This weekend we sailed from St Katharine Dock to Calais

Myself and a friend wanted to try a bit of winter sailing, and attempt a 1 stop trip to France or Belgium in winter from London.

Winter Sailing Kit
I thought it would be useful to list what I wore as it kept me pretty warm and definitely recommend the follow:

• Helly Henson Dry Glove Liner http://www.amazon.co.uk/Helly-Hansen-Lifa-Glove-Liner/dp/B001CSA8YW (definitely recommend these, they made such a difference)
• Gill Helmans Gloves - http://tinyurl.com/c8jrpwl
• Helly Hansen Base Dry Layers (top and bottom) http://tinyurl.com/ctzbs68
• Fourth Element Artic Undersuit (top and bottoms which were given to me as a gift) - http://tinyurl.com/cwalgh4
• Helly Hansen Swift Fleece http://tinyurl.com/bqsvfgh
• Fleece Balaclava
• Neoprene face mask (normally found on motorbike sites)
• Knee High Socks with tog rating (amazing, with soft thermal lining, they had  a tog rating of 2.2+)
• Helly Hansen Ocean Racing jacket and trousers
• Gill wellies (could have done with a decent pair tbh)
• Mcmurdo Fastfind MaxG EPIRB with GPS
• 3 point harness
• Dry bag for the mobile after reading http://www.sail-world.com/UK/Miraculous-rescue-after-top-sailor-falls-overboard-with-phone/90242  though useless if you have a iPhone and your hands are wet

I could have done with some better boots and another mid layer might have been handy. I also took a bunch of handwarmers, which would rubbish but I know a friend swears by them so I'll have to find out which ones he uses.

I'm not biased by the way towards Helly Hansen, a lot of people have told me that Helly Hansen are at the bottom end of scale in terms of sailing clothese and Musto is at the top. I so far have hand no problems with my gear.

Setting off

Thursday night - Friday Afternoon

We set off from St Katherine Docks at 6.30 on the 1st December on a Rival 32 owned by my friend Oliver and another friend of mine Mattis. The weather for the weekend wasn't looking great so we decided to shelve our plans to travel to Oostende in favour of Calais. There were more outs should the weather turn if we headed to Calais, hugging the coast before heading directly to Calais.

We sailed through the night uneventfully, taking turns to grab a few hours sleep each, always having two people on watch. 

Cups of tea, biscuits are essential for