My job site shut down for a week in light of the current economic problems. So I headed back home to New York. A friend from my time in Switzerland was in town so we went sailing together. It was a very windy and very cold day (25F, -4C). We taped my camera (it’s an Olympus 720 SW, which is water proof) to the mast and made a little video. Unfortuneately for Stefan, the angle of the camera meant he didn’t get as much camera time as I did. It was kind of hard to position camera. Next time I’ll do a better job. Enjoy:
sailing a hobiecat 16 in long island sound
That’s the boat for those of you that don’t remember.
Putting on dry suits for winter sailing in long island
Since it was very cold and hobie cats are flippable boats, we layered on lots of thermal underwear and then topped it off with dry suits. Although they are difficult to get on and take off, they do keep you dry. Only once, on a calm day did I go out in the cold without the dry suit.
Putting on dry suits for winter sailing in long island
Stefan and I studied together in Switzerland.
Stefan bagging his feet
Stefan really didn’t want to get wet or cold anywhere, so before putting on the wet suit booties (which do not keep your feet dry), he put on ski socks and then put on freezer bags. He actually did stay dry and warm everywhere. I on the other hand didn’t put anything on my hands or feet. It took a while afterward for my feet to warm up again.
Winter sailing on Long Island Sound
Those of you that sail will notice the block is gone. I let the boom swing really hard on a jibe and piece of the block broke. It wasn’t too much trouble to sail without it. Lastly here’s the video. Nuno whom I address in the beginning of the video is another one of our friends from Switzerland who came to New York but wrote my number down wrong so we missed each other:
***UPDATE***
So my day sailing with Stefan was pretty cold. Fortunately we had the sun. The following pictures are from a few days later when it was warmer, but cloudy. The overnight snow caked my boat with ice which I had to brush off before heading out. I thought it appropriate to post the photos. Enjoy!
You might not be able to see it, but I have a very warm rabbit fur hat on.
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June 18th, 2009 - 6:00 am
I have an Olympus 720 SW too! I bought it for 1. the durability and 2. the novelty idea of an underwater digital…. 3 yrs ago when i got it it was pretty cool but I always thought the pictures I took with it had semi bad qualilty… yours look great though! ps. i like that song the plays during the sailing clip. i kept the whole thing on just to finish it
June 22nd, 2009 - 4:23 am
The song is “Mack the Knife” by Louis Armstrong.
June 22nd, 2009 - 5:39 am
oh, he has a song on Pinocchio