The Boat Galley Cookbook: Over 800 Boat-Friendly Recipes for Easy, Delicious Meals

Cooking on a boat is different from cooking ashore—but with The Boat Galley Cookbook, it’s simple and satisfying. This comprehensive guide features over 800 boat-friendly recipes and practical tips, tailored for the challenges of small, moving kitchens. Whether you’re on a sailboat, trawler, RV, or tiny home, this cookbook has you covered.

With clear, step-by-step instructions, even beginners can prepare fresh, flavorful meals without relying on packaged foods. From baking bread to grilling your latest catch, cooking on a boat has never been easier—or tastier. Packed with solutions for limited space, small refrigerators, and irregular supplies, it’s the ultimate companion for cruisers and liveaboards.

🎁 A thoughtful gift for boaters, RVers, and tiny-home cooks who love great food and easy meals.

What’s Inside • Boat-Friendly Cooking Made Easy

• Recipes for Every Occasion: Over 800 boat-tested recipes, many with options for non-refrigerated ingredients
• Step-by-Step Guidance: Clear directions, even for unfamiliar tasks like filleting fish, cutting meat, and making yogurt
• Make It Yourself Options: Over 150 substitutions and dozens of DIY recipes for pantry staples
• Quick Reference Lists: Easy-to-navigate sections for meal ideas like Mexican, Asian, or Potluck favorites

Includes tips and techniques tailored for boaters:

• Cooking with limited water and electrical appliances
• Using a Thermos for cooking
• Baking in a small oven or on the stovetop
• Storing and preparing food without refrigeration

Why Boat Cooking is Different

A boat galley isn’t just a small kitchen—it’s a completely different environment. Space is limited, grocery runs are infrequent, cooking heat is a plus on cool days but a minus on hot days, and prepared foods aren’t always an option. This cookbook was created by boaters for boaters to address those unique challenges, with practical advice and reliable recipes that really work.

What's a Boat-Friendly Recipe?

Boat-friendly recipes are designed to work with the unique challenges of cooking on a boat, making it easier to prepare delicious meals:

• What's on Board: Recipes include substitutions and alternatives to fit what you have; even better, there’s an entire chapter with over 150 substitutions.
• Few Prepared Foods: From spaghetti sauce and sour cream to English muffins and yogurt, recipes and step-by-step directions guide you through making items you might typically buy. Even “non-cooks” can confidently create meals from scratch.
• No Appliances Needed: Designed to be made by hand, these recipes eliminate the need for a mixer, food processor, or blender.
• Limited Refrigeration: Many recipes suggest non-refrigerated ingredients and provide creative solutions for limited fridge space, plus advice on good non-refrigerated options and what to avoid.
• Adapts to a Moving Kitchen: With tips to prevent pots from sliding, bottles from tipping, and techniques for cooking one-handed, these recipes make boat cooking manageable even in motion.
• Considers Limited Water: Recognizing the possibility of a limited water supply, these recipes focus on using fewer pans and bowls to reduce dishes, re-using liquids from canned vegetables and fruits, and avoiding water waste in all forms.
• Considers Cooking Heat: Includes hot-weather strategies like no-cook meals and grilling options to keep the galley cool, plus ideas to turn cooking heat into an advantage in cooler weather.
• Expands Skills: Learn to make yogurt and bread, prepare freshly-caught fish, cut and bone meat, bake on the stove top, cook in a Thermos, and more with detailed instructions.

The Boat Galley Cookbook ticks all the boxes.

About the Authors • Carolyn Shearlock and Jan Irons

Carolyn Shearlock and Jan Irons didn’t set out to write a cookbook—but years of cruising and sharing knowledge made them realize how much they had to offer.

Carolyn cruised full-time in the Sea of Cortez and Central America with her husband aboard Que Tal, a Tayana 37. Lessons from her mom in scratch cooking and from her dad in butchery gave her a solid foundation for boat cooking. Meanwhile, Jan was cruising from Annapolis to Cartagena with her husband, juggling her passion for adventure—snorkeling, hiking, and photography—with a steep learning curve in the galley.

One memorable moment that inspired the cookbook came when Jan, anchored in the San Blas Islands, received a frozen chicken delivered by a Kuna man in a dugout canoe. Expecting boneless, skinless chicken breasts, she instead found herself staring at a whole chicken—feet and head included. With no clue how to cut it up, she stuffed it into her tiny freezer and turned to Carolyn for help.

While Carolyn answered questions about substitutions and cooking from scratch, she turned to Jan for advice on grilling—a skill Jan and her husband had mastered. Together, Carolyn and Jan tackled everything from seafood to creative ways to make delicious meals in a small, moving kitchen, while also collecting recipes and tips from other cruisers and refining the techniques to make them practical and reliable.

As they traded knowledge, they realized they were building a resource every cruiser could use: how to store food for longer trips, cook with limited tools, and still make great meals. From Carolyn’s scratch cooking expertise to Jan’s grilling tips, their collaboration turned into The Boat Galley Cookbook—a resource they both wished they’d had when they started cruising.

Part recipe collection, part problem-solver, The Boat Galley Cookbook is designed to answer the unique challenges of boat cooking while keeping meals flavorful, simple, and enjoyable.