I often take my husband’s car on our early morning swimming jaunts. It’s the last one on the drive. When I first started swimming outside he’d sometimes get in to drive to work to be met by a slightly damp seat. My efforts with a bin bag were clearly insufficient.
That Christmas he bought me a Dryrobe, in part because I needed one to keep warm but also to prevent him turning up at work with a slightly damp bum. It works perfectly. The waterproof outer layer stops the wind & rain getting in but also stops the wet from my wetsuit getting out.
That combo in the summer is perfect. The little bit of water that drips off my ankles onto the footwell mat soon dries up in the milder weather of summer.
When winter comes though it’s a slightly different story.
Part of “full gimp” includes neoprene socks which, by the time I’ve got out, are well soaked and full of water. A pair of crocs get slung over the top to walk down to the water. After I get out the water seeps out of my socks into my crocs and forms a nice little puddle. When I get back in the car that little puddle sometimes overspills into Hubby’s footwell. Onto the lovely fabric mats.
They never dry. It’s too cold at this time of year for them to dry off properly, even with the heating blasting at his feet on his journey to work. His car has subsequently started to smell like a bog. That dirty water smell you get from a pair of wet dirty walking socks. The stench of a sandpit that’s filled with water because you’ve forgotten to put the lid back on. A slightly fetid aroma of cabbage now envelops his poor car. Sorry Paul!
My car’s not fairing much better, whilst it rarely gets used for our longer wetsuit dips, it’s usually that one that bears the brunt of a polar bear dip and even that results in damp mat syndrome.
I’ve resigned myself to the faint aroma of brussel sprouts (which seems appropriately festive now) until the spring and Hubby’s bought an air freshener.
Open Water Wheway 