Boat Food

Before setting out on our Summer of 1812 Adventure - 2019 on The Kayak Chaser - I scoured the web, you tube, amazon, and the grocery stores, to figure out what to eat on the boat.

The key factors:

• easy prep (small counter space)
• simple cooking (bbq & 1 burner butane stove)
• minimal cook time (conserve fuel)
• non refrigerated storage (cooler/no fridge)
• long storage (majority of food was loaded on board before we left home)

We were fortunate to find on our journey, both grocery stores and farmer's markets within easy walking distance.  Fresh fruits and veggies were easy to acquire, though often more expensive than at home.

Meat was the most difficult thing to deal with, running back to the grocery store every couple of days, as anything left in the cooler for more than three days was questionable at best.  We eventually found frozen BBQ boxes in one grocery store, which served as the majority of our protein for the rest of the trip.  Each box contained small portions of chicken legs, pork chops, steak, and a generous portion of hot dog weiners.  They lasted longer in the cooler, and were more cost effective than most other options.  Too many weiners, however, of an unknown brand.

Some camp cooking ideas worked out extremely well- top ramen noodles in a bag, while others were huge failures and disappointments- scalloped potatoes in a bag.  In the end, I found just boiling the side dishes in a pot, turning off the burner and covering with a towel, made better food, less mess, and no plastic waste.

Dry storage foods that we'll do again, or new ideas to try are in the pantry sidebar -->

Loading The Kayak Chaser at home made it easy to add items to my weekly grocery list as they went on sale, as well as choosing additional items as I filled up pantry space on the boat.  Once I chose a spot to store rice for example, it was easy to see that I could easily fit 3 more packets in that cupboard, which I would then purchase on my next shopping trip.  Buying a new boat, which will not be coming home, in a different town, will likely be more chaotic.  We don't know how many trips we'll be making to the boat from home just to load supplies and belongings, let alone stocking the pantry.  We'll likely do a lot of food provisioning wherever the boat is, before we leave for the summer.  Access to grocery stores along the way should be great, but carrying everything on foot is still something we'd prefer to avoid.

Food on The Kayak Chaser was also rearranged mid trip, due to the boat being unbalanced.  Too much weight was on the front and port sides, likely due to our construction projects on the bathroom and bed.

Finally, I gave up the garden and prime canning season last year.  This year I will plant before we leave and see what happens.  My canner and a few boxes of jars will join us on the boat, so given the chance to forage, some great deals at farmer's markets, or an excess of meat, the additional storage option will be available.

Deal or No Deal

No Deal.

We're not surprised that they countered the first offer. 

We are a little shocked about the changes on the paperwork though.  It's like the boat that we put the offer on never really existed.  Tank sizes, bilge blower, propeller blades, anchor chain, fridge power, batteries - all changed.  Dates all moved up.  List of stuff that doesn't work added.

We are not in a hurry to make a bad deal.  That's the biggest issue - the push to have the survey done by March 15th.  Why?  It's still winter time in the great white north.  What are they trying to hide?

So, we told the broker, no thanks, we'll keep looking.  We can always come back to this boat later in the spring if it hasn't sold.

In the meantime...  So many boats...  We're thinking about plunging into Toronto for the next round.  There's another Amerosport just listed, and a Four Winns that look promising.  And a ridiculously low priced Pacemaker that we think we should just go ahead and buy, 'cause you can't possibly go wrong for that price, even if you have to replace everything...

Shopping Trip 2

So we went towards Ottawa on our second shopping trip.  We were focused on a 37' Amerosport, and trying to see different brands, so we have a better idea of the layouts, storage, and space when we look at pics online.

The 37' Amerosport was pretty much what we expected.

I did not like the round dinette/couch any more in real life than I had in the pictures. While fetching things from the side cupboard wasn't as bad as I had imagined, the couch piece on the starboard side was worse.  It would make a fantastic big bed, but as you recall, I have no intentions of sleeping there.  A big bed for potential over night guests.  Kids and wives and grand kids someday?  Nope.  I don't even want to use the dinette as a bed then.  They can use the Peter space, or sprawl out on the deck.  As a couch- awkward and uncomfortable at best.  It is removable, with built in storage behind, but not enough space to put in any sort of comfy couch.

Front berth storage was excellent, and accessing the drawers with the v-shaped space filled in would be less awkward than I had imagined.  The shower was less than I expected, somewhat narrow, with a low ceiling - minimal space to get under the water flow.  I think there was actually more space in the 32' in front of the toilet.

The aft cabin - the Peter room - would only ever be the Peter room - a single bunk with storage.  We had talked about turning it into a second dinette (computer room) when Pete leaves us.  As it turns out, there are heat and air conditioning units under the bunk - large motors that would not retrofit well for the space.

Overall, it was just kind of dark and dreary and not very homey feeling.

We looked at a 32' Fairline, which had possibility, except for the twin BMW engines.  Would parts/breakdowns be an issue?  We weren't in love enough to take that risk.  The broker for these boats was great- insightful, informative, patient, and not pushy.

We traveled down river for about an hour, to check out the next boat.  The marina and winter storage were awesome here.  We were a bit early, so we chatted with the mechanic, who called the owners, who rushed over and would have taken us to the boat if we had known it's name.  They were all very friendly, welcoming, eager to please.  All the boats there are stored indoors for winter, prices are reasonable, and the location is great.  We may rent a slip here, regardless of what we buy.

Once the broker arrived, we went to see the boat.

Chris Craft 333 Sedan

Well...  I did not expect to like this boat.  The pictures, once again, did not do it justice.  Skipper found the ad for it about half an hour before we left home, and I did not take the time to really scour the pics and consider it, just a vague cursory glance at the time.

The layout below is similar to the 32' Amerosport we saw in Orillia.  Small galley, side dinette with window sill storage, front berth with storage below, locker on starboard side, the couch converts to bunk beds (barely visible), good sized head with shower.

Some good differences... the floor is wood.  I hate carpet.  Bigger windows.  Hanging cupboards over the dinette.  Supports for the upper bunk are better - making it an actual bunk.  Wide open 'ceiling' from the cockpit, down the stairs to the galley.  Very open and bright. 

Some bad differences...  No drawers under the dinette, only 'pull the cushions off storage wells'.  No in floor storage.  It's solid, which could create issues with balancing weight.  A small cupboard with sink in the berth.  Small sink in the galley.  Bed is oddly narrow at the foot end.  No windows/window sill storage in berth.  Stove is a portable butane single burner - same as we used on The Kayak Chaser.

Just different...  The cockpit/upper salon is essentially empty.  There's storage in both side walls, an adjustable Captain's chair at the helm, and the top of the galley cupboards doubles as a counter top/chart table.  Access to the engines is in the roughly 10' wide x 5' long empty salon space.  There are two lawn chairs and a small table included, that fit the length of the port side, easily removable for engine access.  Easily replaceable with something like this:

Convertible Sleeper Sofa Double Lounge Chair

Which could potentially make the cockpit 'the Peter room', while maintaining it's usefulness in the future.

Through sliding glass doors, we walk out onto the aft deck.  Another 5' or so of open space.  2 deck chairs and a small deck box are included for this space.  Below deck there is a large storage room.  Big enough for tools, or toys, or my canner and a pantry...  A ladder through the custom built tonneau cover provides access to the fly bridge.  The walk around deck is roughly 12" wide.

Additionally, this boat also comes with bow and stern thrusters, a small 2Kw generator, heat, ac, electric windlass...  and more.

I can see us living on this boat.  I can easily access all areas of the boat.  Docking and lines should be a breeze.  Staying out of each other's way should be easy.  Changes we would want to make should be manageable.

All we need to do is get on the boat.  5 steps up the swim ladder.  3 steps down the transom.  Carrying groceries, laundry, supplies...  Ouch.  It's a high boat! 

We decided to put an offer in on this boat.  We didn't bother going to see the rest of the boats on our list.  We went home early, feeling like we were finished with the shopping.  That's when we found out it was an open cooling system.  Debate. 

We don't plan to be in salt water for a few years, but eventually...  Changing to a closed cooling system is expensive.  But not as expensive as bow and stern thrusters, which the majority of the boats in this size/price range do not have.

We decided to go ahead with the offer.  Then we called the marina for slip prices.  The 32' boat was suddenly 37' - swim platform and pulpit.  Since mooring/docking/and storage are all calculated by the foot, the 5' increase changes our costs for the future.  More debate.

It's not that the extra 5' is a deal breaker.  It's just that we've been trying to stick with the under 35' boat range for the budget.  The swim platform on this boat is less than 2'.  We were planning on a 4' platform.  The pulpit is 3'.  We hadn't even taken that into consideration.  We don't know if it's original, or if we can change it.  The anchor on the boat right now is too small.   We might need that space when we install our 35 pound plow anchor.  Replacing the swim platform will put us at 39-40'.  So the question really, is it worth paying for 40' slips for a 32' boat?  An actual 40' boat has, well, a whole lot more boat...

That debate isn't settled yet.  We are going to go ahead with the offer, though we probably won't be willing to move much on price.  We will also continue scouring the internet, and shopping, until the deal is finalized.  Because until the money changes hands, we now know there's a lot that could alter our feelings, and calling it quits a day early was the wrong decision.  The boats that we didn't see might have been more to our liking overall.

First Shopping Trip

So many boats, so many places, so much to consider.

What did we want?  What could we afford?  Do we buy 'THE BOAT' now, or an 'in-betweeny' first, and the big boat later?  Could the 'in-betweeny' be 'THE BOAT'?  We have much to learn, and much to consider.

First off, our long term goal is to liveaboard after retirement, cruise the waterways, and over winter somewhere warm.  We've spent most of the last two summers on our 27' pontoon boat - a huge livingroom on the water.  Comfy, spacious, breezy, cool, wet, storage galore, limited privacy, limited security...  While we had originally planned to do the Trent-Severn Canal on The Kayak Chaser, and we could still make it work, we believe a V-hull would make it more comfortable.  Drier, at least.  We're a few years away from retirement yet, our youngest, Pete, has 2.5 years left of highschool, and we won't sell the house and move on board until he's done.

We want solid walls, where we can hang things, hide things, stay warm,  stay dry, secure things, and feel comfortable locking up and walking away for the day, and maybe occasionally yell at each other without everyone on the dock turning around to look - a V-hull.

We want to keep our BBQ, outdoor cooking - Skipper cooks - set up.  I generally cooked breakfast and side dishes on our butane single burner stove, but he who is always hungry, looked after the grill.  After 25 years of "what were you planning for supper?", that BBQ really sells the boating/retirement experience.  The BBQ on The Kayak Chaser was simple and easy.  Lock up Gilligan, unzip a panel of the camper top, set the BBQ on the rail and light it. Keeping it simple is key.

We want space to store our bikes that will be easy to manage getting them on and off the boat.  One of our bikes was stolen last year, and two were damaged when locked up at the harbour office.

We can accommodate the BBQ and bike situation with a wide swim platform with railing.

We want a big bed.  A sleeping area that doesn't require one of us climbing over the other to get in/out, with windows for fresh air and a cool breeze, long enough that his feet don't hang over the edge, and wide enough for all my stuff (lap top/dvd player/books/kleenex/water/etc) beside me. We don't want our berth to be a dinette.  No dual purpose sleeping situation - he wants coffee at 4am and I want to stay up til 12am - the table is the table, not a bed, or we'll kill each other.

A space for Pete.  Someplace to sleep and store all his crap.  Someplace he won't be in the way.  Someplace his crap won't drive me crazy because it's always in the way.  Pete's crap - 14' kayak, camping gear, hammock, clothes, lap top, books, ukelele, guitar...  Pete's a lot of fun, but he takes up a lot of space, and he's not very tidy.  3 years for Pete- and then what?  Space that will need to remain useful, or just add to the fuel bill.

Eventually, we want a large solar arch, solar system, electric motor, with a dinghy hanging above the swim platform.  Add-ons we can manage, but not necessary for the in-betweeny.

He wants heat and AC.  I want a bathroom that keeps the toilet paper dry while showering.

After scouring the internet for days, we chose Orillia as the base for our first boat shopping trip.

I had to see this boat, up close and personal.  Either buy it, or get it out of my head.

1989 Thundercraft 290 Magnum

Sitting at home, looking at pictures, this boat seemed to have it all.  Just a 29', but the layout was fantastic, and the price was great.  There was an aft cabin with a fold down table - a perfect little computer den/tv room for the future.  Bigger boats seemed almost awkward by comparison, with much bigger price tags. This was the one to beat.  We kept looking at other boats online, and kept comparing them to this delightful layout.

Real life was quite the let down.  I'm almost positive the pics were at least 5 years old.  The boat was much degraded by comparison.  Galley storage had been removed, stove was behind the sink, and limited storage behind that.  Unmanageable for my 5'1" frame.  The aft cabin was a step down, hunch over, squeeze in doorway.  But the real deal breaker was when the owner stood in front of the berth, Skipper stood in front of the aft cabin, and I was trapped between them in the galley.  It just wasn't wide enough for two people to pass each other.  This would be my life for the next 3 years, Skipper and Pete blocking me in at either end.  Nope.  No thank you.  I'll take The Kayak Chaser to Cuba before I'll buy that.

In total we saw 12 boats.

One 28' Bayliner really impressed us, as an in-betweeny.  The interior had been meticulously redone, with hardwood floors and every nook and cranny for storage cut out and lidded.  It was absolutely gorgeous and practical, and very affordable, with a walk through window on deck, and huge swim platform.  Unfortunately, the V-berth was too narrow for us.  We considered the aft cabin, which was wide enough, but the mattress was on the floor.  Climbing over each other and then getting off the floor?  We are too old for that.

Most of the boats were unremarkable. We probably could have made half of them work, but none of them felt quite right, and we just aren't in that much of a hurry.  Odd storage, odd shaped beds, dinettes that seat 3, sinks in the v-berth.  There are some really odd floor plans on boats.

And then there was this:

Chris-Craft 322 Amerosport

Skipper found this one online, and I really wasn't keen to see it.  The pics don't do it justice.

It's a 32', walk around deck, twin engines, huge, easy access engine compartment, windlass, 12' beam.  Raised captain/passenger seats on deck - I could see right over the edge of the front deck!  Compact kitchen with reasonable storage.  Nice sized bathroom with good storage.  Storage along the walls and in the window sills.  Comfy dinette with storage drawers built in.  Hanging lockers, huge under bed drawers, and wide window sill storage in the v-berth.  Heat and AC.  No aft cabin.  Instead of an aft cabin, there's a couch.

Amerosport Couch

A couch that folds up to reveal a comfortable single bed.  A couch that folds down to hide the Peter crap.  A couch that would be cozy and comfy someday when it's just the two of us.

Full storage under the couch seat, hidden storage behind the couch back, wall and window sill storage for every day stuff, top 'bunk' storage for over night.

This could be "THE BOAT".

So why didn't we buy this boat?  It's covered in mildew.  Dealer claims it was clean as a whistle when they wrapped it in the fall.  Worse in the bathroom, but absolutely everywhere.  The bathroom floor - shower space - is cracked.  I suppose they could be related.  Or not.  Radar arch has been removed.  And it's a little pricey.  For now we're planning to see it again in the spring, when it's uncovered and we can water test it.  I need to jump around on deck and make sure there's no rot or leaks.

Our next trip will take us toward Ottawa, where we'll check out a 37' Amerosport, along with a dozen or so other boats in the area.  We're trying to see different brands, so we have a better idea of the layouts, storage, and space when we look at pics online.  Gilligan's Perch is out there.  We just have to find it.