Hobie Cat Forums

Hi, I'm going sailing tomorrow. It's been an average of 55-60 degrees F this winter, but lately it's been a little warmer. Tomorrow it will be up to 70.

Will a spring suit, spraytop and some boots be enough to keep me going? Haven't done much winter sailing before, so I'd like to get people's input. Thanks.

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Typical day of fleet racing:
"Puff, Puff, Pass."

what's the water temperature?

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Sheet In...Max Out
www.fleet297.org
sailflatlands at gmail dot com

Marker - This has been a very unusual winter for most of us so far. It's ski season, but not enough snow in the Sierras. We went kayaking today in shorts and a t-shirt, and a life jacket. 75° and sunny, but not enough wind to go sailing. Whale watching. We saw 6 whales today; 4 yesterday; and many dolphins.
Dress for sailing, or other recreational activities, according to the weather rather than according to the season.
Enjoy your winter sailing tomorow in spring/summer weather!

Dress so you will be safe for the longest period of time you may get stranded in the water before help can come.....

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1980 •Hobie 16- Karumba sails - soft hulls now a Row-B-Cat •1983 Hobie 16 Tsunami sails - blue hulls-Sold •Present boat -1997 Hobie 16 Solana Sails furling jib

Richandpat, that's really good to know that some one has been able to do so many outdoor, water activities. I figured it'd be a great day to go, but I want to check with someone else that it's a good idea. Hopefully others will be out on the water with me (it's Lewisville, TX there's usually a few Hobies out there on the weekends).

Where can I get water temp? My rule of thumb was that water temp is ~10deg lower than air temp.

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Typical day of fleet racing:
"Puff, Puff, Pass."

Its not the air temperature, its the water temperature.

Ive been out on some beautiful days here in south Texas with temps hovering around 80 and abundant sunshine. But I still wear my dry suit, but I use my fingerless gloves and I don't wear as much underneath.

At the ramp wading around in waste deep water maneuvering the boat around I actually get a little chilly despite being dry.

I think that when sailing in perfect conditions the air temp is almost the same as the water temp. Summer in most places. It's easy to dress for those conditions without making any compromises. But, often times we don't have that luxury and we have to decide to dress for either the air temp or the water temp. We've sailed our H16 often in the past when the air temp was much warmer than the water temp (lake Tahoe...) and wore our wet suits & jackets - for about 5 minutes. We were overdressed and uncomfortable and removed our wet suits and sailed in comfort the rest of the day. We kept our breeze breakers on because of the icy cold spray.
Fortunately, when we capsize we're not in the water for very long. We're standing on the lower hull until we right the boat. Then, we climb back on the boat.
I think you should ALWAYS WEAR A LIFE JACKET and dress in comfort for the air temp; and if you're really concerned about the freezing cold water, as we sometimes are, sail less agressively; take fewer risks.
Marker - Our air temp amd water temp are posted at most of our beaches. Today it was 75° air and 58° water. My wife complained about the cold water when we launched our kayak, but once we got past the surf we dried off qiuckly and warmed up. Most of the other kayakers and stand-up-paddleboarders were dressed like us (shorts and t-shirts) and most wore life jackets. Very light wind. Otherwise we would have preferred sailing.
It's really difficult to dress both comfortably and safely in warm air and cold water. We choose to dress comfortably and take fewer risks - especially in the ocean. We sail more agressively in late spring, summer, and fall.

Oops...One more thing to consider - Wind chill factor when sailing.
We usually feel as though it's about 5 degrees cooler when we're sailing (sometimes more) than when we're on shore. If the wind builds throughout the day then it could feel cooler, even if the temp rises a little.
Best to dress a little warmer and shed clothes if you're uncomfortable. Store them in a dry place if you can. If you put them under your hiking straps, or any unprotected part of your boat, they'll probably get wet.
Have fun sailing today and be safe!

Alright. I got it. I'll probably bring a wetsuit then, and if I'm too warm I'll take it off. Good suggestion about sailing aggressively. I'll try to be careful about it. I guess I'll let you guys know how it does later on.

Btw richandpat, looks like youre a san diegan haha. I used to sail FJs around shelter island and PL.

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Typical day of fleet racing:
"Puff, Puff, Pass."

Have lived in San Diego for the past 41??? years. We see the FJs racing in Mission Bay often during the spring.
I went to UH on an athletic scholarship (track and crosscountry) in the early 60's. I've competed in Dallas & Ft. Worth several times. Pretty country up there.
It looks like you'l be sailing on a lake, so no need to worry about you getting blown too far offshore in the Gulf if you capsize.
Have fun & be safe!
Rich

I went sailing on the central coast California last weekend. The San Luis Obispo air temperature was about 70 degrees and the water was somewhere around 55. I wore a full wetsuit but I probably could of gotten away with the spring suit.

I couldn't imagine you guys in San Diego not sailing this time of year. Your winter months water temperature is very similar to what ours are in the summertime.

Must be nice!

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H18 '86 "Knotty Passion"
H18 '85 Signature Series
H20 '96 "20/20 Vision
Fleet 259 Central Coast California

I spent all of last week sailing in Panama City FL. It was 65 or so and with the sun out a spray top was plenty.

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2001 Nacra 20
84 H16 108123

The following website is good for tracking the Gulf and Atlantic water temperatures in Florida:

http://www.tropicalweather.net/Florida_water_temps.htm

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Tim
82' H16
Sail # 88863
Panama City Beach, FL

Marker, there are plenty of Hobie sailors in the Dallas area that you can talk to. Fleet 23 is very acitve and will sponsor their annual Leukemia Cup regatta on Lake Lewisville, May 5-6. Fleet 23's site is http://www.hobiefleet23.com/. Your local Hobie dealer, Mariner Sails, is also an excellent source of information and they carry a large inventory of Hobie parts and accessories. Their site is http://www.mariner-sails.com/. Fleet 23 and Mariner Sails will sponsor Hobie University in April. They'll meet on the 3rd, 10th, 14th, 24th and 28th. I hope to see you at Leukemia Cup.

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Mark Van Doren
Division 9 Chairman
H20 #647
H14 #47787
H16 #112205

On inland lakes, although air temperature and lake depth has a minor influence, the major factor is Mister Sun.
Water temperature is primarily dependent on the angle of the sun and season.
That's why the water will stay warmer later in the Fall, and take longer to warm up in the Spring

http://www.fishingnotes.com/lakeinfo.php?id=29297
48 degrees is Lewisvilles' current water temp

http://www.westpacmarine.com/samples/hypothermia_chart.asp
I'd make sure there are other boats on the lake, in case of problems righting the boat, or if you break something and end up bodily submerged in the water.

How'd it go?

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Sheet In...Max Out
www.fleet297.org
sailflatlands at gmail dot com