Wetsuits and water Temps

prljack · Joined: 31 Aug 2004 Posts: 187

Waiting for the water temps to rise here in N.E., I was wondering what all you cold water sailors think about this. I have a 3/4 (I figure its a steamer, but dont know what the exact def. of steamer might be) and sail with hood, mittens and good high boots. I figure I may not be fully comfortable when the water registers 50 degrees F., but I will be able to recover from a dunking. In fact Im starting to think that if I sail in a small bay shore-to-shore I can avoid the colder water. What say ye?

ray123 · Joined: 09 Jul 2000 Posts: 63

Hey..
I sail off of Long Island in NY and my rule of thumb is so long as its high 30s and sunny, Im fine. But when its cold I will only go when the wind direction is such that if anything goes wrong, ill just be blown back into shore.
good luck.

loonie2 · Joined: 18 Jun 2004 Posts: 122

Ive sailed on less than 50 degrees with a wetsuit. My limiting factor in my area is air temperture. For the cold days I wear 2 wetsuits - a 5 ml triathalon sleeveless suit under a light flexible 3/2. Not as good as a drysuit but cheaper.

morwind4me · Joined: 30 Apr 2002 Posts: 262

I have a drysuit that I really do not wear as much as I should. I often find myself wearing two wetsuits instead; a 3/2 long suit with a 3/2 shorty over the top. I would like to replace both of those (because theyre gettin pretty ratty) with a 4/3, because theyre only about $100 on super sale.

Having said this, I would really like to get in the habit of wearing my drysuit more...its just such a pain to get on and off.

Best of luck.

prljack · Joined: 31 Aug 2004 Posts: 187

Right nere in front of me I have this old chart that Can-Am published to sell dry suits. It compares the average monthly water temps for a number of eastern seaboard locations. It states >>around 50 a dry suit<<, but theres nothing on a 3/4 steamer, although they do picture a semi-dry 3/4. Anyway they have the April adverage temp as 44 at Woods Hole, 39 at Portsmouth, 45 in Boston Harbor, 42 at Montauk and 45 at Willets Pt. The April 15 average temps would be 47 at Woods Hole, 41 at Portsmouth, 49 in Boston Harbor, 46 at Montauk and 49 at Willets Pt. These temps are all colder than the Nov. averages. It seems to me that when I first purchased my 3/4 I took it sailing in late March, but I do remember it being quite cold. Last weekends temperatures for Boston Buoy was 39, Nantucket Buoy 40 and SouthEast Buoy 41. However, these are all futher off-shore than the locations sampled for the chart. The air temps were quite pleasant this p.m., but theres still snow visible from my yard. I will be going skiing tomorrow in N.H., but perhaps Ill give windsurfing a go soon. By the way, I wore a variety of layered wetsuit pieces before I went to the 3/4. I find they get too bulky, especially in the armpits. The 3/4 can be difficult getting on and off, but it sails wonderfully.

gemoore · Joined: 14 May 2001 Posts: 491

As a sports medicine doc who goes out in cold waters, anything but a dry suit is just ignorance looking for premature death. Hypothermia is nothing to mess around with. The danger is cardiac arrest that cant be converted back to a normal rhythm. Of course, nobody knows for sure that it cant be converted until the body temp is back to normal, so they have to do CPR on you for an hour while trying to warm up your core temp. So if you want to be stupid enough to risk it, be sure you complete a living will, so you dont end up like Terry Schiavo. Also, take out a sufficient insurance policy so that your family and taxpayers dont have to foot the bill for your brain-dead body.

Am I getting the point across?

GEM

ron.c · Joined: 30 Oct 2004 Posts: 1234

my take is spend the nickle and get a drysuit. You can easily double your sailing season in comfort. As for the metal zipper, I secure a strap (to the zipper) to any thing chest high and walk it around. After a couple of dances, its easy and fast.

last week - 47 deg air no problem w/ cold

rc

mastfoot · Joined: 15 Sep 2000 Posts: 136 Location: gulfport ms

Better idea move south windy and warm in biloxi right now maxed out on 4.7 saturday in pensacola NO GLOVES NO BOOTIES NO HAT and a .5mm suit

garys · Joined: 04 May 2002 Posts: 11

Whats a good dry suit that provides protection, but isnt too restricting? Also, Ive heard that if you get a small tear in a dry suit the water can rush in and drag you under - is this a major concern for using them?

stpprblah · Joined: 04 Apr 2005 Posts: 1

There is also semi-dry suits of varying quality. Ive never tried one of the these BUT I do have a freediving wetsuit that might be called a semidry. It is a cressi-sub super-competition. It is a two-piece. The bottom is like 7mils but the chest is maybe 5. The top part is 7mils with attached hood. It is open-cell so you need to lubricate (shampoo and water) the suit to get in. It has some niffty features that prevent water from entering, but basically when I get out of this I usually have shampoo still on my arms because no water gets in. I use the suit to freedive in northern california, Im guessing water temps are 50 degress or less during november. These suits arent very popular in the US but are the thing in europe for freediving. There are only two drawbacks: 1) you have to be careful to not nick the inside of the suit because the open-cell is fragile (but at least it doesnt flood like a dry suit if you nick it) and 2) it is a little cold to get it on/off when it is freezing outside but I usually change in the bathroom or if I am close to home just wear the bottom half in the car.

There are lots of different manufactures, another popular brand is Picasso. I bought my suit from www.scubastore.com for around $200 (shipped to my door). The first suit didnt fit right, SS paid for the DHL shipping back to spain and again for the next smaller suit size. I dont know how SS is these days, Ive heard their customer service has fallen because they have gotten so many customers and cant keep up.