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**weavis** · 16-01-2015, 07:32

Timing.

Just had a drop in to the clinic of a guy who sailed down from Scotland and has salt water sores.

Cleaned and washed them for him, and he is going to be off the vessel for a week so he should heal up pretty good.

I second not using talcum powder..... it only gets wet again by perspiration or seawater and causes its own issues.

Snore · 16-01-2015, 09:49

Delancey

One of the golden rules is "cotton kills".

86 the boxers and use a swim trunk. Pack 2-3 and rotate them- rinsing after use to remove salt and odors.

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**JPA Cate** · 16-01-2015, 12:00

Quote:

Originally Posted by S/V Willow

Oh please don't!!!! Baby/talcum powder cakes into wounds and we really hate having to dig that out of orifices plus it isn't good for any kind of wound situation.

Prevention is better than cure here BUT dry thoroughly, wash with anti bacterial soap well with fresh water only. Then dry really well again. Then apply an antiseptic. Now depending on your location in the world you will get differing options BUT try to get a povidone iodine solution if you can or failing that Dettol or Savlon or Chlorhexidine are all good alternatives. Povidone is a good antiseptic and dries well.

The preferred option here in the USA (this is from my trying to locate a good antiseptic cleaner for provisioning) is Hydrogen Peroxide. Again - please don't. Hydrogen peroxide is really not good for wound healing it causes greater scar formation and isn't good for clean tissue. It is satisfying when it bubbles but you are actually ruining good tissue and slowing healing so it is not a good option.

Once wound is dry - try to expose it to air and sun (OK sometimes that isn't so easy or even possible) but if still at sea don't put on clothes when going to bed, expose area to air. When the weather and situation allows get outside and stick bum in air and get the sun on it. (Now there's a picture for you) Greatest healer for this kind of problem, do not puncture, remove scabs, play with or muck around with it. If there is pus present clean carefully with povidone iodine and let it dry well. If it continues to drain then a dressing will be necessary but whenever you can get it in the air and sun after cleaning well.

Hope this helps!

Hi, Willow, et al,

Thank you for that. What I wrote was really unclear, and I should explain.
The powder is something I use when there are no sores. The suggestion was intended as part of prevention. It does seem to dry the skin, and make it easier to feel warm and fall asleep in a cold, damp atmosphere. You are quite right to not use powder on an open sore.

We have used povidone or betadine to treat openings in the skin wherever we are since 1983, our first cruise. This includes on mosquito and sandfly bites. In many years of cruising, we've had only one tropical skin infection: a fly got on one of Jim's cuts, before the cut could be disinfected. Eventually, that required medication.

Hydrogen peroxide is useful for removing blood stains from fabrics.

If open sores are present, then cleaning with antibacterial soap and drying well is perfect. Places that specialize in elder care will know where you can get gentle anitbacterial soap, usually a medical supply place, or a pharmacy or chemist shop can order it for you if they don't stock it. We just use soap and water, dry carefully. Follow that with betadine liquid or povidone ointment. Dress if weeping. Eventually, the skin will dry, unless the bedding is quite wet.

Carrying lots of dry underwear also can help. If it got damp with salt water, then (if you have adequate fresh water) wash and dry for re-use if possible; or save them up for washing in the next port. Maybe the baby wipes are an effective preventive. Boatman 61 who recommended them first, has lots of sea miles. Perhaps we've simply been lucky in never getting boat bum.

Ann

achil · 16-01-2015, 14:19

Quote:

Originally Posted by Delancey

By the time I had noticed I had ditched my cotton drawers in favor of polypropylene mostly because it had gotten quite cold but I think losing the cotton helped a bit with my bum by not keeping the damp against the skin the way salty cotton does.

How about a thin layer of Vaseline as a preventative method.

Brob2 · 16-01-2015, 19:04

Quote:

Originally Posted by achil

How about a thin layer of Vaseline as a preventative method.

Works for salt water dinghy sailors!

Snowpetrel · 16-01-2015, 19:47

Quote:

Originally Posted by Delancey

Great feedback, thanks to all. Staying dry would seem to be the key but sometimes easier said than done.

I am reading Webb Chiles' Open Boat and he mentions having them on his arms and legs as well from sleeping while soaked. In my one experience with them everything on the boat was wet and everyone on board got them.

Before the crappy weather set in we had been bathing with saltwater, probably a good idea to finish off with baby wipes to get rid of the salt but I hadn't ever heard that recommended before.

By the time I had noticed I had ditched my cotton drawers in favor of polypropylene mostly because it had gotten quite cold but I think losing the cotton helped a bit with my bum by not keeping the damp against the skin the way salty cotton does.

What sort of boat, and why did you all get so wet? Just curious because thinking about it, its not that common to get them on a cruising boat. The only time I got them was racing, and things where pretty unhygenic for the week it took us to cross the tasman. Most of the time we slept in our wet weather gear on wet sails, and we only had two sleeping bags onboard for the 7 of us. This was before the days of breathable gear being commonplace. We also only had a small gear bag each so no chance of changing into anything dry, and very limited water so gunnel bum was almost inevitable. These days its less common so just curious as to what sort of hell you guys went through to get it?

Cheers

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Delancey · 16-01-2015, 21:19

Trip was a west to east Atlantic crossing last summer on an older IOR boat with no spray hood. First five days was all T-shirts and shorts, then it got cold.

Shortly thereafter we had a couple separate two-day blows in succession before we finally got hammered with a six day bit of nastiness so we ended up living in our foulies for most all of the trip.

All the berth cushions ended up soaked along with the sleeping bags after the first blow when we got boarded so we were wet pretty much constantly, both on watch and off.

Had plenty of clean clothes stored in dry bags but as soon as they went on, they got wet one way or another. I had a brand new pair of fancy breathable Henri Llyods bottoms I got for the trip and my old reliable Musto top.

I'm not really sure what I would have done differently in that situation now that my lesson has been learned other than to only go on coconut milk runs, otherwise will skip the cotton and try to keep up with the baby wipes next time.

I would be very curious to know how RTW racers deal with this issue.

giant · 16-01-2015, 21:33

Coconut oil rubbed over whole body helps my fair skin tolerate sun, saltwater and dehydration.

As a preventative to rash and skin irritations caused by salt water coconut oil, eucalyptus oil and warm water seems to work for me.

I find small spray bottles of eucalyptus oil available in supermarkets here in Oz excellent for cleaning infected wounds as well as iodine based products. It is helpful to have different kinds of wound disinfectants.

Keeping dry and clean undies etc are also important of course.

bobconnie · 16-01-2015, 21:59

Wash butt well!! Then use Bag Balm rubbed well into the butt ! A week or two of this treatment will have your but toughend up where it can withstand most anything salt water can throw at it ! LOL All kidding aside bag balm is great on a boat in salt water!! Most any west coast comericial fisher man I have ever known has bag balm aboard! Just about the only thing I know of that will cure silver salmon rash !!

roygee · 17-01-2015, 10:04

long distance canoe racers in Texas lube up their asses with vasoline to prevent damage to their skin. Those that don't, get lesions, no salt water until the last day, but results are the same. Same with long distance bicycle riders roygee

Cap Erict3 · 20-01-2015, 08:40

The "pain in the ass" brings to mind issues seen on extended camping trips. The rear becoming irritated then scratched by hands transferring staph from the nose, causing boils.

Baby wipes can work wonders to prevent that cycle.

Snowpetrel · 20-01-2015, 18:57

Quote:

Originally Posted by Delancey

Trip was a west to east Atlantic crossing last summer on an older IOR boat with no spray hood. First five days was all T-shirts and shorts, then it got cold.

Shortly thereafter we had a couple separate two-day blows in succession before we finally got hammered with a six day bit of nastiness so we ended up living in our foulies for most all of the trip.

All the berth cushions ended up soaked along with the sleeping bags after the first blow when we got boarded so we were wet pretty much constantly, both on watch and off.

Had plenty of clean clothes stored in dry bags but as soon as they went on, they got wet one way or another. I had a brand new pair of fancy breathable Henri Llyods bottoms I got for the trip and my old reliable Musto top.

I'm not really sure what I would have done differently in that situation now that my lesson has been learned other than to only go on coconut milk runs, otherwise will skip the cotton and try to keep up with the baby wipes next time.

I would be very curious to know how RTW racers deal with this issue.

Sounds like a bit of an epic... wet sleeping bags and matresses are the worst. Had it happen once after a bad boach followed by a knockdown with the main hatch open. The only way we could get stuff dry was to hoist them up the mast. Must have looked funny with matresses and sleeping bags flapping off the masthead but it kept them clear of the spray at deck level.

I have a big drybag that my sleeping gear lives in when I am on watch if I am in any doubt about the possibility of it getting wet. I often also take a 6mm foam camping mat. Put that over a damp matress and you are warm and dry. I also sometimes carry an old bivy bag if I think the boats gonna leak on me. Getting paraniod in my old age, ha, but its well worth it for a dry place to sleep.

What sort of IOR beastie was it? My IOR 1979 peterson is very dry with the high freeboard, and alloy decks but keen to hear how the boat you where on coped with the rough stuff.

Cheers

Ben

Delancey · 21-01-2015, 11:39

July delivery. A bit late in the season but it was a great trip and one I wouldn't hesitate to do again. It was my first crossing and I only regret I waited so long in life to make it happen. Ditto for my wife. It was challenging at times to be sure, but nothing ventured, nothing gained.

That said, don't go there if you aren't prepared to get beaten, and possibly beaten quite badly. The six-day blow was not forecast and developed spontaneously on top of us. With every new sunrise I found myself thinking "when is this f'ing thing going to end?"

The boat was a NA 40 designed by Bill Carter and built by Morgan in 1979 with a deep draft fin keel (7' 8") and a detached skeg-hung rudder.

It's a stiff boat which did a very fine job hove to in +65 knots under a blade jib and double reefed main that I also found to be a pleasure to drive in 5 meter seas.

We did broach once with the kite up early on when the weather was still sunny and warm, no big surprise there. Really that was our dumb for getting carried away by the fun.

Not like we didn't know better or that we didn't deserve what we got for pushing it as the wind was building when we put the kite up and we kept it up too long.

The main deficiency of the boat in my mind would be the lack of a bridge deck, the cockpit being similar to a Tartan 41. Despite having the wash boards in place, we shipped water belowdecks when we got boarded during the first two-day blow. That was the start of everything getting wet, a second boarding later being the coup-de-grace.

Something to think about for those considering buying an older boat. My own boat, designed by Philippe Briand, is a similar vintage but has a bridge deck. I considered this feature to be a must have when I was boat shopping. Don't go offshore without one!

I think dry storage for sleeping bags is good advice but I will add that during the worst of it we were one-on-one-off watches between myself and the owner, with the off watch sleeping in the cockpit in foulies, hence the pain in my ass. Too rough for my wife to feel comfortable driving so she spent that time mostly confined to a wet bunk, hence her pain in the ass.

I think these types of boats have many fine qualities and I admit to a certain fondness for them, having spent time sailing on this particular design as a child.

However, I would not chose this particular design as a cruising boat without modification.

Problems being draft too deep, bendy rig with baby-stay and runners, winch farm for halyards forward, huge headsails, poor layout belowdecks, and of course no bridge deck, which I found to be a pain in the ass.