Personal Boating Gear - Make your boating experience comfortablePersonal boating gear is so very important for all kinds of boaters and sailors, from owners of small dinghies to massive ocean-going yachts. Comfort, safety and security are key. Depending on the weather and temperature, boaters may wear anything from T-shirts and shorts (or even swimsuits) to thermal underwear and foul-weather gear. And unless you're sailing in the hot summer sun, keeping dry is very important. Yet we also need to consider the safety aspects of personal boating gear in all kinds of weather and temperatures.Much boating takes place in the summer, when a lot of personal boating gear is perhaps of less concern. Almost any comfortable clothing will do, but you will need to have proper boating shoes or sandals with soles that will grip the deck. In the winter, or in colder places, good, effective foul weather gear is a must; good, knee-high sailing boots, and perhaps even some thermal underwear should all be part of your personal gear. In 18 years' sailing in the English Channel, even in Summer, we wore foul weather gear all except two times! For times when it is raining, or you're likely to be covered in cold spray, then a terry cloth scarf is a must. Many people who are new to sailing want to tuck their foul weather trousers into their boots. That's a great way to get the boots filled with water! Cover the boots and tighten the trouser bottoms over the boots. Safety is important all the time. Life jackets, personal flotation devices (PDFs) are mandatory personal boating gear. If you plan to race or go offshore you should also use life harnesses. There are some great life harnesses that have inflatable life jackets built in. They inflate on hitting the water, so they are small and easy to wear. Most PDFs have lights and whistles attached, but if they don't, then you'll need to get some and attach them yourself. Small, strobe lights are even better for man overboard situations, and small, lightweight personal transmitter pendants that use the MOBI-lert, man-overboard system are now available, too. Comfort includes such things as prevention of sea-sickness, and there are now some good wrist bands on the market that work amazingly well. We had a friend who turned green as soon as we got into the North Sea. We gave her wrist bands and in less than 10 minutes she was feeling fine, and ate heartily along with the rest of us. Other things that may seem almost trivial are flotation key rings, waterproof flotation wallets, and flotation spectacle cases and bands, yet if any of this stuff goes overboard and sinks, it could cause a real panic. There is so much personal boating gear available now - on line and in marine stores, that we cannot do justice to it here. But you can't go wrong if you pay careful attention to the three areas above - comfort, safety and security - when you shop for personal boating gear |
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