Provisioning: Planning Food, Water & Fuel

As skipper, you can't nip to the shop mid-passage — so before you leave the dock you must estimate what the crew and boat will consume, then load enough with a margin. The three big stores are food, water, and fuel. The method is the same for each: multiply rate of use × number of days × number of people (or engine hours), then add a reserve.

Water is the one that can genuinely hurt you. A common planning figure is about 3–5 litres per person per day for drinking and cooking (washing-up and showers push it higher). For a crew of 4 on a 3-day trip that's roughly 4 × 4 × 3 = 48 litres minimum — before any reserve. Charter boats carry fixed tanks (often 200–400 L), so know your tank size, don't assume it's full, and always keep a reserve in case a leg runs long or a watermaker/tap isn't available.

Food planning is easier because appetites are flexible, but sea air makes people hungry and rough weather makes cooking hard — so favour simple, non-perishable, ready-to-eat meals for passage days and plan a couple of spare 'emergency' meals. Fuel is estimated from engine burn rate: if the engine uses about 2 litres per hour and you expect 6 hours of motoring a day over 3 days, that's ~36 L. Because wind is unreliable, plan fuel for motoring, not sailing.

Across all three, the golden rule is the reserve margin — typically add 20–30% (or a full extra day) so a delay, a headwind, or an extra guest never leaves you short.