August in the archipelago fools you every year. In the middle of the day it is properly summer, the water is at its warmest and you sit on deck in a t-shirt. Then the sun goes down behind the islets, the wind shifts, and in twenty minutes it is ten degrees colder. Whoever packed right barely notices. Whoever didn't sits shivering in someone else's jacket.
The principle is layers, not thickness. Closest to the body something thin that dries fast. On top of that a proper mid-layer that holds the warmth when evening comes – this is where a heavy hoodie does the most good. The Gårdisto Hoodie is made in extra-heavy fleece with a brushed inside, and the double-layer hood is no decoration: it is the one you pull up when the wind comes in from behind at the jetty. Outermost, if it rains, a shell. But most August evenings get by with the first two.
A few things we have learned. Bring a cap – in the evening the sun sits low over the water and dazzles more than at midday. Choose clothes in colours that can take a boat: navy hides most things, sand looks good in pictures. And have something with a front pocket; the hands are the first to get cold when you sit still at the tiller.
When the cockpit starts to cool down on the way home, it feels good to pull the Gårdisto Fleece over your T-shirt. The high collar keeps your neck warm when you’re sailing into the wind. Once you reach sheltered water, you can unzip it again.