WHAT TO WEAR

[starcrest]

NO DENIM,NO COTTON WHAT SO EVER.ONCE COTTON GETS WET FROM SEA WATER IT NEVER REALLY DRIES COMPLETETLY.THE ONLY TYPE OF GARMENTS TO WEAR IS A POLYESTER/DACRON MIX.WHEN THIS GETS WET IT IS VERY QUICK TO DRY OUT.SORRY FOLKS BUT THAT PRETTY MUCH MEANS NO SOCKS AND NO UNDERWEAR.MOST OF THE TIME IN THE HOT TROPICAL SUN THE ONLY THING I WORE IS FOOT WEAR.AND THATS ALL. POSITIVELY ABSOLUTELY NOTHING ELSE.AND FOOTWEAR  IS VERY IMPORTANT 'CUZ WHILST WALKING AROUND ON DECK I  JUST GOTTA BE VERY CAREFUL NOT TO CATCH MY.... MY..... "TOE" ON SOMETHING.MAYBE NEXT TIME I WILL BE SURE TO WEAR A HAT.

[s/v Faith]

THe hat for modesty sake of course...  ;D

[starcrest]

the hat is to protect skin from the harmful effect of solar u.v. rays.

[Dougcan]

That's gotta be one large hat!  I like to wear long shorts (down to knees) and some kind of shirt (mostly t-shirts", mainly to keep the sun off those areas of the skins, of course a hat is de rigueur!

Going "al natural" is fine by me for a short time, but the sunburn in the neither regions must hurt!

[The Edge]

PAREAU (sp)  French - sounds like ParRayU (with Maine accent).  A big retangle of very thin cotton in vibrant colors.  It dries in 5 minutes.
It weighs nothing, takes up little space, can be used for towel or beach blanket ;).  It can be worn in many styles - dress, shirt, shorts.  The ladies would like to know about this.

I just grab it and cover myself quickly if I have guests or shore patrol ::).    Remember, I sail mostly solo :D.

[Captain Smollett]

On a related note, I've read (not tested by me) that sea water dries quicker than fresh...so, the idea is after a rain, you can dry clothes quicker by dunking in sea water.

(Source: Captain Bligh's Portable Nightmare by John Toohey).

[starcrest]

the opposite is true.when seawater dries it leaves behind a salt residue.salt retains water.this salt residue absorbs moisture from the air.thats why after a sea water shower you need to rinse off in fresh water.

[Captain Smollett]

That's what I would have thought, too, without giving it some thought.  I am simply relating that at the time of Bligh's epic voyage, that factoid was considered well known by the world's sailers, but never really recorded.  Since Bligh's crew was soaked by repeated storms, they used that technique to avoid hypothermia and possibly saving their lives.  So, Bligh is given credit for recording it.

Caveat: I am talking about drying clothes my simple air evaporation; no external heat.

That salt absorbs water from the air is termed hygroscopic.  The propensity to draw water from the air will depend on how much water is 'trapped' in the salt crystal lattice at the time of solidification.  Simply air drying (as opposed to heat drying) by evaporation will likely leave a sufficient amount of water in the salt crystal lattice so that more cannot be 'trapped.' (heating drives out this 'excess' water).

In other words, this is simply a thermodynamic equilibrium: the air you are 'drying' the clothes with is the same air, with the same humidity as the air you would be drawing moisture from.  How can the salt become drier than the air you dried it with, in the absence of heat to force it out?

[starcrest]

I will ask the next pair of seawater soaked blue jeans why the arenot drying out soon enough.

[s/v Faith]

One of the first things taught in most outdoor 'survival' schools is "Cotton Kills"

  If you 'Google' this phrase you will get plenty of hits, but here is a pretty good one.

  Basically, it is considered better to be naked then to be wearing cotton (once it is wet) as it makes a great evaporative cooling system and draws your body heat away faster then you would loose it if you were wearing nothing at all.

  I still wear Levi's but have pollypro's on under them whenever it is at all cold out.

[Captain Smollett]

I will ask the next pair of seawater soaked blue jeans why the arenot drying out soon enough.

You already said cotton/denim were baaad, anyway. :)

I'm just tellin you what I read.  If you don't believe it (based on your own real world experience), that is fine with me (and I would not disagree with your experience...in other words, I think it is counter intuitive, also).

To emphasize what you already said (I found this site with a cool little chart):

Paddling Magazine

[The Edge]

Does fresh water weigh more than salt water?  How much?

[Sid T]

Fresh water weighs 62.4 lbs./cu.ft.
Salt water weighs 64.2 lbs./cu.ft.

[Captain Smollett]

Fresh water weighs 62.4 lbs./cu.ft.
Salt water weighs 64.2 lbs./cu.ft.

Agreed.  The density of salt water is greater than that of fresh water, meaning it weighs more per unit volume.

Density of Ocean Water

From the first paragraph (added here just so the units match for the calculation below):

The density of pure water is 1000 kg/m3. Ocean water is more dense because of the salt in it. Density of ocean water at the sea surface is about 1027 kg/m3.

Also, the heat capacity Cp is different for pure water and ocean water:

Cp-pure = 4184 J/kg-deg
Cp-ocean = 3996 J/kg-deg

The danger of wearing wet clothes is related to the amount of energy sinked from the body into the clothing.  Heat transfer is calculated as q = mCp, where q is heat, m is mass and Cp is heat capacity.

If we assume our clothes have absorbed 1 m^3 water (to keep the math simple for example purposes) and we also assume the thermal conductivity is constant, we can calculate the amount of energy transferred from the body to the wet clothes per Celsius degree of temperature change in the wet clothes.

For pure water:

q * (1 degree) = mCp = (1000 kg)*(4184 J/kg-deg) = 4184000 J

For ocean water:

q * (1 degree) = mCp = (1027 kg)*(3996 J/kg-deg) = 4104892 J.

Clearly, the ocean water will absorb less energy (about 2%) from the body under the given assumption of constant thermal conductivity.  Physiologically, this means the act of the body drying clothes wet with salt water will feel less cold than one drying clothes wet with fresh water.  2% may not sound like much, I suppose, but on the edge of survival, as Bligh's group was, I guess it can make the difference between life and death.

Data References:

Heat Capacity of Ocean Water
Heat Capacity of Fresh/Pure Water

[Gulfmermaid]

Pareos are the way to go in tropical climes...for both sexes!

[Skipper Dave]

Okay mermaid I'll bite...what's a peraro?

Also welcome I used to see you over at Lats&Atts.

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This morning it looked so nice out I thought I'd leave it out.

S/V "Tina Marie" Cal 2-27

[The Edge]

Peraro,

     Mermaid corrected my spelling of pereau (that's with a Maine accent) :D.   It is the most wonderful garment I have ever owned.  It is a colorful, almost  sheer rectangular piece of cotton most often worn in the south sea islands.  It can be worn as a dress, shirt, shorts, etc. (for both man or woman).  Nando has one of mine.   It can also be used as a towel and beach blanket and dries in 5 minutes.

     Hi you two.  It's nice to find another "pub".  Welcome aboard.

[Skipper Dave]

Sarah,

It sounds so versitle, can it be a beach blanket while it is being worn?  I can see some interesting things happening there. ha ha

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This morning it looked so nice out I thought I'd leave it out.

S/V "Tina Marie" Cal 2-27

[The Edge]

That would make a nice belated Christmas present for you and your first mate ;).  Trust me ;)

[Skipper Dave]

Sarah,

Good idea, where can I find one. I'm in Los Angeles area, Malibu.