Prep
One board, one job
Never let raw fish or meat share a board with anything ready to eat. If you only carry one board, do the ready food first, then the raw.
Hygiene
Keep the galley safe and clean
A sick crew mid-passage is the worst outcome aboard. These are the habits that prevent it.
Storage
Raw goes below
Store raw protein at the bottom of the cool box so nothing drips onto salad, cheese or leftovers.
Cool box
Check 5°C every morning
Anything sitting above 5°C moves to today's cooking pot. Keep a cheap fridge thermometer clipped inside.
Water
Tank discipline
Rinse the filler cap before opening it, and never fill from an unlabelled dock hose. Carry drinking water separately in sealed cans.
Cleaning
Saltwater wash, freshwater rinse
Wash up in seawater to save the tank, then give a short freshwater rinse so salt doesn't stay on cutlery and rust it.
Cleaning
Dry the drain nightly
A wet galley drain is the first thing to smell. Wipe it dry before stowage and the boat stays fresh.
Knives
Dry knives, stowed edge-down
Wipe knives dry immediately and stow them in a fitted block or sheath — a loose blade in a heeling galley is the classic injury.
Waste
Double-bag and seal food waste
Freeze or double-bag anything organic and keep it out of the bilge. Flies aboard start with one loose bag.
Rotation
Oldest can to the front
Every time you provision, pull existing stock forward and write the month on new tins in marker.
Hands
Sanitiser at the companionway
Crew come below straight from winches and heads. A pump bottle at the steps is worth more than any deep clean.
Rough weather
Cook in deep pots, wear long sleeves
Half-full deep pots don't slop. Fit the gimbal, use pan clamps and never cook barefoot.
Damp
Air the lockers weekly
Open dry-goods lockers on a sunny day and let them breathe — damp flour and weevils end a passage's cooking.