Ralph, To answer your question: In the San Francisco Bay Area the water in the Bay and ocean is around 55 F. On any open bay and any ocean paddles I wear a wetsuit. If I'm on a shallow body of water, where I can stand if I need to (shallow parts of the bay, estuaries, slow rivers), if the air is warm I'll wear neoprene shorts, and a polypro shirt. For cold air I often opt to wear the wetsuit even if it's shallow water. Around Elba, Italy, in spring and fall the water is in the 70s. The air ranges from 60s to 80s. So, on hot days it's nylon shorts and synthetic top. Some opt for cotton T-shirts. On cooler days I'll wear the neoprene shorts. Some of the Italian paddlers wear shortie sleeveless neoprene wetsuits for longer trips. To them the water seems colder than it does to me. We also wear more neoprene (farmer john) when we're practicing and spending more time in the water. Barbara * -- * -- * -- * -- * -- * -- * -- * --*--*--*-- Sea Kayak Italia - Elba, Italy http://www.seakayakitaly.com tel. 650-728-8720 fax 650-728-8753 * -- * -- * -- * -- * -- * -- * -- * -- *--* --*-- *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************Received on Sat Dec 12 1998 - 15:24:50 PST
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