Organizing the Galley
Surveying the stack of boxes labeled ‘galley’ that we’d just finished piling into the cockpit of our 30 foot sailboat, my partner peaked into one to scrutinize what I kept insisting were galley essentials. To my dismay he began rummaging through the box, and when he looked up his tone was incredulous when he asked me why I needed 14 bottles of vinegar. I flinched a little and mumbled something about how they were all different: there was champagne vinegar, raspberry vinegar and walnut vinegar as well as the essential white, malt, red wine, and balsamic. He shook his head and said that I’d never manage to stow all that stuff away.
After a two-day wrestle to try and organize my galley I had to admit he had a point (but not to him of course). In the end I did have to make some compromises but I learned a lot about how to organize a galley so that I could cook the gourmet meals I’m known for, and still be ready to sail with minimum time spent getting the boat ready.
Whatever your cooking style, cooking on a boat involves compromises. Even the galley on a large powerboat is not what most of us are used to having at home and if you’re on a 30 foot sailboat like mine (or smaller), it’s even more compromised. But having the galley well set up and organized can make a huge difference in what the cook is willing to take on, and starting out organized makes getting ready for a cruise a lot easier.
My galley has one shelf, three drawers and two cupboards (although one of them is under the sinks and the input and output hoses have to be worked around). In this tiny space, I have a dinner service for six, a basic set of pots and pans, my cleaning products, and some foodstuff (the vinegar I use the most is in the galley; the other ten bottles are tucked away with other pantry items I use only occasionally).
The Basics
If you like to cook at all, it’s worth spending some time and money to set up with the right essentials. A good quality set of pots and pans is the starting point. If you have an oven as well as a range, buy pots that can go into the oven (metal handles). Most galley range tops are smaller than their land-based counterparts so you need to watch the size of fry pans or sauté pans. I have a two-burner range and have three sauce pans, one 10 inch non-stick fry pan and a stock pot I use for pasta and making soup.
You’ll also need a basic set of utensils: spatula, tongs, ladle, slotted serving spoon. Buy utensils with holes in the handles so that they can be hung up.
When it comes to dishes, you’ll need to do some measuring and some thinking. I have settled on white Corelle because, although I am not particularly klutzy, some of my dearest friends are and I grew tired of throwing out broken or chipped plates after dinner parties on the boat. This was a compromise for me because I like to set a nice table but now use accessories (like colored napkins and a few prized serving dishes) to make things interesting rather than relying on the place settings themselves. You also need to make sure that plates will fit into the cupboard in which you intend to stow them. Storage (and/or sink size) on many boats will limit you to dinner plates that are smaller than average.
You also need to watch the klutz factor when deciding on glasses. I have opted for plastic wine glasses and tumblers for the same friends, (ok, I have broken a couple myself) but I know lots of boaters who insist on glass and just replace them when the inevitable happens and they break. If you choose glass, you’ll need to make sure that they are protected when you’re underway: clean tea towels stuffed between glassware works well.
A set of stackable mixing bowls made out of reasonable-looking plastic can also be used as serving dishes. I also have a couple of ceramic pieces, favorites, which I keep wrapped in tea towels (to prevent chipping) behind the bench in my dinette.
Before you make final decisions about galley items you decide to keep on the boat, be mean and frugal. Do you really think you’re going to serve dinner to 10 people on your 30 foot boat? Is six more like it? Then if the cutlery set you buy or inherit happens to be for 12, junk half of it.
And speaking of junk, if you buy a second-hand boat look carefully at the galley items the previous owner has left behind. The guy I bought my boat from was exceptionally helpful in many, many ways. However, I had to laugh when the ‘as is’ clause in my contract also apparently meant inheriting years of accumulated stuff going back to when his parents owned the boat (including pads with their cribbage scores, some sad-looking plastic egg cups, and an assortment of plastic root beer mugs just to mention a few winners). However, I did appreciate the sailing notes, the kettle and all the spare rigging parts…
Organizing Principles
Once you’ve bought the basics, you need to organize the galley and keep it organized. When you’re putting glasses and serving dishes away think about what you use the most and keep those items close at hand. Stow away stuff you don’t use often (like those plastic champagne flutes you bought for the boat’s inaugural journey). When it comes to stowing food items, put like things together; keep the hoi sin and soy sauce beside each other and the tin of refried beans next to the tin of tomatillos.
Keep an inventory of where you have stuff stowed away. I have a penchant for buying too much food as shopping is a bit of a hobby – I started keeping track of where I stowed things after doing a big sort out and realizing that I had three bottles of Thai fish sauce. Two of them were tossed and I now know that the remaining bottle is stowed behind the settee in my dinette along with some dried kaffir leaves and a bag of vermicelli. I’ll be ready the next time I feel like cooking Thai food for dinner and I’ll be able to find everything without pulling the boat apart.
Given the amount of food I keep on board, my pantry extends beyond the galley into lockers behind and underneath two settees as well as into my aft bunk To keep things organized in the aft bunk, I store tins in two large Tupperware containers that have lids. When I need the aft bunk for a guest, all I have to do is move the two containers under the table in the dinette.
As you find homes for galley supplies and equipment, try to make use of all available spaces including the walls and ceiling. You can replace acorn nuts in the ceiling (used for deck hardware) with ring nuts that allow you to hang utensils with S hooks. I also hang a three-tiered wire basket on a ring nut in my galley and store garlic, onions, fruit and other vegetables. My bread basket is simply a wicker basket tied to a ceiling handrail with ribbon. When the boat is underway, the items sway but they stay put.
You can find all kinds of organizers to make use of wall space and you won’t necessarily find them at the chandler’s. I recently purchased a magnetic spice board from Ikea that allows me to store sixteen different spices and it’s mounted on the wall behind a counter in the galley. The spices are stored in round containers which have large magnets on the back, holding them firmly in place. (I made sure the magnets were far enough away from my compass so that they don’t interfere.) Ikea also has a knife rack that works on the same principle.
Storage organizers need not be fancy or expensive. I keep a good supply of Ziplock bags on board and use them for storing both perishable and non-perishable food. My fridge is a converted icebox and when we’re at anchor, I turn it off and go back to using ice. I’ve learned from some nasty experience that soggy labels fall off bottles and eventually clog the drain. Everything that goes into my icebox is now contained in a Ziplock bag so that when ice melts things aren’t quite so messy. The same bags keep flour fresh, and vinegar from spilling if a bottle falls over. They are also useful for left-overs as they take up less room than plastic containers.
One of the hardest organizing principles I’m still trying to put into practice is a disciplined approach to shopping. I have a tendency to collect serving dishes when I travel – I have platters I carried home from Mexico and a set of ceramic bowls I use for serving olives and dips that I bought in France, and a pasta bowl I purchased in Italy. I have a few of my favorites on the boat but I have become much better in recent years about tossing something if I buy something new.
Probably the most important organizing principle is making sure that every item has a home and that that home can withstand the boat heeling over to port or starboard and bouncing and rolling. When you tidy up after dinner, the boat should be ready to go for a sail.
Every cook has a different list of galley essentials and boaters who don’t cook might be surprised at what a cook deems essential. If you’re cook and not captain, you’ll find less argument about what you’re keeping on board if its tucked away and doesn’t add hours of tidying to get ready to go out. And if you’re captain and cook, you’ll find cooking can be just as much fun on the water as it is on land if you know where everything is.
My partner still teases me about the vinegar -- all 14 bottles which are still on board. But, on a recent three week cruise, even he admitted that it never took long to get ready to pull up the anchor. Better yet, I didn’t hear any complaints about the food – in fact he complimented me on the green salad with goat cheese and walnuts I threw together on one of our last nights – and the lovely dressing which was, of course, made with walnut vinegar.