28:07.679N 15:25.617W

Six guys, 18-21 days at sea, not a Quicki-Mart, 7-eleven, Safeway SuperValue, or Tim Hortons in sight.  So what do you take on board?  Well you have to be very careful what you choose and for a number of different reasons.  There are a number of practical problems to solve and issues to deal with.  Fortunately we all have similar likes and very, very few dislikes.  And I suppose only having a relatively small two burner stove starts to put limits on what you can cook.  Space and volume are also a huge consideration, as is your ability to actually cook something in a rolling, rocking pitching boat (heaven forbid if the wind and seas come up right at mealtime).   

Fortunately there is a wealth of information to help you plan and prepare,  many books and articles have been written and one of the ARC seminars dealt specifically with the topic of provisioning.  But it all has to be put into practical context for you and your situation.  Example (and we had a good laugh at this one):  during the seminar the presenter talked about filling your freezer appropriately, having an electric fry pan as an essential piece of equipment and making use of the bread maker.  Duh!!!  Now I’m absolutely sure that is appropriate for some of the mega yachts in the fleet (and there are several, magnificent multimillion dollar 85 to 125’ sailing yachts), in fact I’m sure their chefs will appreciate the advice, but for us local yokels on this boat, you have to think more in terms of provisioning as if you were camping and had to lug it all in on your back!  The electric fry pan just ain’t going along, never mind the generator to power it.

Brian and Ron have done a fabulous job  of setting up a menus and figuring out what to buy.  No easy task and my hat’s off to them.  I won’t list the menus and items here, I’ll try to comment on our eating as the voyage progresses.  Suffice to say lot’s of simple,  tasty, spicy and effective pasta and rice dishes with the hope (but not guarantee) we will catch fresh fish on the way over.  Eggs, fruits and vegetables that will keep, and some fridge meats we will consume in the first few days.  Canned items such as hams, tuna, corned beef etc thereafter.  (What, no SPAM!!  Who forgot to buy the SPAM for Pete’s sake, all right who crossed SPAM off the grocery list.  Now I’ve got that damn Monty Python SPAM, SPAM, SPAM, SPAM song rattlin around in my head.  Hope it goes away soon).  We do have a small fridge on board so can take some perishables. 

There are some great stores in Las Palmas and they are more than equipped to help.  Huge selection of every type of product, English translators who will actually shop with you to help you find and select, delivery to your boat.  So we divided the task up into three parts.  Dry and packaged goods, liquids, and finally breads, vegetables and meats/perishables.  The other consideration was that you do not want to leave it till the end because you, 200 other boats and 1,000 people might all end up in the same store Saturday morning before the Sunday start.  Good luck!

The Dry Goods arrive and are ready to be loaded:

Time to clean up:

:

We think we have done really well in our selection and packing.  The boat is not too overcrowded yet and we seem to have found lot’s hidden lockers and panels to stow the stuff.  The volume and weight of drinking water you need is huge.  Although we have two water tanks and a water maker, we still needed to opt for 140 x 1.5 liter bottles.  In addition to drinking (1.5 to 2.5l per day per person and it’s hot tropical weather) there is cooking, cleaning water needed too.  So far the boat has dropped an extra few centimeters into the water with all the weight, and there might be a little list to starboard since most of the water is on that side.  We’ll correct that over the next day or so.  

Lots of water and a little milk:

Brian and Ron prepare for Myles arrival by hijacking someone else’s order.  Dave declares “Lets follow their boat!”

So all in all, great progress.  Dry goods and liquids on board.  Meats, vegetables, breads to go.  Time to get up and on with the day.  Oh yes, and let’s not forget the toilet paper, lot’s of toilet paper. 

Andy – Thursday morning at 8:15 am.