What mistakes WE made before setting off to cruise the Caribbean

Provisions for the passage- I found we are not like the other cruisers. Some call us minimalist, but I think we are somewhere in the middle of the extremes in the cruising world.  

We have friends getting ready to take off and was wondering what we advise.  Looking back on what we did and what we know now I think it can help if you know your crew and how they react during passages. 

I wish we had more passage experience in our own boat. It would have been helpful to know how Steve handles the stress. While on our ten day passage from Texas to Isla Mujeres, Steve lost his appetite. 

I expected us to have at least two meals plus snacks on the passage. So I precooked a large roast, a ham and some bacon. My thoughts were to use these to make meals easier to make underway, which it did. The problem was Steve would barely eat one meal a day. He would sometimes accept the snacks I brought. 

I knew I wouldnt eat three meals a day. Despite my size, Steve eats way more than I do on a daily basis.  So his change in behavior cause me to throw out a lot of food when we got to our destination. Now, I plan on one meal a day with snacks. 

Snacks were another thing I have changed. Before leaving I made this big trip to Costco attempting to prepare to never get the good stuff again and for the long passage. I bought all kinds of snacks, many of them were items we never eat, all wasted. Well I gave them away later so I suppose they were wasted. 

So for passages I take cold cuts, cheese, tomatoes, onions and crackers, Lots of ready to eat fruit, something sweet and crunchy and lots of drinks. I concentrate on keeping him hydrated. 

Now, I can only speak about my knowledge of the Western Caribbean, but there are stores in all of the ports we went to, at least so far. Also, the locals eat similar dishes as we do in the United States. They also use toilet paper, paper towels, laundry soap, dish soap and other cleaning supplies. So I did not need to bring a year's supply of it when we left. If you are like me, I do like to keep a good supply of these things but not a year’s worth. I still have three quarters of tide in a bilge compartment. 

Things I advise to bring are special seasons, sauces or salad dresses, things that can be stored in your dried goods cabinet. Or special brand items that you need that might be difficult to find here. You can find “gringo” brands here but they can be higher priced than in the states. 

I also took too many clothes, despite all the posts I read advising against it, and I don't even have as many clothes as other women. I confess I like to buy new things from time to time. So to satisfy that urge I shop at secondhand stores or items clearanced items. When I bring it aboard I find something to donate. This is no hard since this lifestyle can be hard on clothes, especially if they were already used. 

I do this in the kitchen also. I go through my cabinets and drawers cleaning and tossing things I have not used like I thought I would. This gives me room to find special local items to use in our daily life. Things that will bring back past memories of our time there. 

Steve says he wished he installed a radio and speaker in the cabin. He felt having a portable speaker was more efficient. The problem we have had with using portable speakers is where you plug in the cord for recharging. We keep breaking it leaving us no way of charging the device. I believe we are on our third speaker.

He also wished he had thought to buy a few LED Davis lights for anchor lights. We have since bought a few and brought them back from the States. He says he has no good reason of why he didn't think of it except that he was overwhelmed with all the other things. It wasn't an extremely important item, we do have an anchor light and we did have a regular Davis light we used but the LEDs are more power efficient

Another thing, he thought it would be easier find replacement parts for the Honda 2000 generator and Honda 2.3 outboard motor. Yet, it has been a challenge. We could get products that are similar but we rather not, so we brought back replacements on our last trip to the states. 

For what it is worth, we feel we were pretty prepared for this lifestyle, thanks to all that went before us and were willing to share their wisdom and opinions. This is why I try to think of things to pass along to people that are like us. There a ton of people out here living their lives cruising and they are all so different from each other just like life on land. I feel we should all share and help one another. There is someone like you out here I am sure.