Cold feet on a boat: how do you cope

Jamesuk

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Hi,

I usually wear two pairs of thin socks and ocean boots.

Since moving to a Drysuit I have less of a problem with getting cold feet as I wear ski socks then jump in the drysuit with wetsuit boots..

What do you wear over your feet to keep warm while sitting on watch at night in winter.

Cheers.
 
What do you wear over your feet to keep warm while sitting on watch at night in winter.

A boat :D

(Sit at the forward end of the cockpit, under the sprayhood, with my feet down the hatch. Heater on if required.)

A decent autopilot is obviously a big help for this, but I've once seen it done without. Coming on watch at 0400 in the middle of the Baltic in February, I found the skipper sitting on the top step of the companionway with only his eyes above the almost-closed hatch. No autopilot on that boat, but he'd dug out one of the dinghy oars and lashed it to the tiller so that he could steer :D

Pete
 
Something like skiing socks in wellies is usually enough for me. I have Raynaulds anyway but really only night sail in the summer. Keeping the body core temperature up is half the battle.
 
Changes of - thick - socks several times a day is the answer.

Sorry if it's too much info around teatime but feet perspire a lot more than one might expect, just very damp without reaching the pungent stage so spare socks are lifesavers for everyone onboard.
 
Hi,

I usually wear two pairs of thin socks and ocean boots.

Since moving to a Drysuit I have less of a problem with getting cold feet as I wear ski socks then jump in the drysuit with wetsuit boots..

What do you wear over your feet to keep warm while sitting on watch at night in winter.

Cheers.

Freezer bags over socks are what I used on a motorbike - feet didn't smell too good after ride, though. Boating isn't too bad as you have the opportunity to walk around.
 
Sealskins + Dubarrys

+2, an unbeatable combination and worth every penny of the admittedly eyewatering price tag.

It was worth it though because I suffer from cold feet something cruel and it was really beginning to spoil the fun. A pair of the worlds most expensive wellies and a good pair of Sealskin socks and life was once again a bowl of cherries

(It's a pity I don;t like cherries but you can't have everything!)
 
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