Hobie Cat Forums

Just bought a wave today!!!!!! I like to start sailing this weekend but I know the lake will be very cold. What kind of gear do I need to sail in cold water? Where is the best and most affordable places to buy? Thanks.

I personally like NRS products, you can build up layers. I have a couple of their wave lite items: farmer john and pants, the hydosilk and hydorskin stuff very nice. Fast shipping. You should at least check them out. Their desperado boots are really nice too and they also have a clearance rack. I don't kayak but had found the boots in a store, that lead me to the web site.

NRSWEB.com

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Buxton, 1108' H16 White w/ Coronado Sails: White Lightning
(1108' ? Bought new, right out of the box, from dealer in 2011, manufactured in 2008, what a deal!)

Congratulations on the Wave! Welcome to the club; you'll love it!

+1 on NRS.

I got the Farmer Bill "Grizzly" (fuller cut) wetsuit, and it gave me another month of sailing season. Most wetsuits in the stores are made for surfers with padded chests and back zippers, which is the opposite of what sailors need. NRS caters mostly to kayakers, but their stuff is good for sailors too.

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What - Me Worry?


2006 Hobie Wave
"Humuhumunukunukuapua'a"

The first thing that needs to be considered is the actual water and air temperature. Just saying that the water is "cold" really doesn't provide enough information. And without giving your location, it's pretty much impossible to give specific suggestions. For instance, if the water is in the 30s-40s, you would be looking at a dry suit with substantial layers of insulation or a "steamer" type wetsuit in the 5mm range. If the water is in the 60s or higher, you would likely only need a shortie type wetsuit or maybe even just a spray top with a neoprene pull-over underneath.

There are tons of different types of wetsuits for all different applications and water temps and they can range in price from $50 to $500 or even more for a top-notch dry suit. So really, you need to provide information about the conditions you plan to sail in.

sm

And do not dress just for comfort and spray sitting on your sailer, dress for a prolonged immersion and wind chill if you get out.

Thanks everyone for your input. srm makes a great point that I need to find out the lake temperature. The lake I will be sailing on is Green lake in Wisconsin. It's either the deepest or 2nd deepest lake in Wisconsin approx 260 feet.

One company that makes sailing specific gear, that seems to be very well thought out, and effective is Gill Marine. I really like a lot of their stuff, and our local shop sells it.

Here's their website. They've pretty much got anything that you'd need.

http://www.gillmarine.com/df/

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I live in MN and have gotten used to sailing in a variety of colder conditions. The first thing I'll say is that nothing beats a dry suit. Put a layer of thin fleece under that and you're good to go.

On warmer days using spray pants and/or spray jacket with cuffs/neck with velcro fasteners goes a long way to keeping you warm. Also, not a bad idea to bring extra clothes and stick in a dry bag inside the boat. Anything you wear underneath the dry suit or the spray suit should be made of some kind of fast dry material. Fleece if you need something warmer or some kind of running type shirt (ie Under Armor or the like). Don't wear cotton or sweatshirts: when they get wet you'll feel it for the rest of the day. Also know that, even if you do get a dry suit, they can still let a little moisture in so a wicking under layer is still important.

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Adam
e-mail: ab at medjet.net
H17S, Hobie Bravo, A cat
Fleet 444

Great points. In cold weather, I always bring a dry bag with extra clothes, and I never sail unless I'm wearing some sort of moisture wicking/quick drying shirt regardless of the weather. Once you start wearing those on the water, you'll never wear anything else. You don't have to buy the best brand names either, there are a lot of options now. I have a mix of name brand and off brand stuff. Some of the name brand stuff is a little nicer, but it's not twice as good even if it is twice as expensive.

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