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Provisioning in the
Bahamas
3/13/02
Janet Parks
I’m sure you’ve seen a sitcom or two where a shop is having a
tremendous sale and all the women are physically fighting over the items.
I feel like I’ve been there today.
We’ve just returned from a morning of shopping in George Town, Exuma. The supply boat came
in yesterday (Tuesday), so today (Wednesday) was the day to shop in George
Town. Being novices, we’d
gone into town on Monday to shop only to find the shelves barren and all
the storeowners saying that the supply boat was coming on Tuesday.
During midday Tuesday the shelves were starting to be
restocked…slowly, so Wednesday was THE day to go shopping.
Despite the wet dinghy ride, we decided to go hit the town this morning
and see if we could find some of the supplies we needed.
We had heard that if you find something you might need in the
future you need to buy it when you see it because it may not be stocked
again for weeks. What they
didn’t tell us was that if you see it in the stores, no matter what the
quantity, pick it up while you can. We
went into one of the grocery stores because we saw Diet Coke in the
window. We’re well stocked
with our regular soft drinks on the boat, but wanted to buy Diet Coke for
family who is visiting in three weeks.
As we walked into the store there were several cases of Diet Coke
at the entrance. We decided
that there was plenty there and we would grab the 3-4 items that we needed
and then pick up the Diet Coke at the end.
Wrong decision! As we
went to check out, Blaine went to pick up the Diet Coke.
Two steps ahead of him, the checkout salesperson was putting SOLD
signs on every case of Diet Coke. If
he had been two seconds quicker to get his hands on the case, they would
probably have been tugging back and forth over the same item...just like
in the sitcoms. Lesson
learned! If you see it, grab it quickly!
I spent many days provisioning the boat before we left the US.
Since this is our first trip to the Bahamas, I followed all of the
guidebooks that said to stock well. I
knew that the prices would be much higher than in the States.
I stocked my entire freezer full of meats and pray every day that
the refrigeration continues to work.
I figured one soda a day per person and stocked enough Diet Pepsi
for 6 months. We knew rum was inexpensive in the islands, but what do you
mix it with? So I stocked up
on mixers as well. We heard
paper products were very expensive too, so I bought enough paper towels
and toilet paper to last us 6 months or longer.
I filled my canned goods storage areas as well as my dry goods
storage areas with items that I thought would be difficult to find here.
I bought so many extra items that the aft cabin was full of food as
well. I even bought enough
dairy supplies, such as cheese, sour cream, cream cheese, etc., that would
last for 2-3 months. The boat
was probably four inches lower in the water after I provisioned. I planned on buying basic supplies, i.e. flour, yeast,
eggs, as well as produce for the first three months and then also buying
dairy products and snacks for the last 3 months we were in the Bahamas.
The provisioning experience in the Bahamas has been interesting.
It all depends on where you are as to what you will find in the
stores. When we got to the Abacos, I spent a lot of time wandering
through grocery stores to see what they had available.
I didn’t need to buy much, usually just produce, since we were
still fully stocked, but I was interested in what the stores had
available, thinking that the selection/availability would be the same
throughout the islands. In
the Abacos, the smaller islands had a decent selection of non-refrigerated
items (pasta, sauces, cereals, baking supplies, etc.) and some had basic
produce as well. I learned to
find out when the supply boat comes in so the produce would be restocked
on those days. In Marsh
Harbour, I wandered through all the grocery stores to see what the “big
city” had in store. They
had a wonderful selection of almost everything I needed…produce, dairy
items, breads, chips, and as well as meats.
The prices were around twice the US price, but the items were
available. They even had a soda shop that sold only sodas and mixers.
Again, it was expensive, $11-12 per case of soda and $2 per liter
bottle of tonic, but it was available.
Being still fully stocked from the US, I didn’t need to buy much,
but I used this shopping exploration as a basis for what I believed to be
the normal availability of items in the Bahamas.
After leaving the Abacos, we spent three weeks visiting many uninhabited
islands, i.e. Royal Island, Eleuthera, and Great Stirrup Cay and
Devil’s-Hoffman Cays in the Berry Islands.
I was getting very good at baking bread, even trying new bread
recipes hoping to create a good sandwich roll.
We met up with some friends in the Berry Islands who just traveled
from the US and they were very generous enough to provide us with fresh produce.
We stayed briefly in Nassau with no provisioning since I had plenty
until we planned to arrive in George Town.
I bought a few basic supplies in Black Point, Exuma and was
looking forward to restocking my bread and snack supplies when I got to
George Town. That brings us
back to our shopping adventures the past three days.
Since it is close to Regatta time in George Town, I expected that the
grocery stores might be short on some items. When I learned that the supply boat would be in on Tuesday, I
thought that I would find the same selection of items I had seen
previously in Marsh Harbour. But,
alas, I was wrong. The bread
selection was still very small, no sandwich rolls, only two frozen pita
breads left and no tortilla shells, but I’m not sure if they just
don’t carry it or if it was sold out already.
The small display of chips and snacks that were there yesterday
were almost depleted today. I
overheard one customer looking for whipped cream (Cool Whip style in a
plastic container) and the store clerk said they had two cases yesterday
and were already sold out of them, possibly more available at the end of
the week. As I was writing
this article, our friends on S/V Milady just came by with a wonderful
surprise. They had two cases
of Diet Coke for us. They
were sitting in a restaurant and saw a truck go by with cases of Diet Coke
and asked where they were bringing it.
Knowing our story of the previous encounter with buying Diet Coke,
they followed the truck and bought the soda for us.
Sounds like it’s definitely a case (no pun intended) of being in
the right place at the right time. It
almost makes you want to stand in the grocery store all day waiting to see
what they put on the shelves next. Or maybe it should be a group thing;
get a group of boats together and each boat produce a list of desired
items, so the rest of the boats can keep an eye out for it and buy it if
they happen to be in the right place at the right time.
Last, but not least, you'll need to plan for water. Water is
available at many islands in varying degrees of quality. Occasionally,
you can find water from local cisterns or town water supplies that are
marginally drinkable, based on US standards. More often you'll find
Reverse-Osmosis (RO) water provided at marinas or in town. RO water,
normally cleaner and better tasting that other sources, can be purchased
through-out the islands for as little as 10 cents to as much as 60 cents
per gallon. Regardless of where you find it, you will often have to
ferry the water to the boat in water containers that you provide.
Surprisingly, Georgetown had very few locations to purchase water and was
the most expensive place we've found at 60 cents per gallon. We were
caught off-guard thinking that the larger town would have water more
readily available. Not so. If you don't have a water-maker
aboard, plan ahead for your water needs through rain-water collection on
the boat (it seldom rains) or by choosing your itinerary to include
locations where water is available.
When provisioning for the Bahamas in the future, I will stock up like I
did this time. My freezer
will be full of meats, refrigerator full of cheeses and dairy products,
canned and dry goods storage areas will be full. I’ll store enough sodas, mixers and paper products for the
entire time we expect to stay. Areas
I fell short in that I will change in the future are wines, beer and
snacks. I knew beer was
expensive, but misjudged the amount we would use.
I had heard that wine and liquor was reasonable in the Bahamas.
That is right on liquor, but wine is 1½ -3 times the price than in
the US. I haven’t been able
to find tortilla chips at all in George Town, so I would stock up better
on these snacks either in the US or when I saw them in Marsh Harbour.
We’d also consider following our original plan on coming to the
Exumas and out islands first and then going to the Abacos last where I
could find better selections on provisions at a time that I am running out
of them. While in the Bahamas
I will also follow the advice of round-the-world cruisers everywhere….if
you see a product you like, pick it up and buy it right then in large
quantities, because you never know when you will find that item again.
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