This is a common question I get from other moms, since we all spend a good bit of our time searching for the best food options for our families, comparing prices, shopping (sometimes making several stops each week), making meals and cleaning up after said meals.
Essentially, aside from not knowing where to find fresh, local produce in the Florida Keys and missing my old health-food connections, getting groceries, or “provisions” as they’re called on a boat, is the same as it used to be. Instead of going out foraging in my mini-van, I go out by dinghy. Instead of parking the car, I tie up to a dinghy dock. Instead of walking from the parking lot to the store, I just walk a mile to Publix in searing heat along a busy and dusty U.S. 1. I then revel in the coolness of the air conditioned store for as long as possible, then call a taxi. For five bucks (insignificant cost compared to trying to walk back a mile with a cart full of groceries), he drops me off near the dinghy dock, where I load up a dock cart from his trunk and wheel the provisions down the ramp and load up the dinghy. I now drive back to the boat, sloshing salt water all over my canvas bags and melting anything that used to be frozen. With both boats moving, I precariously hand the provisions up to someone and then put everything away. See? It’s just like the old grocery run, only more fun and exciting!
Fresh food lasts for 7-10 days and then we eat from stores of dry goods and cans. I carry about 150 lbs. of grain, so that will make a lot of bread before I have to figure out where to buy oat groats and wheat berries! But I still have to make that grocery run about once each week. And if I forget something? Too bad—better luck next time!
Subscribe