SAILING WITH CONTACT LENSES
UKFB News
Is it possible to sail (crew) whilst wearing contact lenses ? or would I
need to wear my glasses ?
-Ian.
David Preece
ukfb...@aol.com (UKFB News) wrote:
>Is it possible to sail (crew) whilst wearing contact lenses ? or would I
>need to wear my glasses ?
Dinghy sailing - I found I was always OK in salt water, but diabolically
bad in fresh. Osmotic pressure?
Fine for yachts all the time.
Dave :)
Colin Richmond
David
Personally I find that contacts dry out in the wind and either fall out or
get very uncomfortable. Also glasses hel p keep spray out of eyes.
Having said that contacts behind sunglasses seem OK.
Colin
David Preece <dmpr...@dreams.co.uk> wrote in article
<3336f80f...@news.tcp.co.uk>...
> ukfb...@aol.com (UKFB News) wrote:
>
> >Is it possible to sail (crew) whilst wearing contact lenses ? or would I
> >need to wear my glasses ?
.
.
.
Dermot O'Riordan
ukfb...@aol.com (UKFB News) wrote:
>Is it possible to sail (crew) whilst wearing contact lenses ? or would I
>need to wear my glasses ?
>
I used to wear them and on the whole there were no problems. I have
stopped wearing contacts in general because of (?unfounded) concerns
over potential infection. On long distance passages in bad weather
this was a very real possibility. Very few heads are especially
hygienic whilst at sea. In addition putting them in and out for
watch/sail changes was a real hassle.
However I much preferred the combination of contacts plus shades over
prescription sunglasses. A possible compromise might be fully
disposable one day lenses that require no disinfecting for day time
sailing.
--
Dermot O'Riordan
der...@roding.demon.co.uk
Nothing I say should be interpreted as the policy of my employer
Rainer Thonnes
In article <01bc3907$36c3fee0$69f882c1@8642bbc40946>,
"Colin Richmond" <colin.R...@dial.pipex.com> writes:
>
> Personally I find that contacts dry out in the wind and either fall out or
> get very uncomfortable. Also glasses hel p keep spray out of eyes.
So do eyelids in conjunction with the blinking reflex.
The trouble with glasses is that spray beads on them so you need to
wipe them all the time. I'm a glasses man and never use contacts,
but for those who do both, perhaps the answer is to wear contacts
when it's wet, and glasses when it's dry.
Martin Gibson
>Is it possible to sail (crew) whilst wearing contact lenses ? or would I
>need to wear my glasses ?
Personally, I've had no problems with them either falling out, or
drying out, even after a high speed wipeout or a wave in the face.
This applies to sea sailing & freshwater sailing, on yachts &
dinghies.
I wear soft lenses, which are relatively large, and it may be that the
blinking reflex in conjunction with their size helps keep them in
place. I suppose that, being disposable, it's not such a great
financial disaster if I lose one.
If you're worried about the loss of vision ruining you're race, you
could always take your glasses as a back-up.
One possible disadvantage is that if you suffer from astigmatism, you
may not get the same clarity of vision with disposable contacts as you
will with a spray-free pair of glasses, which might be an issue if
looking for distant marks on a hazy day. I do notice this
occasionally , but the diference is less than a wet lens on glasses
would make.
A plus for both yachts & dinghies is that contact lenses don't get
squashed into/wiped off your face by a stray sheet or sail.
>In addition putting them in and out for watch/sail changes was a real hassle.
I agree with this; when it's the middle of the night, there's only a
dim red light to see by, and the boat is bouncing around all over the
place, trying to get your lenses in your eyes, and not up your nose or
in your ear is quite a challenge. Good time to get the glasses out
instead!
For dinghy/inshore yacht racing, I only wear my lenses. Offshore, I
take both, and chose according to the conditions.
Martin Gibson
Helen Gerald
I wear gas-permeable hard lenses. I've not had any problems with them
despite much spray and frequent capsizes from both the Laser and the ISO.
This includes several head-under-water opportunities; it seems that the
blink reflex works very well. (Pity that the 'hold breath' one isn't
quite so good...)
The only time I had problems was in Vassiliki using one of Wildwind's
reduced Laser sails. This meant that the boat was flat and throwing loads
of spray at me, giving me eyefuls of salt water and sun cream. In the end
I gave up on the lenses, the light is bright enough in Greece to allow me
to manage without.
Hard lenses give excellent vision, although not everyone can tolerate
them. Also my helm is very long-sighted so if he looks where we're going
and I tie knots in ropes it works very well. :-)
yours myopically,
Helen
>>
>> >Is it possible to sail (crew) whilst wearing contact lenses ? or would I
>> >need to wear my glasses ?
>.
-------------------------------------------------------
Helen Gerald, Surrey, UK ger...@logica.com
Laser 49813 'Yellow Submarine' and trapeze artist for ISO 761:
Life's a reach, and then you gybe.
Opinions are mine and not those of Logica.
Junk e-mail prevention: to reply, delete '.remove-this' from end of
address
Andy Sibley
Hum, all this debate about contact lenses and sailing...
I've lost two in the last few years after being hit in the eye by a trapeze
handle and asked a local diver to have a go at finding them...didn't seem
too keen!
Nah, there's not really much problem, I just wear ordinary sunglasses and
that helps against the knocks and waves, even on the sea. What does the
crew need to see for anyway? Surely that's the helms job?
Regards...Andy
Crews 49er/Int 14 at Oxford
http://members.aol.com/OxfordSail/
===============================================================================
The above article is the personal view of the poster and should not be
considered as an official comment from the JET Joint Undertaking
===============================================================================
Bill Chiswell
ukfb...@aol.com (UKFB News) wrote:
>Is it possible to sail (crew) whilst wearing contact lenses ? or would I
>need to wear my glasses ?
>
>-Ian.
I use one day accuvue lenses successfuly on my 30 ft cruiser racer. I
find them far better than glasses for the following reasons :
No fogging
No film of rainwater
In dry weather sea water spray doesn't dry up to an opaque salt film
It's much easier to use binoculars and other instruments
Peripheral vision is better (for racing)
One drawback is for long offshore races contact lenses tend to dry out
and become uncomfortable after about 15/20 hours. Glasses are probably
necessay after this. One day lenses don't have the hegiene problems of
other lenses and it doesn't matter if you lose a lens.
bi...@xinara.u-net.com
Voice 01925 861961 Day 01565872159 eve Fax 01925861962
Jamie Ruane
bi...@xinara.u-net.com (Bill Chiswell) writes:
>I use one day accuvue lenses successfuly on my 30 ft cruiser racer. I
>find them far better than glasses for the following reasons :
I also use the one-day Acuvue lenses, for a variety of sailing including:
- Crewing in a Laser II
- Instructing from a Powerboat
- Helming a Lark in team-racing
- Cruiser racing
I find them fine for all these tasks; they are fine even in a wet dinghy
like the Laser II. Best of all about the one-day jobs is that you don't
have to worry if you lose them!
--
Jamie Ruane, Senior Fresh. BESS Student, Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland
E-Mail: gon...@maths.tcd.ie Web: http://www.maths.tcd.ie/~gonzaga
"Don't broad reach through life" -- Ted Turner, Skipper, 1977 America's Cup
Raphael Mankin
In article <19970324182...@ladder01.news.aol.com>
ukfb...@aol.com "UKFB News" writes:
> Is it possible to sail (crew) whilst wearing contact lenses ? or would I
> need to wear my glasses ?
>
No problem -- so long as you don't mind losing them each time a wave
smacks you in the face. Comes expensive after a while.
--
Raphael Mankin Imagination: a warehouse of facts with poet
and liar in joint occupation.
Ambrose Bierce: The Devil's Dictionary
mark johnson
> Is it possible to sail (crew) whilst wearing contact lenses ? or would I
> need to wear my glasses ?
>
> -Ian.
>
I have had no problems wearing lenses on a cruising boat,
I have found that spectacles with drops of water on them
(from spray or rain) tend to me give me headaches leading to sickness.
--
Regards
Mark Johnson
'Eilidh'
Halcyon 27
Huw Thomas
In article <19970324182...@ladder01.news.aol.com>, UKFB News
<ukfb...@aol.com> writes
>Is it possible to sail (crew) whilst wearing contact lenses ? or would I
>need to wear my glasses ?
>
>-Ian.
Hurricane 5.9 #387, do a lot of swimming in the former and thankfully
not too much in the latter - but dry it is certainly not!!.
Happy sailing
--
Huw Thomas
Michael Harrison
In message <FqHAIDA7...@irnham.demon.co.uk>
Huw Thomas <h...@irnham.demon.co.uk> writes:
> In article <19970324182...@ladder01.news.aol.com>, UKFB News
> <ukfb...@aol.com> writes
> >Is it possible to sail (crew) whilst wearing contact lenses ? or would I
> >need to wear my glasses ?
I used to both sail and swim with contact lenses (I would never have
passed my Bronze Medallion without - how else could I see the brick
at the bottom of the swimming pool?).
However, I found that I nearly always needed a) something to shade my
eyes to make it easier to see the sail and b) when I took up sailing
a Dart 15 something to keep the spray out of my eyes, so I was always
wearing sun-glasses c) as I got older I could not read course cards
and sailing instructions without my reading glasses.
So now I just use ordinary light sensitive glasses which I can take
off to read the SIs.
Mike Harrison
Dart 15 1839
Port Edgar, Scotland
Jon Wetherell
In message <199703282...@zetnet.co.uk>
Michael Harrison <m.har...@zetnet.co.uk> writes:
> In message <FqHAIDA7...@irnham.demon.co.uk>
> Huw Thomas <h...@irnham.demon.co.uk> writes:
> > In article <19970324182...@ladder01.news.aol.com>, UKFB News
> > <ukfb...@aol.com> writes
> > >Is it possible to sail (crew) whilst wearing contact lenses ? or would I
> > >need to wear my glasses ?
I wear disposable (1 a day ) for sailing, If you lose one it's no big
deal, and if you do take a dunking in unsavoury water you can change
tham out at the end of the race (soft lenses can hold bacteria from
the water and may cause sesitive eyes to react) Also with contacts
you can wear cheapish sunglasses that the water WILL damage. Remember
even if you wear permanent lenses you can still get a supply of one a
day just for sailing.
jon IC K137
Jon Naude
Mike James <mi...@hamble.demon.co.uk> wrote:
> In article <19970324182...@ladder01.news.aol.com>
> ukfb...@aol.com (UKFB News) wrote:
>
> > Is it possible to sail (crew) whilst wearing contact lenses ? or would I
> > need to wear my glasses ?
> >
> > -Ian.
>
> I would think that if sailing on the sea salt crystals would be irritant
> to eyes with contact lenses.
Thats what tears are for.
> What happens when you are busy doing something
> like spinnaker recovery and you suddenly need to adjust a lens?
Just close your eyes and do it. You dont wear contacts, do you?
> Also : what happens when you are hit full in the face by a bucketful of
> water?
You blink (its a reflex, y'know).
> OTOH on the way to the Cowes fireworks last year I couldnt see through
> my glasses because it was raining so hard. I couldnt see
> without them either :-(
>
> At least glasses can held on by string so they dont vanish when hit.
> Use plastic lenses for safety. Mine also double as photochromic shades.
>
> Often I look at the pit (?)
If I lose a lens, I just pop in another. (disposables). One can get
tinted ones too, sort of built in shades. Extremely cool. I wonder if
Polaroid is doing them yet?
Jon
--
To email me, remove the "_nospam_" from my email address
Geoff Lynch
1. I have a crew who uses contacts - no problems unless going offshore for
a long time (over 18 hours). However he uses disposables...
2. I have invested in contacts myself purely for racing when it is heavy
spray/waves or raining, I got fed up with glasses. I have had to invest in
disposables for one eye, and gas permeable for the other due to
astigmatism. As yet I have not used them, will let you know how I get on
after I first try them out offshore.
Geoff Lynch (The Red Dragon)
Mike James <mi...@hamble.demon.co.uk> wrote in article
<23b7c...@hamble.demon.co.uk>...
> In article <19970324182...@ladder01.news.aol.com>
> ukfb...@aol.com (UKFB News) wrote:
>
> > Is it possible to sail (crew) whilst wearing contact lenses ? or would
I
> > need to wear my glasses ?
> >
> > -Ian.
>
> I would think that if sailing on the sea salt crystals would be irritant
> to eyes with contact lenses. What happens when you are busy doing
something
> like spinnaker recovery and you suddenly need to adjust a lens?
>
> Also : what happens when you are hit full in the face by a bucketful of
> water?
>
> OTOH on the way to the Cowes fireworks last year I couldnt see through
> my glasses because it was raining so hard. I couldnt see
> without them either :-(
>
> At least glasses can held on by string so they dont vanish when hit.
> Use plastic lenses for safety. Mine also double as photochromic shades.
>
> Often I look at the pit
>
> --
> -------------------------------------------------------
> -- Mike James G6IXE --
> -- Using an Acorn RISC PC 600 --
> -- a British, ARM Powered, Non-Intel, 32 bit machine --
> -- http://www.hamble.demon.co.uk --
> -------------------------------------------------------
>
Mike Watson
I've used normal (ie non disposable lenses) soft lenses for about 8
years and have never had a problem, except when I forget to take them
with me - I only wear them for activities like sailing. Yesterday was a
classic - 15 miles up wind in a force 7 to get home after a day sail
with spray continually coming over, and trying to cope with salt and
spray smeared glasses - very frustrating!
Fiona Hicks
I have used gas permeable contacts for 10 years and I would not be without
them whensailing offsore. I can wear them overnight if necessary with no
ill effects and on long races (Round Ireland - 800 miles approx) I can keep
them in for extended periods only taking them out when the weather is good
- ie you don't have to try and handle them down below when you miaght be
feeling less than well. The advantage of not having to wipe salty water
off them is obvious and when half the ocean hits you in the face your eyes
will close before it hits you - I have never lost one while sailing,
swimming or skiing but the salt does tend to etch them slightly over the
years
>