Bring Home the Bounty
The thing with provisioning when you’re cruising is that once you’ve found the grocery store and made it there, you still have to get all the purchases home. It’s not as simple as tossing the bags into the back of the car and navigating traffic! Sure, if you have done a major restock, you can call an Uber or a taxi or even go so far as to rent a car, but most of the time, you’re carrying it by hand. Even if you’re in a place where you can order groceries via InstaCart, you may still find yourself carrying groceries by hand. Maybe there’s a minimum order, or maybe you like shopping in person, or maybe where you are this is not an option.
How do you mimimize the schlep factor?
Minimize what you’re buying. This one is a little bit obvious, I know. It bears repeating. You don’t need to buy 5 bags of flour, or 3 cases of beer, or 12 cans of tomatoes all at one go. Might this mean going to the store more often? Yes. It also means you’re planning the major restock of all the things all in one go. Plan wisely.
This would not be fun to get from store to boat without a car.
Get a good backpack for every person on board. Check that the straps are padded and comfortable. Ideally there is a chest strap to help keep the bag centered. It should be sturdy and shed water. I like a pack that’s at least 40 liters. My favorite is the classic LL Bean college packpack, with all its compartments. It’s light enough to use as an everyday bag, with room for a wadded up light rain jacket and my wallet - which means it is always with me if we come across an unexpected farmers market. Jeremy is loving the Gecko brand drybag backpack (and the dry bag cooler backpack). A little bulkier, this one stays on board unless we know we’re doing a food run.
My LL Bean backpack. Still going strong after 20+ years.
Take a handful of reusable bags. Once you’ve loaded the backpack with the super heavy stuff, you’ll possibly have more to carry. The paper or plastic ones from the store aren’t designed to last longer than store-to-car-to-kitchen; if you’ve overbought (who does that?), being able to carry with ease is important. I like bags with handles long enough to go across my body, leaving my hands free to swing while I walk. The bags from Flip and Tumble are my current faves. They scrunch down to a self-contained compact handful, weigh next to nothing, and dry in a flash. That they come in cool colors and patterns is a bonus. I keep 5 of these in my backpack.
Cactus pattern makes me smile!
Splurge on a foldable cart. Not yet on board Calypso, one of these carts will earn their keep in the first major grocery run in a far-off port, I’m sure. Enough friends have something similar that they rave about! Yes, I’ll still pack the backpack full, and maybe this cart will hold the full reusable bags plus more, but being able to pull a load behind me instead of carrying it on my back will be a treat. The important things to look for are wheel size (larger will allow for easier movement on uneven ground), a handle long enough that you don’t need to crouch to pull it, and a folded footprint that fits on board. If you can find something with no steel, it won’t rust. For us, the dimensions will be key as our space is small.
Going grocery shopping while cruising is one of my favorite tasks for lots of reasons, but carrying it all home is challenging. Being prepared makes it all easier!