Cool cruising

[CO Editorial]

60% of responding Catalina owners sail in weather cooler than 50 degrees, according to last week's Quick Quiz. Do you use any special clothing or gear to stay comfortable? And how low do you go (in degrees)? Present your coolest opinions here.

 

[sail 6310]

weenes

if you can covered up to shovel snow -a most unpleasent chore - why whould younot do the same to go sailing -a most plesant chore(geting out to the boat, putting up the sails getting out to open water and getting back home). in the middle are the snow ball fightsand the snow angles,ie. clear sailing. marshmellow in your coco  sail 6310

 

[John Finch]

Cool is kewl

It ain't too cold to sail until the lake freezes over. Then it's time to work on the boat.Happy sailing ya'll

 

[Myrna from Washington]

Of Course!

We sail out of Elliott Bay in Seattle, but live in Ellensburg, WA. The temp in Ellensburg is often twenty degrees colder then what it is in Seattle, so it ALMOST balmy for us. Course we are used to wearing long johns, woolies, turtle necks, gloves, knit hats, heavy wool socks, sweaters etc. So we just layer it on when under sail and have the diesel furnace going down below. We take turns on deck (hour on, hour off). The main thing is we love to sail and love being on the water. And if its blowing or raining too hard, then its time to pull up to a dock, visit the local pub and enjoy the good brew, good food and local atmosphere.

 

[PJ Walchenbach]

Snow

One of my most memorable sailing experiences comes from a winter cruise four years ago. We left Seattle in the afternoon on Dec. 25th. As we sailed north toward Langley, WA it began to snow and got dark before we arrived. From the helm all I could see to my left was red snow, to my right, green snow. Visibility was down to about 5 meters. There were three inches of snow on the dock when we tied up in Langley and it continued to snow all night. At one point I got up to check the lines and watched a family of river otters playing in the snow on the dock. Those guys really know how to have fun. That morning we found 8" of snow, partial clearing and much to my delight, cross country skiers on the docks. Later that morning we continued north to La Conner Wa. As we arrived it began to snow again. This time it snowed for two days straight. When it finally stopped I spent an hour or more shoveling out the cockpit. We had received over two more feet on top of the Christmas Day 8". Our small kitten followed us down the snow covered dock jumping from one boot print to the next. We ended up spending from the 25th through January 2nd on the boat/on the water. The air was clear and clean. Very few other boats to compete with. I highly recommend winter sailing.

 

[Rick Moore]

Great Lakes, Canada

More than half our sailing season is in cool weather. We start in May (40-50 degrees) and end in late October (about the same). On our C-30 we added a complete enclosure on the cockpit, ran every line aft inside the dodger, and installed a forced air furnace. We stay very comfortable through just about any wind or rain, and seldom even have to wear our coats or jackets (unless leaving the cockpit). Certainly not modifications for someone trying to keep windage or weight down, but for cruising... VERY cool!!