Average Weight of Food Provisions/Crew

[mdsilvers]

All - I would like to get some feel for the average weight of food provisions per crew member for 2-3 months of passage. I know this can vary significantly, but wanted to see if there were any 'rules of thumb' in expected weight. This is more important to me given I will be cruising on a catamaran.

Thanks!

[GordMay]

Water weighs about 8-1/3 pounds per US Gallon (10# / Imp. Gal.), and Diesel Fuel about 7-1/4 pounds per US gallon (8-½# / Imp. Gal.).
Accordingly, 100 US gallons of each will weigh over 1,500 pounds - by far your heaviest “consumable” aboard.

By way of contrast, a 60 day supply of beef (were you capable of refrigerating it) might weigh about 60 pounds per person. Additionally a 60 day supply of other foodstuff might weigh in at about 75#/person: (30# canned goods, 15# dry goods, & 30# fruit & veggies). This generous estimate totals approximately 135 pounds per person.

Space to store the volume of food may be a bigger issue than weight, even on a multi-hull.

[nautical62]

2.5 lbs per person per day is probably a good ball park for food, not including drinks. Maybe a bit more if you are very heavy on fresh food and canned good. Maybe as low as 2 lbs if most goods are dried and you have little refridgerated or canned good.

When I outfit outdoor trips, actually using food weight has proven to be a good measure of whether or not a trip has packed too much or too little. 1.75 lbs per person per day for for light eaters, packing all dried food. Any trip with more than 2.5 lbs of food per person per day, including some canned goods has come back with food.

When I traveled on a pocket cruiser trimaran, I was able to keep fresh water use down to about 1.5 gallons per person per day. (Ball park of 12-13 lbs per person per day) About 3/4 gallon per person per day was for drinking, and the rest of washing people, dishes, hands, etc. Washing dishes with salt water first, really cut down on fresh water needs.

[mdsilvers]

Thanks for the info. This is helpful for me as I begin to plan for the boat.

[MarkJ]

I reckon Gord is on the weight here slim as he is!

We try to stock up for 6 months and even the weight of that (we have 12 months supply of canned butter for example) is negligable compared to the weight of water.

if you ate canned food 3 meals per day 1/2 can per person an couple for 100 days would only weigh 120kg

Chuck in a bit of weightless pasta and rice....

say a total 150kg.....


But the fluids! Coke? Fizzy teeth rotting stuff? Man-chest-hair-growing beer?

Thats where the weight can come in!

Mark

[Janice]

Mark - canned butter, hmmm. that must be why you are always checking it Have you tried the powdered butter?

[David M]

A more relevant measure would be calories per day. The weight of food is not the same as its caloric content. You could save weight by having high calorie foods...but then that could be hard on the arteries and the diet.

[MarkJ]

Originally Posted by Janice

Mark - canned butter, hmmm. that must be why you are always checking it Have you tried the powdered butter?

Powdered??????????????????????????????????

I'm looking for powdered eggs, I hear they work well. But powdered butter?!

The canned butter is exactly the same consistancy, mouth feel, and spreadability, and fry ability of fresh butter.
Can powdered be that good?

I would love to try some

I would love to find where we could get powdered eggs in Aus. I think I might go to a food manufacturer in Cairns.




Thanks for the idea.

Mark

[Janice]

I have purchased powdered eggs, butter and chese from www.honeyvillegrain.com

Now I need to say that I have not tasted these items yet but will next month on our shake down cruise.

[Soft Air]

Janice great site honeyvillegrain.com and they sell small quantities for passages

Thanks Janice however please stop sailing the net and start sailing the sea, leave your CC alone now

[Janice]

We are in Florida and cannot leave until mid summer. That means we need to wait till hurricane season ends. We will Island hop to the BVI and hope to be at Foxy's for New Years. After that we take our time Island Hoping south and have no specific plans after that.

[Soft Air]

ah OK, I was at Foxy's just last Saturday as they were having a Reggae special, it was nice.

Have fun when you get here Janice

[dana-tenacity]

Why would anyone choose to eat powdered eggs - eecccckkkkkkkk.

[Robertcateran]

Originally Posted by David M

A more relevant measure would be calories per day. The weight of food is not the same as its caloric content. You could save weight by having high calorie foods...but then that could be hard on the arteries and the diet.

Olive oils and are high calorific without being hard on the arteries. Plenty of fish can supplement things quite nicely as can sprouts and seaweeds. If you have a watermaker and a good charging system, then weight can be reduced considerably. Then again, you can avoid washing!!

[Equinox]

My wife and I took off for 2 years in the Caribbean and when we got to Trinidad we had to raise the water line. It went up 4 inches which computes to about 2 tons maybe more. i am sure we could have reduced some of that.