 Whether you're cruising on a tight budget
or rolling in wads of freshly issued greenbacks, provisioning a boat is
an interesting exercise. There are so many things to take into
consideration.
Storage space is often at a premium. The salty and damp atmosphere
prevalent around boats can present something of a challenge. A lot of
the time, one may be attempting to practise the culinary arts at an
unusual, not to say impossible, angle, making it desirable to be in and
out of the galley as swiftly as possible.
Depending on where the provisioning is to be done, some things may be in
plentiful supply and others unobtainable whereas in the last port
of call, or the next, the reverse is the case.
One of the ways in which we could all help each other would be to share
information about places we travel through, in terms of provisions. If
you have suggestions for a standard list of staples we could turn into a
form which would be easy to complete, by all means help us get started.
When discussing the cost of living in different places, we have
always found that a good pair of items to enquire about, because most
people can tell you the answer, is beer and bread. Since they are
both items consumed by locals in most parts of the world, their purchase
prices will give a fair indication of whether you are likely to find
shopping economical or otherwise. The wealthy tend to be that way
because they don't believe in wasting money and the poor cannot afford
to waste any, so we all end up desiring similar results when it comes to
basic provisions. The difference is that a taste for caviar may, or may
not, be possible to indulge, once the shopping list has been satisfied! If you know you are leaving a place where a particular item is at its
least expensive, you might decide to get in extra stocks. The thing is
to discover the fact while you are still in a position to do something
about it. South Africans tend to be shocked by the price of Marmite and
wine, to name but two items, when they reach the Caribbean where,
conversely,
British
chocolate can be obtained at far less expense than in its country of
origin! Olive oil costs as much for a litre in the least expensive parts
of the Caribbean as for five litres in Southern Spain, whence it
originates, although the same oil will cost you even less in England
thanks to some obscure policy or other which sprouts from Brussels.
You get the picture. By communicating we can all benefit. Maybe we can trade with one
another, out beyond territorial waters until
Big Brother figures out a way to make that impossible too!
We once exchanged two packs of electrical cable ties, from our extensive
stock of these handy things, for a jar of mint sauce and
a small tin of mustard powder and are in no doubt that we derived more
pleasure from our side of the bargain than we could have obtained with the
money, had we exchanged the ties for cash!
How about it?! Wouldn't you like to exchange information, save money
and help others save money too, making sure to be able to have enough of
the things you like to keep aboard?
Help us make this page a success by
putting your ideas and knowledge forward and encourage others to do the
same - once it gets rolling we bet it'll become a popular and useful
resource...with a bit of luck the intelligent suppliers will keep their
prices low to maintain their popularity and the greedy will soon find
their customers shifting to suppliers with the good sense to make
their prices attractive. In the meantime, if you
are a bit of an epicurean or you enjoyed reading 'Remember To Breathe In
And Out Slowly' on The Big Ditch pages in Sailors, 'A Breath Of Fresh
Air' in Voyagers, also in Sailors or The San Blas Islands by Sam, first
mate aboard 'Prana', or perhaps all of those things, you may be
interested to know that, on returning to the UK, Sam and her cousin,
Alison, opened a delicatessen in Salcombe.
|
