Must Have Galley Equipment For Boats
The galley equipment needed for life onboard a boat is so totally different to things you would find in a standard kitchen. It really threw me when we first moved aboard because all the equipment I was used to using was suddenly very different.
You simply can’t use all the fancy equipment that you’ve come to rely on over the years.
You don’t have the space, the electricity, or even the water to clean it all up afterward! You need low-maintenance cooking equipment, and you need to be picky about the essentials.
Now that we’ve adjusted to life aboard, I’d say we’re pretty well-versed on the galley equipment you’re going to really need, the galley equipment you’re going to want and the galley equipment you’re going to have to learn to live without.
We’ve updated this post now that we’ve been living aboard pretty much full-time for 6 years. We’ve even moved boats, so I’ve had a chance to check that the galley equipment I was using on Hot Chocolate still works just as well on Calico. I can confirm we’ve got our yacht galley perfect!
We’ve put together a list to help you out so you don’t end up making the same mistakes (and wasting the same money!) as we did.
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Galley Equipment Quick List
Skip to the section you need to find out more! Or continue reading for all the best galley equipment without the trial and error!
- What Is A Galley Kitchen?
- Essential galley equipment for cooking
- Must have galley gear for dining
- Essential equipment for baking
- Galley equipment top tips
- Must have boat galley storage solutions
- Essentials for drinks
- The best equipment for you galley for outside dining
- Where can I buy boat and yacht galley equipment and supplies?
What Is A Galley Kitchen?
The galley on a boat is the kitchen area. A galley kitchen is a long, narrow kitchen layout that features two parallel countertops with a walkway in between.
The design is inspired by the compact and efficient kitchens found on ships, where space is limited, and everything needs to be within easy reach.
The layout maximizes functionality by keeping appliances, storage, and work areas close together, making it an excellent choice for small homes, apartments, and, of course, boats.
Essential Galley Equipment For Boats
Let’s get straight to it. This is the gear for our galley that we just couldn’t be without. We’ve split it into ‘equipment’, which refers to the more techy things we use in the galley, and dining wear.
Slow Cooker
These slow cookers are absolutely fantastic for easy, warm meals. This is the one we use, which comes with 7 different features (including a yoghurt maker which we haven’t actually tried yet). They also come into their own when prepping for offshore passages, as they can be used alongside your normal oven.
Being able to just shove the ingredients into a pot and then worry about more important matters saves so much time and hassle.
We mostly use our slow cooker when we’re at anchor or in the marina, as it’s a bigger piece of gear that wouldn’t be so happy in rolly seas. We love to batch cook up meals before heading out on passage so that we have a supply of tasty meals stashed in the fridge.
Blender
Get. A. Blender. We lasted a year without a blender, and I’m not sure why I didn’t buy one sooner (I’m writing this after eating a delicious homemade broccoli and potato soup).
It’s great for whipping up healthy soups and smoothies with leftover fruit and veg, and I also use it to mix cake mix together.
We only have a small blender that we can run off solar but we’ve found it’s plenty good enough, and not needing mains electricity is a huge bonus (or we’d hardly get any use from it at all!)
Small blenders are also so much easier to store in a sailboat galley, so the trade-off of a bit less power is more than worth it.
✅ This is the blender we have and love
Electric Kettle
If you’re planning on spending any time in marinas, especially ones with free electricity, then a cheap kettle will pay for itself in no time.
We actually found ours in a bin (no joke) and we keep it handy for any time we’re hooked up to free shore power. We then always boil cooking water before turning on the gas; it’s amazing how much it actually saves us.
Stainless Steel Nesting Saucepans
I would kill for these, literally (watch out Adam!) I have thrown many tantrums about trying to store our pots and pans. We have a frying pan and two saucepans, and I cannot put them away without wanting to throw everything we own overboard.
And when I have to get them out of the cupboard, everything has to come out. It is my biggest galley equipment bugbear. These stainless steel nesting saucepans will be the first thing we invest in when we aren’t busy fixing holes in the boat!
✅ Shop stainless nesting saucepans now
Ceramic Knives
Until I met Adam I didn’t own a single sharp knife. I didn’t know what I was missing out on! When we moved into our sailboat galley the knives and cutlery were all a little rusty and certainly not sharp!
We took the advice of fellow cruisers and bought some ceramic knives. They never rust, they sharpen easily and they wipe clean. You just have to be careful to keep them in their covers so they don’t break when at sea!
Portable Freezer
Ok, maybe this isn’t essential galley equipment but it is super luxurious to have a way to freeze things on a sailboat.
We initially bought a 12V portable freezer with the intention of using it to make ice when we were generating surplus power from our solar but we’ve discovered that actually, we have enough power to keep it running throughout the summer.
It’s only small so it doesn’t take up much space at all and it’s so lovely to have ice in the heat of summer and to be able to freeze batch-made meals for passages or even fish we’ve caught that would otherwise go to waste. It’s definitely a worthwhile investment if you live onboard!
✅ Buy a portable freezer to keep food for longer
Must-Have Galley Gear For Dining
Unfortunately you can’t use normal ceramic or glass plates and glasses on a sailboat. It’s really sad, because drinking from anything other than a normal glass is honestly a tragedy!
We’ve tried a few times with varying success, but the clean up from smashed plates and glasses (and the risks alongside it) just aren’t worth it when you’re out at sea.
Luckily we’ve found some decent alternatives.
Falcon Wear Dishes
These are our go-to dishes for, well, everything. We bake in them, eat pasta from them and even wash up cutlery in them. They’re meant to be pie dishes, but I don’t think we’ve ever used them to cook a pie.
They are great little dishes for roasting veggies in, and they’re our go-to ‘plates’ for taking to the beach for picnics and BBQs. They’re super durable, and they do the job of a lot of different things so they save a lot of space too! They are perfect galley equipment for sailboat cooking.
✅ Top tip: The pie dishes make excellent bowls for long passages!
Coconut Bowls
We love these bowls for breakfast or evening meals like noodles. They make food look even more delicious somehow. They’re also easy to store and clean, so a win-win in a sailboat galley!
Get a set that includes wooden cutlery so you can try them out. We prefer normal cutlery but a wooden set would be so useful as you wouldn’t have to worry about rust.
Baking In The Sailboat Galley
It took me a while to get used to baking in our sailboat galley, but now that I’ve worked out what works and what doesn’t, I love it! Below are a few things that will make your life easier!
Silicone Baking Mats And Cupcake Holders
Easy to clean and easy to use, these things are a super useful bit of sailboat galley equipment. The baking mats are especially useful and we use ours for just about anything that goes into the oven.
The cupcake holders are definitely nice to have more than an essential, but you’ll be surprised by how much you’ll miss these little extras if you’re living aboard your sailboat.
All the things that were at the back of the cupboard at home suddenly seem like essential bits of galley kit when you’re lacking! These silicone ones take up hardly any space, so they’re a nice little extra for anyone who loves baking.
The Best Bread Loaf Tin
When you start cruising full-time time you’ll realise that bread is actually much harder to get hold of than you once thought. We have rocked up to many small village shops and been disappointed by their lack of bread!
One way we get around this is to buy packaged wraps that store for much longer, but nothing beats a loaf of bread!
Even the sailor most afraid of baking has given in and tried to bake their own bread. It’s really not as hard as it sounds.
One thing that has saved my bread many times is a decent bread loaf tin. This simple bit of sailboat galley equipment will change your bread-making game! I also use it to make loaf cakes like banana bread and lemon poppy cake. Yum!
Galley Storage Equipment That Will Make Your Life Easier
Storing things on a sailboat can be an absolute nightmare (check out our tips for sailboat storage for some handy ideas), and storing things in the galley is the worst bit! But there are some hacks we’ve found to make life a little easier when it comes to the sailboat galley.
Sailboat Galley Equipment Storage Containers
These airtight, stack-able storage containers are perfect for keeping food dry and organised in your boat galley. They are convenient sizes and I love the fact they’re see-through so it’s easy to see what you’re grabbing!
I use these for food that, once open, can’t get wet or damp. Humid boats are not flour-compatible! We have one for flour, one for sugar, and another for oats and cereals. The others are perfect for leftovers that we don’t want spilling all over the fridge.
They’re a great shape for making the most of the space in the galley, and they stack really easily too. They are probably the thing I use most in the galley, just because they’re so useful! Make sure you get yourself at least one set for cooking in your boat galley!
✅ Shop stackable food containers here
Sandwich Storage Bags
Do the environment a favour and get yourself a reusable sandwich wrap for any day trips from the sailboat.
Adam and I often go for long treks where we want to take lunch with us, and these reusable sandwich wraps are perfect for carrying sandwiches and not getting them all over your bag! You can also buy reusable bags but we found them a pain to clean compared to the wraps, which most of the time you can give a little shake and wipe down.
Sailboat Galley Equipment Of The Liquid Variety!
Coffee Making For Tired Sailors!
I don’t actually drink coffee, but I have never met anyone who needs a cup of coffee in the morning as much as Adam does.
When we bought the boat it came with a proper Italian stovetop coffee maker and Adam has completely fallen for it, refusing to go back to instant coffee. It’s actually really easy to use and works perfectly on the gas ring, and the coffee it uses lasts for ages so we never run out!
A lot of people prefer the AeroPress, which is another great way of making proper coffee without big electrical machines, but we got fed up with needing the filter paper. If you aren’t organised enough to be carrying a stash at all times then don’t bother with it. But I will say, it’s super easy to clean and apparently makes very good coffee!
Avex Pint Glasses – The Perfect Galley Equipment For Sailboat Cooking
These Corkcicle glasses are pure genius! They keep cold drinks cold (and actually keep them really cold for a long time!) and they keep hot drinks hot. They are perfect for a big cup of tea on a cold passage or a nice cold beer when you arrive at a beautiful anchorage.
They’re perfect for sailboat living. But make sure you buy a few extras for guests.
✅ Grab them here (available in loads of different colour ways)
Outside Sailboat Galley Equipment
Depending on where you’re planning on sailing (and when) it’s probably worth considering the fact that you’ll want to be able to cook outside.
Last season during the height of summer we found it almost unbearable to be cooking in the galley due to the heat. We would argue about whose turn it was to cook and make the quickest recipes we could think of so we didn’t have to be near the oven. It was a bit of a nightmare, to be honest.
Cobb BBQ
We splashed out at Christmas and decided to buy ourselves a Cobb BBQ. It can be moved around while you’re cooking and used on any surface, as the outside of it just doesn’t get hot. It has a ‘moat’ where you can cook your veg and a lid that makes it more of an oven, and it barely takes any fuel to get hot.
You can start cooking on it after just minutes. The other really great thing about it is that you can take it to the beach, or where ever, as it’s so easy to transport in its little carry case. It comes in several different versions, including a compact version for smaller sailboats and gas or coal alternatives.
Galley Equipment Buying Guide
Every time I’m eyeing up some fancy new piece of equipment for the galley that I’m convinced is absolutely essential, Adam has to reign me in a little.
There just isn’t the space to have whatever your heart desires in such a tiny square-foot boat! Here are the things we consider before making a purchase for our sailboat galley.
Do I really need it?
With such limited space on board, it’s a question we have to ask ourselves before we buy anything new for the boat, but it is especially true in the galley.
Hot Chocolate actually has great storage space, but the galley is small and there is just enough space for food and plates.
If we start adding crazy amounts of extra galley equipment, they have to be stored somewhere else, and Adam has to forgo space in his tool cupboard, which never goes down well!
How much power/water does it need?
Galley equipment that drains power is a no-go unless you spend all your time hooked up to the dock. We are lucky and have a great solar setup that allows us to use a little extra, but things that use huge amounts of power are just a no-go.
Water is the same. If it’s going to use loads of water or take hours to wash up (think things like juicers that have loads of tiny parts to clean), we avoid it like the plague!
Can I even use it in a small space?
Like I said, the galley in Hot Chocolate is tiny so we really have to think this one through. Things like big coffee machines or electric mixers just won’t fit on the workspace.
Where can we stow it?
If it’s a big piece of galley equipment, it will need a home for passages. Is it going to fit somewhere you can get to easily? Because if the only home for it is in the bottom of some hard to get to cupboard, then chances are you’re going to stow it and then never use it again!
Is it ‘boat proof’?
There are things you need to take into consideration on a boat that you don’t need to think about on land. Salt water is a quick killer of certain metals, and constant motion and easily breakable items don’t sit well together!
We bought some lovely glasses once without thinking about the fact they had slightly rounded bottoms. They were completely unsuitable for boat life as they were so unstable, and all broke within a few months!
Buy high-quality galley equipment that will last and that you can rely on in months to come in the middle of the ocean. Stainless steel is a favourite of most liveaboards because it’s so rust-resistant. I’ve got more ideas for you below!
Can we afford it?
Owning a boat can be expensive in itself. We didn’t start adding to our galley equipment until we were a year into our liveaboard adventure and knew exactly what we needed.
I do wish we’d bought a few things before we started, as having them did improve our lives a lot! But at least we had time to be sure of what we needed before we splashed out.
Read on to find out what we ended up really needing for the galley. If you’re new to boat life then it’s worth picking out a few of the things from this list that you know you’ll use all the time and considering some of the others in a few weeks or months of living aboard.
For more liveaboard galley tips and a whole lot more check out our How To Run Away To Sea guidebook. We wrote down literally everything we wish we’d known before starting this adventure – from planning, to finding the dream boat, to making this lifestyle last!
Where Can I Buy Boat And Yacht Galley Equipment And Supplies?
As you can see, a few simple bits of sailboat galley equipment can go a long way on board. Hopefully, this has given you a few ideas of some of the things that will really come in handy.
Let me know in the comments below what your favourite bit of sailboat galley equipment is and if there’s anything I’ve missed….I’m always looking for ways to improve my sailboat galley!
Awesome post, guys! I can’t imagine how much of the basics people would miss out on if they didn’t have resources like this to get them set up. Invaluable information, for sure.
Have you run into any issues with pests in the galley?
I know that the best way to keep cockroaches at bay is to remove all paper and cardboard from items before bringing them onboard – things like boxes and labels that dry goods and cans come packaged in. Instead of keeping cereal or other dry goods packaged as is, you can use air-tight plastic storage containers, or you can store things you won’t use right away in the freezer.
You can also use plastic storage for things like flour, rice, nuts, etc so that you don’t run into a weevil problem. If you do find weevils in your flour, you can stop the infestation by microwaving the flour for 5+ minutes, or by baking it in the oven at 200F for 30+ minutes. For other dry goods overtaken by weevils, you can put them in a deep-freezer for several hours – which should take care of things as long as it’s cold enough.
Thanks for the great post, and keep up the informative content!
Hey, thanks for the feedback and great tips! These will be very useful if we ever have these problems in the galley.