Provisioning list for a sailing trip: amounts that add up
Last updated:
A week, eight people, three meals a day: around 170 portions. Buy that by feel and you end up with too much pasta and too little water. Here are the amounts per person per day, scaled up for four and for eight people and seven days.
Amounts per person per day
Rules of thumb for breakfast and lunch on board and four dinners out of seven on board. Whatever you eat in the taverna, leave out.
| What | Per person per day | 4 people, 7 days | 8 people, 7 days |
|---|---|---|---|
| Drinking waterFor cooking and coffee add tank water if it is drinkable; otherwise 0.5 l more. | 1.5 l | 42 l | 84 l |
| Coffee | 30 g (two cups) | 840 g | 1.7 kg |
| UHT milk | 0.25 l | 7 l | 14 l |
| Bread | 150 g | a good 4 kg, buy fresh as you go | a good 8 kg, buy fresh as you go |
| Muesli or cereal | 60 g | 1.7 kg | 3.4 kg |
| Eggs | 1 | 28 | 56 |
| Fruit | 2 pieces | 56 pieces | 112 pieces |
| Pasta or rice, per dinner | 100 g rice, 125 g pasta | 400 to 500 g per evening | 800 g to 1 kg per evening |
| Biscuits, crisps, nuts | 1 pack per 4 people | 7 packs | 14 packs |
| Beer, for those who drink | 0.5 to 1 l | 14 to 28 l | 28 to 56 l |
| Wine, for those who drink | 0.25 l | 7 l, 10 bottles | 14 l, 19 bottles |
These figures are rules of thumb. Crewsy suggests an amount per person for common ingredients, scales recipes to the crew size and calculates drinks per person per day.
Different crew, different length? The provisioning calculator turns it into a full shopping listIn supermarket order: the aisles
This is how Crewsy sorts the shopping list, and how you walk through the shop. Print it as a template, or tick it off on your phone.
Fruit & vegetables
Apples, bananas, lemons, tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, garlic, potatoes, lettuce, peppers
Chilled & dairy
Butter, cheese, yoghurt, UHT milk, eggs, sliced meats, hummus
Meat · fish · tofu
Mince for the first evening, sausages, chicken, tinned tuna, tofu; fresh only for the first two days
Dry goods & tins
Pasta, rice, couscous, lentils, passata, coconut milk, sweetcorn, beans, pesto
Bread & bakery
Bread for two days, toast, crispbread, wraps, rusks for the rough day
Oil · spices · basics
Olive oil, vinegar, salt, pepper, paprika, curry, stock, sugar, honey, jam
Snacks & sweets
Biscuits, crisps, nuts, trail mix, chocolate, cereal bars for the watch
Drinks
Water, juice, cola, tonic, beer, wine, coffee, tea
Household & non-food
Bin bags, washing-up liquid, sponges, kitchen roll, toilet paper, zip bags, foil, lighter, coffee filters
What is often forgotten
- Bin bags, lots of them. The harbour takes the rubbish, but only in bags.
- Ice cubes or ice packs, in case the fridge is more of a box than a fridge.
- Salt, oil, sugar, coffee filters: the basics are often left behind by the last crew, but don't count on it.
- Toilet paper for the marine toilet, thin and not much. Whatever blocks it, the skipper fixes on Sunday morning.
- The first breakfast. Handover is usually on Saturday afternoon, the supermarket is closed on Sunday.
Shop locally or have it delivered
At the big charter bases, supermarkets deliver to the pontoon; order the drinks that way and only buy fresh food yourself. Otherwise: a big shop on the first day, two of you with a taxi, and top up bread and fruit every two or three days in the harbours. The list in Crewsy splits itself along the way: what one person ticks off, the others see seconds later.
Questions about provisioning
How much water per person per day?
Is one shop enough for the whole week?
How do you split the shopping?
How does Crewsy work out the amounts?
A reminder 14 days before your trip
Two weeks before departure is the right time for provisions, packing and the check-in list. Enter when you cast off. 14 days before, an email arrives with the lists. One email, then the address is deleted.
The shopping list in Crewsy
Enter the meals, get the shopping list, tick it off three at a time in the supermarket. Free for 14 days, no payment details needed.