Welcoming Guests Aboard Nine of Cups

 

Over the years, we've had our share of guests aboard. Sometimes it's easy; sometimes it's a trial.

Land folk don't realize that leaving on lights or fans when they're not being used is a waste of power. Leaving a fridge or freezer locker door open is a major issue. Leaving the fresh water running while you brush your teeth or are waiting for the water to turn hot is a no-no. Just living in close quarters and sharing space with other people when you're used to your own space can be a challenge.

After several guests arrived with big, hard-sided suitcases and shoes that left marks on our white decks, we decided the best idea was to send a checklist in advance with our suggestions as to what to bring and what not to bring. This included clothing (but not too much) appropriate for the climate, non-marking white-soled shoes, lots of sunscreen and a good hat, all packed neatly in a soft-sided, small suitcase or daypack. We have lots of sweatshirts and extra rain gear aboard and we preferred to share rather than have no place to stow extra stuff.

Once folks arrived and moved aboard, we also provided a Welcome Aboard “memo”. I know it sounds anal, but it really saved us all a lot of headaches. It was just a reminder to guests about key things to remember while living aboard Nine of Cups with us. A list of “Don'ts” (Don't leave lights on. Don't leave the water running. No smoking. Don't play with the electronics.) topped the list, but we also included a lot of “Do's” encouraging our guests to learn more about sailing, more about the boat or more about marine life if they chose or simply relaxing and reading a book and enjoying their time away from the rat race. Some folks came for the sailing adventure and some came to explore some new exotic place. We planned inland trips or sailing trips accordingly.

For people who were new to our boat, we decided it was prudent to provide a safety spiel. Here's your PFD. Here's where the fire extinguishers are. Here's how you turn on and off the propane stove and why it's important to make sure you shut it off properly. If we were heading out for a sail, here's our Man Overboard routine. And if we were out for overnight sail, here are the watch rules and here's how to tether yourself in the cockpit.

Even using the head is a new experience for most visitors and since we were keen to avoid clogs, we made sure we reviewed the minimal toilet paper rule and stress that nothing except human refuse went in the head. All heads seem to be a bit different so even other cruisers needed reminding of this, especially if they'd been on land for too long. (We'll need to take a refresher course, I'm afraid).

One issue with guests arriving at a specific day and time is that unless we're already at the rendezvous point, you can bet we're rushing at the end to get there no matter how much time we plan for in advance. Unless people have sailed before and understand the vagaries of the wind and weather, they don't realize just how difficult it is to predict how long it will take to get from Point A to Point B. Nothing worse than arriving in port the same day your guests do. Well, maybe arriving the day after they arrive would be worse.

The best two aspects of having guests, I guess, is when they arrive and when they leave. We do lots of fun things in between, and really enjoy the visits. Like all company, however, it's fun to have them with you, but it's an upset to the usual routine. Getting back to the normality of just us two is always a welcome pleasure.

Maintaining Medical Records Aboard

 

We never really thought about our medical records while living here in the USA. We'd go to the doctor, hospital, dentist or optometrist and they'd maintain all our records. If we moved, we simply asked the records to be forwarded to the new clinicians at the new place. No big deal.

Then, we moved aboard Nine of Cups. Instead of moving every 5-10 years for business, we were moving 5-10 times in a year at a minimum. Healthcare could and did occur in many places. David had surgery and was in-hospital in Charleston, SC and again in La Serena, Chile. I've had mammograms each year since we left the US, never in the same place twice. Likewise, we've had annual dental check-ups and dental work performed in at least ten countries and eye check-ups and new glasses all around the globe.

It was evident from the start we needed to start keeping track of what was done, when and where, and the results. We needed to maintain our own dental records and x-rays and mammo x-rays so current physicians and dentists had an established baseline to compare to new test results.

Interestingly enough, in many countries, the doctors and hospitals insist you maintain your own records. You couldn't walk out of a hospital or doctor's office in South America without picking up your x-rays and test results. It was your responsibility to maintain them and bring them with you to your next doctor's appointment. How convenient for cruisers. We had quite a library of x-rays aboard, stored in a large x-ray jacket under the forward bunk with our charts. Digital x-rays and reports, especially for mammograms and dental visits have made our lives much easier.

Beyond doctor's visits though, it's also important to keep track of other problems aboard, especially those requiring prescription drugs. Like most cruisers, we maintain a medical chest aboard which includes antibiotics, pain meds and various OTC drugs. I keep a log of all medical issues that occur including date, crew member, symptoms, self-diagnosis if any, treatment and follow-up. This includes urinary tract infections, diarrhea, ear infections, dermatological issues, each doctor's visit, new eyeglass prescription, etc. If we're not able to treat something aboard and we're in port, we can go to a local physician with a good history of what, if anything, has occurred in the past and is related. Otherwise, from year to year, we have a record of what's been checked, when our next follow-up visit should be and our own history of ailments and treatments. Whenever we visit a physician, we check our medical chest in advance and ask for new scripts of common drugs which need replacing due to use or out-dating. They're usually only too happy to comply.

Luckily, medical jargon is pretty much the same worldwide. In South America, every doctor we saw spoke English and gladly provided us with both Spanish and English versions of reports. Unfortunately in the US, we many times have to pay for our medical records. Really? I thought they were ours … not so. They belong to the institution and can be released to other medical facilities and doctors, but getting them ourselves is sometimes an issue and comes at a cost. Guess they don't think we're capable of maintaining our own medical histories. Hmmm … they obviously don't deal with cruisers much.

12 Tips for Provisioning

 

Another frequently asked question is how we provision aboard Nine of Cups. Provisioning can be as easy as a short walk to the grocery store for an overnight and a couple days or as complicated as developing a spreadsheet that includes every possible item you anticipate needing for the next six months. Add to that your transportation availability (or lack thereof), size of your refrigerator/freezer (or lack thereof), stowage space (or lack thereof) and what's available at the local grocery and provisioning can sometimes be quite the challenge. Like anything, the more you do it, the easier it becomes.

Our first passages were short ones … a week was about our longest as we crossed the Gulf of Mexico from Texas to Florida. We'd gone camping and backpacking in the past, so a week's advance planning wasn't difficult. I made a list and we were fine … except we ran out of snacks. Then we hopped along the Florida coast and up the US east coast and never had to travel very far before another grocery store was within reach. We found, however, that we really enjoyed staying in less crowded, more remote anchorages and we started provisioning for 1-2 weeks. It wasn't that hard once we had the basics aboard, but still we ran out of things from time to time which was frustrating, but certainly tolerable. Here are some tips we've learned for provisioning that might be helpful to you.

1. Create a spreadsheet

I use a spreadsheet for making our provisioning list if I need to provision for more than a couple of week's worth. The first time you do this, it's cumbersome because every little thing needs to go on the list … salt to onions to condiments. The positive side of using a spreadsheet is that I've created a column for entering our current inventory, a column for what we need and then the "buy" quantity is calculated for me. Once I've completed the spreadsheet for a trip, I print it out and use it as my master shopping list.

2. Over-provision rather than run short

If we estimate 30 days between shopping trips, I provision for 50 days. Extra is okay in my book. Arrival delays due to weather and wind are the norm, rather than the exception on a longer passage. Running out is a bummer at sea or in an isolated anchorage, especially if you're short on a basic item. I tend to over-provision on items which will keep and we can use in port or on the next trip.

3. Buy what's available

I modify my “needs” list depending on where we are and where we'll be shopping. Many items available in the US or Europe are not available in the Caribbean, South America or the South Pacific, so the list changes to reflect availability of specific fruits/veggies, canned items, etc. I check out the local supermarket(s) and fresh markets, butchers, etc. to determine what's available, what's not, best deals, best quality, etc.

4. Inventory first

I take an accurate inventory of what's aboard as close to provisioning day as possible. I check for out-of-date and obvious no-use items aboard. If out-of-date items look okay, they are moved to the front of the line, where they'll be used first. While inventorying, it's easy to straighten up and place like items together so they're easier to find when we're at sea. Dried up drink mixes, bulging cans, etc. are discarded. No-use items are just taking up space. I give them away.

5. Plan your menus in advance

I do basic meal planning to get an idea of how much of each item on my list I'll need. If I'm provisioning for 90 days ... that's 90 breakfasts, 90 lunches, 90 dinners and 90+ snacks. For instance, we eat lots of pasta, so I'll assume we'll have a pasta meal of some sort at least twice a week...for about 13 weeks...that's 26 pasta meals. We get two meals from a typical 1 lb(.5kg) package of pasta, so I'll need 13 packages to cover 26 meals as a minimum. What else will go with the pasta? Tomato sauce, canned tomatoes, spices, grated Parmesan, meat, mushrooms, canned or fresh veggies? It sounds tedious, but after awhile I developed "typical" meals and the menus and ingredients became pretty easy.

6. Consider non-edible items

I went through the boat one day and made of a list of every non-food and non-boat part item that we use regularly. Toilet paper topped the list. Then came dish detergent and laundry detergent, bug spray, sunscreen, paper towels, AA batteries … The list was quite long and varied. These went onto the spreadsheet with my guess-timates of what was necessary to keep in stock.

7. Medicines and medical supplies need special attention

From antibiotics to band-aids and daily vitamins, I've created a separate list of OTC as well as prescription drugs and I inventory these items with care. Running short of cooking spray is inconvenient; being without a medication can be a serious issue.

8. Don't try to do it all at once

It's exhausting! If I can avoid doing a provisioning buy all at once, I do. I prefer to break it up into three or more trips. One for basics and canned goods; one trip for freshies and eggs; and a final trip for all the other stuff I thought of or forgot to buy after reviewing my list just one last time. Some of this depends on just how long I'm provisioning for, what transportation is available and how much room is left in the lockers.

9. Buy in bulk if you can

Certain places tend to offer some items in bulk at a significantly lower price. There are the Price Club-type stores in larger cities, but in smaller cities and towns, you might have to hunt out the bargain shops. While in Argentina, for example, we found we could buy dry cat food at a fresh market by the kilo at a portion of the price of cat food in the local supermarket. We bought a small quantity first. Jelly liked it and we bought more. We've done the same for cereals, dried beans, popcorn, rice, etc., but we're selective where we buy since we prefer to leave unwanted critters behind. Save egg cartons, by the way, they come in handy in many fresh markets.

10. Buy fresh market stuff at the absolute last minute

I prefer to buy freshies the morning we leave if possible...and preferably fruits, veggies and eggs which have never been refrigerated. Buy the freshest, healthiest-looking produce you can find. Other than in the USA, by the way, eggs are rarely refrigerated. They're always available just sitting at room temperature on a store shelf. We store lots of fresh produce like squash, onions, potatoes, melons and bananas in hammocks or hanging baskets. Eggs are stored in a crate and turned regularly.

11. Don't bring pests aboard

The easiest way to transport roaches and other undesirables aboard is to bring them in with your provisions. We immerse all freshies in salt water, if it's feasible. Otherwise, we tote a bucket to the wharf and immerse them in water there. Drown the suckers! All dry and canned goods, especially anything packed in bags or boxes, are left either in the dinghy or on the dock until they're each carefully inspected for critters. Then and only then do they get to board. Properly washing freshies is another matter for another blog.

12. Label and stow

Beyond planning, buying and hauling, I always have to keep in mind where I'm going to stow what I bought. We don't have an elaborate system for stowing provisions. We've purchased plastic crates and hammocks and tiered hanging baskets. We use every available nook and cranny, but I try to use the same locations each time, so I remember what's where. I mark the contents and use-by date on the top of each can with indelible marker before stowing it, making it much easier to sort outdated cans and locate what I want in a hurry. We found an area under some drawers in the aft cabin which afforded us a nice area for stowing wine. Oh yeah, don't forget the wine!

Notes:

Keep your spreadsheet on file for future trip references and adjust it at the end of trip to reflect what you have too much of, what you might have liked more of and what you ran out of (hopefully, never TP). I typically have a 30-day, 60-day and 90 day provisioning list with quantities all filled in. I just inventory, fill in the on-hand quantities and voila, a shopping list.

Try a new item once before buying a large quantity. We've been pleasantly surprised sometimes and most disappointed other times in the past by some products we've purchased.

If you see something that you've haven't seen in a long time and you'd like to have it, buy it NOW. It might not be there the next time or at another shop.

So, how do you provision?

Stay tuned for subsequent blogs on “Storing and Stowing” and “Pressure Canning”.