A retrospective look at provisioning

Groceries (fresh produce etc) are available in even the smallest of islands. Logistics and supply chain has reached the furtherest corners of the world so it seems. You could probably pick up a jar of Skippy peanut butter in an igloo store in Antarctica... 

We have eaten far fewer tins / canned goods than we thought we would. One should stock up for the crossing from Galapagos to Polynesia as you could spend 30+ days at sea if there is little wind. But once in the Marquesas, there are loads of fruit and local vegetables and occasionally frozen meats (of questionable quality) from far flung places too. You certainly will not starve. As for prices, we thought that they were not too bad for the staples; fruit, veg, breads, rice and so forth. At the cost of adding a ton of tins to your vessel and at the risk of lowering the waterline another inch or so, I would (in hindsight) not have bought as much food. I'm talking about 100 less tins! I also found with the rice and flour from Panama that almost every bag got bugs in so if I were to do it again, I'd just buy enough to do the crossing then buy more when needed. I ended up throwing quite a bit of Panamanian flour out because it was crawling and this seems to have been the case with many others who bought their flour and rice from the supermarkets of Panama. I didn't experience bugs in our food anywhere else on our trip.

We did catch a large number of fish on our crossing and some of the islands too (all pelagic). We are by no means experienced fishermen, but tended to land a fish (mainly mahi-mahi) almost every time we tossed out a pink squid lure. This combined with a smaller appetite whilst at sea and dislike for cooking at a perpendicular angle meant that we ate surprisingly little. 

What we would recommend stocking up on would be more of the goods that you cannot find or are prohibitively expensive in the middle of the South Pacific. These include snack foods like nuts, biscuits, chocolate, coffee, good tea etc. I like my tea, good British tea and to my horror ran out in the middle of the Pacific. The only type I could find to replenish my stock was Lipton's Yellow Label. Yuck. 

We also went a little over the top on the toilet paper and other toiletries. Rather too much than too little I say, but you can find something to wipe one's posterior with in most places (texture and quality may be similar to that of a cactus but it still works). Now in Australia I still have 9 kitchen rolls and a 12 pack of toilet rolls left and that's having given some away en route!

With the extra food we had onboard, and we had A LOT, we started donating it to wanting individuals as early as the Marquesas. At least you know, if you do over provision, there are many opportunities to give it away en route. This is what I was left with of my Panamanian provisions when arriving in Australia bearing in mind I already gave a lot away to other yachties and island people:

Type	Qty	Measurement
Food
Pasta	2	kg
Tinned Tomato	8	tins
Tinned tomato paste (small)	1	tins
Tinned Veggies (assorted)	4	tins
Tinned black beans	3	tins
Tinned pigeon peas	2	tins
Tinned beef stew	2	tins
Cream of something soup	8	tins
Asparagus tips	2	tins
Artichoke Hearts	2	tins
Tinned Sweet Corn	2	tins
Creamed corn	2	tins
Cream of coconut	2	tins
Tinned chickpeas	6	tins
Tinned beets	2	tins
Tinned fruit	6	tins
Tinned condensed milk	2	tins
Tinned tuna	4	tins
Evaporated milk	6	tins
Smash	6	packets
Gin	1	bottle
Vodka	1	bottle
Rum	1	bottle
Burrito wraps	5	packets
Soy sauce	1	bottle
Pickled ginger	1	jar
Chilli sauce	2	bottle
Mayo	1	jar
Lentils	1	kg
Israeli cous cous	1	kg
Oats	3	kg
Pancake mix	1	box
Pasta sauces	10	packets
Peanut butter	1	jar
Teryakki sauce	1	bottle
Pepper	1	jar
Oregano	1	jar
Turmeric	1	jar
Cumin seeds	1	jar
Garam masala	1	jar
Ground ginger	1	jar
Chives	1	jar
Basil	1	jar
Coriander	1	jar
Salt	1	jar
Desiccated coconut	1	packets
Lemon and Lime juice	1	bottle
Stock cubes (Beef, Chicken, Veg)	3	jars
Tang (boxes)	1	box
Cup of Soup	10	packets
Galley
Tin foil	1
Cling Film	1
Zip lock bags (gallon size)	2
Pam baking spray	1
Dish washing liquid	1
Fire lighters	1
Baking
Baking Powder	1
Yeast	1
Cake mixes	1
Maple syrup	1
Easi-yo	4

So, hindsight being a wonderful thing, here is my amended provisioning list of what I would buy in Panama if I were to do it all over again. We also now know what we will and won't eat. For example, cup of soups sounded like a great idea at the time, but in hindsight, they just don't do it for us on passage where as dried mashed potato with baked beans is my favourite meal! Quick, simple and uses minimal pots and pans. No chopping stuff at 60 degree angles etc.

Type	Original quantity	Revised quantity	Measurement
Non Perishables
Rice	8	2	kg
Pasta (Fusilli, shells)	6	2	kg
Spaghetti	5	2	kg
2 min noods	58	20	packets
Pearl barley	6	2	packets
Tinned Tomato	33	15	tins
Tinned tomato paste (small)	7	4	tins
Tinned Veggies (assorted)	20	5	tins
Tinned potatoes	8	2	tins
Tinned Black beans	6	4	tins
Tinned Beans pigeon peas	8	6	tins
Tinned beef stew	16	10	tins
Tinned ham	4	2	tins
Tinned corned beef hash	6	4	tins
Octopus	4	4	tins
Corned beef	2	2	tins
Tinned chicken	18	18	tins
Pork and beans	2	2	tins
Baked beans	6	12	tins
Chilli beans	2	2	tins
Meatballs	2	2	tins
Cream of something soup	20	10	tins
Asparagus tips	1	1	tins
Artichoke Hearts	5	1	tins
Tinned Sweet Corn	10	5	tins
Creamed corn	2	2	tins
Tinned Coconut milk	3	10	tins
Cream of coconut	2	2	tins
Tinned chickpeas	20	10	tins
Tinned beets	2	2	tins
Tinned mushrooms	4	10	tins
Tinned fruit	20	10	tins
Tinned condensed milk	9	2	tins
Tinned tuna	24	15	tins
Tinned salmon	4	4	tins
Tinned cream	4	8	tins
Evaporated milk	6	4	tins
Smash	7	20	packets
Coke	24	24	cans
Tonic	12	12	cans
Beers	6	5	cases
Wine	22	22	boxes
Gin	1	4	bottles
Vodka	4	4	bottles
Rum	18	18	bottles
Whisky	4	4	bottles
Burrito wraps	30	15	packets of 8
Chocolate bar (small)	7	8	boxes
Sweets (Hard candies)	1	8	boxes
Milk UHT	36	36	litres
Crisps (Pringles etc)	8	8	packets
Biscuits	5	8	boxes
Soy sauce	2	1	bottles
Tomato Sauce	2	2	bottles
Sweet Chilli Sauce	2	1	bottles
Mixed pickle	2	1	jar
Pickled ginger	1	1	jar
Chilli sauce	2	1	bottles
Chilli paste	3	1	jar
Mayo	4	1	jar
Lentils	8	2	kg
Sprouting seeds	1	1	bag
Israeli cous cous	1	1	kg
Dried pigeon peas	1	1	kg
Crackers (Ducales)	4	2	tins
Granola	2	2	bag
Granola bars	1	1	boxes
Oats	4	4	kg
Breadcrumbs	2	2	units
Pancake mix	4	2	boxes
Pasta sauces	27	15	sachets
Cous cous	3	2	kg
Pasta rice	1	1	kg
Peanut butter	2	1	jar
Teryakki sauce	1	1	bottles
Pepper	2	1	units
Curry powder	2	1	units
Oregano	2	1	units
Smoked paprika	1	1	units
Turmeric	2	1	units
Cumin seeds	2	1	units
Cumin powder	2	1	units
Chilli powder	2	1	units
Chilli flakes	1	1	units
Garam masala	2	1	units
Ground ginger	1	1	units
Chives	2	1	units
Basil	2	1	units
Coriander	1	1	units
Thyme	2	1	units
Salt	2	1	units
Desiccated coconut	4	2	packets
Tea	3	2	boxes
Coffee	4	6	jars
Olives	5	5	pouches
Minced garlic	1	1	jar
Parmesan cheese	4	1	jar
Lemon and Lime juice	2	1	bottles
Coffee mate	2	1	jar
Brown Sugar	4	2	kg
White Sugar	7	2	kg
Dark brown sugar	1	1	kg
Stock cubes (Beef, Chicken, Veg)	6	2	units
Olive Oil	4	2	units
Vegetable oil	4	2	units
Jam	2	2	jars
Tang (boxes)	8	2	boxes
Cup of Soup	28	12	units
Gravy	2	2	sachets
Popcorn	6	2	kg
Sunflower seeds	1	1	packets
Jalapeños	1	1	jar
Perishables – fruit
Oranges	40	40	units
Tomatoes	10	10	units
Courgette	0	2	units
Carrots	20	20	units
Cabbages	3	4	units
Potatoes	30	20	units
Green bananas	3	3	hands
Apples	0	12	units
Passion fruit	10	10	units
Coconut	0	4	units
Pumpkin	3	2	units
Onions	30	20	units
Garlic	20	20	units
Limes	40	40	units
Ginger	1	1	units
Avo	2	2	units
Beans	0	1	units
Perishables – dairy
Cheese (blanco)	2	2	kg
Cheese (normal)	2	2	kg
Yoghurt	12	12	units
Cream cheese	2	1	units
Butter	3	4	units
Eggs	6	3	trays of 24
Perishables – other
Bread	1	1	loaf
Mince meat	1	1	packets
Sausage	1	1	packets
Bacon	1	1	packets
Galley
Tin foil	3	1	boxes
Cling Film	2	1	boxes
Grease proof paper	2	1	boxes
Zip lock bags (gallon size)	3	1	boxes
Scourers	12	12	units
Pam baking spray	4	4	units
Dish washing liquid	4	4	bottles
Fire lighters	5	5	units
Batteries	3	3	boxes
Baking
Baking Powder	3	1	boxes
Yeast	3	1	units
Chocolate chips	3	3	bags
Egg replacer	1	1	units
Cake mixes	9	8	boxes
Cocoa Powder	4	2	packets
Flour	9	4	kg
Nuts	6	6	kg
Dried fruit	8	1	kg
Vanilla essence	2	1	bottles
Honey	1	1	bottles
Maple syrup	3	2	bottles
Icing sugar	2	1	boxes
Raisins	1	4	boxes
Muesli	1	2	kg
Easi-yo	10	10	sachets