My husband I both grew up spending a lot of time on the water. He lived in a lake town; I went camping at the lake with my family most weekends in the summer. As adults, the water is still our happy place, and we’re thrilled to pass these family memories on to our kids.

We’ve only had a boat for a few years, but I’ve learned a thing or two about how to prep for a long day on the lake with the whole crew. Today I’m sharing a few of my favorite hacks.

Feed a crowd – It can get expensive feeding the family for a full day away from home, and we try not to resort to expensive convenience foods. One of my favorite ways to feed the crowd is to purchase a package of Hawaiian rolls and slice the whole slab of rolls in half before adding sliced meat, cheese, lettuce and other toppings.

Then, while in the cardboard sleeve, I use a pizza cutter to cut each sandwich roll individually. Just slide it back in the bag and you’re ready to go!

Keep it cool – Even if you have a built in ice cooler area on your boat, you’re going to need to use creativity to keep your food and drinks cool on a long sweltering day. A great tip is to freeze your individual beverages in plastic bottles the night prior, and line your cooler with those first. Then fill it with the rest of your food.

I like to bring mixed fruit on the boat, so I try to freeze my grapes and half the berries overnight before mixing it with the rest of the fruit to help keep it cold.

Add Variety –  We always try to add lots of variety on our boating excursions, from the tubes we ride to the on-board activities like water guns, bubbles and playlists.

We also try to add plenty of variety in our food and beverages. I love stocking up on the Sparkling Ice fruit flavored water multi-packs so we have tons of great options to keep us satisfied andhydrated without all the calories.

Freshen up – Two items I always keep on supply in the boat are wet wipes and dryer sheets.

Wet wipes are obviously great for cleaning spills, sticky hands, sunscreen and more. Dryer sheets are surprisingly helpful at cleaning up spills like crumbs and sand, kind of like a Swiffer. They are also fabulous for getting sand off of your skin after time at the beach.

We try to keep the boat  permanently stocked with a few  extra towels, just in case. We like to roll those towels with a dryer sheet in the middle,both to keep them fresh and help repel insects while in storage.

Stay Safe in the Sun – I hope it goes without saying that you need to be adequately stocked with sunscreen at all times. I try to choose brands that have the best ingredients, and have settled on Beauty Counter, Blue Lizard, and Babyganics for sunscreen options that actually rub into the skin and add protection.

Finally, Have Fun – This is the most important tip of all! We try to treat our boating days as mini-vacations. That means we leave our cares on land and focus on nature, fun and each other.

I hope my summer boating hacks have inspired you to prepare for you next boating outing, or trip to the pool.