Wet weather gear

Hang on one cotton-picking minute - when we flew halfway round the world to the land of barbies, galahs and Kylie, noone told us it could rain. While we look for who we can sue, take a look firstly at what Southern Hemisphere bad weather looks like and secondly our advice on wet weather gear.

If it can rain on us here, it can rain anywhere and it doesn't always do it when you are indoors or moored up and in the nearest bar. As you will no doubt find out, noone ever got rich sailing (aside from Long John Silver and pals) and therefore all sailors spend 95% of their time trying to save money.

DO NOT SKIMP ON YOUR WET WEATHER GEAR. Best case you get trenchfoot and a permanently soggy bottom (mmm attractive), worst case can be significantly more serious. I spent the first year of my sailing career thinking that “wet weather gear= keeps you wet!” purely because I didn't want to fork out so much money, so I just got hand me downs and cheaper brands. Not only is it extremely important to stay warm when sailing, but you need to stay dry and be able to manuoevre your way round the boat in a useful way.

Oilskins - I’ve tried a number of brands now, but Musto is probably my favourite. It's warm and not too frumpy. The toggles that pull the jacket in the waist is particularly fetching, but is also good at keeping spare fabric in so it can't get caught on stuff. The sizing is generally pretty accurate. Also, if there is anything wrong with your product, such as it starts leaking, they will replace it if you just send it back. Although it is tempting to buy it a few sizes big to fit all your layers on underneath, remember if it gapes, the water is going to straight in, regardless of how waterproof it is.

Boots - again spend as much as you can afford. My preference is Dubarry, which many people get on well with. Although the boots themselves aren't guaranteed, the GoreTex they use is, so if that goes, it's a free fix. There is nothing worse than cold feet, so when you try them on, do it with a pair of thick socks.

#wetweather #Musto #Dubarry #Boots