Non of my sailing clothes (including pfd's, harnesses, throw cushions, etc.) are dry. They are all hygrospocically damp becuase they are salty. No mold. <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" /> Maybe the salt, maybe the temperature.<img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />

Marina Del Rey Weather
Annual precipitation
(inches) 13.32
High temp in July
(degrees F) 80.00
Low temp in Jan
(degrees F) 46.10
Heating days 2,891
Cooling days 340

I bit of trivia: Marina Del Rey is Spanish for King's Navy
It is a recreational port; largest marina in the country.
No commercial fishing allowed in Santa Monica Bay.
The Santa Monica Bay covers approximately 250 square miles.

GARY

I might not know humidity in the same way you hot-aired southern boys do <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />, but here is the current observation for MDR, CA:
MARINA DEL REY temperature:64 dewpoint:63 relative humidity:94 wind out of the south at 1 knot

Present reading on Catalina Island, about 40 miles from here, is:
AVALON temperature:68 dewpoint:68 relative humidity:100 wind out of the north at 1 knot

It makes you break into a sweat if your activity level raises your pulse by only a few beats per minute.

GARY
cool, salty, and sweaty ... like a fish <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

The most telling number is the dewpoint, not the relative humidity. Tampa has a dewpoint in the high 70s all summer without a break. As Fall nears I see today that the dewpoint is finally dropping to only 73F, the temp is 90 and the humidity is numerically low at 59%. Step outdoors and you're soaked with sweat. You learn to live with it. Just don't go in and out often.

I will add. I never used to wash my sails....no mold spots.....got a good sail new sail....got anal....washed and hung over line on good dry day and then rolled away....one month late...moldy......won't ever wash one again.

1037 pm EST
Temp 80 F
Dewponit 66
Humidity 62%
winds ssw at 7 mph

62% Humidity is like airconditioning.
But I stand corrected, you guys do have some humid air, but somehow it still feels different. Its always been refreshing to step off the plane in Cali, as opposed to where I left, usually Charlotte or Atlanta, but Columbia is dubbed the Armpit of South Carolina because its always 10 degrees hotter.

I rinse my sails when I think that I need to. I never put them away wet/damp although I see the point that salty sails are never truly dry. When it got to the point where you could scrape the salt off the sail then I would take it home and hang it up and rinse it. I rinsed my new sail before I stored it for a couple months. I hope that it was dry enough (it is nice, new and WHITE!)
As for gear- it gets rinsed each and every time. The boat too unless I am toolazy to go up and turn on the water or the hose is broken.

I don't know the stats for Westport, but the sea air is both moist and salty. I generally hose off my boat, and bring gear into shower for a good rinse after each sail. My sails are lucky to get an annual bath. Hardware on the boat is always caked with salt when I take the boat out of the garage the next season. Ive even put the tiller and rudders in a tub and scrubbed them, and they still have salt in the Spring! <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

Well, I sail in those waters too.

My solution: flip the boat every four years and you won't have to worry about the inevitable pitting that occurs when salt meets aluminum... <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

Mike