Electrically heated clothing for winter sailing ?

sarabande

sarabande

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A heated motorcycle jacket is around 90W, and shorts around 40W, so a total of about 10A load.


Now that is a very sustainable requirement from a half-decent alternator system, and easy enought o arrange for sockets in different places on board.


Why don't people use electrical clothing ? Magnetic deviation ?
 
sarabande said:
A heated motorcycle jacket is around 90W, and shorts around 40W, so a total of about 10A load.


Now that is a very sustainable requirement from a half-decent alternator system, and easy enought o arrange for sockets in different places on board.


Why don't people use electrical clothing ? Magnetic deviation ?
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Fear of frizzy hair?

Or just wanting to sail in those conditions?
 
sarabande said:
Why don't people use electrical clothing ?
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No need for it?

Even during night watches in the Baltic in February, when the boat had had to be broken out of the ice when we arrived to collect it, I found ordinary warm clothing sufficient provided I could stay out of the wind behind the sprayhood. I'd brought a neoprene face-mask and goggles, designed for skiing in extreme conditions, but didn't need them.

Pete
 
Years ago I Bought SWMBO a pair of electrically heated socks from one of those freebie " innovations " magazines as a stocking filler. They ran on a D cell in a pocket at the top of each sock.. Sadly she was not amused and has never let me forget it.
 
sarabande said:
A heated motorcycle jacket is around 90W, and shorts around 40W, so a total of about 10A load.

Now that is a very sustainable requirement from a half-decent alternator system, and easy enough to arrange for sockets in different places on board.
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I once visited the old boy -- he was a bit of a toff -- who first developed 12V heated clothing in the UK, mainly aimed at the motorcycle market. His house was freezing for visitors, but not for him: he wore his own kit all winter and just went from room to room plugging himself into his custom 12V ring-main. So I'm sure it could work for you, sarabande, if you can stand a reputation for eccentricity.
 
I once had a pair of heated motrocycle gloves. Toasty on a long cold run - it made a huge difference to the usual lack of feeling in the extremities. Until one sad day it developed a fault - in the fast lane of the M6, and started overheating and burning my hand. Next followed one of the more epic moments of my biker career as i tried to maintain control with a hand that was fast being fried and was too painful to operate the clutch, while trying to weave my way through heavy traffic to the hard shoulder. I still wonder what passing motorists thought I was doing! I relegated them to the bin, deciding the pain of being cold was less than the risk of being fried!

I rather fear the same might happen in a wet boaty environment - sudden frenzied dances round the foredeck as crew strip off to reach the offending garment at 3.00am.... :)
 
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oldharry said:
I rather fear the same might happen in a wet boaty environment - sudden frenzied dances round the foredeck as crew strip off to reach the offending garment at 3.00am.... :)
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'Tis a pity Mike Peyton isn't around to grace us with one of his hilarious cartoons.... :D
 
in really grim weather I use a BMW heated waistcoat when riding my bike. It works fine but it is a bit of a faff plugging it in when I start off, keeping the cabble out of the way etc. And it a bit too hot. I have to keep turning it off altogether and thats with a much greater wind chill factor than you get on the boat.

It would be totally impractical on my boat. Sailing requires too much movement so you would be forever plugging and unplugging as you moved about. Bit like a safety harness and doggy lead. In any case , the power consumtion requires a running engine and if the engine is running you can shelter out of the weather.

For several years I have raced my boat through the winter and have fund that the best answer to cold weather is a two piece immersion suit. The foam inner flotation lining is great insulation
 
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oldharry said:
I once had a pair of heated motrocycle gloves. Toasty on a long cold run - it made a huge difference to the usual lack of feeling in the extremities. Until one sad day it developed a fault - in the fast lane of the M6, and started overheating and burning my hand. Next followed one of the more epic moments of my biker career as i tried to maintain control with a hand that was fast being fried and was too painful to operate the clutch, while trying to weave my way through heavy traffic to the hard shoulder. I still wonder what passing motorists thought I was doing! I relegated them to the bin, deciding the pain of being cold was less than the risk of being fried!

I rather fear the same might happen in a wet boaty environment - sudden frenzied dances round the foredeck as crew strip off to reach the offending garment at 3.00am.... :)
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Old Harry,

I had exactly the same experience with electric inner gloves on my CX500 - I used to travel to and from Somerset every weekend - it turned out they'd sold me 6 volt gloves in a 12 volt pack; I still have slight scars on the back of my hands, it's tricky doing a crash stop where the M5 & M4 merge towards Bristol, ouchy !
 
sarabande said:
Birdseye - do you mean the insulated suits favoured by and designed for anglers ?
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No. Mine came from Cosalt and is the stuff they sell to fishermen ( ie trawlers) and offshore workers. Tried to find a link on the net but it looks like Cosalt have been taken over. Best description is like a conventional set of oilies but wiith a thin foam layer between inner and outer which gives the flotation and also supplies insulation
 
No. Mine came from Cosalt and is the stuff they sell to fishermen ( ie trawlers) and offshore workers. Tried to find a link on the net but it looks like Cosalt have been taken over. Best description is like a conventional set of oilies but wiith a thin foam layer between inner and outer which gives the flotation and also supplies insulation[/QUOTE]

I had a set of those. They were made in Scunthorpe by a firm called Mullion. I got a look round the factory and got em cheap because a distant relative worked there. The foam was closed cell and provided floatation as well as insulation. The literature showed a trawler in bad weather with the logo " The sea shall not have them" . They were ok but stiff
 
Well this thread confirms my theory that there are an awful lot of bikers who sail, or boat owners who have a motorcycle if you prefer.

I have to agree that the motorcycle is a colder place than the cockpit - even the small amount of exercise involved in bracing yourself against the motion of the boat helps, and these days with Dubarrys (the warm leather seaboots that HW Tilman always dreamed of) and ski mitts and modern oilies and underlayers, one should not get too cold on board.

I had a slightly similar hand frying experience when I bought my BMW K bike - the off position for the rocker switch for the heated grips is in the middle, not "up" or "down", and in trying to turn it off I had turned it to "full blast!"
 
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