5 Tips For Self-Provisioning Bareboat Charters

If you've elected to do a bareboat yacht charter or a captain-only charter, this usually means you'll be in charge of stocking the boat with the food and drink yourself. Some companies offer provisioning services, but even then you must pick and choose the specific types and quantities of items you want stocked aboard. Here are some tips that I've picked up, after a dozen years of provisioning for yacht charters.

1. Be organized. First, sit down and do a detailed daily menu plan for the meals you intend to eat onboard – breakfast, lunch, and/or dinner (including herbs and spices) plus snacks and beverages. Try to estimate quantities you'll consume each day, and use this to estimate your consumption for the week. Using this menu and snack/drinks plan, make a shopping list of all the food and beverage items you’ll need for the duration of your charter. It doesn't matter if you stick to the order of the meals on your menu once you're aboard; the object is to have all the supplies you'll need on the boat, at hand, when you're miles away from the nearest mini-market or grocery store.
2. Don't forget the staples. Assume that nothing – even salt and pepper – will be on a boat without crew when you board. On a separate sheet of paper, write down what you think you'll need for basics such as salt, pepper, and sugar, as well as supplies like garbage bags, paper towels, napkins, dish sponges, dishwashing liquid, bath soap, Kleenex, and toilet paper.
3. Keep your destination in mind as you plan meals. If you're headed for a foreign country, remember that all of the products you may take for granted at home simply may not be available abroad. In many places, certain fresh fruits and vegetables are only available seasonally, or may even be unfamiliar to you. If you can, do some research about the local diet and the types of foods that are eaten and are available in your destination locale. Try to plan meals using basic ingredients that can be found almost anywhere, and avoid menus that rely on specialty items or even items such as canned soup or canned beans, which may not be widely available in some places outside the United States.
4. Don't send the whole group to the grocery store. An all-too-frequent mistake bareboat clients make is to visit the grocery store en masse before their charter – with no plan, no list, and no consensus on what's needed and what's not. This always results in chaos, buying more than is actually needed, and taking far more time than it should. When this happens, ultimately there's lots of food and drink left on the boat at charter's end, and long-distance travelers can't take that food home with them. Sometimes it goes to charter-company clean-up crews; sometimes it's simply thrown out. A better option is to designate one or two people in your group to be in charge of provisioning. They should poll the rest of the crew about food and beverage likes and dislikes, plan the menus, make the lists, and do the shopping for the charter. Ultimately, this saves time and money – not to mention avoiding mid-aisle group debates about what and how much to buy.
5. Ask your company or broker about the availability of supplies in the places on your sailing itinerary. Are there small markets en route, where you'll be able to top off the supplies if need be? Even if the answer is yes, be aware that prices on small islands or other remote locales are often drastically higher than they are in chartering hubs.
Bonus Tip: Have a "joker" day. If, for example, you plan to eat seven lunches aboard during a week-long charter, make a menu plan for only six days. On your last day of sailing, create a smorgasbord using all the items that would otherwise have been left over or thrown out. Whether it's a delicious minestrone or a simple pasta dish and assorted salads, you'll be amazed at the last-day feasts you can create using what you have left in the fridge and lockers.
Self-provisioning for a bareboat yacht charter doesn't have to be a task to be dreaded. With a bit of foresight, planning, and organization, it can be a fun part of your vacation – and a wonderful chance to explore the culinary delights offered in markets around the world.