⛵︎ Logbook 6/6/25: T-minus 9 days before setting sail on Chérie, another spicy sailboat project, and the most inspirational & radical sailing couple (not us)
Cory, I don’t recall seeing where you talk about the builder of your boat, and it’s vital statistics. Would you tell us about it, or refer us to a post where you do?
Safe travels! BTW, where/how do you go to the bathroom on a small boat like that? And I’d pack a fishing pole in case you run out of food in the middle of the ocean
Thank you, Chris! We’re absolutely bringing fishing poles, and we will have trawling lines as well when we’re out in the ocean.
We have a pretty nice head actually! It’s so elegant and requires no electricity. It’s called a Lavac; the lid forms a vacuum seal and you move a hand pump to create negative pressure and suck up seawater from the bottom of the boat. Then the waste moves into a holding tank we installed, or if we’re >3 miles offshore, we bypass the holding tank.
-Once you leave the US, many countries sell shelf stable eggs; they leave the cuticle in place and the eggs really shouldn't be refrigerated anyway.
-shelf stable milk is a thing, if it matters to y'all.
-Hard cheese is fine on the counter for days and tastes better at room temp.
-Butter is fine for weeks
I imagine you'll be in hotter places, so that will certainly affect this advice.
Have you looked into making a Zeer pot? They're so cool (literally!). I'm thinking I need to do this because I live in a frequent hurricane/power outage state 🙄.
Yes, sweaty cheese-it really does sweat (the proteins relaxing at room temp). We do either use reusable beeswax cloth or cheese paper -lets the cheese breathe to avoid mold. Maybe as you head to cooler climes, your cheese won't sweat as quickly? I suppose when we're abroad, it's always cooler so we never have that issue and I eat it before a week's up too I'm sure. Curious if a British or Irish cheddar would sweat as fast? They're so much harder and crumblier. (I also like Red Leicester and Cheshire). Just thought -Parmesan/pecorino would work bc they are so hard. Aged cheeses have less moisture (nutty Gouda, older Gruyère) --but these are more cheesemonger cheeses. Processed cheeses don't need refrigeration either.
Time to learn salt curing! Cured charcuterie meats are shelf stable too.
I know storage is a huge issue in boats, do the less you need to bring the better.
I am going to experiment with making a zeer pot because yes, they are brilliant!
Thanks for the cheese paper rec! I had read about using parchment paper, but idk, the cheese didn’t look quite right. I need to learn to trust that visceral reaction to knowing whether my food is good to eat still! I hope when we get to cooler climes we can store things like that if the bilge, where it’s 10 degrees cooler than the cabin! Maybe once we’re out in the ocean, there will be an even better storage opportunity down there :)
I’d love to learn salt curing and pickling and other preservation methods! You may be surprised how much space we have on this boat (I’ll do an article about it some day). We are sooo happy with it. We thought we’d need to get rid of lots of tools and the sewing machine for lack of space, but they’re easily fitting. (Yay!)
I was also thinking about the zeer pot and wondering if maybe it’s not going to work as well in humid temps? Our boat is already so humid inside (on of the reasons we’re no having a clothes hanger inside!). But in dryer climes, like the desert, maybe that’s where it shines?
Yes, I think you're right about the zeer being better in dryer climes (it comes from Africa and the Middle East)--I'm in Houston so it's pretty damn humid.
Your sweaty cheese isn't a sign it's spoiled in case that's your worry. And the nice thing about hard cheese is new unwanted mold is easy to cut off (not true with soft cheeses).
Y'all are in NC-surely you have an Amish grocery near you. They sell so many pickled and pressure canned items-maybe y'all can stock up?! I do quick pickling, but then it needs refrigeration. I'm too chicken to do pressure canning as I don't tryst myself.
To that, here's my disclaimer: I'm very obsessive about food safety and hygiene- I do NOT have a laissez-faire approach and I have high visceral disgust reaction. So if I tell you I leave my cheese, my butter, my cured meats, etc out, it means I lived to tell with no ill effects or I wouldn't mention it :)
Thank you so much for the tips, D! I have experimented with sharp cheddar, and found it only lasts a couple days before it got a bit too slimy for my liking (even after wrapping it in parchment paper and plastic). Do you have a specific type you know does reliably well? And thanks for the tip on butter! We’re usually an olive oil household, though :)
I had never heard of a zeer pot! How frickin cool is that?!?! I love that idea. I even found some semi portable ones online. If you get one, let me know how you like it. I might be able to intro the sailing community to it! :)
Congrats! Wishing you the absolute best in your journey. I also live in about 100 square feet of space (a 30ft rv) but it doesn’t go anywhere at this moment. And I’m also in NC on the coast. Can’t wait to continue to read about your adventures. Sending fair winds your way.
Thank you Demeter! I remember you telling me this months ago — that’s great! 100 sq ft is already looking huge the more time we spend in it. Isn’t that wild? What do people do with all that extra space? Haha. I appreciate the comment, hope you’re well, and I’m so excited to keep sharing :)
Cory, I don’t recall seeing where you talk about the builder of your boat, and it’s vital statistics. Would you tell us about it, or refer us to a post where you do?
Thanks for your interest, Richard! I can’t recall having gone into depth about it, but it’s a great idea for a future post. But here is some info https://sailboatdata.com/sailboat/morgan-31-lavranos/
Safe travels! BTW, where/how do you go to the bathroom on a small boat like that? And I’d pack a fishing pole in case you run out of food in the middle of the ocean
Thank you, Chris! We’re absolutely bringing fishing poles, and we will have trawling lines as well when we’re out in the ocean.
We have a pretty nice head actually! It’s so elegant and requires no electricity. It’s called a Lavac; the lid forms a vacuum seal and you move a hand pump to create negative pressure and suck up seawater from the bottom of the boat. Then the waste moves into a holding tank we installed, or if we’re >3 miles offshore, we bypass the holding tank.
Some travel tips I've learned about food:
-Once you leave the US, many countries sell shelf stable eggs; they leave the cuticle in place and the eggs really shouldn't be refrigerated anyway.
-shelf stable milk is a thing, if it matters to y'all.
-Hard cheese is fine on the counter for days and tastes better at room temp.
-Butter is fine for weeks
I imagine you'll be in hotter places, so that will certainly affect this advice.
Have you looked into making a Zeer pot? They're so cool (literally!). I'm thinking I need to do this because I live in a frequent hurricane/power outage state 🙄.
Looking forward to updates!
Here's to fair winds and following seas!
Yes, sweaty cheese-it really does sweat (the proteins relaxing at room temp). We do either use reusable beeswax cloth or cheese paper -lets the cheese breathe to avoid mold. Maybe as you head to cooler climes, your cheese won't sweat as quickly? I suppose when we're abroad, it's always cooler so we never have that issue and I eat it before a week's up too I'm sure. Curious if a British or Irish cheddar would sweat as fast? They're so much harder and crumblier. (I also like Red Leicester and Cheshire). Just thought -Parmesan/pecorino would work bc they are so hard. Aged cheeses have less moisture (nutty Gouda, older Gruyère) --but these are more cheesemonger cheeses. Processed cheeses don't need refrigeration either.
Time to learn salt curing! Cured charcuterie meats are shelf stable too.
I know storage is a huge issue in boats, do the less you need to bring the better.
I am going to experiment with making a zeer pot because yes, they are brilliant!
Thanks for the cheese paper rec! I had read about using parchment paper, but idk, the cheese didn’t look quite right. I need to learn to trust that visceral reaction to knowing whether my food is good to eat still! I hope when we get to cooler climes we can store things like that if the bilge, where it’s 10 degrees cooler than the cabin! Maybe once we’re out in the ocean, there will be an even better storage opportunity down there :)
I’d love to learn salt curing and pickling and other preservation methods! You may be surprised how much space we have on this boat (I’ll do an article about it some day). We are sooo happy with it. We thought we’d need to get rid of lots of tools and the sewing machine for lack of space, but they’re easily fitting. (Yay!)
I was also thinking about the zeer pot and wondering if maybe it’s not going to work as well in humid temps? Our boat is already so humid inside (on of the reasons we’re no having a clothes hanger inside!). But in dryer climes, like the desert, maybe that’s where it shines?
Yes, I think you're right about the zeer being better in dryer climes (it comes from Africa and the Middle East)--I'm in Houston so it's pretty damn humid.
Your sweaty cheese isn't a sign it's spoiled in case that's your worry. And the nice thing about hard cheese is new unwanted mold is easy to cut off (not true with soft cheeses).
Y'all are in NC-surely you have an Amish grocery near you. They sell so many pickled and pressure canned items-maybe y'all can stock up?! I do quick pickling, but then it needs refrigeration. I'm too chicken to do pressure canning as I don't tryst myself.
To that, here's my disclaimer: I'm very obsessive about food safety and hygiene- I do NOT have a laissez-faire approach and I have high visceral disgust reaction. So if I tell you I leave my cheese, my butter, my cured meats, etc out, it means I lived to tell with no ill effects or I wouldn't mention it :)
No need to take my word of course!
Thank you so much for the tips, D! I have experimented with sharp cheddar, and found it only lasts a couple days before it got a bit too slimy for my liking (even after wrapping it in parchment paper and plastic). Do you have a specific type you know does reliably well? And thanks for the tip on butter! We’re usually an olive oil household, though :)
I had never heard of a zeer pot! How frickin cool is that?!?! I love that idea. I even found some semi portable ones online. If you get one, let me know how you like it. I might be able to intro the sailing community to it! :)
Congrats! Wishing you the absolute best in your journey. I also live in about 100 square feet of space (a 30ft rv) but it doesn’t go anywhere at this moment. And I’m also in NC on the coast. Can’t wait to continue to read about your adventures. Sending fair winds your way.
Thank you Demeter! I remember you telling me this months ago — that’s great! 100 sq ft is already looking huge the more time we spend in it. Isn’t that wild? What do people do with all that extra space? Haha. I appreciate the comment, hope you’re well, and I’m so excited to keep sharing :)