sailing gear

SAILING APPAREL

Sailing apparel other than shorts and T shirts is foul weather gear; clothing. Having had the experience of owning a sail boat for about 6 years and sailing the north east for the first 4 years before setting out and sailing to the Bahamas for a 15 month sabbatical from the world of the employed. I had many opportunities to have to deal with foul weather. I learned early on that the best or the worst foul weather gear functions exactly the same; by that I mean regardless what you do, you will get wet.

During the summer months when the ambient air temperature goes from 80 degrees to 95 degrees means you are warmer than the ocean water temperature and when it hits you (ocean spray) it is cold so you get cold. When a squall comes upon you the air temperature will drop and sometimes as much as 20 or 30 degrees the rain pelting you is cold as is the ocean spray that hits you and again you get cold.

Since no matter what you wear you will get wet and cold. There is a solution to the problem of how to stay warm, such as not going out when the weather is questionable and having another drink, but what do you do if you are already out there when the weather turns nasty.

What helps greatly is if you are wearing clothing that will keep you warm even though you are wet. Wiggy sailing apparel is the answer.

Always the first layer is the fishnet long underwear. The underwear will create a warm barrier between your skin surface and whatever the second layer is even though you are wet. That second layer should be either the Lamilite liner vest or liner jacket. Now, depending upon the weather and where you are located the third layer could be the foul weather gear you already own or you could get the Alaska Range Parka or pull over made from DUCKSBACK material with the L-3 or 6 zips in liner. I would be more inclined to get the L-6 since the liner (which is what is in the pull over) items utilize the L-3 insulation.

I absolutely would never use any fleece garments because they DO trap the moisture and the fleece fabric WILL restrict you freedom of movement. The Lamilite insulation does NOT retain moisture and the nylon fabric will slide over your body allowing you the maximum freedom of movement which is very necessary when you are in a situation where speed of movement is required.

While the DUCKSBACK material is not waterproof from what I have seen thus far it might as well be considered waterproof. But if water does get through the fabric chances are you will not know that is where some of the water that has gotten inside the garment came from. All the while I believe you will not believe that you are warmer than you have ever been in similar situations previously when not wearing the fishnets and Lamilite insulated garments. I know this because I experienced it years ago. I did offer sailing apparel through my original company Olam Outdoor Products and in the early days of Wiggy’s and I called it Wiggy Wear.

Of course I expect that you will have a Wiggy’s Nautilus bag on board as well. The original Nautilus I made for my own use and used it for all the years I owned Dulcinea 2, which was the boats name. The previous owner named her and had it painted on in gold leaf so I did not change it and also changing the name of a boat can be bad luck. I had 6 years of glorious sailing and no bad luck. The Nautilus never absorbed the ocean oder, never was clammy and if it did get wet it would dry very quickly; a perfect sleeping bag for boaters. It severed me well on Long Island Sound when I pushed the season into November when my insurance terminated each year. Temperatures might get as cold as 30 degrees but in the cabin that was not heated, I had the VW of the seas, I was always warm.

Fishnet long underwear and Lamilite are an unbeatable combination when you want to stay warm.