Clothing for January Atlantic Crossing

[Dockhead]

Is this shorts and t-shirts the whole way? Trying to decide whether to pack weather gear">foul weather gear or anything warm. I haven't sailed below 50N in a number of years so a little hard for me to imagine what this is going to be like.

[sailingharry]

We did a delivery from Bahamas to Newport, RI in March, a 7 day trip. By Day 2, the skimpy stuff was history.

[goboatingnow]

Originally Posted by Dockhead

Is this shorts and t-shirts the whole way? Trying to decide whether to pack foul weather gear or anything warm. I haven't sailed below 50N in a number of years so a little hard for me to imagine what this is going to be like.

You’ll need wet weather gear. It can pour down. But mainly this is tropical or near tropical sailing we did it in shorts and tee shorts , donning wet gear as needed.

[Dockhead]

OK, thanks. So I guess I'll need sea boots and light foul weather gear. I don't want to pack too much as I will have to fly back, and will need the cold weather gear on my own boat.

I guess I'll skip the warm mid layer stuff and just put on a sweather under the foulies if needed during the non-tropical leg (Mediterranean Spain to Canaries).


I'm not used to these latitudes, so quite hard for me to imagine.

[Baltic2007]

I am doing the trip in December from the Canaries. First time!

I am planning on bringing a down puff and hat for the evenings and night watches during the first week. At night with the wind I expect its not shorts and t shirts.

On the rain front I am bringing lighter weight stuff - easily packable.

[goboatingnow]

Originally Posted by Dockhead

OK, thanks. So I guess I'll need sea boots and light foul weather gear. I don't want to pack too much as I will have to fly back, and will need the cold weather gear on my own boat.

I guess I'll skip the warm mid layer stuff and just put on a sweather under the foulies if needed during the non-tropical leg (Mediterranean Spain to Canaries).


I'm not used to these latitudes, so quite hard for me to imagine.

You’ll find the boat will be humid and hot below , sticky at night. Very light sleeping clothes , day time warm pleasant conditions on deck

Line squalls build up in the evening and if your unlucky you can get a lot of early evening rain. You can kinda get stuck in westwards rain systems.

In one crossing , we turned back due to gear failure and left two days later , those in front were drenched. We stayed dry.

Lovely sailing in the main. We had 40-50 knots at over the shoulder , pounding along at hull speed with a hankie . Huge but regular seas. Up and down, roll to port, roll to starboard for 3 weeks. !!

( one women memorably said to me “ I go below put on my dry knickers , sleep , get up put on my wet knickers “ )

[Joh.Ghurt]

I found the long-johns and fleece-sweater really useful under the foulies on long night watches when approaching Europe. And also I used my knitted cap more than I expected.


Note: this was a return trip towards Europe.

[goboatingnow]

Originally Posted by Joh.Ghurt

I found the long-johns and fleece-sweater really useful under the foulies on long night watches when approaching Europe. And also I used my knitted cap more than I expected.


Note: this was a return trip towards Europe.

This will be different as they will be more south

[goboatingnow]

Originally Posted by Baltic2007

I am doing the trip in December from the Canaries. First time!



I am planning on bringing a down puff and hat for the evenings and night watches during the first week. At night with the wind I expect its not shorts and t shirts.



On the rain front I am bringing lighter weight stuff - easily packable.

Night time can be damp and the boat can be wet due to squalls. I found I used my salopettes over shorts . It’s not cold however

Wind is generally abaft of the beam so not too bad and it’s a warm wind. You won’t find much need for a puff jacket but whatever floats your boat.

[Joli]

https://www.ospo.noaa.gov/Products/ocean/sst/contour/

As others have mentioned, warm but possibly wet. Tomorrow we leave for Bermuda from the East Coast of the US. Once past the Gulf Stream the Atlantic will be 82 degree or so. From Bermuda to Antigua the water temperature will rise to about 84 and the interior of the boat can become hot because they're is little ventilation.

We have the ability to fully enclose the center cockpit so wind is not an issue. If you're standing watch at night in the wind you'll want a couple layers.

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by Joh.Ghurt

I found the long-johns and fleece-sweater really useful under the foulies on long night watches when approaching Europe. And also I used my knitted cap more than I expected.


Note: this was a return trip towards Europe.

Yeah, different latitude.


We'll be coming back via Iceland, Faroes, Ireland. So for sure I will have full cold weather gear including drysuit. But that will be next year.

[Stewie12]

The Canaries are track suit weather. By the time you get level with Barbados it will be warm, but the trade winds will make it feel cooler but not cold.. My experience anyway.

[DocHolliday]

Some of those that have done the crossing say to use wool clothes, as they are still warm when wet, unlike cotton

[goboatingnow]

Originally Posted by DocHolliday

Some of those that have done the crossing say to use wool clothes, as they are still warm when wet, unlike cotton

I did several crossings. In the trades , day time temps were high upwards of 30 degrees C. Humidity was high

Evenings could be wet sometimes very wet

But “ wool” ugh, way too hot.

I wear cotton next to the skin , then concentrate on keeping that dry ( as possible ) keeping dry is the issue not keeping warm on this crossing

I used my Gil 5 dot ocean gear a lot more then I thought I would. But it’s quite lightweight for full sallopettes. Sometimes I just used the jacket and shorts and let the shorts get wet.