In an attempt to not freeze so quickly with winter sailing I have added to my wetsuit and flotation vest a chemical wetsuit heater, a polypropylene rashie, and most recently a spray jacket.
The spray jacket has been the best heat saver of them all. I wear it under my flotation vest and harness, so it filling up with water is not a problem. It helps a lot to prevent chilling when standing around in between sailing, but I was surprised how much it helps to keep the cold out when in the water water-starting.
So if you feel the cold and don't have a spray jacket, it's well worth the (relatively small) investment.
My winter sailing time before chill enforced retirement has increased from 30 minutes to 2 hours.
I found if you are in the water a lot warmth from the wetsuit heater quickly abates, but it is wonderful to put on after a sail to warm out those chills.

My feet are now the limiting factor. Recommendations for warm footwear that isn't too hard to slide out of foostraps please...

'snot cold in winter in Perth

do you wear head gear of some sort? even a helmet makes a difference, but a neoprene hood is awesome

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Mark _australia said...

'snot cold in winter in Perth

Have you been in the river lately?

do you wear head gear of some sort? even a helmet makes a difference, but a neoprene hood is awesome
I'm sure it is, but I don't like the "superhero" look.
I'd have to get a matching cape...

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Windxtasy said...
I'm sure it is, but I don't like the "superhero" look.
I'd have to get a matching cape...

Ah ha!! Therein lies your problem. You don't know whether you want to look cool, or be warm .

"My feet are now the limiting factor. Recommendations for warm footwear that isn't too hard to slide out of foostraps please..."


Ugg boots........just don't fall off 'cos they're hard to swim in !!

i remember sailing in the Canning river once,maybe 15 years ago.

it was around September or October. an hour into sailing my hands suddenly started to go red,had to stop sailing as could hardly hold the boom.

could not understand why i felt so cold until saw on news that night that the temperature had dropped mid-afternoon from 15 degrees to something like 8 or 9 degrees,a record low i think.

sailing in Perth in winter in north,easterly or westerly winds is awesome as not too cold.

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petermac33 said...

i remember sailing in the Canning river once,maybe 15 years ago.

it was around September or October. an hour into sailing my hands suddenly started to go red,had to stop sailing as could hardly hold the boom.

could not understand why i felt so cold until saw on news that night that the temperature had dropped mid-afternoon from 15 degrees to something like 8 or 9 degrees,a record low i think.

sailing in Perth in winter in north,easterly or westerly winds is awesome as not too cold.

That sounds like a typical Vic mid-summer's day to me.

I've always wondered what it would be like to sail and feel your fingers & toes whilst you do it!?

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Windxtasy said...

In an attempt to not freeze so quickly with winter sailing I have added to my wetsuit and flotation vest a chemical wetsuit heater, a polypropylene rashie, and most recently a spray jacket.
The spray jacket has been the best heat saver of them all. I wear it under my flotation vest and harness, so it filling up with water is not a problem. It helps a lot to prevent chilling when standing around in between sailing, but I was surprised how much it helps to keep the cold out when in the water water-starting.
So if you feel the cold and don't have a spray jacket, it's well worth the (relatively small) investment.
My winter sailing time before chill enforced retirement has increased from 30 minutes to 2 hours.
I found if you are in the water a lot warmth from the wetsuit heater quickly abates, but it is wonderful to put on after a sail to warm out those chills.

My feet are now the limiting factor. Recommendations for warm footwear that isn't too hard to slide out of foostraps please...

Flying objects booties? 2nd wind. They don't come in the split toe, but they do slide out of the footstraps well. Comfortable too.

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Sailhack said...

I've always wondered what it would be like to sail and feel your fingers & toes whilst you do it!?

Being able to feel your fingers and toes whilst windsurfing is one of life's joys. You are happy you are alive.



Recently I purchased a new wetsuit, 4 by 3 thickness by a windsurfing company. Its great to wear. On the weekend the temperatures were down to about 15 degrees whilst sailing and all that time I was never cold. Actually I got a bit warm. I fell in a couple of times and I stayed quite dry. No water got in.

With such a suit and your body staying warm, your hands and feel are a bit warmer too.

Move to Europe for a couple of years to acclimatise to their winter sailing. Then move back to OZ. You'll be sailing in a shorty even in the middle of OZ winter.

Then repeat every two years.

But seriously, I used to windsurf year around in when I still lived in Germany. Most brutal winter I had to dig my gear out of the snow after getting changed in the car and warming up. It's all doable with a 5 mm dry suit, hoody, gloves with kitchen gloves over the top and booties. Then duck tape all seems between feet and hands. Done... you can sail for about 2 hours in temperatures around zero.

I remember the first two seasons in OZ I would go out sailing mid winter in a short sleeve summer wet suit and thought it was warm. Now I am freezing most of the time.

RE your feet, try surf booties with individual tows. They seem to give you the most board feeling. The real problem is that you can't really get good cold weather windsurf gear in Australia.

The local shop here in Sydney stocks Neil Pryde wet suits but I am not sure about boots. Forget about surf wetsuits. They are designed for people that are spend most of their time in the water not out of the water.

Hi All,

Flying Objects make a Racer Jacket that is worn over the top of your wetsuit while standing around on the beach in between sailing stints. They are made from Single skin neoprene so they heat up very quick and do not trap any water.

Pepe47 - Our booties do have an internal split toe, this provides better feel / grip and also reduces sideways roll of the shoe / boot

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My feet are now the limiting factor. Recommendations for warm footwear that isn't too hard to slide out of foostraps please...

Booties no matter how good they claim to be are crap. They are like using condoms (not on your feet), plenty of protection but you can't feel a thing and lose all of that sensation that provides the great pleasure grrrrr...

Keep your feet warm by keeping your head warm. Get a wetsuit hoodie. I wear one during those really cold front days and most times I have to take it off to prevent over-heating. Mind you, you look like a d*ck in one so you may as well be wearing a condom.

seriously???

just wear a thicker wetsuit/steamer!!

Wearing items that arent tight to your skin can sometimes make you colder, if they are wet they remove heat each time they touch you. For example lyrcas usually make you colder unless they are very good fit

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Pepe47 - Our booties do have an internal split toe, this provides better feel / grip and also reduces sideways roll of the shoe / boot

Exactly, just as the external camel toe stops pants from twisting sideways

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albentley said...

seriously???

just wear a thicker wetsuit/steamer!!

Wearing items that arent tight to your skin can sometimes make you colder, if they are wet they remove heat each time they touch you. For example lyrcas usually make you colder unless they are very good fit

Further more, wearing cotton next to your skin is also cold. If you wear anything at all (other than undies/bathers ) under your wettie make sure it's pure wool. My outstanding wife knitted me a sleeveless pure wool vest to wear under my 1.5mm spring suit and it keeps me toasty warm, even down here just north of Antarctica. Wet wool still remains warm, whereas most other materials are cold when wet. My Dad taught me this little gem from his youth . I s'pose some of the purpose made synthetics do the same, but I'm a bit old fashioned.

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stehsegler said...




The local shop here in Sydney stocks Neil Pryde wet suits but I am not sure about boots. Forget about surf wetsuits. They are designed for people that are spend most of their time in the water not out of the water.

Just got the Neil Pryde wetsuit. Great, comfy and warm. The water beads up and rolls off, much reduced evaporative cooling. WS&S do quick deliveries, don't freeze next time you go out .

Thanks for all the suggestions, what I am really after is
Recommendations for warm footwear that isn't too hard to slide out of foostraps please...

I think the ugg boots might be a bit hard to get in and out of footstraps, although I do need a new pair!

Dinsdale - I did try a woollen vest last year, I have found the polypro rashie much superior. The lining is non wetting so it stays dry close to your skin.

I probably should invest in a hood. Where is the best place to get one?

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Windxtasy said...
I probably should invest in a hood. Where is the best place to get one?

Robin would know, I'm sure

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shi thouse said...



Booties no matter how good they claim to be are crap. They are like using condoms (not on your feet), plenty of protection but you can't feel a thing and lose all of that sensation that provides the great pleasure grrrrr...

A lot of euros use booties in places where you literally wear a T shirt to stay cool, they get used to them.. I've used the O'neil Ninja boots and they are fine. I almost preferred them for a while, they are comfy as, but mainly cause my footstraps where so bad..

I also ended up spending time wearing boots in locations where small cuts get infected and turn into fissures..

Ninja socks--
shopau.oneill.com

Boots in action

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pepe47 said...

Pepe47 - Our booties do have an internal split toe, this provides better feel / grip and also reduces sideways roll of the shoe / boot

Exactly, just as the external camel toe stops pants from twisting sideways

Wish I could give 2 thumbs up for that one

I recently got some O'neil booties with split toes. They are comfy and warm and haven't caused any trouble with the straps. The sole is quite thin so you still get plenty of feel from the board but still thick enough that you can step on rocks and stuff without worrying about putting a hole in them. Only $45 too. I tried booties years ago and always hated them but after 5 years in north QLD I needed them.

A good alternative to the hood is a wetsuit beanie. Less kooky looking. I have an Ion one with that red fuzzy stuff inside. Have to take off sometimes from overheating. With these two things and a good 4/3 wettie I haven't had to think about gloves unless I'm doing a lot of standing around.

Dunno what the fuss is about with booties, if you wear them enough you'll get used to the feeling!

In the past 11 years of living on the south coast of WA using booties all year round (due to usual launch areas), I've tried just about every brand of high cut surf/windsurf bootie thats readily available in WA (i.e. Billabong, O'Neil, Rip Curl, Neil Pryde but not Flying Objects though) both in round and split toe. Currently using high cut Neil Pryde booties (with side entry zippers) I got from Windsurfing Perth many years ago that have lasted heaps longer than the others which all fell apart in less than two years. Have tried to find replacements but NP apparently does not import them into country any more. Zippered booties are great if you can get them, always struggled getting pull on boots on or off!

One thing that made a huge difference to keeping my feet warm during winter sailing was to wear thick woolen socks under my booties (or high wool content if you can't find pure wool socks). My feet used to get so cold and numb before doing this, now my fingers are the problem!

Also wear a 'Roaster' thermal rash vest with a fleecy inner lining (called Thermax) under 3mm long john to keep torso warm.

Check out related topic on Kitesurfing forum:
www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/Kitesurfing/General/Wetsuit-Booties-2/

(obviously more concern about style and comfort then practical reasons for wearing booties!)

I didn't know you could windsurf without booties!!! Been sailing since early eighties and always wore some sort of wetsuit boots. The best thing I have bought to keep warm is a battery powered heater in a rash vest made by Hotsuits. It gets preety cold in Tassie in winter and when you fall in with the vest on (under a wetsuit)the hot flush goes down and warms up your feet so definately no more pissing in the wetsuit and the feet are toasty.

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GazMan said...
One thing that made a huge difference to keeping my feet warm during winter sailing was to wear thick woolen socks under my booties (or high wool content if you can't find pure wool socks). My feet used to get so cold and numb before doing this, now my fingers are the problem!

I mentioned before my outstanding wife who knitted my pure wool vest for wearing inside my wettie. Well she also knits pure wool socks for me. Am I spoiled or what??

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dinsdale said...

GazMan said...
One thing that made a huge difference to keeping my feet warm during winter sailing was to wear thick woolen socks under my booties (or high wool content if you can't find pure wool socks). My feet used to get so cold and numb before doing this, now my fingers are the problem!

I mentioned before my outstanding wife who knitted my pure wool vest for wearing inside my wettie. Well she also knits pure wool socks for me. Am I spoiled or what??

What about woolen mittens/gloves?

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GazMan said...
What about woolen mittens/gloves?

No, not yet, but I'll drop the hint .

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marco gribi said...

Hi All,

Flying Objects make a Racer Jacket that is worn over the top of your wetsuit while standing around on the beach in between sailing stints. They are made from Single skin neoprene so they heat up very quick and do not trap any water.

Pepe47 - Our booties do have an internal split toe, this provides better feel / grip and also reduces sideways roll of the shoe / boot

How much are they? I tried to look up the website but it won't play on my computer.

I bought a neoprene beanie from ebay for $18. It keeps my head nice and warm but is less enclosing than a hood. I wear it all the time now.

If the weather was really bad I would wear the hood, mainly because it covers the gap at the neck and has a visor to keep rain and sleet out of my eyes.

BTW It is a myth that you lose the majority of your heat through your head. You lose exactly the same amount of heat through your head as you lose from any other uncovered part of your body. Your head is about half a sq.m so you are losing a heap of heat if it is uncovered. It's bit like having a wetsuit with no chest or back panel.

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dinsdale said...

GazMan said...
One thing that made a huge difference to keeping my feet warm during winter sailing was to wear thick woolen socks under my booties (or high wool content if you can't find pure wool socks). My feet used to get so cold and numb before doing this, now my fingers are the problem!

I mentioned before my outstanding wife who knitted my pure wool vest for wearing inside my wettie. Well she also knits pure wool socks for me. Am I spoiled or what??

She must like you.
I hope you spoil her too.

With all the layers I have to wear at the moment it is taking me longer to dress for sailing than to rig up!
If I add woollen socks, booties, hood/ beanie the wind will have died before I get out there!

Sounds like the way to go though.
I guess woollen socks don't work with the split toe booties?
Can you get polypro socks?

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Windxtasy said...

With all the layers I have to wear at the moment it is taking me longer to dress for sailing than to rig up!
If I add woollen socks, booties, hood/ beanie the wind will have died before I get out there!

Sounds like the way to go though.
I guess woollen socks don't work with the split toe booties?
Can you get polypro socks?

I've got so may layers I can hardly move..next year I'm going to buy a decent modern winter wetsuit..the one I have is from the 90's and very stiff + the arms and legs are too short..???surely my limbs haven't lengthened as I grew older..The wetsuit must have shrunk. I chased up the racer jacket but they are meant for on the beach not sailing..

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Windxtasy said...

dinsdale said...

GazMan said...
One thing that made a huge difference to keeping my feet warm during winter sailing was to wear thick woolen socks under my booties (or high wool content if you can't find pure wool socks). My feet used to get so cold and numb before doing this, now my fingers are the problem!

I mentioned before my outstanding wife who knitted my pure wool vest for wearing inside my wettie. Well she also knits pure wool socks for me. Am I spoiled or what??

She must like you.
I hope you spoil her too.

Indeed I do .