Crew Gear

I've been sleeping less and less each night leading up to this week as we are all anxious to leave. Since this blog has been admittedly neglected I finally decided to spruce it up a bit last night and start posting.

Most of us on the crew are not really 'blogger people' and sometimes have a hard time understanding what topics might interest folks. So I made a list and will now cover one of the item on that list. Namely...

Crew Gear
The stuff we bring on the boat should

• be required by the regatta rules
• be lightweight
• be necessary and sufficient for each leg of the race
• be proven and familiar

My gear list includes:

1. Ocean ready inflatable life vest with harness
   
2. Belt pack style inflatable life vest
3. life vest emergency strobe and whistle
   
4. knife
5. fouler jacket
6. fouler pant
7. boots
8. sailing gloves
9. cold-weather sailing gloves
10. knee protection
11. ISAF tether (attaches to harness and tethers you to the boat)

The above picture also shows a water bottle, some velcro ties, a sun hat (for the latter half of the race), and an ultralight sleeping bag.

Clothing should be very minimal and efficient. As of today, I am bringing the following for the cold first half:

1. 1 thermal and 1 fleece underpant
2. 1 thermal and 1 fleece undershirt
3. 1 fleece midlayer
4. 1 windstopper beanie

And the the following for the warm second half:

1. 2 or 3 Board Shorts
2. 1 liner trunk (in place of underwear)
   
3. 2 speedos (in place of underwear)
4. 3 low cut socks
5. 2 long sleeve polyester shirts
6. 1 light windbreaker
7. deck shoes
8. 1 buff (also serves as neck warmer for the first half)
9. 1 sunhat

Other stuff includes:

1. toothbrush
2. travel size floss
3. travel size tube of toothpaste
4. deodorant stick
5. travel size mouthwash
6. water bottle
7. small travel towel
8. watch
   
9. ipod
10. book/journal
11. cellphone (for calling May when I arrive)

And that's pretty much it.