Need for Immersion Suits

[thinwater]

Of those of you that cruise cold waters (most of the West Coast, the Great Lakes, New England in summer, and down to the Outer Banks in winter), how many carry either immersion suits, 7mm wet suits, or dry suits for the entire crew? If you were a commercial vessel--which is less likely to sink--immersion suits are required in cold water areas (as defined above).

Though I carry several, I admit there are not enough for the whole crew nor are they fitted.

Other threads talk ad nuaseum about PFD usage, but we know their effectiveness is limited in cold water. Some racers use dry suits as deck gear--I've done that. And you have not sailed cold water much if you have yet to face a cold swim to deal with something under the boat.

[Red Sky]

The boat's in San Francisco Bay and my wife and I each have an immersion suit aboard whenever we go out the Golden Gate.

[frozenhawaiian]

new England waters, I carry enough for everyone aboard. space well spent in one of my lazarettes.

[Mike OReilly]

Sailed Lake Superior for close to a decade. One of the coldest waters to sail in the world. Never carried an immersion suit. Key is to stay on the boat, and keep the boat afloat. Far more important is good warm and waterproof foulies. You fall in, you're probably dead anyway.

[UNCIVILIZED]

If you've got cold water experience, as you say you do, then why the questions? You know of their importance, & their relatively low cost (as compared to other items onboard). So then, you have your answer.


I own both a drysuit, & a wetsuit, plus a good assortment of foulies. And when facing a trip (other than racing) in northern waters, both the wetsuit & drysuit (plus foulies) come with me, just in case.
Specifically, so that I can quickly put on the wetsuit, & then slip into my drysuit, overtop of it.. That, or put a wetsuit top, with hood, on ovetop of my srysuit.

The ctach being that drysuits are more delicate. Both the fabric, & especially the seals. And such is a need to know piece of info when choosing one's kit.

[frozenhawaiian]

Originally Posted by Mike OReilly

Sailed Lake Superior for close to a decade. One of the coldest waters to sail in the world. Never carried an immersion suit. Key is to stay on the boat, and keep the boat afloat. Far more important is good warm and waterproof foulies. You fall in, you're probably dead anyway.

if you can absolutely 100% guarantee you'll never end up in the water and never ever sink. otherwise however I see some issues with that mindset....

[Kenomac]

We have two of them onboard.

[Schooner Chandlery]

No immersions suits aboard but we have a variety of wetsuits, drysuits aboard that can be used. If we took on crew, we'd expect them to bring their own immersion suits and/or drysuits though. We do sail in cold Pacific waters, yes. We have strict rules on tethering in (always at night and if winds are over 20kts during the day) as procedures for our watch standing. Your typical sailor doesn't wander around deck in their immersion suit while doing the rounds but that is when they're most likely to end up in the water. Every boat crew is different and people make their own decisions on what they carry and how they use it.

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by frozenhawaiian

if you can absolutely 100% guarantee you'll never end up in the water and never ever sink. otherwise however I see some issues with that mindset....

You can never absolutely 100% guarantee anything. That is a silly statement ... or one made by an insurance seller.

Look ... as always, these are risk assessments. If resources (space, $$) are not an issue, sure, get an immersion suit. Heck, get a mini-sub while you're at it. An immersion suit is useful if you go in the water. It's far better NOT to go in the water. Put your efforts into staying warm, dry and floating.

[ryon]

Zero.

I have been trained in the use of the gumby suit by one tallship that never carries them, and been ordered to offload them from another that needed the space for other purposes, just prior to an extended Atlantic voyage. Sorry, but I can't recall the name of either ship.

On the others that I sail, the subject never came up.

[El Pinguino]

I don't have them and don't see the point... if you fall in you won't be wearing it... if a small ship is sinking you'll most likely have other stuff to worry about and won't be wearing it anyway.

Handiest bit of kit I have seen in the last half century was on a swedish ship we were operating. Fitted in the boats... a simple foil lined bag like a very basic sleeping bag with a draw string at the neck... ship sinks..you are in the boat... climb into this and all wind chill hypothermia issues go away.
All chucked out when the ship was reflagged... I saved a few and used them as sleeping bags for years... me being as tight as a crab's bum at forty fathoms and all... very cosy.

[Snowpetrel]

That's sleeping bag thingy is a TPA, or thermal protective aid. Good bit of kit to have in the grab bag and a requirement for solas rafts (2 or 10% of capacity from memory).

Anyway, I've carried a solas immersion suit for many years. Got one for my first singlehanded trip across the Tasman in winter. I've also carried them for all crew on all the trips to Antarctica, but if I was doing it again I wouldn't bother. I'd use a good quality dry suit instead. With wetsuit hoodies to keep my head warm. With good underlayers these keep you real warm. I spent 2 hours diving on a rudder once in Antarctica wearing a cheaper kayaking dry suit, with a stack of polerfleece underneath and a heap of dive weights on my legs. I was warm. My hands were blue, as was my face, but I was dry inside and toasty warm.

So they're probably about the same price , or even more expensive than a immersion suit, but they make the best dinghy suits, storm wet weather gear, and are compact and comfortable to wear for long periods.

Musto and kokotat make some very nice ones, but there are a few cheaper dry suits out there.

Sent from my HTC_0PCV2 using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

[El Pinguino]

I carry a 'semi-dry' that I have used in TdF.... I think the sea temp was about 8*C...warmer in than out....south of the convergence would be different....
I invested in this kit and scuba training after getting a rope round my prop off Cabo Raper and having to dive on it in Millabu with only multilayers of thermals.

'Wet' or 'dry' or 'semi-dry'...essential almost anywhere you sail....

This isn't me... it's some other nutter in my crew

[Muckle Flugga]

Originally Posted by El Pinguino

I don't have them and don't see the point... if you fall in you won't be wearing it... if a small ship is sinking you'll most likely have other stuff to worry about and won't be wearing it anyway.

Handiest bit of kit I have seen in the last half century was on a swedish ship we were operating. Fitted in the boats... a simple foil lined bag like a very basic sleeping bag with a draw string at the neck... ship sinks..you are in the boat... climb into this and all wind chill hypothermia issues go away.
All chucked out when the ship was reflagged... I saved a few and used them as sleeping bags for years... me being as tight as a crab's bum at forty fathoms and all... very cosy.

Surprised to hear you say that, El P. Thermal protection is immensely important in abandonment. The majority of casualties are due to heat loss in one way or another. And the likes of the Bounty sinking shows that even in very harsh conditions a comparatively inexperienced crew CAN and WILL don Gumby suits or TP suits of one form or another, and that they are effective. Check out "Last Man Off" for a great read and a great example of a situation where TP suits would have saved nearly the whole crew, when in fact many died.

Aye,

S

[Muckle Flugga]

Originally Posted by El Pinguino

I carry a 'semi-dry' that I have used in TdF.... I think the sea temp was about 8*C...warmer in than out....south of the convergence would be different....
I invested in this kit and scuba training after getting a rope round my prop off Cabo Raper and having to dive on it in Millabu with only multilayers of thermals.

'Wet' or 'dry' or 'semi-dry'...essential almost anywhere you sail....

This isn't me... it's some other nutter in my crew

Hmmm. Reminiscent of Persimmon. Do you know Ian?