Sailing in a force seven gale with Cathy at the weekend, I learned to really appreciate food that involves zero preparation. The tastiest of these was a ricotta and broccoli quiche - it seemed so much easier than faffing around with sandwiches. Instead of cutting up salad and slicing cheese, all we had to do was take it out of the box, cut it into slices, and gobble it up. (The latter in particular didn't take very long!)

What's your favourite meal on board when you want something nourishing but you want to keep your hands free as much as possible?

Pork pies!

I'm veggie, so that wouldn't do the job for me I'm afraid. A nice pasty might do the job though. Hmmm, cheese and onion pasty on my next cruising trip? That sounds like an idea!

Impractical being a veggie at sea because once my pork pies or indeed your cheese and broccoli quiche runs out; there is a wonderful supply of sushi! Very tasty and nourishing!

I can eat seaweed. That's vegetarian and must be highly practical for a sailor. I'll just have to give you the fish caught in it!

The trouble is that you would need to dive down hundreds of fathoms to get the seaweed. A lure trolled behind the boat will catch fish without the need to get wet.

Are you underestimating my diving abilities? I take offence at that!

If the seaweed's not an option, it sounds like I'll just have to make sure I have enough broccoli quiches on board. Or Mars bars of course. I'm sure even a little whipper snapper of a yacht has room in the hatches for enough Mars bars to keep me energised for quite a while ...

Mars bars will make you fat, spotty and rot your teeth. You wouldn't want that would you!

I heard that Mars bars will no longer be suitable for veggies as they are going to start using some form of meat product in them!!! So that rules out most of your chocolate I'm afraid.

Another good one handed meal is scotch eggs heated up in the oven.

Another option is the good old cup'o'soup and also make up your sandwhiches before you leave - saves having to juggle and stand up right all at the same time.

Scotch eggs, yeah love those as well and I think they're fine unheated especially with mustard (English of course)

Mars bars only increase your weight if you don't burn the calories in them. Calories are actually the most important thing in your diet, and hence when I'm doing anything active, I make sure I get through lots of them. Sorry, but you'll have to try a bit harder than that to put me off the chocolate!

Cathy does a good line in healthy snacks though - cereal bars and the like. Perhaps I should go for those more often?

As for the Scotch Eggs - sounds like a nightmare!

I don't think you will find that calorific value is the only criteria when it comes to nourishment, ask your doctor.

Jude makes a good point concerning chocolat containing animal products. It really doesn't pay to be too fussy on a boat.

"---As for the Scotch Eggs - sounds like a nightmare!---" Why?

No, calorific value is far from being the only criteria. There are loads of other things you need in your diet, but when you're exercising hard, you'll pass out from lack of energy long before lack of, say, Vitamin C has any effect on you. That's why I down the avocados and fruit juices when I'm in my office but tend to go for big pots of noodles and energy bars when I'm out sailing or climbing.

As for being veggie, I'm not particularly fussy about eating animal products, but my parents went vegetarian before I was born, so it's a lifelong habit I'm afraid. I wonder how well my system would cope if I tried to eat meat? It hasn't had much digestion practice in that department, but I'm not sure about the physiology of it all...

What you don't have galleys with hob, grill and microwave for preparing proper grub?!

Unfortunately the Skipper won't let us cook my favourite of a good fry up because of the mess :(

W.

Hi Wolfie

You're welcome to cook a good fry-up on my boat, love those as well!

I ll have to come down and take you up on that one!

W.

You know where I am!

Small rolls made in advance (smoked salmon, cream cheese, ham & cheese, ham, turkey, cheese, salami, egg mayo), also pork pies, apples, bananas, cup-a-soup (check content - many still have nasties like hydrogenated or trans fats), bovril or liquidised soups (in Thermos so no cooking or heating needed), lots of bottled water, diet coke to keep concentration up, twix & snicker bars, scotch eggs, cornish pasties (good ones), fresh tomatoes, raw carrots...

And that's just on the mooring, before we hoist the sails!

I really am a creature of habit and usually try and avoid the quick fix junk food.
I reckon the banana is of good all round value but difficult to store for long.
I try not to cook too much aboard. Lots of the Covent Garden soups I like as long as they can be kept cool for the length of time stored but, having a wheat intollerance is a pain and it makes me check everything. Avocados,olives,pickled eggs are a must with as much salad as will go with the good list of stuff of Daves above. Also smoked foods will usually keep longer than nonsmoked. One locker on board is stuffed with dried herbs,black pepper,olive oil,mayo',chutneys,pickled garlic,dressings etc. I often cook up some spuds with herbs and oil and take those in the cool box too.

Reckon you need to watch which of the sea weeds you eat. Samphire will be in soon, from most saltings, so that'll be good. As for scotch eggs, love 'em, but they don't heat up too well - tend to go soggy. But we avoid heating things under way, even in our slow old motor boat. We have been known to have a full running buffet laid out on non-slip mats in a force 5 beam on and nothing moves! (Good old cling film!) But it is possible to make tasty veggy scotch eggs using a home made nut roast mixture with grated carrot and seeds etc, and would be enjoyed by everybody, not just the veggies