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Raw Vegans?

21K views 214 replies 35 participants last post by  Donna_F 
#1 ·
Wondering if anyone else out there with a boat that could use could help for the ride. I'm in 'new england' now but looking to sail to the pacific and to a tropical area.
 
#2 · (Edited)
If you are serious about going ocean sailing, I'd lose the vegan stuff. It's hard enough to produce interesting meals at sea that everyone can enjoy w/o having someone on a special, very restricted diet onboard.
Thinking that one can keep fresh foods for even 2000 miles on a 3000 mile crossing is a bit far from reality without a nice, climate controlled, walk in freezer. Canned foods and things w/lots of preservatives are your friends on long passages and things like Cabin Bread pizza the special meals.
I think you have a choice to make.
 
#7 ·
unripe avocadoes and other fruit don't need refrigeration or chemical preservatives
Dream on. I tried to carry avocados from Hawaii to Tahiti for planting there and at most they lasted 10 days w/o refrigeration.
What do you have to offer a boat owner, other than your dietary demands?
Flexibility is the key to traveling on small craft and getting along with people, and you don't sound like a very flexible person, from your posts.
 
#5 ·
In 9 years I have met a few people who are vegetarians. But no raw vegans.

It will be difficult to find a boat liking that and wishing for crew.

PS you are right about unripe avocados. They keep well for the few days till ripe.

Some onions last some of the long Pacific passages.
 
#8 ·
I'm really sorry we can't tell you what you want to hear w/o lying to you.
I've taken crew from docks all over the world and sailed the seas for over half a century. I personally wouldn't take the chance of being stuck at sea for long periods w/someone who has any special dietary needs or is so different from the rest of the crew.
It is what it is, sorry.
 
#9 ·
As long as you promise not to bite my nuts... OK, maybe that was not very helpful, but I could not resist...
I have been a long term vegetarian and that is not a big deal on a long passage, but I would not think of imposing my dietary requirements on the rest of the crew, unless I brought all my grub with me.
 
#13 ·
From what I understand there is a huge difference between being a vegan and being a vegetarian, especially if the vegetarian eats fish, cheese and eggs. I can't imagine one would have much energy after a week or so of eating nothing but nuts & cereals under the physical rigors of being on a small craft at sea 24/7.
And should a vegan have to begin eating foods with preservatives (like canned foods) out of necessity, they might be too sick for some days to be of any help aboard. I just don't see the plus for the boat or the vegan.
 
#39 ·
In my opinion, avocados go straight from unripe to inedible.
Not sailboat-specific: I found a way to prolong the shelf life of avocados:

Buy green avocados. Set them on the counter to partially ripen. Transfer to the refrigerator to retard ripening. If an avocado in the refrigerator are not perfectly ripe when you are ready to use one, set it out overnight.

I always have perfectly ripe avocados to eat, but that maybe because I buy a week's worth and eat one every day. They don't last forever, even in the refrigerator. I have not tried putting green avocados in the fridge.
 
#11 ·
Since you titled the thread Raw Vegans, are you strictly looking for a crew dedicated to that diet? A crew accepting of that diet? What's the point of making it a point?

You've posted this before, looking for passage from St Croix to Puerto Rico. Now you're in New England. Did you make a passage? I may be mistaken, but I think I recall you're not an experienced ocean passage sailor. That correct?

Maybe most important of all. What does "Location: Flat Earth Plane" mean? If it's not a confusing humorous entry, I think you'll find more raw vegans making passage to the South Pacific than folks that can imagine putting up with a flat earther. :eek:
 
#12 ·
I wonder if you would find getting a crew position easier if you offered to provide all of your own food. It would save the captain a few $'s, and you could control what you eat. You may also volunteer to make a few meals that are acceptable to the rest of the crew.
 
#16 ·
There are plenty of people out there with jobs, or lifestyles that require far higher energy demands than sailing, who are vegans. You can get complete proteins, and plenty of calories. Plus, an added benefit, that when captain Ron crashes onto the deserted island, the vegan crew will be be able to whip up a feast from the detritus on the beach.
 
#19 ·
I think you could probably be on a boat with others and eat your lifestyle as long as you did not freak out or make comments about what other people eat and you would have to contribute to the food budget that will be for everyone, and not make others pay extra for your raw items. I would plan to have plenty of my own money on the side for items that are specific to the raw vegan diet. It is important if you are a vegan to be aware that not everyone agrees with your food choices, so as not to make waves just eat the foods you like and be prepared to COOK conventional for others if it is your turn and be gracious about it.

Now, are there any gentlemen out there looking for a mate in her 60's who is wanting to sail the world?
 
#20 ·
Jeez...

People create these mini religions...join some group.
It's The Way...new found, enlightening..etc.
They were once lost, but not now...all listen.
Everybody else is wrong.
Looking for something to latch on to and receiving validation, and now happy.

Lose a turn or 2 on that mental tourniquet.

We tend to make all of this life stuff harder than it needs to be.

Did Lassie take her sailing lessons, or not?
 
#22 ·
Hang on. Beans, dried, and pulses etc can't be eaten raw. Yhis guy is a RAW vegan... so can only have fresh food. Uncooked.

He wants a vegan boat because, no doubt, is a nutter who hates the smell of cooking meat. (Love my nutter pun??)

So any captain would need to look at energy levels. Uncooked vegetable just ain't so nutritious. We would still be Australopithecines if we could.

Brains cane either from cooking, meat or fish. They don't know what but it sure wasn't baboon food.
 
#23 ·
At the risk of arguing the exceptions, I find vegetarians have typically chosen a diet, vegans have chosen a lifestyle. The OP seems to be searching for a boat that shares their lifestyle, not simply one willing to accommodate their diet.

Personally, I drop all food preferences and restrictions on passage. Good food = good morale.

My only issue is that I can't swallow a salt and vinegar potato chip. They make me gag. I would not make a good vegan. :)
 
#26 ·
I tend to eat more of a vegetarian diet when I'm on board. Things like a swiss cheese sandwich with some lettuce and tomato or Greek Salad just taste fine for lunch in the cockpit. Though sitting here in Key West I just finished a delicious Cuban Pork sandwich too. :) Interesting that some red flags are being raised regarding some of the more extreme diets for younger folks: 'Clean eating' is a ticking timebomb that puts young at risk of fractures
 
#35 ·
Interesting that some red flags are being raised regarding some of the more extreme diets for younger folks: 'Clean eating' is a ticking timebomb that puts young at risk of fractures
This is nothing new. Ever since the 60's there have been warnings that just stopping their intake of meat products or as some have said to me, "I don't eat anything with eyes." is not healthy. A vegetarian, as all committed vegetarians well know, requires at lot of thought and planning to replace the animal products with a diet that substitutes what is necessary to maintain a healthy body.
 
#34 · (Edited)
Can all the vampire possessed insane humans please stop replying to posts by vegans or those who care about animals and all life. Thanks. Stop stalking and bothering us. Where are the moderators?
I have been following this thread as a moderator and as a member. Speaking as someone who has been a vegetarian on ethical grounds for nearly 50 years, I am sympathetic to the sense that many of the comments are not supportive and at odds with your beliefs. But I also believe that the majority of the comments reflect the reality of the views generally held within the cruising community at large and to one degree or another are constructive comments.

That said, some of the comments do cross a line in terms of being the type of ad hominem attacks that are discouraged by the forum rules. I ask everyone to dial it back. Its not appropriate to call someone a troll, nor is it permitted to refer to "Ignorance and fools all over..."

In terms of the substance of the discussion, it has been easy for me to provide my own provisions when only doing coastal cruising or a short hop of a few days. I have even provisioned and done the cooking for the entire crew when it was agreed that everyone was comfortable being a vegetarian for the duration of the passage.

But I agree with the point raised by others that on longer voyages, it is not practical to have a person on board with their own unique diet because it means some mix of that person preparing their own food and therefore either not being able to serve a full watch, or get as much rest during their off-watch, or requiring someone else to prepare their food, thereby eliminating that person from serving a full watch or being able to rest fully during their off watch.

That is in large part the reason that I chose to have my own boat, and/or not do long passages on boats with people who are not vegetarians (even if these are people I respect and might enjoy sailing with.)

I suspect that there are people out cruising who are Vegan. I imagine there might be people out there who may be raw vegan (although is not clear to me how that would actually work on a long passage). In an ideal world, you might try to get aboard a boat with one of them since they are more likely to be sympathetic to your beliefs. I wish you luck in finding a suitable situation to ship out with.

Respectfully,
Jeff
 
#36 ·
Yes, Lassie took her lessons. I am ready to learn more. You can only learn so much on a lake. Had I been paying attention all those years in the SF Bay area as a guest on numerous sail boats I would probably have some good skills by now. Having a lot of Vegan and Vegetarian friends from the SF Bay area, I think any kind of diet can be done if one is committed and they do not take time away from things they are expected to do for their food prep. I do agree with some folks though about the equipment needed because I think a dehydrator which is fairly large is something raw vegans use quite frequently. They tend to take up a lot of space but maybe you can find a small one. When there is a shortage of food, sometimes the raw vegan will do better because they tend to package up their raw foods for later use. I have had some great energy bars made by these folks that were fantastic and very healthy. I would say they had more nutrients in them than the store bought genetically modified laced with pesticides stuff. At least in the island communities you can find a lot of fresh produce than can be dried for later use, but fresh stuff goes bad fast so you might be spending a lot of time preparing your foods and maybe taking time away from your duties unless of course your whole crew was raw vegan and you all worked it out. As for water usage, I do not see how a raw vegan could use up more water than normal. Raw Vegans are not cooking anything and if anything would use less.
 
#37 ·
I do agree with some folks though about the equipment needed because I think a dehydrator which is fairly large is something raw vegans use quite frequently. They tend to take up a lot of space but maybe you can find a small one.
If sous vide is cooking, why is dehydration not cooking? If ceviche is cooking (and it is) what does that mean?
 
#46 ·
I wonder: Do people get paid to rewrite questionable information, add a couple of stock photos, and the slap on a misleading, fear-mongering title? I guess everything is fair is the world of click-bait.

I'm NOT saying that avocado production is not harmful in some way. I AM saying that neither the article at the link, nor the article that was plagiarized convinced me of anything. The article suggests that 1700 forested acres per year are being converted to avocado orchard. If that was happening in the county where I live in Alabama, it would take over 300 years to cover the county with avocado trees. Would that be significant on a world scale? I don't know, but I'm guessing that it wouldn't be considered "destroying the world's forests." And that is the headline of the article.
 
#48 · (Edited)
Jeff and ScottUK: Good discussion. I wonder what would happen if the USA and Canada curtailed grain production, allowed the Great Plains revert back to their natural state - no herbicide, no pesticide, no artificial habitat management - and allowed bison to graze at will (no beef cattle). Like it was before the white man eradicated nature. Would the Plains allow enough bison to be grown to feed our population and how would that fit on the efficiency table that Jeff presented?

I think we can, and should eliminate grain production if the Plains could support enough meat production. There's enough acreage now under ornamental grass lawns to grow vegetables for everybody. I pulled that last statement straight out of my butt, but it might be true :)
 
#52 ·
Jeff, I was not trying to get too personal but I must confess I did take some exception to the statement of yours I had quoted. I do not think my interpretation of what you had stated in your post is in error as written but it appears from your rebuttal it has been misconstrued.

Many of the self professed "vegetarians" I have met appear to have an air of moral superiority I believe is not justified as outlined above. I was going to qualify my above post but I recall another recent topic where this subject came up and the OP seemed to me to have this mentality and in your posts on that topic you appeared to tacitly agree with her reasoning.

The statistics you have listed are well known though I believe the majority of cultivation is to feed the masses. The points you listed were tertiary considerations for my only eating meat that I had killed myself when that was a viable option. The main reason was not wanting to ingest hormone laced meat.
 
#105 ·
Many of the self professed "vegetarians" I have met appear to have an air of moral superiority I believe is not justified as outlined above.......
I believe that it is sometimes a misperception on the part of non-vegetarians. When I was more committed to a vegetarian diet, I would encounter that feeling from meat eaters when I would eat at someone's house. They would offer me a burger or a steak and I would try to say, in as kind and non-judgemental a tone of voice as I could, "No thank you. I am perfectly fine with the salad, green beans, and corn." I would sometimes even avoid declaring myself a vegetarian . I would just say that I'm not that hungry and that I really love salad, green beans and corn. But still I often perceived a tone of defensiveness from my hosts.

They would apologize for not having more vegetables and sometimes would apologize for having meat. I really didn't care. It's a personal choice for me and a personal choice for everybody else. I really don't pass judgement. Then they would want to know why I chose to be a vegetarian. They would interview me as to whether or not it was on health or moral grounds, I guess, so they could decide on what grounds I was judging them, which I wasn't. I would often tell people that I was just trying it as an experiment to see if I could do it and see what it was like. It was annoying how often people assumed that I would be judgmental just because I chose not to eat me and they did.
 
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