Greg, the suit is easy to get at while in the sleeper, but how about while fallen overboard in heavy stormy seas? (assuming WithIn won’t sink no matter what). Wow, 90 lbs. ballast!

A liter of seawater contains approximately 35g of salt. One liter of blood contains 9g of salt. For every liter of seawater you drank you would need to add 2.8 liters of fresh unsalted water to be “even.”

http://www.ventisit.nl/

It is a very stiff mesh pad that is about 2.5 inches thick. It’s not like an open cell foam – more like a plastic wire mesh. It’s the same foam that I use on the recumbent seat, although the seat cushion is only 1 layer thick (about 1/4″) which is more than enough to keep my back dry. I can blow air directly through it. Any water on the pad would fall through the open mesh to the floor where it can be soaked up with a sponge. I don’t have room for any kind of pumps back there.

On the Immersion suit: the reason I have it stowed under the sleeping matress is so that it is easy to get at and put on. It’s laid out flat – not rolled up or packed.

On continued ocean trials: I am planing another trip to Vancouver Island in January – this time it will include an overnight trip west into the Pacific from Tofino. January should provide some challenging conditions for that!!! I am also planing a longer journey down the east coast of Vancouver Island.

Is there a way for the immersion suit to be swiftly pulled into the cockpit or outside the boat with an attached rope? It does no good (in crappy weather/waves) to be stowed just out of reach.

On a hypothetical level, with consistent hard training, how much (estimated) NaCl do you consume every day? I’m curious how much seawater could be consumed safely (in addition to no-salt foods and requisite freshwater) on a daily basis by a healthy active athlete, as opposed to someone stuck in a life-raft dehydrated and immobile (who shouldn’t drink seawater at all due to weak Sodium pumping).

I don’t have a lot of experience with ocean sailing but I did own a powerboat for several years and I kept it in the water. Moisture is a constant battle and so is corrosion. You wouldn’t believe how quickly everything corrodes.

I also read somewhere that manual water-making in the tropics is out of the question. You sweat more than you can produce to replace it. Is that true?

This is all sounding MUCH better than where you were six months ago. I don’t know how much time you have spent offshore in a boat, but you might have a friend take you sailing for a few days, out of the sight of land, in a litte weather, just to get a better sense of what you are up against. Perhaps you have done this already.

I do think that your thinking on, for instance, hookups for the desalinator pump might be clearer after some time at sea. If you do not want to do through hulls, with the complexity and weight that they entail, you might then consider a siphon, which is more or less permanently installed. Basically anything that is loose can become a projectile, and so you will want to maximize the number of items that are bolted down.

The four point harness is a VERY good idea. I hope you never need it, but if you get pitch poled off a wave, it may seem like barely enough protection.

I admire your ability to push forward on these kinds of tasks, and modify as you go. It is a gift.

Kind regards,

Robert