Provisioning In Person / On-Line

Will be heading to Tortola in a few weeks and have a question on provisioning. I read on one of the sites that it is cheaper to do your own shopping at Rite way than to order on-line with them. It said it is like 20% more when you order on-line rather than shop in the store yourself.

Also has anyone seen any of the Hard Seltzers like Truly of White Claw for sale?

I'm not positive about Rite Way, but I know Bobby's isn't more expensive. They actually ring up your order on a register, the same way they would if you were in the store. They also give you a 5% discount for any order above $150.00. I would think Rite Way is the same.

Depending on where you are chartering from you may be able to walk one way to a grocery store but you'll need a taxi back to the boat with your bags of groceries and the cost is $10 per person each way. Send 2-3 people to the store with a list and you can add $40-$60 to your grocery bill (if you're buying for the week, there's your 20% price difference).

From Moorings or Sunsail you can walk to Riteway although one of the other grocery stores has a driver that hangs out (or used to anyway!) at Wickhams Cay to drive you to and from their store for free - -I can't recall which store it was and we always tipped the driver anyway so I guess we still ended up paying for transportation.

We're chartering with Dream Yacht Charters in a few weeks and with their move to Scrub Island, its a combo ferry & taxi to the grocery store so we're doing the on-line provisioning for the first time. We're using Rite Way and they have an on-line grocery list/spread sheet with prices. I don't know how their on-line prices compare to their in-store prices but it would make sense that it would be more expensive to order on line. I'm still old school and provisioning is part of the fun so if there is a convenient grocery store location, I don't mind doing the work with a couple crew members. However from the new DYC base, on-line provisioning makes sense.

If anyone has any experience with provisioning for the DYC base at Scrub, I'd be interested in hearing about it.

D

We’ve done it both ways - online and in person. After finally ordering online for the first time, I’d go that route again. Especially with the bulky stuff (water, liquor, beer, pantry items). We provisioned groceries through Riteway and it was a good experience. Note that your order will not be 100% right no matter who you order from. But you just check it over and head to the closest grocery to grab the things you’re missing. Much easier than lugging bags upon bags of groceries back to the boat.

Sounds like mighty good scoops. Especially if you have a few lusty sailing folks on board.

We used to do the partial provisioning with moorings or sunsail, when we went with large crews. ( some dinners on board, some ashore, all provisions delivered to the boat )

Now, with just Erica and I, we are BB'ing with Conch, We decided , well, Erica decided, she did not want to cook any dinners on board....we would have only breakfasts and snacks on board. Well, and Boat drinks.

So we appropriate one of Conchs dock barrows, look like a wheel barrow, and push it up to Riteway . We fill it up with provisions for two people, breakfast, lunches, snacks, and beer and ice, The run like the dickens back to Conch , in between breaks in the very busy traffic. And, if we run low on anything, we can pick it up when sailing the islands. We immediately stow all of the provisions and ice on board.

with a bunch of people, not sure how much it would be for the grocery store to fill your order, and then load up a taxi. Sometimes, they will deliver it to the docks .

With just two of us, we do an early boarding ( sleep aboard) 4:40 pm, and load up the provisions, and then fill up the water tanks, and spend quite a bit of time going thru our own systems, and riigging , etc check list. We want the 36i, all set to go, after all of the chart brief, and the systems brief are concluded. By being prepared, we hope to get out of the docks fairly early, the next day, and be on our way.

Not sure how many people that you want to send to the store, but sometimes that can get to be a large group goat rope, with people hasseling over what to buy, different tastes, and hates, and spend a bloody day at the store.

We would have a pre cruise meeting before we even left home, and write out a list of what we need, and then email it, and / or just send a couple of people to fill up the baskets or to pick it up. The rest can be getting the boat ready, and learning the systems , etc. Trust me, that shop by a full crew committee at the store, can have the jolly roger being hoisted and the guns run out . Just FYI.

Also, we would have a pre cruise meeting as to itinerarys, weather, what to bring, snorkeling sites, fun bars and restaurants, beaches, hiking, shopiing, music, dancing, . Plus mess duty, dishes, helm and crew watches, sailing crew duties, dinghy captains, and cleaning duties , anchoring, and mooring pick ups, etc.

When we had larger crews, we would have a galley and cooking duty list . It would alternate by couples . If the the crew went out to dinner, the couple who was supposed to cook on dinner out night, just slid into the next nights galley duty.
No free lunch, cooking duty was shared equally.

Just FYI,

Good points especially on full crew shopping. We usually have most delivered(free) from Riteway on evening of sleep aboard). Especially the gallons water, heavy or bulky items. We order beer/wine/ liquor from Caribbean Cellars (They deliver to TMM as well). Then we VERIFY delivery vs ordered.(Upon delivery, we check to ensure everything on delivery list was indeed delivered, as this is also the "charge" sheet. THEN we see what was NOT delivered that remains on the ORDERED sheet, as these are the items the menu requires). Much easier to ensure all items on board than to try to find special items off of Tortola. Usually have some stuff we want to pick up in person (fruit/veggies) and send 2 people to shop.

Sams club has good bacon that we used to travel with. 72 count for about $10. Did not need refrigeration until opened. Not sure I would eat this full time, but great for trips.

We've always ordered online; both with Bobby's and RiteWay. Good experience with both at a variety of bases (Voyage/Moorings/DYC).

Don't forget about Tico's for booze. They have better selection and pricing than RiteWay and will deliver to Scrub for free.

We too will be chartering with DYC at Scrub in May. As we've always done a night at Scrub in the past, I'm looking forward to their change of venue.

It'll definitely put us out of sync with the regular counterclockwise beach bar migration.

Rite Way or Bobby"s will have a site where you can choose all your provisioning. I have used both many times. It can be a pain to shop for yourself. Both deliver to the boat. I would send the order online plus call after a few days later to insure it has been received.

I have mentioned this before but if your charter is with the Moorings/Sunsail use their online provisioning. It can’t get any easier. You arrive and the food is on the boat. Prices are similar to Riteway and Bobbies. Over the years we have used every possible method and my wife would shoot me if I did it any other way now.
G

Our next charter in June of this year is with DYC now based at Scrub Island. In the past we have used charter companies based on Tortola and never had a problem getting supplies from either of the grocers or liquor suppliers. Does anyone have any experience with getting supplies to Scrub?

My group will be chartering with DYC out of Scrub this May also. I emailed the base to inquire about provisioning through the base, as I have an understanding that it is possible to do so. However, they haven’t had any provisioning lists available online since moving operations to that location. This is the response I received from DYC on 12/29/18:
“I am happy to know you will be chartering with us in May. As we have moved to Scrub Island, we are working on a new provisioning list that will be available within the next weeks.
I will revert to you as soon as it is settled.
For now, we still work with the RiteWay Supermarket. You can place an order on line with them also https://www.rtwbvi.com/. They will deliver at Scrub Island.”

Thanks for the response SonOfTheSea, I guess for now it is wait and see how pricing compares between those two options.

The market that provides "free taxi service" to and from the Wickhams Cay II dock area is One Mart. The free offer was made to us Saturday Jan 19th while we were waiting to get the ok to board our charter boat.

On Saturday January 19th we received most of our provision order from Riteway for the bulky and non perishable items. Can't comment on prices online versus prices at the store. Most of the items we pre ordered were provided, some substitutions on other items were made (like four 5 pound bags of charcoal instead of two 10 pound bag of charcoal) and items not available were not charged. The preorder came with a cash register receipt. Delivery guy missed one box that he thought was in Riteway's refrigerator cooler. He came back 7:00 am Sunday morning with the refrigerated items.

Recommend picking up your beverages at Tico's instead of having them deliver it. They were 1.5 hours late delivering our stuff and it delayed our underway.

Our crew of 12 will be arriving at Scrub May 8, and on the DYC website I was able to access a provisioning download link which was for Riteway, but now I cannot locate it. (There's supposed to be a download link under Destinations ...?) It appears that Trellis Bay Market offers online ordering to be picked up, and their pricing seems unusually good, but I haven't been there and assume Riteway is tops for wide selections. We normally pre-order from Riteway and Caribbean Cellars and have it delivered dockside, then a couple of us make a trip to Riteway to pick up produce etc. according to a prepared list based on menus. Being at Scrub does seem like it would complicate things a bit though. Would love to hear about others' experiences.

On our first couple of trips we did total on-line ordering /delivery and for the most part where happy but their was the occasionally "out of something" and the substituted item did not meet the need. So since we usually do a sleep aboard we have the big bulky items delivered ( water , soda , liquor , beer) upon arrival and then have some crew members go to the Rite-way in the morning before departure to complete the provisions. This has worked very well for us as it spreads the logistical adventure around on a typical crew of 8

Our group of 8 people find it best to order the liquor from tico and carib cellars and have it delivered. We have a small order of gallons of water and paper towels to be delivered from rightway. With a organized list split into three areas of right way. list one the first isle of deli bakery and produce. list 2 dry goods. list three of frozen and dairy. Two to three people from crew will take about one hour and this way we get a better selection and no subs. This way over the two weeks out on the water the rebuys are small and fast. dairy and produce

At Road Harbour there is a Cash and Carry next to Riteway. We start with C&C as they have bulk items and then go next door to Riteway to top it off. One of those 2 had those seltzers (I think white claw) you mention by the case. We also saw them at Leverick. Moorings online (or any other place) is great for the heavier stuff but since I had 5 guys we just did it ourselves last month. Ticos closes earlier so we had to get elsewhere.

If it helps here is my list

Provisioning
Ice (Cooler and freezer) – 5 bags (fill boat freezer with 3)
Water – 5 Cases of Bottled and 8 Gallon Jugs
Soda – Coke, Diet Coke, Ginger Ale
Juice – Orange, Cranberry, Guava, Pineapple (plastic and boxes)
Beer (cases of cans) - Light Beer, IPA
Liquor- Vodka, Spiced Rum, Gin, Bourbon
_________________
Coffee
Coffee Filters (HOME)
Milk (fridge and non perishable)
Potato Chips
Eggs
Butter
Bagged frozen vegetables
Sliced Potatoes
Sausage
Bacon
Chips & Salsa
BBQ Sauce
Lettuce
Tomato
Pretzels
Ketchup
Mustard
Mayonaise
Salt & Pepper (HOME)
Sugar (HOME)
Spices (HOME)
Aluminum Foil (HOME)
Plasticware (HOME)
Paper Towels
Paper Napkins
Paper Plates
Gallon Ziploc Bags
Trash Bags - Kitchen
Snacks
Hand Sanitizer
Cereal
Red Solo Cups (Big)
English Muffins
Eggs
Butter
Fruit
Bug Spray
Chlorox Wipes (3 pack)
Chlorox Bleach (Small)
Cleaning Pads (HOME)
Bread
Deli Meats & Cheeses
Cheese & Crackers
Hamburger
Chicken
Red & White Wine
Olive Oil

Bailau - a very specific question for you...do you know if the C&C has the Ceres 1 Litre cartons of juice? We usually get 30 orange and 30 pineapple from Riteway for our painkillers...I wonder if we are being idiots and should be going next door?!

Thanks!

Christo-

Yes, we bought them there ourselves along with the nutmeg and Coco Lopez for our PKs. The only thing either store didn't have was spiced rum and as I mentioned Ticos was closed. Riteway had the gallon jugs of water which C&C didnt. I want to go on your boat next time as that is a lot of painkillers...:)

Funny story on your latter thought. For years I had just told the crew to go to Riteway and get what we need in total or to supplement the online ordering of the heavy items (e.g. water and beer) while I prepped boat. In October 18 we didn't order online and the ladies went to what I thought Riteway and came back with all these package items (3 pack wipes, case of paper towels etc) like you would see at a Costco in the states and the bill was significantly cheaper than previous bills. I asked the wife where she went and she said a place called "C&C". So in Feb 19 I decided to go over for myself as I had never been there. They literally share the same warehouse building.

In the future we are going to start at C&C and fill in with Riteway since we get boat in evening.

I also assume you know the official PK recipe is 2 parts OJ, 1 part Pineapple, 1 part Coco Lopez and 2 parts of your favorite rum so you need less pineapple especially as some will drink your OJ for breakfast. I ended up with extra pineapple this trip due to that.

Hope this helps, Christo

Best,
Rob

Thanks Rob! We will take that advice and start in C&C and move on to Riteway after. Should leave some extra $ left over for the new airport / cruising taxes!

Yes, we started out many years back with the official painkiller recipe and have adjusted over the years to our personal tastes! We now start with an empty gallon water jug, add 2 litres of orange, 2 litres of pineapple, 2 cans of coco-lopez. Shake like a maniac until your eyes begin to hurt and then chuck in the fridge before we leave the dock. Then to serve when we reach the first anchorage it's a large glass... quarter of a glass of myers rum, quarter of a glass of Mount gay black-barrel and half a glass of painkiller mix...ice of course...and if room a splash of Goslings black seal on the top. Take a generous pinch of nutmeg and hurl it to the winds as far away as possible from the delicious drink!

I bet everyone on here has their own way of doing it!

Great idea on the empty water jug...will add that to our routine. We use Capt Morgan Select spiced, Myers dark ,and either Malibu Black or Whalleys Vanilla rum when we can find them.

Funny story on the water jugs. This was a trip of all guys and only one other had been down there. I gave them the briefing on the whole boat to include the water systems. We get back into the harbor and I am pondering why we have extra jugs and wonder out loud how could that be with all the coffee drinkers...at that point the guy that gets up early and makes the coffee says " I just used the faucet water...didnt want to waste the jugs".

Glad I dont drink coffee...