Self provisioning

We'll be on a CYOA yacht for a week at the end of May. This is our 3rd charter in the VI but the first from St Thomas and the first we'll self provision. We're trying to save a little money and not have so much food left over at the end of the trip.

I was thinking of pre-ordering the liquid supplies for dockside delivery but wondered if we couldn't do better buying those items at the store, too. We'll have a rental car and plenty of time so does it make sense to get the water, beer and booze delivered? Or should we just plan on buying them along with the food?

Our last trip we self provisioned by shopping at Pueblo near CYOA and Cost U Less. If you have a rental car it makes it very easy to do. We did pick up a few items later in the trip at Soper's Hole.

We've chartered from CYOA four times and have self provisioned each time. We hit Pueblo and get any items that they don't have at Gourmet Gallery in Crown Bay. Cost U Less has great bulk items and the nearby Plaza Extra is my favorite grocery store.

Which boat and how many in your crew?

Cheers, RickG

With a rental car you would have an easy time provisioning at the nearby Pueblo and filling in some treats at Gourmet Gallery in Crown Bay Marina just as Rick suggested - going to CostUless would be worth the effort if you have a big group but know that they do not have bags - usually there are empty boxes of various size available - [don't load corrugated cardboard onto the vessel] - if you have any big canvas bags, a cooler or purchase some of their insulated bags it will be much easier to load and unload.
Packing some of your favorite seasonings is a good tip - the liquid refreshments are bulky so make sure there will be room in the vehicle, likely better pricing than dockside delivery.
A good detailed list will also save you time and money IMHO.

We'll be on Sail Pending with 9 lively old folks. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/jester.gif" alt="" />

CostUless may well be worth the trip with that many folks! <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/dance.gif" alt="" />

We always just get the provisioning.
It's a lot of food.

For a 10-day trip we'll do the partial provisioning and get lunch and dinner for 7 days and dinners for 4 days. We usually have 2 lunches and 2 dinners ashore, so those two lunches can be had for dinner. We'll buy one or two things along the way, snacks and such, and stretch our food to fit.

We usually get 1-1/2 quarts of water per person per day, rounding up to the next 6 gallon box, and that seems like just a little too much, but water is relatively cheap and I don't like to run out.

Best way to not have so much left is only buy a for a few days at a time. I find plans change - we eat out more often a lot of the time when we thought we'd eat on board. Or we have such a late lunch we end up just snacking for dinner..etc.

By buying just a couple days in advance, you can avoid wasting food on meals you end up not having.

Thank you, all, for the excellent tips and advice. I think a trip to Cost U Less with a stop at Plaza Extra will do the trick.

Maytrix - Your formula works out to 5 6-gallon-boxes for us. Sounds like we might have to do 2 trips ;{)

Hey TNSailor! We live Knoxville and will be down the last week of May, as well. We're also going to self-provision for everything except beverages (we'll have them delivered to the boat)... Maybe we'll cross paths.

DougC

On the subject of water we put 3 gallons per person per week onboard. We usually will have to pick up a couple of gallons but it's very close.
G

DougC, we'll be in the CYOA catamaran Sail Pending. If you see us, please make yourself known. It'd be fun to meet y'all. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Clapping.gif" alt="" />