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In early June I will be attending sailing school for two weeks on northern Lake Michigan. I will be working on ASA 101, 103, and 104. I am currently gathering the gear I will need during my school. I grew up in Minnesota and so I understand that it will be cold and colder on the water, especially that time of year. I have acquired a rain suit and I have plenty of clothing for layering. My question concerns outerwear. I think key investments might be a jacket of some type and pants. Non-marking shoes are also a requirement. What recommendations do you experienced folk have in this area for a beginner of modest means?
In early June I will be attending sailing school for two weeks on northern Lake Michigan. I will be working on ASA 101, 103, and 104. ...What recommendations do you experienced folk have in this area for a beginner of modest means?
My advice is not to get all wacky with the high-end sailing clothes. LL Bean carries modestly priced outerwear that should be fine. You'll want something with windbreaking capabilities. Check the sale link at places that sell sailing clothes. It's mostly for racers, but I've had good luck buying from the sale rack at Annapolis Performance Sailing.
Sailing gloves (I use kayaking gloves with the half-fingers) should be high on your list. I find during long sails they help curb fatigue and help give you a better grip on lines. Keep your hands a bit warmer, too.
Polarized sunglasses also help with the fatigue and to see better. I wear mine even when it's slightly overcast because they cut down on the glare tremendously. If you're skeptical, wear non-polarized and then switch. You'll see a huge difference.
I would suggest good socks, too, despite it being June. If your feet happen to get wet there's few things more miserable than wearing wet socks or being sock-less in wet shoes when it's chilly.
I just purchased a Guide Jacket off of the sale rack at APS for a great price, thank you soo much. I have a pair of bike gloves. DRFerron, your advice was very helpful. Will any non-marking athletic shoe work?
with the colder weather you may want to consider boots instead of shoes, once they get wet.... Boots will keep you dryer warmer for longer.
bring ski goggles and also garden gloves to go over the half fingered ones, keeps hands warmer again easy to remove if needed.
a good balaclava or hat is important as well.
wear good wicking ability cloths as well as layers
GREETINGS EARTHLINGS You will need to stop the heat escaping from your neck and head so good hat, fur works great and is always a talking point a good scarf to stop the drips going down your back is a great move take your own bucket with a chundder mark for your depth of contemplation and loads of canndy your going to burn so many calleries just staying warm that will need replaceing, and a good sence of houmor and you will be sound GO SAFE
Not clothing related, but at the end of each day I suggest that you spend an hour or so by yourself thinking over the day and writing down questions that you have while they're fresh. That way you can ask your instructor the next day. If there is something you're just not getting, don't be afraid to question and continue questioning until you have it straight. You're paying them for answers not just instruction. Hopefully, if your instructor doesn't know an answer, he or she will be honest enough to say 'I don't know."
Just in case bring one set of warm weather shorts and short sleave shirt.
No matter what they say the weather will be, it can be the opposite.
Might me the hottest it has been in 100 years.
Just happened to us.
We were told it was going to be cold and all we wore were shorts.
Unusually hot everyone said.
We had to make do with one third of what we brought.
What an amazing array of responses! The Popeye lunch box is definitely on my list. It will be a guitar and a harmonica (guitar on the hard only). I have experienced swings of temperature in northern Minnesota fishing trips with my Dad so I will plan for both. I am attending this school with two great friends. We can support each other in our learning and processing of the experience each day. I am currently doing as much book work as I can. The school from northern Michigan has sent my study guides and textbooks so it is my hope that I will have as much of the terminology down before I leave in June. We will have three days in between the 101-103 course and the 104 course. The sailing school is giving us access to a boat during those days to practice what we learned in those two first classes. It is my intent to keep a journal on the whole process (I am an English teacher of course) and am willing to share if anyone is interested.
Fleece stuff is always good. As in mountaineering, remember "cotton kills." A good wool ski hat that won't blow off and will cover your ears may come in handy. +1 on the dry socks, boots, and a balaclava. Don't worry about expensive Goretex type clothes. Good quality Helly Hansen commercial rain jacket/pants are a good investment and will last you for years. )Get green so you don't look like a yachtie)
Wool socks. I know, I know. But what you think is not true. Wool can get wet and still keep you warm. They won't rub a blister when they get wet, and they will dry out with body heat. Smartwool is a very good brand, I even wear them here in South Texas in the summertime.
Also wool or silk thermal underwear as a base layer. Then all the rest can be anything you want. It seems plastic clothes are cold when it is cold and hot when it is hot. Wool and silk not so.
Sounds like a fun program. Are the Great Lakes programs more affordable that the Florida/Caribbean programs?
John
Wool is a great idea! I will check into that. I don't know about how the price compares. It is expensive but to get three certifications and some practice time and a cool cruise is very sweet. You can easily figure out where I am going. There aren't too many schools in Northern Michigan on Lake Michigan.
Rick, there are nice lightweight wool socks. The Tilley (hat) company maeks some and they're expensive--but they may delight your feet for ten years.
Headgear, baseball cap AND retainer strap, sunglasses AND retainer strap...unless they stay on real real well. A wool watch cap with a small sun visor in it is called a "jeep cap" like what Radar always wore on MASH. Makes a good compromise when it is still chilly out but when you're looking aloft to see sail shape, the visor helps.
If you have to spend two weeks in foulies...the first layer, the underwear, really count. (Socks too.) Wool and silk keep you dry and warm. (Thin light silk from China has become really cheap, too.) So do the "wicking" plastics but cotton can be worse than useless. And that applies to your pants as well, blue jeans stay wet forever and chill you. Nylon or poly blend pants will at least dry in a short time.
And sailing gloves. Whatever fits well. You can also get knit kevlar gloves (always in a dull yellow color) at most hardware stores, designed for handling rough materials. Kevlar lasts forever and totally prevents rope burns, doesn't come apart the way sailing gloves often do. And the knit helps with fit.
Sunblock and chapstick can be very handy too.
Any camping store should be able to help you out with clothes that help keep you warm and drier, and for most sailors, a dry sailor is a happy sailor.
This may sound strange but chapstick!! My lips got so wind burnt when i went sailing (it was in summer in Australia - but still)
Also take a water bottle. It's amazing how strenuous it can be at times.
I always found I left the class feeling a bit dehydrated and hungry. You're too busy to think much about drinking water but you'll sweat out a load. Also the boats I sailed had no head so I tended to under-drink.
After a while I started leaving a cooler in the car with a drink and a snack for the drive home, or sometimes a flask of hot tea. This is a hiking trick of mine too, nothing like some hot tea and a chocolate bar waiting for you in the car.
Another idea is to bring a treat to share on the boat - cookies, candy, or whatever. Ginger cookies are great.
Finally I love my Seaspecs. Mostly I used the tinted ones but I have a polarised pair without tint which are great for overcast days. They keep the wind out of your eyes so they don't water or get sore.
If you are going to the school based near Traverse City, Leave some time for nosing around the town. We sail out of TC and more often than not June is pretty good, warm weather, but as the saying goes here, if you don't like the weather wait 15 minutes.
And if you are doing this school, I'd be glad to help with any local info I may be able to share.
I am taking class near Traverse City. Two of my friends are joining me for the classes. We will be around that area for more than a week and will plan some exploring. What is there to do? Is there live music available?
My favorite piece of clothing for cold weather sailing was a long-sleeved, snug, thin fleece "undershirt." Never took it off for days on end. And I will echo the call for extra socks. Wool or fleece. But you are from Minnesota and you know this.
I agree that clothing has been well covered. Being from Minn. you are familiar with our seasons in the North. They change every 5 minutes.
Assuming that you are taking the courses from BBYC. A good group of instructors and usually classmates. I have taken those classes from them in June and there were days when we got sunburned all day and then it went to high 30's at night and the burn made it extra cold. Bring SUNSCREEN!
After a night at Beaver Is. in the 30's I found the bath house was a wonderful, warm place. If I would have known it was that warm in the middle of the night I think I would have slept there!
Layers, and at least one of them water proof, and you will be fine. Have a great time and do read the material ahead of time. The guy in the class that does not read ahead, and there will be one, will slow the rest up a little.
I have been reading, and studying. I am pretty green so I will need to be well prepared. I am wondering about flotation devices. Whether I should just use what ever they have or if I should bring one of my own and what would be my best choice?
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