You haven't sailed for two months.

You go to put your wetsuit on and it's...STILL WET

On the Watkins site, you check the water temp BEFORE you check the wind strength.

The Radiator wetsuits have a shiny smooth skin lining. It dries very quickly. You can wipe it dry with a towel if you're in a hurry. The smooth skin is kind of cold when you first put it on but it warms up in seconds. It's adequate for a Melbourne winter and it's what I am wearing for sessions now.

My Rip Curl Fireskin is warmer but it's also a lot heavier and in winter it will not dry hanging in the garage. Putting it in the washing machine on a fast spin dry cycle gets it quite dry quickly. Note that you don't put it through a wash cycle. You have to sprad the wettie around the bottom of the tub so it's balanced. Maybe add a wet towel if you have to. I do this with booties as well.

To get rid of that winter bootie smell, pour about half a cup of vinegar into the bootie and top up with water. Let it sit for about 10 minutes then rinse then hang to dry somewhere warm and well ventilated. Cheap white vinegar in a big plastic bottle is best. It is far more effective than disinfectants and bleaches and stuff.

When your better half says 'do you think you'll remember how to sail .....your gear might have gone rusty'

(But I did get the screwdrivers out of sail box yesterday - had to scale rust off & oil)

You have to pscyhe your self up to go sailing because of the icey water and your the only sailor on the lake..

Windxtasy said...

It has to be at least 20 knots to coax you out of your warm comfort, then you put on a woollen vest under your wetsuit and pack a thermos of hot coffee to take with you.

20kts..? do i remember when we used to get 20kts..

When you put your wetty on before you leave home to sail the local spot and then go home in it to have a shower.

Spotty said...

When you put your wetty on before you leave home to sail the local spot and then go home in it to have a shower.

I do that too!

You surf more than you windsurf

When it's 20 to 27c most days

You start doing contortions to avoid falling in icey water and start to dread sailing and trying to gybe a shortboard in gusty conditions..
You dread going out & trying out your new board..

A 1cm dusting of snow becomes 5cm of orgasmic excitement on the news.

KenHo said...

A 1cm dusting of snow becomes 5cm of orgasmic excitement on the news.

You said you don't go to Aust skifields..Its been so long since I've gone I've forgotten how good it is.I better start to get on a fitness drive soon or Ill die if I do go..

sboardcrazy said...

You start doing contortions to avoid falling in icey water and start to dread sailing and trying to gybe a shortboard in gusty conditions..
You dread going out & trying out your new board..

but you can't hold your big board down.... what to do, what to do?

Buy some ding stick

Dinged up boards make u look hardcore

Maybe I'm a sicko but I loved the winter sailing the year I was in WA.
Lovely cold fronts bringing tons of warm northerly winds. I had a night duty job, so I went out at NOrth Leighton and Cottesloe and City Beach a ton of times and had a ball.
I actually found it colder once the Doctor started. Bloody freezing wind full of bits of frozen penguin.

Jens said...

...when windsurfing becomes a contact sport between you and the elements (cold, pitching waves, gusty winds that make a 4.2 both too large and too small, and dark unfriendly wipeouts in the fading light).