Casting off into the rain?

[Shawn]

I picked up a closeout pair of Gill rain bibs, and a jacket in case rain comes in while I'm out sailing. With proper layering it should also work well in colder weather to extend the season.

At home today it was really pouring so I decided to try the gear out to see how well it worked. With the double closures on the wrists snugged down, jacket zippered and hood out and adjusted I didn't get wet at all and it was comfortable to wear. It occurred to me that if I can deal with the rain it really was a nice day to sail... nice steady breeze, no lightening and comfortable temperature. I'd need boots (wearing Teva's today) but I'm considering heading out next day like this which is not how I have ever thought of rain and sailing before.

Anyone else do this and if so any tips for a rookie rainy day sailer?

If things went poorly I could always drop anchor and warm up/dry off with the wood stove.

Between the Gill stuff and the drifter I'm looking forward to rain and light air days..... might be a sign I'm loosing it a little.

Shawn

[Bob23]

   Makes sense to me if you can cool off. Down here this time of year, rain is often accompanied by lightning and we all know about how much fun it is to sail with lightning, don't we.
   Personally, I like sun and blue skies but eventually, we'll all get caught out in the rain so why not try it out intentionally?
Bob23 

[rwdsr]

I got caught in the rain last fall, and the only thing I had was a wet weather Columbia top, and a pair of neoprene gloves.  I was dry and warm from the waist up, but soaked and froze from the waist down.  Brother when your feet or head is cold, you are cold all over.  Since I didn't have a lot of money, I got a set of Frogg Toggs with the bib style pants for Christmas.  That set came with it's own waterproof bag, and works real well.  I'm a lake sailor, so can get away with cheap for right now, till I can do something better.  You are so right, get a good pair of boots on a cool day, they are worth their weight in gold.  Neoprene (sp?) gloves are real cozy too.

BobD

[Shawn]

Bob,

"we'll all get caught out in the rain so why not try it out intentionally? "

That is my thinking and this way I can pick the rain instead of having it handed to me. Might be fun, probably have a lot of the bay to myself too.

Shawn

[Shawn]

BobD,

"You are so right, get a good pair of boots on a cool day, they are worth their weight in gold.  Neoprene (sp?) gloves are real cozy too."

Thanks for confirmation on the boots. Gloves are a great idea, my hands get cold/numb pretty easily too.

Shawn

[Pacman]

Love to sail in rain as long as there is no lightning.

Steady breeze and nice an cool.

[sailen69]

I have been out in the rain and even snow a few times.  Most of the days I am getting on the water, other boaters are getting off the water.  It is nice to have the place to your self.  I have a pair of Gill sailing boots and also upgraded to a good foul weather jacket and bibs.  I leave the lightning alone but rainy conditions are part of sailing for me.  I keep a close eye on the weather forecast and have a weather radio to monitor current and changing conditions.  I always take extra changes of worm clothing and shoes if needed.  I hang my sails and lines up in the car port when I get home.  Any day at the lake beets a day at work!

Rich

[kickingbug1]

  yes i have concluded that this guy "rich" is indeed a SAILOR

[Bob23]

   Once, back in my Seapearl days, I set sail on a hot August afternoon here in NJ. No forecast of rain or inclement weather. About  1/2 hour after I left my home port of Surf City, I saw this squall come off the mainland and head across the bay. In minutes, I was surrounded by torential rain and lightning, not fun being in an open sailboat with 2 aluminum masts sticking up.
   Some friends of mine, from the safety of thier bayfront home, upon looking out into the storm, remarked: "Who is that idiot out sailing in an electrical storm?". That'd be me.
bob23...glad to be alive.

[Tim Gardner]

Bob, you were doubly safe in your two cones of protection from the top'o mast.  A veritable Faraday cage.

TG

[wes]

Tim - my understanding from reading about lightning strikes is that the "cone of protection" may mean YOU won't get hit directly by lightning, but the MAST could still get hit meaning anything from serious rigging or spar damage to a hull puncture. So, you won't die from electrocution but you might die from drowning. Is that correct?

It's always fun to have one more thing to worry about .

- Wes

[Tim Gardner]

Wes - Correct-o-mundo.

[skip1930]

Wes asks: my understanding from reading about lightning strikes is that the "cone of protection" may mean YOU won't get hit directly by lightning, but the MAST could still get hit meaning anything from serious rigging or spar damage to a hull puncture. So, you won't die from electrocution but you might die from drowning. Is that correct?

I have been giving this lightening business some thought.
Sure; get hit by lightning at the top-o-mast and it's possible that the mast could be blown clean through the bottom of the boat. More likely the hull will be penetrated with millions of tiny fisher cracks that could allow the sea to sweep in. Since you won't have any electrics left, the manual pump may or may not keep up. That's if you have not started to assume room temperature yet. [died]

A guy could do the following:
~Use the stern standing rigging [not on a CP-16] from the top-o-mast to the stern chain plate.
~From the chain plate weld on a '0' sized lug and affix with resin and flair-in on the outside of the hull a '0' sized cable down the backside of the transom.
~Following the aft curve of the bilge to the flat bottom of the keel.
~Now I have a marine grade 6mm aluminum 'Keel Boot' glued to my flat bottom of the keel which is where an '0' sized cable lug could be welded on.

The lighting follows the path of least resistance and that would be the standing rigging cable, the '0' sized cable down under the boat to the boot and safely into the sea.

That's the idea anyway, probably end up swimming.

skip.

[wes]

So many possible outcomes; so many different theories about how lightning behaves; what's a sailor to do?

There's one CERTAINTY however, if lightning strikes my boat: even if we survive, it will be my wife's last time on the boat .

- Wes

[brackish]

So many possible outcomes; so many different theories about how lightning behaves; what's a sailor to do?

There's one CERTAINTY however, if lightning strikes my boat: even if we survive, it will be my wife's last time on the boat .

- Wes

I hear that

Hey I sailed on the Mississippi Gulf Coast for years.  During the summer it wasn't if the thunder squall would come it was when.  It always worried me, but I never heard of anyone getting hit.  I read with great interest every article that came out about protection from a lightning strike, then the usual disclaimer, that no one really knows what is best.  So I guess I'll just go with the statistical reality that I'm more likely to catch it in a car wreck going to the marina then in the boat hit by lightning.