Crew Clothing for Transatlantic and Transpac

[mriggs]

Hi,

I'll be crewing on a catamaran from Spain to the Bahamas, through the Panama Canal, and ending in Australia. Leaving Spain in October, Bahamas over Christmas, arriving in Australia in October 2015.

This will be my first long-distance crewing, so I'm looking for some advice on clothing. I sail primarliy in Southern California, so I have more coastal style weather gear">foul weather gear. Just wondering what type of weather I can (generally) be expecting. Assuming full boots and waterproof gloves? And lots of synthetic/wool layers for under the foulies? I'd like to be conservative with my clothing, as I respect the quote: "There is no bad weather, only bad clothing."

Not sure if this is the right subforum for this, and if this has been covered extensively elsewhere I apologize! I tried some searches but couldn't come up with anything.

Any advice or thoughts are much appreciated!

Mike

[Stumble]

Is this a paid position or a volunteer trip, or going with friends? Typically on large yachts the crew uniform is paid for by the yacht, on a non-professional boat.

I would look at real off shore foul weather gear. Something like the Gill 5 dot series. Figure you are going to be in it for well over $1,000 for a set. But offshore gear is worlds different than day sailing stuff. And the stuff designed for sailing is worlds better for sailing than hiking gear, or other technical stuff.

After the shells are bought it's just dressing for temperature. In the cold you need a wicking base layer, then thermal layers. I like the microfiber stuff for base layers, and fleece on top. This also allows you to drop the shell and fleece and have pretty comfortable nice weather shirts.

I am a big fan of soft shells for benign cool conditions, but they won't take hours of spray.

[goboatingnow]

for the transatlantic legs, you can find the a lot of dew, then occasionally torrential downpours, so you need light waterproof clothing. The heavy weather stuff ( i.e. Gill 5 dot , which I have) is a bit overkill and tends to be difficult to keep cool in. As its a semi tropical passage, there is a lot of heat at night.

I found polartec fleeces, and a light but waterproof jacket. Typically I wore shorts, or shorts with light weight leggings.

Deck shoes or Merrills , boots are too heavy and hot

Underwear , I prefer plain old cotton, the new high tech stuff stinks like high heaven after a while.

Never needed gloves, but I carry a set anyway.

Baseball hat is useful ( with strap) good sunnies, a head torch, knife, etc


dave

[mriggs]

Originally Posted by Stumble

Is this a paid position or a volunteer trip, or going with friends? Typically on large yachts the crew uniform is paid for by the yacht, on a non-professional boat.

Volunteer position, so I'll be bringing my own gear.

Originally Posted by goboatingnow

for the transatlantic legs, you can find the a lot of dew, then occasionally torrential downpours, so you need light waterproof clothing. The heavy weather stuff ( i.e. Gill 5 dot , which I have) is a bit overkill and tends to be difficult to keep cool in. As its a semi tropical passage, there is a lot of heat at night.

I found polartec fleeces, and a light but waterproof jacket. Typically I wore shorts, or shorts with light weight leggings.

Deck shoes or Merrills , boots are too heavy and hot

Underwear , I prefer plain old cotton, the new high tech stuff stinks like high heaven after a while.

Never needed gloves, but I carry a set anyway.

Baseball hat is useful ( with strap) good sunnies, a head torch, knife, etc


dave

Thank you for the info! Do you think this would hold true for the transpac crossing as well? Would be nice if I didn't have to upgrade my foul weather gear to the Gill 5 Dot or equivalent, but of course I'd rather have it and not need it than need it and not have it. I'll be limited on packing space too though, so can't just bring everything!

Thank you both for the responses!

[goboatingnow]

Thank you for the info! Do you think this would hold true for the transpac crossing as well

Don't know, never did any significant trans oceanic sailing pacific side.


I have the full 5 dot setup, great round these friggin cold islands where I sail, always found it a bit much in warm weather,

Certainly in day time , you'll need shorts and a t-shirt, with just a light ( but good quality ) rain proof exterior shell. Night time , I added a fleece over the T-Shirt.

A few times getting soaked by rainwater, was very nice, have the shampoo handy!

dave

[boatman61]

I carry 7 thermal long sleeved T shirts.. a couple of sweaters.. a couple of Bomber style jackets that look okay for shore wear and a light weight Helly top.. WP trousers are the sort you buy for street wear.. oh.. and a few trousers/shorts and going ashore shirts.
Shoes are 2 slip on casuals (nonslip) and a pair of trainers for rugged runs ashore.
All I carried for a Feb-March delivery Ft Lauderdale-Spain.

[Stumble]

I do agree that 5 dot isn't necessary for a warm weather trip. But I like being dry. But then I am notorious for sailing in boxers and my 5 dot.

For a trip like this I would certainly bring them... I missed that the entire trip is scheduled for warm weather... I don't know that I would consider then necessary, just preferred. Since you should never see really cold weather a decent set of coast gear would be my minimum however.

[flagorio]

I like my Tilley for headgear.


Sent from my iPhone using Cruisers Sailing Forum

[mriggs]

Originally Posted by Stumble

I do agree that 5 dot isn't necessary for a warm weather trip. But I like being dry. But then I am notorious for sailing in boxers and my 5 dot.

For a trip like this I would certainly bring them... I missed that the entire trip is scheduled for warm weather... I don't know that I would consider then necessary, just preferred. Since you should never see really cold weather a decent set of coast gear would be my minimum however.

Excellent thanks! I'll plan on bringing my coastal foulies and layers. I also like being dry. Definitely appreciate everyone's input!