Hello kayakers!

Somehow I managed to squeeze in almost 50 miles of paddling in a little over a week. I think I have a problem/addition. :-)

Though in reflecting on this time I was wondering what things I should consider as the season wears on and the water temps fall closer towards freezing ..

Some questions:

1. How many miles do you paddle per week ? Summer vs. fall?
2. I'm now wearing a wet suit, when should that be worn?
3. Has anyone paddled in dry suit weather ? Advice? Experiences?
4. Any interesting stories ?
5. Comments?

Mitch, I average 5 or 6 daytrips a month, usually 15-18 nautical miles/trip. In winter, I don't go out if mid-day air temperature is below 40 degrees F, and especially if there's a lot of wind and/or no sun. I get much more conservative about how I paddle as both the air and water cool down--stick close to shorelines, avoid tricky water. Looking back at my log, I see that I start with the wetsuit around late September/October 1st, and then switch to the drysuit sometime during the last week in November (this is in New Jersey).

The drysuit is the way to go in winter. Expensive, for a good breathable suit with a relief zipper, and plenty of insulating layers underneath, but essential. Wade out to test the suit and "burp" it prior to each trip. We have very able paddlers here who surf and roll all winter, and more power to them--I am not one of them--but everybody with a brain paddles the depths of northern winter in a drysuit.

No interesting winter stories or experiences--and that's just the way I like it.

I paddle year round and seldom ever wear my wetsuit. The main thing I change is from water shoes to boots when the water gets cold enough to cause a brain freeze when I step in it.

Like Magic, I'll probably avoid situations where things might get a little hairy if I can. I have come to rely on the extreme seaworthyness of my boats, but just the same I try to be prudent.

When I get real desperate for a paddling fix, I can always take my rec. boat to the lake in the middle of our town.

Magooch, with your views regarding cold-water attire, sprayskirts and PFDs, and your dependence on the seaworthiness of your boats, may The Force always be with you.

Here in Florida our Paddling season never ends. So, if it gets too cold up there, come on down. If you come to Central Florida, let me know. My husband & I paddle almost every weekend and sometimes during the week.

We're paddling out of Ozello this Sunday to St Martins Key on the Gulf side. Sure the weather has been warm, but on the water temps have been pretty comfortable.

About now is when we start getting some clearer water along the coast lines because of the Gulfstream. No need for wet suits (well, maybe Jan & Feb), forget the dry suits, lots of places to paddle. We did paddle once, one morning when the temps were in the upper 30's. Needed a jacket that AM and gloves!

Okay, I know that some people might think that it is unsatisfactory to go paddling without all the gear, but in all the years and hundreds of miles that I have paddled in kayaks, I have flipped once and that was in about one foot of water. Well, that doesn't count white water kayaking--that's a horse of a different color. I'm talking about recreational kayaking and sea kayaking, but not necessarily in the sea. I seldom ever go paddling in salt water, even though we have a lot to choose from in this area.

I am primarily a river kayaker--mostly on the Columbia River. Most of the kayakers I know, or have met, don't wear spray skirts all the time and only a couple even own dry suits.

The Columbia can get very rough at times and there are some treacherous areas that I will avoid except during very calm weather. There have been a few times when I got caught in some very exciting conditions and I thought for sure that I would end up going for a swim, but the boats have always gotten me out of tight spots.

My question to anyone reading this is, how many times have you ever been capsized when you weren't in extreme conditions? My answer is never in a kayak, but several times in my canoe and small sailboats. And please don't get me wrong, I'm not advocating anything and would never suggest that paddlers shouldn't equip themselves with all the safety gear.

We've got two distinct populations of kayakers here in Jersey: 1) a large population of warm-weather, warm water kayakers in "rec" boats, out on a summer day without sprayskirts, PFDs, whatever. Nothing much happens to them, except every now and then one of them will go out on a windy day in November or March, usually solo, in a sweatshirt and jeans, and we read about it later in the papers. 2) Then we have another, much smaller population of people with long kayaks who, out of force of habit, experience, reading the sea kayaking literature, and seeing what their peers wear, go out on the water in sprayskirts and PFDs and, in cold water, in wetsuits and drysuits.

It's no big thing. Cyclists wear helmets. Drivers wear seat belts. Serious kayakers wear sprayskirts and PFDs. And they wear wetsuits or drysuits when paddling cold water. It's just what they do.

I guess I'm a semi-serious kayaker, because I always wear my pfd when paddling a sea kayak and I only wear my wetsuit when it's cold enough so that I don't in fact get all wet from sweating in it.

I asked the question; how many times have you accidently capsized a kayak to a couple of guys I met, who had been paddling for 25 and 30 years, both of them said never. Maybe they don't go out in the ocean either. I'm not trying to make any big point here, but it always interests me that non-kayakers always bring up the subject of how skinny the boats are and how they are so tippy. Heck, I'm guilty of the same conclusions; before I switched from canoeing to kayaking, I thought that kayaks were a very wet proposition. On the other hand, one lady I met the other day said that she had to watch her husband like a hawk, because he couldn't stay upright in his kayak to save his butt.

I have only fallen out of my boat once; while trying to land on a steep beach.
I have been in situations where I would have gotten very cold, from spray and wind, if I had not had on my sprayskirt, pfd, wetsuit etc. Without this equipment I would have gotten cold enough that it would have impaired my skills, endurance and perhaps my judgement! Wetsuits and pfds aren't just for immersion!
I know people who have said "I trust my boat" as an excuse for not wearing any immersion protection. The truth is you can love your boat but it can't love you back.
I have never had a burglar, I still lock my door. I have never been in a major auto accident, I still wear my seatbelt. I have never been the target of a scam, I still don't answer e-mails from Nigeria!
I honestly beleive that people don't take precautions because they aren't emotionaly capable of admitting they are at risk.

Osprey, very well said!

There's an end to the paddling season?

Osprey, I think you're over-analyzing the thing. At least where I am concerned, emotion has nothing to do with it. It's all about comfort and how much trouble I'm willing to go to.

If you come right down to it, the sop says that you should never go paddling alone. I paddle alone most of the time. I'm pretty sure that one could make a pretty good argument for not going sailing, hiking in the wild, or even fishing alone. Sorry, but I make my own rules and if they seem foolish to others, then that's just the way it has to be. I know perfectly well that I am at risk just leaving my house, but I'm not going to let that paralyze me into not living.

What we're probably talking about here is differing conditions. I don't know what kind of conditions you guys paddle in and you don't know what the conditions are here.

I paddle where the water gets cold (wouldn't want to have to swim)for part of the year, where the wind blows and generates waves, and where there are tides and currents. We were exposed here in the East to role models and to literature that told us that sea kayaking meant PFDs, sprayskirts, and, in cold water, wetsuits and drysuits. We noted early on, when analyzing the capsize records, that the dead people almost never seemed to be wearing wetsuits or drysuits. And the accident reports from the Coast Guard showed that an astounding number of small-boat fatalities weren't wearing PFDs. Just about all of us had a huge wave dump water over our cockpits, and were thankful for our sprayskirts. We had already experienced what it was like to have a big wave dump water into your cockpit and slosh round inside, making the boat wobbly and unstable.

We developed these habits, and thus freed ourselves from emotion--it just became second nature to wear a sprayskirt, a PFD, and, when the water chilled down, a wetsuit or drysuit. It's just part of open-water kayaking, like holding a paddle in your hand. No big thing, really.

Well regarding the falling out of your boat question, twice. Once in the Kestrel while going down some "mini-rapids" (knee deep water)and ONLY because my husband INSISTED I bring him the bilge pump, because he went over before I got there. So to get to him, I had to take the same route he did and splash! (Now he carries his own bilge pump and I choose my own path)

And finally in the Cypress last weekend, getting IN of all things! Don't know why, just "splash".

RE gear: I ALWAYS carry bilge pump, paddle float, wear PFD and whistle, also wear spray skirt on open water and always carry it in day hatch, just in case conditions change when not on open water.

We rarely have the type of cold weather y'all have, but on one occasion did need neoprene gloves in early AM, warms up by mid morning usually here.

Rarely paddle alone (unless I'm up ahead of the rest of the group, if that counts). Haven't figured on how to get boat on and off the car roof by myself yet. If I do, then I'll probably do soem solo stuff.

I paddle year round. Over the past ten years, I've paddled anywhere from 1500 kms to 5000 kms per year.

To the OP, you should wear your wetsuit anytime that you'd not be comfortable swimming in the water for a half hour without it (that's my personal general rule).

I've capsized (unintentionally) twice in ten years -- once in really big tidal currents, and another time when the water was smooth as glass -- never assume that you won't flip over in benign conditions -- it happens.

I wear a dry suit pretty much all the time here in British Columbia other than during the summer -- for spring and fall, I usually wear light synthetic underwear underneath my drysuit -- in winter months, I wear light synthetic wicking underwear underneath heavy fleece. Heavy wool socks on my feet and Chota neoprene mukluk boots over my drysuit. I usually wear pogies for my hands in the winter as they are much, much warmer than gloves, but I also carry a pair of heavy weight neoprene gloves that I can put on in the water should I capsize as the pogies won't do any good in a capsize situation. In winter months, I also carry a dry bag with a complete change of warm dry clothes (fleece or other thermal wear as well as warm footwear), and a sleeping bag (for treatment of hypothermia). So far, I've not had to ever use my emergency dry bag.

I paddle solo -- a lot -- and especially in the winter months when it's more difficult to find someone to paddle with. I also camp throughout the year. Tons and tons of great experiences.

Advice? Don't underestimate the possibility and severity of hypothermia, obtain the proper skills for the conditions (including self-rescue techniques), learn about hypothermia and how to treat it, and always dress for the temperature of the water.

Here's a few photos from last year at a local lake:











Although it was a beautiful sunny day, it was very, very cold:


The worst part of this particular trip was once we got off the water and were loading the boats back on the car -- tying the boats to the roof rack was painfully cold on the hands. Fortunately, we got that part over with pretty quickly. Even with the drysuit and heavy fleece undergarments, I don't think I really would have wanted to go for a swim on that day.