Part of the fun of heading off over the horizon to explore exotic new lands is “provisioning”.  Stocking up on food, household items and spare parts.  A favorite discussion topic that generates tales of woe and a lot of laughter over drinks in the cockpit the art of provisioning is mostly a trial and error program for most.  However, with a little bit of knowledge it can be made a wee bit easier though it will remain a daunting task, at least in the near term.

The two questions key to successful provisioning are; What and how much to purchase.  The flip side being, what did I forget and did I get enough?

To answer all, you need to keep a detailed inventory of all food, household and personal items you purchase, the longer period of time you can do this before provisioning begins the more accurate your list will be.

Make up a spreadsheet to keep your inventory.  Each time you purchase an item save the receipt and weekly use them to update the inventory on your spread sheet.  Keep track of each item, its size or weight and brand if necessary.  List everything you purchase, food, shoe laces, birthday cake candles, batteries, toilet paper, paper towels, spices, toothpaste, toothbrushes, candy bars you name it, list it.  If nothing else you will be amazed with seeing exactly where your money goes!

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Now make your shopping list based on how long you expect to be between provisioning ports.  Don’t worry about fresh items like veggies and fruits as they will be purchased at the last minute and will only last a short while anyways.  Fresh food items will be something you will have to purchase along the way, sometimes waiting on the local Mail Boat to stock up the local market again.  For now your shopping should be confined to those items you can stow long term.

Keep in mind while provisioning that while nearly everything you are purchasing is available in one form or another nearly everywhere it may be a lot more expensive or hard to come by and favorite brands may not be available at all once you leave the US. When in doubt purchase more rather than less of an item.  If you find yourself overstocked on one item it maybe something someone else needs and will trade for something you need.  I find few items ever go to waste, even those I overstocked.

In the next article we will take a look at how to reduce the pile of provisions flooding your cockpit to a more manageable size for storage and in the process look at how to stow items to keep them fresh and from getting lost!