After years of preparing meals for sailboat races and planning menus for weeks of cruising, I’ve had a few failures, hit some home runs and learned some shortcuts to success. Our family is often saying, everything tastes better on a boat. Certain settings add to the enjoyment of a meal and there is nothing like the smell of the salt air, or the rocking motion at anchor to enhance the experience of sharing a meal together onboard.
While sailing in a ten day race around Vancouver Island, I began to joke that I could write a cook book entitled, Meals You Can Serve in a Mug. Salad on a plate blows away in the breeze if you need to consume your supper sitting on the rail of a sailboat heeling from the wind. I like the challenge of offering user-friendly food to the crew that re-energizes and raises the crew satisfaction factor. Good food increases the chances of keeping good crew coming back.
The Pacific Northwest offers amazing cruising grounds and our cruising vacations define our summers. I’ve decided to share meals that have become traditions, ideas that will make menu planning easier and pictures of places and activities I’ve collected along the way that reflect the joy of dining afloat.