Provisioning a Charter Yacht: The Practical Galley, Food & Drinks Guide

Updated May 2026.

Provisioning is the most-underrated charter skill. A well-stocked boat saves time, stress, and money across the whole week. An under-provisioned boat means desperate marina-shop runs at twice the price, missed restaurant reservations because no one wanted to wait, and Day-5 sandwiches because the dinner ingredients ran out. This guide is the practical operating manual: what to buy, how much, where to buy it, and how to use the limited galley to produce real meals.

The galley reality on a charter boat

Charter boat galleys are smaller than home kitchens but larger than camping setups. The standard 45-foot charter cat or monohull galley includes:

— Gas hob: 2–4 burners, gimbaled on monohulls.
— Oven: usually small (about 30 cm wide), gas-fired. Some smaller monohulls don’t have ovens.
— Fridge: 100–200 litres on most cats, 60–120 litres on monohulls. Limited freezer compartment.
— Sink: usually two compartments, fed by 12V pump from the boat’s water tank.
— Counter space: limited, especially on monohulls.
— Utensils, pots, pans, plates, cutlery: included in standard inventory.
— Microwave: rare on bareboat charters; common on premium cats.
— Coffee machine: usually a basic moka pot or French press, occasionally a drip-coffee maker on premium boats.

The galley is workable but constrained. Plan meals that work with these constraints: pasta, rice, salads, grilled fish or meat (the boat’s BBQ on the rail handles this), simple roasts, light desserts.

How much to provision — per-person quantities

For a 7-day charter, per-person quantities work out as:

— Bread: 1 loaf per 2 people for the week, plus daily fresh bread from village shops.
— Butter: 250 g per 2 people.
— Eggs: 12 per person.
— Milk: 1 litre per 2 people.
— Yogurt: 1 large pot per 2 people.
— Cheese (mixed): 250 g per person.
— Cured meat (prosciutto, salami): 200 g per person.
— Pasta: 500 g per 2 people.
— Rice: 250 g per 4 people (less used than pasta).
— Tinned tomatoes: 4 cans per crew.
— Olive oil: 1 litre per crew.
— Fresh fruit (mixed): 1.5 kg per person.
— Fresh vegetables (mixed): 1 kg per person.
— Snacks (nuts, crisps, biscuits): budget €15–25 per person.

Drinks — the water-vs-wine ratio

Drinks are 30–40% of the provisioning budget on a typical charter. Per-person quantities for a 7-day Mediterranean charter:

— Drinking water: 5–7 litres per person per week (drink-water; cooking water comes from boat tank). In hot summer 7 litres is the minimum; 10 litres is safe.
— Beer: 12–18 cans/bottles per beer-drinking adult per week.
— Wine (house white/red): 4–6 bottles per drinking adult per week.
— Soft drinks: 6–10 cans per person.
— Sparkling water: 4–6 litres per crew (for mixers, pre-dinner, hangover days).
— Spirits (gin, vodka, whisky): 1 bottle per crew if making cocktails; otherwise optional.
— Mixers (tonic, ginger ale): 2 litres per crew if cocktails are part of the rhythm.

Where to buy — base-port supermarkets

The big saving in provisioning is buying at the base port before pickup, not at island shops mid-week. Marina-side shops mark up 50–150% over base supermarkets. The standard pattern: 90% of the substantial week’s groceries comes from the supermarket; 10% is fresh top-ups at island stops.

Recommended base-port supermarkets:

— Croatia (Split, Trogir, Šibenik, Dubrovnik): Tommy hypermarkets are the standard. Konzum, Studenac, Plodine, Lidl all work.
— Greece (Athens-Alimos, Lavrio, Lefkas, Kos): Sklavenitis is the largest. AB Vassilopoulos and Lidl are alternatives.
— Italy (Salerno, Olbia, La Spezia): Conad, Esselunga, Pam, Eurospin. Lidl in most regions.
— Türkiye (Bodrum-Yalıkavak, Göcek): Migros and BIM. Carrefour for premium options.
— Spain (Palma): Mercadona, Carrefour, Eroski, Lidl.
— French Riviera (Cannes, Hyères): Carrefour, Monoprix, Casino. Lidl for budget.

Most operators offer pre-arranged provisioning where the supermarket delivers to the boat at handover. Cost is usually €15–30 service fee on top of the groceries. For first-time charterers, the convenience is worth it; for repeat charterers, doing it yourself often produces a better-stocked boat.

What to buy fresh on the islands

Some categories work better as island top-ups than base-port purchases:

— Fresh bread: most island bakeries produce 1-2 batches a day; buy daily.
— Fresh fish: at fishing-village fish markets in the morning, bargain prices and quality.
— Tomatoes and salad greens: local produce at island shops is usually better than base-port hypermarket equivalents.
— Olives: local olives at island shops are noticeably better than chain-store versions.
— Local cheeses and cured meats: each region has signature products (Croatian paški sir, Greek graviera, Italian prosciutto di Parma, Turkish tulum cheese). Buy from the island producer when you can.

Dietary considerations and special cases

Most Mediterranean charter regions accommodate dietary restrictions reasonably well. Considerations:

— Vegetarian: easy. Mediterranean cuisine is naturally vegetable-heavy.
— Vegan: workable but requires planning. Cheese-and-yogurt aspects of standard provisioning need substitutes.
— Gluten-free: pasta and bread substitutes exist at major chains; bring specialised items from home if your needs are specific.
— Halal / kosher: significantly harder. Plan to bring meat from home or commit to a vegetarian-pescatarian week.
— Kid-friendly: standard provisioning works for most kids. Bring familiar snacks (specific cereals, biscuit brands) from home if your kids are picky. Charter-pickup mornings are not the time to discover the boat doesn’t carry the cereal your child eats.

The ashore-vs-onboard dinner balance

The standard charter week splits roughly 60% dinners ashore, 40% onboard. The split flexes by region:

— Croatia: konobas in every village; 5/2 split toward ashore is common.
— Greece: tavernas everywhere, similar 5/2 split.
— Türkiye: restaurant pontoons make ashore dinners almost free of mooring cost; 6/1 split toward ashore is common.
— Italy: more expensive ashore; 4/3 or 3/4 toward onboard is common.
— French Riviera: very expensive ashore; 3/4 toward onboard is the budget-conscious pattern.

Onboard dinners are not an inferior experience — many crews report the onboard meals as the best of the week. Fresh fish from a local fish market, grilled on the BBQ, with a salad and a cold bottle of local wine, eaten in the cockpit at sunset, is genuinely hard to beat at any restaurant. The day in the life piece covers the rhythm.

The provisioning shopping list — what to actually buy

For a 7-day Mediterranean charter, crew of 6 (4 adults, 2 kids, mixed eaters):

Breakfast supplies: 4 loaves bread, 12-pack eggs, 1 kg butter, 4 jars jam, 2 jars peanut butter, 1 kg cereal, 2 kg yogurt, 4 litres milk, 2 kg fresh fruit (apples, oranges, melons).

Lunch supplies: 1 kg pasta, 1 kg rice, 12 cans tinned tomatoes, 2 kg charcuterie (prosciutto, salami, mortadella), 1.5 kg cheese (mixed), 4 jars olives, 1.5 litres olive oil, 2 kg salad greens, 1 kg tomatoes, 4 kg mixed vegetables.

Dinner supplies: depends on planned meals. A standard 4-night onboard plan: pasta night × 1, fresh fish night × 1, BBQ chicken or steak × 1, vegetarian risotto × 1. Buy 2 kg pasta, 1.5 kg fresh fish (or buy at island markets), 1 kg chicken/steak, 1 kg arborio rice, herbs and spices.

Drinks: 50 litres drinking water (5L bottles), 60 cans/bottles beer, 18 bottles wine, 12 cans soft drinks, 12 cans sparkling water.

Snacks and extras: nuts, crisps, biscuits, chocolate (€60-100 budget). Coffee for 7 days. Tea bags. Kitchen paper. Bin bags.

Total budget: roughly €700–900 for a 6-person crew, or €115–150 per person for the substantial week’s provisioning. Add €300–400 across the week for fresh top-ups at island shops.

The honest mistakes most charterers make in provisioning

The first is under-buying drinking water. People drink more than they expect in Mediterranean summer; running out at Day 4 means buying €3 bottles at marina shops. Buy generously.

The second is over-buying perishables. Charter fridges are smaller than home fridges and the salad greens you bought on Saturday will be brown by Wednesday. Buy day-fresh vegetables from island shops mid-week.

The third is not buying enough wine. The standard sundowner-and-dinner crew of 6 adults will drink 4–6 bottles a night on calm anchorage evenings. The mid-week marina shop run is at 2× the price.

The fourth is under-buying snacks for kids. Charter-pickup mornings have no time for missing items, and small village shops rarely have the specific brands kids like.

The fifth is buying too many speciality items. Charter galleys can’t really cook elaborate meals — keep ingredients simple, use the local seasonal best, accept the constraints.

Frequently asked questions

Should I use the operator’s provisioning service or shop myself?

First-timers: yes, the convenience is worth the €15-30 fee. Repeat charterers: shop yourself, you’ll provision better than a stock list. Some operators allow custom orders by spreadsheet — that’s the best of both.

How much should I budget for provisioning?

Roughly €100-150 per crew member per week for the substantial provisioning, plus €40-70 per person for mid-week top-ups and snacks. Total: €140-220 per person for the week’s onboard food and drink.

Can I bring my own meat or fish?

From within the EU, yes — fresh meat and fish travel fine in cooler bags for the airport-to-boat transfer. From outside the EU, customs restrictions usually prevent it. Buy at the base port or island fish markets; both work.

Is wine in island shops genuinely worse than base-port supermarkets?

Roughly the same quality, double the price, in island shops. Stock up at the base port. Local wines from village producers are often better and cheaper than chain-store wines — buy direct when you visit a village.

Should I plan all 7 dinners aboard?

Probably not. The 60/40 ashore/onboard split exists for a reason — the village dinners are part of the charter experience, and cooking 7 dinners in a row is real work. The bareboat vs skippered guide covers when to add a hostess to handle the cooking burden.