Winter Sailing.

So do we.

But I think there is a big difference between "winter sailing" and a "winter delivery trip".
With the former you tend to choose when and where to sail to suit the weather. On the delivery it tends to be more risk of taking a pasting by pushing on when and where otherwise wouldn't.
Mind you, the Captains voyage close to Africa is certainly in the warm south. No risk of needing to chip ice off the rigging!
 
capnsensible said:
Low temperature sailing is something I've happily dodged for some time. But Neptune has chosen to send a wet and cold spell to Southern Spain over the next few days, just after I get there. So taking foulies and thick socks, hat, yadda yadda is the theme of the day.
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Cold spell? Gib showing 16 to 17 degrees C daytime, and 10 or 11 at night.

UK winter sailing is dreaming of such temperatures, while actuals hover around 0 to 5. (Of course, you don't even get the character-forming benefit of genuinely freezing temperatures either if you have a heater aboard. 😁)
 
LittleSister said:
Cold spell? Gib showing 16 to 17 degrees C daytime, and 10 or 11 at night.

UK winter sailing is dreaming of such temperatures, while actuals hover around 0 to 5. (Of course, you don't even get the character-forming benefit of genuinely freezing temperatures either if you have a heater aboard. 😁)
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Had my fill of winter sailing in South UK and Scotland to earn a living. I prefer warm. And the 8c forecast Friday night ain't warm!

Mind you I've sailed in sleet and snow before. But I was young. :)
 
I remember some years ago I had the bright idea to spend a few days over the New Year enjoying the quiet and empty River Deben on my small unheated boat.

For reasons best known to herself, my girlfriend chose not to join me on this particular 'holiday'.

Temperatures were about zero to 2 degrees. Of course, in such temperatures the inside of a small boat soon becomes horribly damp when occupied and gas stove used. It was grim! I could hardly sleep for shivering. Even the birdlife gave the appearance of feeling hard-done by.

With the benefit of hindsight, I can only hope there was a suitable pay-off in terms of the stiffening of my moral fibre.
 
In the coasting trade many a morning we had to beat the ropes with bits of four by four as the had frozen stiffin a curve left by he coaster rising and falling with et tide…….thats cold,none of your namby Pamby yachting exploits 😏
 
Used to stay in my little 17 ft Lysander in the winter, a good all season sleeping bag made life comfortable. Arm out in the morning, light cooker, , with kettle ready placed on top, watch frost melting on the inside of the cabin. By the time the kettle was hot , it was a reasonable temperature in the cabin.

Going out sailing in the winter and finding the previously dry sheets freezing up as they got wet means it was cold.
 
I remember a passage in the Caley Canal, when passing a line to the shore, didn't mean coiling and throwing. You just pushed it out like a long stick. The boat was ferrocement, so the surface ice wasn't a big problem.
 
LittleSister said:
I remember some years ago I had the bright idea to spend a few days over the New Year enjoying the quiet and empty River Deben on my small unheated boat.

For reasons best known to herself, my girlfriend chose not to join me on this particular 'holiday'.

Temperatures were about zero to 2 degrees. Of course, in such temperatures the inside of a small boat soon becomes horribly damp when occupied and gas stove used. It was grim! I could hardly sleep for shivering. Even the birdlife gave the appearance of feeling hard-done by.

With the benefit of hindsight, I can only hope there was a suitable pay-off in terms of the stiffening of my moral fibre.
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There is something appealing about the idea of setting off with almost no-one else about and waking up with frost on the deck, but for me reality kicks in when I inadvertently touch a piece of stainless steel and immediately lose the use of my fingers. Twenty minutes below and a soak in hot water if I’m lucky, and I might be ready to try again, by which time the romance has gone. We had a few lovely trips out in the winter but they were so few that it didn’t make sense to keep the b oat in commission, but I’m pleased that some are out enjoying themselves, at least, so they say.
 
johnalison said:
There is something appealing about the idea of setting off with almost no-one else about and waking up with frost on the deck, but for me reality kicks in when I inadvertently touch a piece of stainless steel and immediately lose the use of my fingers. Twenty minutes below and a soak in hot water if I’m lucky, and I might be ready to try again, by which time the romance has gone. We had a few lovely trips out in the winter but they were so few that it didn’t make sense to keep the b oat in commission, but I’m pleased that some are out enjoying themselves, at least, so they say.
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I've enjoyed so many sunny winter days sailing, even if it's just for a few hours. Keeping the boat ready to go means I can go for day sail whenever there is a decent weather window.
 
I was seduced by the allure of winter sailing one year, so I left the sails on in the full expectation of enjoying wonderful days of cup-a soup sailing on an empty Solent. No of days sailing: 0. That was party because it meant a two hour drive from NW London, but mostly because the number of blue skied days with the right wind and sensible temperatures was vastly outnumbered by the wet and windy ones.

Now I struggle to keep feet and hands warm in the house, never mind afloat, so it ain't going to happen. Going to work on the boat tomorrow and not looking forward to being outside for hours.
 
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