Salamander - Clothes Choice

Did we bring the right clothes?

One of the big challenges on a trip like the ARC sailing across the Atlantic is what clothes do you bring with you.

For me this has been accentuated because I actually started this trip in the UK in October!

We have limited storage and living space so making the right choice is critical.

How much underwear? How many shirts? How many shorts? Do you need long trousers? Shoes or boots? Wet weather gear? You can see how it would be quite easy to pack way too much and possibly not the right type for such a trip.

Each of the crew on Salamander has their own preferences and of course we have limited facilities to hand wash and air dry our clothes.

For shirts, worn as much for sun protection as keeping warm, the technical, light weight tops are popular but also bamboo based fabrics feature strongly.

Merino fabric for keeping warm is also popular, particularly with our Norwegian crew Fredrik, who let's face it probably knows more about keeping warm than most.

Wide brimmed floppy hats are also a must, particularly those with a tied chin strap to keep them on in the wind.

Underwear is also key particularly as we are only showering every three days. How many changes of underwear to bring? I think this is probably down to each individual but washing is easy enough!

When washing our kit is a very clear that cotton and heavier weight clothing is quite challenging as it takes much longer to dry and generally less serviceable.

You are never going to get it 100% right as conditions vary so much on the voyage but have definitely found some items to be indispensable regardless.

Maybe I'll add a flag or two to my kitbag too when I see Mary the flag lady in St. Lucia!

I'll cover the footwear in a future blog post as this is worth the space just on it's own!