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Snacktician advice needed - weekend race.

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Prospector
Master Marine Consultant

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Canada
3159 Posts

Initially Posted - 06/06/2008 : 09:54:23

This weekend will mark a departure from our usual club racing since we are in a "Interclub Series Regatta" Sounds fancy, eh!

Our schedule is:

1:00 this afternoon - leave our marina and sail to the host club (3 hour cruise - I think there's a TV show about that...)
6:00 tonight - Dinner. We will cook something up, likely pasta based.
8:00 AM Saturday - host club provides breakfast
Morning Race - we need some snacks, and a lunch but I have no idea what to take since it has to survive the cruise over, and this race will be about twice as long as our usual club races. I am thinking Sub sandwiches for lunch, but the snack, there is the trouble.
6:00 PM Saturday - Host club provides Perogies and Cabbage Rolls for dinner.
8:00 PM Saturday - Cocktail hour.
8:00 AM Sunday - Host club provides breakfast.
Sunday race - same as Saturday, only it has to suvive 2 days on the boat without turning gross.
Sunday Afternoon - Head home

The challenge stems from the fact that our usual snacks are things like veggies and dip or babaganouj and crackers. I'm not sure what the shelf life of these would be in the icebox or a cooler.

For crew I have my wife, 11 year old daughter and 2 month old son. The girls won't eat anything that looks icky. If the baby starts crying in the night we have an exit plan that means I lose 1/2 my crew (wife and baby).

Right now the food on the boat includes Stella Artois, granola bars and ginger snaps. I need to go shopping on the way home today. Any ideas for a multi day excursion that will keep the crew excited while we sit out there in brutal heat and thunderstorms (this weekend's forecast isn't great)

"Iris"
1984 FK/SR #4040
http://frosthaus.blogspot.com/

Take a minute to register your boat with the association!!
http://www.catalina-capri-25s.org/owner_questionnaire.htm

Edited by - on

Dave Bristle
Master Marine Consultant

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Djibouti
10005 Posts

Response Posted - 06/06/2008 : 10:39:40

Sandwiches turn gross... Sandwich fixin's don't. Another possibility--cold grilled or fried chicken. Freeze some plastic bottles of water--they'll keep the cooler cold and provide cold drinking water. (They puff up a little, but don't explode.)

Sounds like fun! How's your 11-year-old with racing and living aboard?

Edited by - Dave Bristle on 06/06/2008 10:43:05

delliottg
Former Mainsheet C250 Tech Editor

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USA
4479 Posts

Response Posted - 06/06/2008 : 10:41:58

We keep a "goodies" box on the boat that's filled with a variety of snacks ranging from salty chips & nuts to energy bars, chocolate, hard candies, various forms of jerky, etc. The idea is to have some quick & easy to eat foods readily accessible so if it's nasty out, or you're simply very busy, you can grab something to keep you going. We both choose items that we think will appeal to ourselves and everything gets packed into the box. The box itself is clear plastic, about the size of a large shoe box that we store under the sink on the wire tray along with some treats for the hound.

We also bring a drink cooler filled with ice water, I never seem to be able to stay well hydrated on the boat, and having the ice water readily available makes a big difference. It's one of the insulated kind that holds maybe a gallon with a screw on lid & tip out sipping "straw", and a tap at the bottom. It's kind of giant to drink directly from, but it can be done.

We also bring snacky stuff along that needs to be kept cold like yogurt, fruit cups, pudding, and fruit like apples, oranges & bananas. Again easy to eat w/o dishes and in a pinch you can simply use the lid as a spoon if necessary.

We use a good five day cooler, and pre-chill everything before putting it in the cooler. As long as it just has to keep things cold, instead of cooling them down, the ice will last an incredible amount of time. Not so much if it first has to cool down the items in there. The blue not-cooler that came with the boat is useless for it's intended purpose, Rita just uses it as a storage bin for cooking items like pots & pans.

For kids I'd put aboard a variety of boxed or pouch juices as well as their favorite type of snacky foods. You want to make the experience as fun and pleasant as possible, which you already know. Having some familiar things to eat seems to go a long way with kids in my experience, most kids aren't very adventurous when it comes to eating.

And I concur with Dave, sandwiches are only good on the first day, by the second day, they're still edible, but not very appetizing. Rita wouldn't touch one, however, as Dave also says, fixin's stay just fine, bring along some bread, mayo, mustard, etc., some lettuce & tomatoes (never-ever put tomatoes or egg salad on something you plan to eat "later", they'll make a gooey mess of the bread at best) and you've got the start of a pretty good sandwich.

Good luck & let us know how it goes.

Edited by - delliottg on 06/06/2008 10:46:43

Prospector
Master Marine Consultant

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Canada
3159 Posts

Response Posted - 06/06/2008 : 12:59:00

We will dutifully avoid the sandwiches then. Maybe I'll get a honey ham, stick of french bread, and some fixins. We can make them on the fly.

Chuck (11 yr old) loves being on th eboat and gettin gto sleepover on it. This will be her first time having a "boat sleepover" away from our home marina. I am really not worried about her. I raised her alone from when she was 2 until she was 5, and she has shared a pile of adventures with me. To her sailing time is Daddy time, and I cherish that while it lasts. For her, not having to share my time with the baby and wife is great, no matter what we're doing.

So far our best finish is dead last, which is a step or two ahead DNF, and much better than the race we were in that we couldn't even get to the start line for. Baby steps and all that. The key (I think) to family racing being a success is that its a level playing field. I tail for her, she tails for me, and we're equals. When we blow a tack, its because the boat didn't get around fast enough - not because she screwed up on the sheets, or I screwed up on the tiller. The race where we scored our DNF was our best so far - we laughed pretty much from the start line all the way through (Including rounding the wrong mark - twice).

Edited by - on

Prospector
Master Marine Consultant

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Canada
3159 Posts

Response Posted - 06/06/2008 : 13:02:31

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by delliottg
 
Good luck & let us know how it goes.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

Lets see - Our goal for the season is to finish one race in "not last place..." I have good vibes about this being "that" weekend.

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Stardog
Captain

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USA
319 Posts

Response Posted - 06/06/2008 : 13:23:13

I like stuff that is easy to handle while sailing. Sandwiches are okay if you make them just before you eat them. Wrapping each one in waxed paper as soon as it's made keeps it from falling apart before and while it's being eaten. Premade hand food is nice too. Stuff like pasties, calzones and burritos work well. I also like to have granola and power bars for when you get peckish between meals. For meals at anchor, anything goes. Important to have a lot of drinking water and to keep it handy in the cockpit. You lose a lot of water due to evaporation when it's windy, you can end up dehydrated and feeling crappy and not even realize why. Keep a bucket handy in case you need to wash out the cockpit after you eat.

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Prospector
Master Marine Consultant

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Canada
3159 Posts

Response Posted - 06/06/2008 : 14:07:57

Well, I'm outta here - see you all on Monday. I just called herself, and she has us packed and ready to go as soon as I get home!

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Prospector
Master Marine Consultant

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Canada
3159 Posts

Response Posted - 06/09/2008 : 07:53:59

For those who asked...

The weekend was great. We sailed over on Friday evening with about 15 knts and followed another (big) boat from our marina across the lake. We kept up and arrived at the host marina around 8:00 or so, got a spot against the mooring wall so we could make quick exts with the baby (just in case) and barbecued dinner on the host club's grill. It was all very nice, and Herself was duly impressed by the clubhouse, grounds, and facilities (the question even came up of what membership was at this club - its soooo nice!)

We were chased to bed by mosquitoes, but overall it was OK.

The race the next morning started with 20 knt winds, which died down to nothing after about 2 hours. So we sat and drifted until the time limit for the race was expired (7 hours). Since we have no bimini, we were pretty fried by the time we got in. As we motored through the fleet, all the other boats fired up their "Iron wind" and motored in behind us.

Everyone was pretty tired and grumpy when we got back, so we all had cool showers, and then had the perogy dinner put on by the host club - what a great meal!

That night we put Chuck to bed around 10:00, then went to a friend's boat and laughed and talked until about midnight. It was a great way to end the day.

Sunday morning, we were in fine form, had an interesting start (nearly started with the spinnaker fleet (oops!), and a good first 2 legs. We finished in last place but only by minutes on both corrected and actual time. I think we ran the race quite well, and that on our next outing, we should be more competitive.

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