The boat that swallows stuff…

Some of you have asked to see how we store all the stuff we need for living (and maintaining the boat) in such a small space.

Sailboats of this size (36 footers) are designed to be self-sufficient for a month or two at a time. That means being able to carry enough food, water and fuel for the time you’re away. Now, of course, you need lots of other stuff, like books [not too many!] and DVDs and camera equipment and computers and maybe a few tools [maybe a lot!], dog necessities and some clothes.

We have found Hunter sailboats to be designed for both for comfortable living and for optimal storage — every nook and cranny has a storage function.

Bob likes to say that this boat just “swallows up” our stuff. Our sailboat swallowed up the entire contents of our pick up truck easily, and we still have room!

Starting with provisions…

The freezer and the refrigerator hold a huge amount of food. It’s a long way to the bottom!

Empty freezer

Empty fridge

Full fridge

The fridge and freezer combined hold more than a typical fridge/freezer combo in a small apartment. The freezer is actually quite amazing. We can’t keep it filled up here. The fridge I have no problem keeping filled up. But sometimes things drop to the bottom, never to be seen again!

Each of the six settees has a large storage compartment beneath it and storage behind the backrest. We use two of these for food storage. Here’s one. We found the perfect size of plastic container and bought a bunch to keep the dried and canned food organized.

For supplies that we use everyday, there are two handy storage compartments in the galley on each side of the microwave. We keep our coffee, condiments, olive oil, salt, oatmeal, vinegars and such here.

Bowls, plates (small and large), mugs, cutlery, cooking utensils, measuring cups and spoons, dish towels and other miscellaneous galley items fit beautifully in the small bank of drawers beside the sink.

Well, that’s a start on storage. There are some other neat features that I will photograph and show you in another post. One of my very favorites is the great design for the kitchen garbage. (Never thought I’d get excited about that, but good design is good design and I appreciate that, no matter what it’s for.)

Galley recipes — or cooking in a small space…

Brown the chicken and remove to a plate…

Saute the veggies until soft…

Mix together the coconut milk, fish sauce and thai red curry paste…

We use rice noodles because they soften without needing to be cooked….

Boil water and add to pot; submerge noodles and let sit…

After the all elements are combined, voila, the thai red chicken curry…

 

This is our propane stove with our induction hot plate sitting on top.

The freezer and the refrigerator hold a huge amount of food. It’s a long way to the bottom!

When you live aboard a 36-foot sailboat, you don’t have a huge amount of space for anything, let alone preparing meals. Our entire galley is about 45 square feet. And in that space is everything we need to cook and clean up, plus a lot of food. Additional dry and canned food is stowed away beneath the settees in the salon.

One thing I love about living on a sailboat is that you pare down to just what you really need and everything has to have a place to live, so you can find it quickly and easily. Maybe I’ll do another post on storage…(I just wish I could follow this practice at home!)

Anyway, it is amazing what you can do in a small galley. There’s certainly no need to eat canned beans every day.

The main challenge is not having many burners to cook on. We do have a propane stove with two burners and an oven but we mainly use this when we’re at anchor and don’t have power.

When we’re at the dock, we can use shore power and take advantage of our one-burner induction hot plate, which I just adore. (Our friend Jim suggested this might work for us and I am eternally grateful.)

Why? Because the stove only heats the pot, which reduces excess heat in the galley; it heats extremely fast; and the temperature of the pot is easily and precisely controlled.

We also have a small microwave and a BBQ — cooking tools that supplement the hot plate and propane stove.

Our freezer and refrigerator are top-loading which saves energy and prevents the food from falling out when you’re underway. They are huge for a boat this size; in fact, I can’t reach all the way to the bottom.

I enjoy finding and experimenting with recipes that are tasty, filling and healthy and can be put together easily with the tools we have — and where clean up is not too time-consuming.

This Thai Red Curry recipe was inspired by the meal our friend Jane made for us on her boat on St. Simons Island. Jane was the one who gave us the tip about rice noodles not needing to be cooked, just softened in hot water. This saves a burner and allows the noodles to be ready when the curry is.

You can adjust the heat of this recipe to your liking; we like a little heat so I add extra red curry paste.  This has turned out to be one of our favorite recipes for the boat. It meets all our criteria and adds some variety to our diet.

Do you have any reliable one-pot meals that could be adapted for boat use? If so, I’d love to hear from you…

Thai Red Chicken Curry

Ingredients

• 2/3 cup unsweetened coconut milk
• 2 to 3 teaspoons Thai red curry paste
  
• 1 tablespoon Asian fish sauce
  
• 3 tablespoons canola oil, divided
• 1 1/2 pounds skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cut into 1 1/2-inch chunks
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• Celery, onions and red pepper or other preferred veggies, chopped to make 2 cups
• 1 tablespoon very finely chopped fresh ginger
• 2 large garlic cloves, very finely chopped
• I was going to add fresh pineapple to the recipe but I forgot…

Directions

In a small bowl, whisk the coconut milk with the curry paste and fish sauce until combined. Heat a large skillet until very hot. Add 2 tablespoons of the vegetable oil and heat until just smoking. Season the chicken with salt and pepper and add it to the skillet in a single layer. Cook over high heat, turning once, until the chicken is browned but not cooked through, 4 to 5 minutes. Transfer the chicken to a plate and pour off the fat in the skillet. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil to the skillet. Add the veggies and stir-fry over high heat until lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Stir in the ginger and garlic, stir-fry for 1 minute. Add the chicken, red curry mixture and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 2 to 3 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through.