Sunday, December 13, 2015

I Threw My Drysuit Away!

Last summer I took a look at my very old, seldom used dry suit and decided it was time to toss it. I haven't sailed frostbite in dinghies in decades and the rather laborious task of replacing dry-rotted seals just wasn't worth it. I guess I've reached the point where I'm quite happy watching other dinghy sailors sail in freezing water, even if I have to suffer being a very cold spectator myself.

Here is a well done video of a cold, cold regatta, an intercollegiate regatta in 420's, shot in slow motion by a professional videographer, Doug Jensen. This video was shot in New England in March; a time when the air temperature may be on the way up but the water is still just a tad above freezing. Brrr!


SONY PMW-F55 Center Scan Mode Testing -- Part 2 from Doug Jensen on Vimeo.

Another 420 slow motion video in a post on Earwigoagin -plus some comments.

3 comments:

Dieharddinghysailor said...

I'm with you there, Rod, I don't do cold well, get chilled very easily, one of the downsides of ageing, as well as poor circulation in hands n feet! But I did for some strange reason actually buy a drysuit, thinking I would get some use out of it, 'cause even though the outside temp is warm to hot when I'm sailing in the summer, the water temp remains such that I'd probably perish after about 5 mins immersion! Trouble is the drysuit has rather large feet material and I don't know if I'd be able to stuff it into my dinghy boots or even sailing wellies. Guess I'll have to try it out next year.

Alden Smith said...

Looks bleak and cold but a hell of a lot of fun!

Tweezerman said...

I remain a fan of wetsuits. They seem to remain happily in a closet for years waiting to be used with no issues other than an occasional sticky zipper and the tendency to inflate the midsection more and more every time you put it on. Plus there are various styles, the Farmer John, the Shorty, the Jacket. The only style I don't own is the Steamer which would be a good addition if I did actually return to frostbiting.