what do you COLD water guys wear sailing?

I live in Bellingham WA, which is the upper NW corner of washington on the coast. The Lakes arent too cold, but the Ocean is around 55 at its warmest right now, and soon will be back into the 40's. What to wear out there? Spray suit with a wet suit? How are spray suits to swim in if you have to? Any other ideas?

We did a run from Sandy Point, through Hale's Passage, to the SW end of Lummi Island the other day. Once we got into the 6' waves in Hales, it got real cold, real fast. Other than that, it was great.

Anybody else do overnight camping trips on theirs? If so, where do you put youre gear? Im definantly gonna have to add some ports and dry bags. All that stuff on the tramp sucked, but it was worth it. Heres other peoples photo's of the area.

http://www.mobilegeographics.com/tideim ... ta6788.png

http://lummi-island.com/Lummi_Aerial.jpg

http://www.bellingham-yachts.com/Press/ ... ingham.jpg

If you're going to get wet and stay wet, as long as the air is warm, I wear a wet suit. If the air is cold as well as the water, I would reccomend a dry or spray suit. But, try not to go swimming in them.

Until this season, I sailed on Lake Champlain and off the coast of Salem, MA. The water in MD, is like taking a bath.

_________________
Nick

Current Boat
In the market
Previous boats owned
'74 Pearson 30
'84 H16
'82 H18 Magnum
St. Louis, MO

Hobie Nick....

You sailed out of Salem, MA? I live in Wilmington, MA and I sail on lakes. What size Hobie do you have? I have been interested in taking my 14 out into a bay such as Gloucester Harbor. Good idea, Bad idea??

Hey Greg

I live and sail on the extreme (figuratively and literally) North Coast of California. If you can afford it buy a good dry suit, (I wear a Kokatat Goretex which they gave me for doing some promotionals for them), I would certainly pay for one. Your main concern is if you go in and end up having to stay in the water for any period of time. The dry suit with good thermal protection layers underneath will keep you nice and cozy and best of all DRY. I used a combination wet suit with a cheap lightweight motorcycle rain suit coverall for a l o n g time and it worked great but when you get wet, you stay wet, and there is nothing worst then putting a wet, wet suit on the morning after!!!!! It was always a challenge to get my crew motivated for those early Sunday morning starts. A wet suit will give you the thermal protection you need but not the comfort. I found with the wet suit the extra thickness around my knees would cause some stiffness, as you know on the 16 your knees are bent allot. With a dry suit you can step right out of it and go directly to Sunday services in your best duds. With a spray suit if you go in your going to get wet and stay wet and have no thermal protection, which is your biggest concern where your at.

Swimming? If conditions indicate thermal protection wear your life jacket!!!!!, as a matter of fact one should always wear their life jacket. Something additional to think about; When I am sailing on the coast I carry a couple of hand held flares and a couple small bottles of drinking water. Ya just never know.

Can’t tell you much about camping off the boat, I do have a tent which was made for the 16 which I believe sets up on the tramp. I don’t know if they still make them or not?

PS I once bought some really cool old HO slot cars while passing through Bellingham.

I personally never go out without my lifejacket. Its got an emergency flasher and whistle that ive never used, but always makes me feel a little bit more comfortable.

How is a dry suit in the sunshine? Its rarely above 80, and usually below 70 from spring till fall, and in the winter it rarely goes below 40.

Swimming is the worst case scenario, but if its gotta be done, i wanna make sure its possible. I always carry water and a snack, i get too thirsty not too.

Ive seen the tramp tents, but we just stowed our tent, we have boater only campspots all over the San Juans, so i would rather get up off the water and get a fire going and relax.

On the map that i attached you can see Bellingham bay in the upper right corner. Lummi Island is the long skinny one closest in. Thats were weve been sailing, but weve thought about going farther into Orcas islands with our friends who all paddle expedition kayaks. Its got some open water, but its never very far to the closest island. Is that just pushing it way to far on a Hobie 16?

http://www.fineedge.com/GRAPHICS%20NAUT ... Isouth.jpg

As for pushing it to the Orcas, I can tell you that on a Hobie Cat trip I took in Thailand we went from Ko Samui to Ko Tao on an 18'. That distance is a little over 40 miles (65 km) one way, and we sailed back two days later. We did have a support boat, though. It can be done.

While reading northcoastmike's entry i thought about what he said about the wet suit and the dry suit. Its a great idea because of the warth you get. Then he mentioned his knees getting stiff. They have wetsuits avalible that are long sleeve but have shorts as opposed to a full length wetsuit. My uncle bought a divesuit from overtons. It comes with the farmer johns and a long sleve but short style bottom and he dives in the ocean off the coast of MA until late November. The thing is like 10 millimeters when you put them both on together. Lots of warmth and a fair amount of mobility.

Having worn a wetsuit in October in MA... It's just not comfortable. They are great as long as you stay wet. But, when it gets cold you really want to stay dry adn a drysuit is the way to go if you plan to spend a decent amount of time on the water. I have found that a wetsuit will chafe and pull out your body hair when it starts to get dry. Also, when the wind is really blowing the wet suit isn't so warm.

What worked for me as a cheap solution, since drysuits are $$$, is to use the wetsuit and keep it wet. I also wear a sheap rain shell over my life jacket. This keeps the wind from sutting through the neoprene. I have a shorty wet suit for the summer and a long one for the spring and fall. The neoprene boots are great. I really want a farmer john suit, but I moved to much warmer waters. Having these options allows me to mix and match for the conditions.

My wetsuits are 5mm and I got them at Costco for about $50 in the spring. Check out water ski shops and surf shops for last years model. You can get good clearance prices.

_________________
Nick

Current Boat
In the market
Previous boats owned
'74 Pearson 30
'84 H16
'82 H18 Magnum
St. Louis, MO

I have not used it yet but got the idea from Jeff Newsome. He has an outfit that is an inner and outer setup. The inner is a new material from Mysterioso called M-Tech. You get the top and bottom, then put a spray system over that. They are sold trough REI.com. The outergear is a spray suit also sold at REI. I think he uses the NRS Spray pant and top, but I am not real sure about that. As I remember he spent less than $300 for the whole outfit.

The real seller was after he tipped over at Big Bear Lake, in really cold water. They righted the boat he remembered to check under the garments. He said that there was a bit of dampness under the outer garment but his skin was dry as the inner garment had already wicked the water away from his skin. More inportantly he and his normally cold crew were both comfortable. They were each wearing identical outfits.

Later,
Dan

i also live in in nortrhen washington. heres what i ware. shorts and a life jacket

I use a drysuit for kiteboarding in lake michigan up to the point it's frozen over and planning on doing the same with my new hobie. Drysuits are a must in the 40 degree water. The 6/4 mil wetsuits made for the extremes are a little bulky and can cause fatigue if you have to swim for any length of time. Go dry!!
Cory

I live, sail, dive and surf on the Oregon coast and I would recomment getting a good wetsuit made for surfing. The newer ones are super stechy, dry fast, and comfortable. Get at least a 4/3mm suit (4MM in torso, 3mm in extemities) or even a 5/4mm depending on your comfort level in cold water. Also get one with the smoothy type skin on the torso, totally blocks wind so you stay warm even when dry.

If you are thinking drysuit look for a neopene one, I've dove bag suits and I hate them, uncomfortable, hard to move around in. I don't know if anyone makes a neopene drysuit for non-diving, but if they do that's the way to go.

For surf wetsuits check out http://www.cleanlinesurf.com you can shop and order online and they ship for free. I've been going there since the 80's.

Have fun!!

_________________
Jeff B

1978 H16 #31207