Clothing

Sailing around the bottom of Australia and across the Tasman Sea at this time of year is a fairly chilly affair and suburban standards of dress and hygiene give way to expediency. The following tells it like it was. - Robert

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Clothing

When I get out of the bunk I am wearing the following:
no socks
underpants
close-fitting leotard-like pants made in NZ of fine merino wool
track suit pants
two close-fitting full sleeve skin-fitting tops made in NZ of fine merino wool
a track suit top
a heavy wool sweater
I have been wearing these same garments since Eden and probably will wear them all of the way to NZ.

I then proceed to the wet-weather locker and fetch the sea boots, bib & braces style wet weather trousers, sailing jacket, and life jacket with built-in harness. I put the trousers on, braces over my shoulders, front zipped up. Behind the front zipper is a panel going up to the mid-chest and designed to keep the chest dry. I then sit down and put on the thick alpine socks which I remove before sleep to give them and my feet some airing. Then come the sea boots, which go up to the mid-calf and have provision for tightening them around the leg but we find not necessary. The legs of the trousers fit over the boots and are tightened around the boots with velcro straps. Then the sailing jacket goes on. It is a high-quality heavy duty one provided by my friend Roland. It has zippered pockets, a hood, velcro strapping around the wrists, and a front zipper protected by a waterproof flap that goes up to the chin. Then I put on the life jacket/harness. It is the manual pull cord type because we did not want to risk an automatic one going off when doing wet work in the cockpit or fore deck. We have fitted strobe lights inside of the jackets so that when the jacket is inflated the light will be exposed and automatically start when it contacts salt water. Strapped to it is the Raymarine man overboard “lifetag” which will set an alarm off in the boat if I fall overboard. I check to ensure that its green light is periodically flashing, meaning that it is functioning correctly. I ensure that the stainless steel pocket knife is still in place. Then I put on one US navy wool beanie if I am starting a day watch or two beanies if it is a night watch. On the way out I put on sailing gloves to protect my hands and help keep them warm.

The merino skin-tight garments have lived up to their promise: comfortable, warm, and extremely tolerant of body odors. I've been told that the NZ yachtsman Peter Blake wore a set continuously for 140 days. The Ronstan sea boots and Musto wet weather pants have been superb. We have yet to have these outer layers penetrated by rain or salt water.

[Post script: I got to NZ with the set of clothes described above and two changes of socks. At anchor in NZ I had a bath in the ocean then put on the same clothes except for fresh underpants.]