Everybody asks me how I am eating here on the boat. Since it’s been a quiet week, not much exciting to write about, I will fill in you in. I eat pretty much like I did on land. I have always been a pretty basic eater. “Bohemian” you might say. Many of you know that I ate a Power bagel (from Einstein’s) every day for breakfast for over 15 years. I finally got tired of them and haven’t had one in over a year, but it underscores the point that I am a simple man with simple tastes. Very simple.

My boat is quite basic as to kitchen stuff. I have a sink (with a cold water hand and foot pump drawing from a holding tank), a 1 burner gas stove, and a ice box that I don’t use. I wanted to keep my electrical needs small and simple, and a refrigerator is one of the biggest electrical hogs you can have on a boat so I think the biggest departure from civilization I enjoy is that I do not have refrigeration. (trying to keep ice in the box seemed like a losing proposition right from the start so I don’t even try) It is surprising how easy it is to get along without refrigeration. Most things really don’t need it. Veggies keep just fine in a dry shady spot. I don’t drink milk, and yogurt keeps fine at room temperature, as does cheese. Eggs too, if you wipe some olive oil on them. I have designated a compartment under one of the seats as my “cool” box, which is below the waterline and stays about the temperature of the ocean, which around here is about 58 degrees. A big shocker to most folks is that “bilge temperature” beer is actually very tasty. (the bilge is the lowest part of the boat where lose water flows, and is the coolest part of the boat.) That thing about “ice cold beer” is very over-rated. I think “bilge beer” actually has a better flavor than “ice cold” . Many places around the worlds, including Great Britain, serve beer at room temperatures and they seem to like it that way. So do I!

I have a few key kitchen tools: A french press for making the worlds BEST coffee every morning. I have a giant mug from a truck stop up in Idaho with wide bottom and a rubber patch so it doesn’t tip or slide when the boat rocks. (I drink everything from that mug. Coffee, water, wine, right now sipping a shot of rum from it…). It is especially stylish being bright red with orange flames wrapping around it, Idaho truck stop style. I guess the flames keeps the coffee hotter? Or maybe they makes it go faster. Anyway I love it and would be very lost without it.

I use a pressure cooker to cook almost everything. Potatoes, beans, spaghetti, rice, they all cook very fast and with very little water.

I have a very heavy duty frying pan with perfect non-stick that I found at the Goodwill, and it is a real treasure.

So what do I eat then.? Since I don’t have a refrigerator for leftovers, whatever I didn’t finish from dinner is breakfast. Who said spaghetti isn’t a good breakfast food?. If there are no leftovers, I love yogurt with some granola sprinkled in. or a Fried eggs. or Cheese quesadilla. All served with a bucket of coffee.

Lunch is usually a cheese or good old fashioned PBJ. (peanut butter jam) sandwich. I eat an apple a day to keep the doctor away. Or grapes. A handful of crackers. And a beer (bilge temperature of course)

Dinners are a simple 1 pot affair, just like when I am camping. I love potatoes and eat a big pot of them several time a week. Loaded with onions, garlic, butter, sometime s can of chicken tossed in, mm mmm that is good livin baby!

Spaghetti is a favorite, as is a pot of rice or beans. All with lots of onions, garlic, butter. Don’t come visit unless you like garlic. That is what keeps this boat afloat!

I am not a vegetarian but I rarely eat meat. It would be easy to grab a streak or a chop whenever I shop and cook it up that day, but I find I just don’t. Hmm. Not sure why. I Just don’t crave meat. Sometimes I will toss a can of chicken into the pot of the day, but other that there is not much meat. I intend to get around to fishing some day and I have a propane barbeque out on the aft rail ready for when I do. 1 or 2 small fish a week would be plenty, I would think.

This all seems to work very well for me. I never get sick, and feel very healthy and vigorous. Simple, nutritious, and certainly cheap. A winning combination I think.