Food glorious food and how to provision

The easy ways to provision your charter with food, glorious food

We all laughed in the office at this story about how Dominos commandeered a boat to get a pizza to a desperately hungry person during a flood. Yet it’s not a laughing matter when you arrive at a base after travelling and are faced with a charter briefing when all you are thinking about is the location of the nearest supermarket. Here’s our guide to getting from the shopping lane to the shipping lane as smoothly as possible…

Get take outs delivered to your boat

The era of Deliveroo is here and we now all expect to dial for food and get it delivered direct without the hassle of collecting it. Thankfully there are bases where this is an option. In Ischia, in the Bay of Naples, you can get delicious pizza delivered straight to your boat. Make our pizza a large four seasons, please!

Let someone else order for you

Your charter operator can provision for you in advance, so they will literally shop while you drop (the anchor). You’ll still have plenty of choice with all sorts of packages to choose from. They are good at catering for different diets, healthy eaters, snack addicts and food intolerances. It can cost around £20-£40 a day per person, which can be more expensive than doing it yourself although it really depends on where you sail and what you are eating and drinking. But many believe it’s worth paying to avoid the hassle.

Shop locally yourself

Provisioning the boat yourself means you can choose the food you want and it is often the cheapest way to provision. Just make sure you don’t buy more than you need as you’ll be left with food going off during the week, but don’t hold back on water supplies. You can do one big shop for the basics and then shop locally as you charter. This way you’ll get the freshest, seasonal food and an opportunity to get to know the locals too. Be aware that provisioning can be difficult if you are island-hopping mainly uninhabited islands.

Order online in advance

Many supermarkets near charter bases offer online ordering and will deliver to your boat ready for your arrival. In the British Virgin Islands, Riteway will deliver to you boat. Or you can choose a base which is really close to the town with its shops, supermarkets and local markets, such as Lefkas.

Get in touch

Use our Deal Finder tool to search for charters by date or destination, request a quote or contact our team on 01227 479 900.