People frequently ask, “Can we eat on the boat?” Yes! Everything is better on a sailboat, especially food. Here are 7 menu ideas for a sailboat to make the voyage a culinary adventure.
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Subway
Consider Subway a metaphor for any take-out food from chains, supermarkets and restaurants. Subway just happens to be the most popular for Let’s Go Sail guests. Pick up your order, bring it with you and eat whenever you’re ready. Bring your own beer and wine, and we have bottled water on board, on ice. Most people dine in the cockpit while others take their plates up to the bow if the York River is calm.
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Picnic
Buy a box lunch anywhere or prepare your own family picnic at home and bring it with you in a fancy basket. Store everything below in the cabin until you’re ready to eat. This is especially good for families with unique dietary needs because they can take care of the situation themselves, discreetly. Sometimes the meal is the only time you can kids to put down their cellphones.
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Catering
Many restaurants in Williamsburg offer catering take-out. Check out their menu online and plug everything in the night before you sail. Then pick up the arrangement the next morning on the way to the boat. This works especially well for special events such birthdays and anniversaries.
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Spread
Some guests prefer to make a major event of the day, so they bring two and three courses of food made at home. One course after another is brought up from the cabin, to the delight of everyone. They start with cheese and other appetizers and then move on to main courses of shrimp, chicken, deli meats and so on. Then follows elaborate deserts, all heralded with wine or champagne. A group of Filipino nursing students brought just such a spread on board. They had such a good time sailing and singing that they completely forgot to eat.
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Marina
Sometimes families prefer to wait until after the 11-2 sail to eat at the picnic tables offered by York River Yacht Haven. This makes for a less messy affair since the boat isn’t heeling and there’s more room to spread out. You’re welcome to grab any table after the sail.
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Restaurants
Others prefer to dine in a restaurant, and there are plenty. York River Yacht Haven offers an excellent fish and beef family restaurant. Across the water, Yorktown has five restaurants nearby. All of them have a view of the water you just sailed.
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Snacks
The previous six scenarios cover situations for the first sail of the day, from 11 to 2. For the afternoon sail of 2:30 to 5:30, many guests bring snacks in the form of chips, cheese, fruits, vegetables, cookies, brownies and so on. As per usual, beer and wine are welcome along with champagne for special events.
7 More Menu Ideas for a Sailboat
These are taken from Halcyon Yachts.
Everyone has their own favourite meal on a boat, and everyone has a meal that brings back memories, good or bad. For example, I cannot drink tomato cup-a-soup or coffee whilst on a yacht delivery, but I can sink gallons of tea and mushroom cup-a-soup!
Yacht delivery crew tend to be a little less fussy on a boat especially if they haven’t had to do the cooking. Most of the favourite dishes are one pot or one dish wonders – always the best as can be made in most weather conditions.
Top 10 voted meals
1. Chilli con Carne – stand out favourite
2. Spaghetti Bolognaise
3. Curry and Rice- any variety
4. Pasta Pesto
5. Sausage and Mash
6. Risotto
7. Pasty and beans
8. Macaroni Cheese/Pasta Bakes
9. Shepherd’s Pie
10. Bacon, Bacon, Bacon!
And for those that like to snack…
Top 10 snacks:
1. Chocolate – any variety
2. Fruit cake
3. Crisps
4. Biscuits
5. Gummy bears/Haribo
6. Fruit & Nut Mix
7. Ginger Biscuits
8. Cereal Bars
9. Fruit
10. Brioche – ones with the chocolate pieces
Beyond 7 Menu Ideas for a Sailboat, by Food Nouveua
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People tend to be hungrier at sea. Think about it: sitting at your desk, little more than your hands move throughout the day. On a boat though, you’re managing the ropes or the sails, you’re at the helm, or you’re just sitting around, your muscles compensating of the movements imposed by the sea. To make sure nobody’s dying of hunger by dinnertime, serve healthy snacks throughout the day (fruit, nuts, crackers, etc.).
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Ask for your fellow travelers’ tastes and diet restrictions before you leave. Out at sea isn’t an ideal time to suffer from an allergic reaction. And, the kitchen is so small that you won’t want to cook an alternate dish for the person who doesn’t like what you planned. Think of 7 menu ideas for a sailboat.
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Plan the meals according to the equipment you have on the boat. This may seem very obvious, but what if you plan for meals to be cooked in an oven, and you don’t have an oven on the boat, as it is often the case? Or, you only planned for barbecued meals, and your BBQ breaks down? Ask for a precise list of everything that exists on the boat. Don’t take anything for granted: for example, chances are no coffee maker or a toaster will be on board because of power restrictions. You need to diversify your meal options. It’s one of 7 menu ideas for a sailboat.
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Make a (very precise) list. Don’t just write “onions;” estimate exactly how many onions you’ll need. Not only will you avoid unnecessary waste, but you’ll save time at the grocery store by eliminating the need to stop before every ingredient you need to buy, attempting to figure out how much you need.
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Bring your favorite kitchen tools with you. Rental boats are equipped with the minimum of kitchen tools, and knives are known to be especially bad (people use them for anything and everything, from cutting bread to rope.) Bring your favorite knife, a small and clean cutting board, a good-quality corkscrew, and any other small tool or gadget you think you may need to prepare your meals; it’ll make your life tremendously easier. This is one 7 menu ideas for a sailboat.
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Bring everything you can from home. If you can fit it in your luggage, bring spices, canned food, snacks, and everything else that’s sold vacuum-packed or sealed. You probably won’t be able to find everything you need at your destination’s grocery store, and chances are that things are a lot less expensive at your neighborhood’s grocery store than wherever you plan to go sailing.
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Don’t forget to plan for alcohol as well – but not too much of it. Some people say the effects of alcohol are amplified at sea, so don’t think you’ll drink as much as you would at home. Plus, space is strictly limited, and bottles of wine and beer take up much of it. Hence, we chose canned beer, which was easy to store and also has the advantage of being unbreakable, and favored liquors (like rum and vodka) over wine. (Yes, we still brought along some wine, but only the bare minimum needed to keep us happy.)
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Name one person responsible for managing the food. Anyone can help prepare the meals, serve, and clean up, but it’s very helpful to have just one person responsible for the kitchen. Fitting all that food into the small fridge and in all the hidden storage spaces of the boat will be challenging, and having one person remember where everything is eases the whole process. This person is also responsible for ensuring the freshness of ingredients and will be able to advise if something isn’t edible anymore. Clearly, you don’t want your whole crew to take sick,
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Don’t forget that storage space is very limited. Especially in the fridge. Most often, there’s no freezer, or just a small corner of the fridge is dedicated to it. Favor liquids that can be stored at room temperature like Tetra-packed pasteurized juices and UHT milk.
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Balance out meals based on the freshness of ingredients. Plan for meals made with perishable foods as well as others made with canned ingredients. Eat the most perishable foods first, and keep the meals based on canned foods or ingredients that keep well at room temperature for the end of the trip. Be very careful with meat and eggs. If available, buy frozen meat; they will defrost gradually in the fridge, allowing you to keep it fresh (and fit-for-eating) for a longer period of time. This is one of 7 crucial menu ideas for sailboat.
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Plan for lunches that can be prepared in advance. Do not think you’ll be able to cook while the boat is at sea. You probably won’t. Even on an exceptionally calm sea, a boat is a boat, and by nature, it’s ever moving. And, if you’re like me, you probably won’t even be able to get up and serve food, because you’ll be seasick. Make sandwiches or salads in the morning when the boat is anchored, and be certain the food is easy to reach in the fridge so that anyone can go grab the lunch if the cook isn’t feeling too well.
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Ask about the garbage disposal restrictions and allowances. We knew we wouldn’t be able to get rid of our trash prior to the end of the trip, but nobody informed us we could dispose of all organic trash in the sea. Had we known, we would have avoided (really) bad smells toward the end of the week. In the Bahamas, everything you would put in a compost bin can be thrown out at sea.
Let’s Go with 7 Menu Ideas for a Sailboat
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7 menu ideas for a sailboat 7 menu ideas for a sailboat 7 menue ideas for a sailboat
