it as it kept melting..but hey ..I can eat melted chocolate too. Biscuits last well..as do those health bars...etc


Fortunately I don't mind Guinness warm or cold..and its a meal on its own..but its a bulky buy.. whisky is smaller and easier to carry..but it tends to give me the munchies .. which brings me back to food again …..

Just some of my diet..it varies greatly ..depending on how long Im away ..or how hot it is.

[willk]

Originally Posted by Poly

“Cassoulet in a jar” - taking glass on Board? .....
....I’d have thought with the cavern up front you had plenty of opportunity for a small fridge/chiller. .

Well, you can make 'em in decent plastic too. Glass on board is not big deal if it's packed properly. Many's the boat has a wee drachm in the original packaging

I have a fridge as described. I hate it. They do guzzle power and I won't run one off the house battery when stopped. They aren't that terribly cold either. TBH, I see them as more of a day trip thing. Hence my interest in stuff that keeps well and cooks up easily.

[willk]

I'd forgotten about some of the products from the pricier supermarkets. I recall some fairly approachable tins of curry from M&S. And Baxter's canned soups. Bags of precooked "instant rice" make heating fairly painless.

[willk]

Originally Posted by The Gurnard

Fortunately I don't mind Guinness warm or cold..and its a meal on its own..but its a bulky buy.. whisky is smaller and easier to carry..but it tends to give me the munchies ..

I'm a fan of Extra Stout - not the draught in a can nonsense. I think they must make the cans out of tinfoil now, as I've had them fail en-masse on overland and marine trips - the Belnahua camp being one example.

[The Gurnard]

There are always one or two wee shops in the wild west of Scotland ..but you cant always rely on them either. Example I went to the store in Port Askaig on Islay … and had a wander around ..but saw very little on the shelves.

I then had this conversation with the woman behind the till.

Gurnard ... Hello there .. its lovely weather today ... do you have any milk ?

Shop Assistant ... Hellloo .. Im sorry sonny .. but the milk was delivered yesterday however the fridge couldn’t cope and it curdled ..so we have none.


Gurnard ..Yup..that is what happened to my milk too. Do you have any bacon or sassages ?

Shop Assistant .. Nooo ...we don’t have that either...


She paused to think then said ... You could try the hotel next door ..they might sell you some but it will be cooked ..and also very expensive.


Gurnard .. thanks for that info .. I think I will have this here if you don’t mind.


I sat a tin of soup and a tin of macaroni and cheese on the counter.

Shop assistant ... If you buy two tins of Macaroni ..I can give you them for £1 each tin.



I looked at the price stuck on the macaroni and it was £1 ... so I said ...Thanks but I could only eat one tin so one will do me.



Shop assistant ... Ok..since its yourself..Tanald .. I will give you it for £1 !!!

So even the local stores cant be relied on for food ..however it did stock plenty booze ..of all sorts.

That is a true conversation

[mm289]

Awesome story Gurnard

Only thing I do is collect the sealed coffee and milk sachets when I stay in hotels that come on the tea trays. The milk is long life and good enough for drinks but not for cereal etc.

Re fridges we have swapped to one of the Waeco transportable units for the van. Realise they are still a faff but the battery drain is tiny and they also have voltage sensing circuitry that will turn them off at a certain battery level.

I can leave it connected in the back of the car all day and it won't touch the car battery level and keep temps at 3 deg.

Cheers,

Paul.

[Poly]

Originally Posted by willk

I have a fridge as described. I hate it. They do guzzle power and I won't run one off the house battery when stopped. They aren't that terribly cold either. TBH, I see them as more of a day trip thing. Hence my interest in stuff that keeps well and cooks up easily.

For milk though you could freeze a couple of pints before you go, and slowly defrosting in your fridge/coolbox/bag would get you at least a day or two extra (and keep everything else colder).

I have a wee peltier "fridge" I've used in the car (but never the boat as it would get too wet).

1. Its a poorly insulated coolbox - without the power you would be as well with a cheap coolbag.
2. Its moving heat from one place to another - if its in an enclosed, warm boot with nowhere for the hot air to escape it will have a hard time. You may have a similar issue if its shut in the console?
3. Its better at keeping cool than cooling down. Mrs P has yet to understand this and likes to put drinks in at at room temp and then seem surprised they are not ice cold a few hours later. Packed with chilled stuff it works - although may be no better than a good coolbox and burning 7Ah in the process.

I keep hoping it will get dropped and broken so I have an excuse to butcher it and fit the workings to a decent cool box to see how it gets on.

We have (a more modern) mini fridge shaped one we use in the office for milk - and it copes well despite being opened dozens of times a day - even in the recent weather.

[jeffstevens763@g]

good selection there willk any pasta is easy to cook with a sauce of your liking garlic chilli & tomato being mine, tins of rice pudding,malt loaf with or without butter.
coffee i use kenco sachets no milk required.
i use a good cool bag with freezer blocks stays cool for 3 days if careful with it.
down the mine we had cool boxes made out of plywood with 4 inch walls full of vermiculite beads it would keep our water cold all day at the temp we carried in at

[jwalker]

This is like the midge repel threads! You don't need any jungle juice, just go the a chemist and buy insect repellent. Similarly with food, unless you need to especially pack light or you're not going to touch land for a fortnight, just take ordinary food.
I'm with willk on the fridge - waste of time, bulky and uses a lot of electrical juice for little gain.

[ShinyShoe]

Originally Posted by jwalker

I'm with willk on the fridge - waste of time, bulky and uses a lot of electrical juice for little gain.

Similar experiences with the thermoelectric cool boxes. Good experience with a gas one on a caravan but not practical for boat this size.

I'm convinced there is an option to build a darned well insulated box with a great seal. And double layered thermo electrics (thermo elect will only drop temp by 15C typically so on a hot day it doesn't seem to do anything. But two in a pile will (in theory) drop 30C) with a fan and a thermostat (they aren't normally stat'd) and loaded with cold stuff (or mains powered to chill) the thermo elect should only be needed if it has been opened.

We just replaced our walk in fridge at work. The new one has a plastic curtain on the door. I can't make it fail with the door wedged open as long as the curtain is there. Something similar Inna cool box could help!

[Pikey Dave]

These are the dogs whatsits in 12/240V fridge freezers & wont chew your battery. You need deep pockets but they certainly do what it says on the tin. We take ours in the camper & it will make ice in 45 deg C (proved that last year in Croatia)
http://www.nationalluna.com/product-category/fridges

[willk]

Originally Posted by Pikey Dave

You need deep pockets but...

I have deep pockets but...

...my arms are a bit short. What are we looking at for the basics? Where?

[willk]

Apropos nothing at all - sugar cubes. Legend onboard for making teas etc. Keep them in the same container as the teabags, along with some sugar sachets for porridge etc.

[Pikey Dave]

Originally Posted by willk

I have deep pockets but...

...my arms are a bit short. What are we looking at for the basics? Where?

We've got the 50litre twin weekender
https://www.expedition-equipment.com...-and-freezers/