Drew celebrated his birthday last week and really wanted to have cake and ice cream. The ice cream part might have proven to be an impossible request had we not been in Georgetown where 1) it was available, and 2) it was actually being kept in a reliable freezer where it had not been given the opportunity to melt and refreeze repeatedly.
There was no price on the container, but it was Drew’s birthday... he’s worth it, whatever it costs. Besides, it’s a half gallon of ice cream - how much can it be? Answer: $12.00!
This is just one of many examples of the food items we often take for granted in the US that you simply have to live without in the Bahamas; either that or be prepared to pay for all that’s involved in getting it here!
You can “stock up” to a point, but there’s only so much storage space on a boat. For example, we brought 60 cans of Pat’s favorite tuna packed in olive oil with us; 20 cans of lemonaide mix; 16 jars of peanut butter; 8 boxes of saltines; 4 jumbo boxes of Goldfish crackers; 20 lbs of pasta; 15 jars of pasta sauce; 50 rolls of paper towels; 300 or so granola & Clif bars; 400 AA batteries which run our GPS and VHF radio; and let’s just say A LOT of A LOT of other staples and favorites.
Still, now that we’ve been in the Bahamas for just over 3 months, we’ve started to run out of certain favorite snack items (e.g. pretzels). Thankfully, the kids like popcorn and we still have plenty of that on board. But in a moment of weakness we did breakdown and buy pretzels and tortilla chips in Long Island - at the “bargain price” of $4.50 a bag!!!
Here’s a quick look inside a typical Bahamian small-settlement grocery store (generally named something like “The Blue Store” or “The Pink Store”).
Produce: green peppers, carrots, celery, potatoes, onions, iceburg lettuce or sometimes romaine; maybe some green cabbage and even tomatoes (if you don’t mind that they’ve been refrigerated and have no taste!)
If you shop the day the mail boat arrives, these items will be lined up on the floor of the store still in their cardboard containers, but they’ll be fresh. If your timing is off by a few days, the peppers will likely be starting to wrinkle and spot; the celery will be wilting; the onions getting moldy; and as much as you’d really like to make a salad, you will be glad for whatever canned goods you might be able to dig out of the storage lockers on the boat!
Fruits: bananas, oranges, limes and if it’s your lucky day, apples!
Cereals: Have eggs or oatmeal instead... at $7 a box, plus the likelihood the cereal may be stale, just give it up.
Meat: Wait til you’re in Nassau or Georgetown. The 20 bags of freezer-burned chicken parts (or whatever they are/were) in that rusty freezer unit probably aren’t covering up anything more appealing underneath!
Cheese & Eggs: government-issued orange cheddar is generally available, along with mixed (white, brown, broken) containers of eggs (no expiration date).
Misc: Flour and rice are readily available and not too expensive. Ramen noodles are $0.40 a pack... a universal food! We ran out of maple syrup last week... a small bottle was $15.25 in Georgetown, but we really didn’t want to give up the occasional splurge of French Toast for breakfast! (Eggs & oatmeal get a little boring after a while.)
On our last trip to Georgetown’s Exuma Market, a head of cauliflower - which we hadn’t seen in months - was $3.50; a pinapple $6.95. Variety being the spice of life, we jumped at the chance for both!
In truth, we eat very well on the boat and the lack of exposure to many processed convenience foods has been a good thing. Having two fishermen on board hasn’t hurt either.
Flexibility is key; as is being at the right place at the right time... While we were in Rum Cay, a couple doing a boat deliver had extra provisions on board which they shared with us before flying back to Nassau - two families ate for a few days from the perishables they needed to get rid of. The catch of the day also is often shared among boats in an anchorage if the catch is large. Thus, you just never know what might show up on the menu!
Just tonight we had a potluck with some friends which involved homemade bread, a wonderful fish & sausage gumbo, rice, salad, and baked apple dessert. It’s fun to see what comes together when the opportunity arises for a group dinner... BYOP&F, of course! (Bring your own plates and forks.)
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