Winter sailing Dry Suit

[heffe222]

I have a 6mm wool-lined Patagonia wetsuit that has been okay for winter windsurfing but am thinking about switching to a dry suit for easier donning / doffing. 6’ and 200 pounds. Any recommendations / advice?[/GVideo]

[AJSpencer]

I too got the heavy wool-lined Patagonia and ya man its a bit on the tight side! Hopefully will give in a bit over time. But I find already I'm still using my 5/4 even on cold days for the easy on and off.
But my recollection from some experienced guys on here is that, at least for windsurfing, wetsuits are way safer, for the buoyancy and swimmamobility (ya new word), whereas a drysuit not so good for swimming and leaky seals could get hypothermic and sinkamamobile quickly.
But I've seen some kiters pretty comfy looking in their drysuits.

[grantmac]

On a board big enough to uphaul I think drysuits are fine. Personally I wouldn't use one if I'm in breaking waves or if having to swim back is likely.

If I was going to get one (which I'm thinking about) it would be a kokatat with attached gortex socks. They seem to be among the most rugged.

[juandesooka]

The newer patagonia suits dropped the wool ... less stiff.

Drysuit is nice in some situations. The worry for me is the risk of it failing ... as that could be really bad in wrong situation. For kiting, fin cut risk is low, a little more for surfing, but windsurf and especially foiling seem to up the risk potential.

Have to keep care of the seals. I had one and did something wrong, they all melted over summer. And that's that. Though apparently they last years if you care for them properly. Surf wetsuits are only good for 1-2 seasons nowadays, so I guess that's similar

[ozy]

A top-of-the-line hooded surf suit with an ion windbreaker top is the ultimate. Had a dry suit for years and it sucked compared to that combo

[Joostio]

Juandesooka

Those gaskets/seals can be replaced. We offer that service at Comox Kite Repair. We have gaskets in stock.

[more force 4]

Yes JdS, replacing gaskets is routine maintenance. They melt from sunscreen lotions, likely any volatile chemical, and age and UV together makes them go gluey/stretchy then fail. You can buy replacement gaskets here but its way cheaper to bring them in from Britain and install them yourself. Some kayak clubs have jigs to lend out to make this easier. I'd say go to Comox Kite and save yourself a bunch of time.

I've tried a bunch of drysuits now and get wet in all of them - too much sweat, not enough fabric breathing. I suspect its worse with kayaking with the neoprene sprayskirt tunnel than it would be with kiting though. The OR suits look great with their 'standby' mode allowing you to pull up and seal the neck, or take the top down for comfort as risk descreases, even while wearing a pfd. Richard M. convinced me not to buy one for kayaking as they are really designed for stand-up sports.

[juandesooka]

MF4: I ended up giving it away to someone looking for a project, would be too expensive to fix, even just for the cost of parts. This was an OR surf dry, which had the benefit of 1-2mm neoprene wetsuit layer over top -- so a lot safer for fin cuts, etc. But with the negative that it couldn't breathe at all like the modern versions. So I'd end up damp with sweat anyway -- and with modern surf wetsuits effectively semi-dry, it seemed to be little benefit (and also hard to duckdive if trapped air). The only time I miss it is those super cold NE days, was really nice to be in a fleece cocoon.