I need to bring "Finger Food" to a party on a boat. Looking for something easy and simple....also something not messy. Any idea's ?

You might take a look at this thread. http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/showthreaded.php?Cat=0&Number=1304114&page=1

This is always a big hit and very easy to make.

Cucumber Sandwiches
1 - loaf party rye
1 - 8 oz cream cheese
1 - pkg dry Italian Dressing mix
1-2 cucumbers
dill weed

Soften cream cheese and mix with Italian dressing mix. Spread on party rye, top each with a cucumber slice and sprinkle with dill weed.

The only problem for me when I make those cucumber sandwiches is that I want to eat them all before I get to take them anywhere! They're always the first thing to go at parties, too!

Shrimp Cocktail!
Buy frozen cooked cleaned shrimp, and make a good cocktail sauce to go along with them, and some fresh lemon wedges...

Or, when we are sailing on a really hot day...
a large baggie full of cut up RIPE Honeydew Melon and Cantalope and Watermellon, kept ice cold in the cooler!
That's a real crowd pleaser when the race is over!
we just pass the baggie around the cockpit... with cocktails to go along!

both those are easy to make, keep well in a cooler full of ice and are easy to clean up!

Or, make Ina Garten's cocktail shrimp in the oven, with olive oil and some spices, and serve either chilled or room temp. Much better than pre-cooked shrimp!

Although its not Beverly Hills fare, we are often suprised how people love old school Pigs in Blanket. Make them before, chill for transport, and set them out a while to bring them up to room temperature. Ketchup and mustard for dunking. Simple crowd pleasers. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Oink.gif" alt="" />

tupperware those melons and cantalopes and soak in rum--or vodka, your choice! <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Groovin.gif" alt="" />--keep on ice--serve skewered with toothpicks

Simple, very tasty and refreshing...
Radishes, sea salt, sweet or herbed butter. Option- good black bread or a crusty bread. Yum O

OK, I admit to being stupid here, but you put the butter ON the radishes?? Or on the bread??

Good question...no wrong or right answer... the French simply set out sweet butter, radishes and Fleur de sel and the quests put the butter on the radishes (leave the leafy tops on just trim off the root) and dip in sea salt (fleur de sel).
Ina Garten butters the bread and serves the radishes on the same serving dish as the buttered bread next to some sea salt; her guests help themselves and dip the radishes in the salt if they wish.
Others thinly slice the radishes (soaked in ice water for 30 minutes or so) and make open faced sandwiches on sweet or herbed buttered bread- 1/4-inch-thick diagonal sliced baguette or thinly sliced party rye or black/brown bread found in many supermarkets at the deli counter... top with a sprinkle of kosher salt or Maldon salt or fleur de sel; whatever you have. I soooo want some, NOW! <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Grin.gif" alt="" />

I agree, but I was thinking "EASY & SIMPLE" as the OP requested!

Geez, that seems pretty darn easy to me--olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic, maybe some other spices, baked in the oven for a few minutes. I don't bother to make the homemade cocktail sauce though.

I guess it all has to do with the shrimp you get also...
Being in Florida, you can get Gulf Shrimp, fresh... (YUMMMM)!
Here in the NE, even in the Fish Markets on the docks.... we only get frozen shrimp that have been thawed...
I'd rather thaw the shrimp myself... We don't get real "fresh shrimp" like you can...
Ina Garten only lives about 15 miles from us (as the crow flies)... so she only gets frozen shrimp that has been thawed too!

I still much prefer to cook the shrimp myself, than getting pre-cooked, even if it came frozen. It tastes better, to me anyway.

Yeah, me too, but for "quick & easy", I'd rather not deal with shelling & deveining, and then cooking...
I agree with what you say, but I hate the shelling & deveining part! Teadious, and time consuming...
It all depends on the dish I'm making, now if I want something that calls for a fish stock too, I'll use the shrimp shells to make that... so it is worth my time...

The only differance with the seafood that Ina gets in East Hampton, on the South Fork...
and what we get here in Southold, on the North Fork...
When Ina gets squid it's called "Calamari", and it's $19.95 a pound...
when we get the EXACT same package of squid, it's called "bait" and is $4.99 a pound! <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Laugh.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Laugh.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Laugh.gif" alt="" />

Ick, I don't like squid regardless!!

LOL! <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Grin.gif" alt="" />
I do understand! I love Calamari, if done correctly, not rubberbands...

people either like them or hate them! there's rarely an in between! <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Laugh.gif" alt="" />

My husband is counting the days until he can have his pepperoncini calamari from the Boathouse! <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Laugh.gif" alt="" />

Butter on radishes is AWESOME, and very French!