How to Lose Weight Fast without Exercise or Even Leaving Your House

March 12, 2019

Day 159

Noon Position: 51 17S  99 25W

Course(t)/Speed(kts): ESE 6+

Wind(t/tws): NWxN 10 – 20

Sea(t/ft): NW 4

Sky: Altocumulus and Stratus

10ths Cloud Cover: 10

Bar(mb): 1011+

Cabin Temp(f): 57

Water Temp(f): 46

Relative Humidity(%): 75

Sail: Working jib poled to port, Big genoa free to starboard; two reefs each.

Noon-to-Noon Miles Made Good (nm): 113

Miles since departure: 21, 812

Avg. Miles/Day: 137

Days since Cape Horn: 102

Miles since Cape Horn: 14,171

Avg. Miles/Day: 139

Longitude Degrees Made Good (degrees minutes): 2 51

Total Longitude Made Good Since Cape Horn (degrees minutes): 330 08

Avg. Long./Day: 3.24

Miles to Cape Horn: 1090

A slow night but a fast day. Wind has filled in from the NW, and I’m meeting it with both headsails. Even with reefs, they are big and billowy and we scoot along at seven knots.

Clear skies give way to fog which clears and then reforms. But sun or no sun, it’s cooling down quickly, more quickly than the above daily temperatures indicate. I’m back to insulated rubber boots and an extra layer of fleece. The cabin was 50 degrees when I woke. If this descent to the Horn is like the last, it will be below 45 in the mornings soon.

A monumental event yesterday. My one-beer-per-night ritual was dramatically altered when I consumed the last beer.

Well, not quite. I still have a flat of light, lemony stuff I dislike, which is being saved for our climb into the tropics.

But the last good beer has gone the way of all … malts.

We departed San Francisco with 186 cans of brew aboard, and they took up so much space and contributed so much to overall weight, I just couldn’t fathom putting on one more can, though I knew they wouldn’t last the voyage.

It was the right decision, but I rather regret it now.

This event has led, today, to reflections upon my overall consumption of provisions in the first 159 days of the Figure 8 2.0 and how much lighter Mo must be now than on departure day.

The back-of-the-envelope math looks something like this.

Food Stuffs Consumed

-Canned goods: 3 cans per day at approximately 1lb per = 477lbs of canned goods consumed.

-Dry Grains: 22lbs of Muesli, 9lbs of pasta; 6lbs of Quinoa; 4lbs of Polenta = 41lbs.

-Crackers, cakes, flour for bread baking, etc. = 15 lbs.

-Clif Bars: 238 consumed (1.5 per day) at 2.4oz per = 35lbs.

-Coffee: 15 12oz bags = 11lbs.

-Dry Milk: 5 3lb cans = 15lbs.

TOTAL WEIGHT OF FOOD CONSUMED = 594lbs.

Liquids Consumed

-100 gallons of water. (We’ve consumed approximately 159 gallons but caught about 50, so the net is around 100.) At 8.34lbs per gallon, water weight consumed = 834lbs.

-159 cans of beer. At 16oz per can, that’s 20 gallons of beer. Using above weight-of-water figure yields 166lbs.

-10 bottles of wine. A 750ml bottle is a fifth of a gallon; so two gallons of wine consumed = 17lbs.

TOTAL WEIGHT OF LIQUIDS CONSUMED = 1,017lbs.

Fuel Burned

-1.5 20lb tanks of propane = 30lbs.

-90 gallons of diesel. At 7.5lbs per gallon = 675lbs.

TOTAL WEIGHT OF FUEL BURNED = 705lbs.

How much lighter is Mo today than when she departed San Francisco five and a half months ago?

A ton!

Well, 2,316lbs, to be exact.

9 Comments on “How to Lose Weight Fast without Exercise or Even Leaving Your House

  1. Cool Calculations, Randall!!! So both you and Mo are loosing weight! Lighten the vessel and she goes faster!!! All so interesting to know about, thank you!

  2. A ton, that’s funny, oh yea I mean, LOL. Thanks, gives us perspective on provisioning for at least 21,800 nm.

  3. You need to figure out how to home brew while sailing! I am interested in the details when you’ve figured it out.

  4. Norah says I should just give you the Anchor Steam I’m drinking right now. Wish I could hand it over. I’d do so gladly. Well, after one more swig.

  5. So, here’s the question: If you only have three bottles of wine for your trip do you drink the best one first or last?
    I had said that I would save the best for the last. My buddy said that is stupid. If you drink the best first, and then the next best, you’re always drinking the best available. Now your lemony beer is the best!

  6. Wow! Makes me wonder how many thousands of tons of food and liquid passes through the human body in a lifetime. One life has a huge environmental impact!

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