Heavy Water

Vero Beach, Florida

No I'm not writing about Canadian nuclear reactors that use D2O. I'm writing about the weight of a 5 gallon jug of water. We discovered today that these jugs are much heavier than they used to be, or at least it seems so.

Yesterday, Libby rediscovered how difficult it is throw the dinghy against a 30 knot wind. It is harder than we remembered.

Actually, these and other things remind us how much less physically fit we are than we were a year ago. Sure we are older, but I think that has little to do with it. I blame owning a car during the past year. Upper body strength in particular seems to have suffered.

The upbeat part of this story is that if you live the life of cruising sailors all the time, you acquire and retain an excellent level of fitness serendipitously (wow, what a big word).


The down side is that Libby and I have to find some kind of remedial program to regain fitness.

Our son John gave us a kettle bell, and he recorded some instructional videos to teach us a cross fit routine customized for people like us. I think I'll have to dig those out and actually start using them.

When we get to Marathon, we will get a mooring far from the dock so that we have to row a long way to get anywhere. Rowing is one of the best of all exercises. Our outboard motor has not been started in 18 months. We should try for 24 months. It might not be good for the motor, but it is good for us.