Recently in a welcoming open note to a new paddler on its list server, the head of the Chesapeake Paddlers Association suggested that "On cold water (water temperature below about 65 degrees F), suitable protective clothing is also required." That seems to me to be a higher threshold than I have seen locally where I live and for what I believe is the practice elsewhere. By that rule of thumb for example, one would have to plan to wear a wet suit in New York City through the end of June. I regularly track the water temperature ranges and that is about when you can pretty much say that the temperature starts getting into the high 60s. Meanwhile, you pretty much can count on our air temperatures being in the 80s from late May on and 90 degree days not unusual during June. Traditionally, in this area paddlers here start getting out of wet suits et al in early May at the latest. That seems to be the practice in clubs and among outfitters running commercial trips. Our winter water temperatures can go into the high 30s F in the depths of winter and don't inch up over 50 degree F until around May 1, although some years it lingers a bit longer at below that mark. The highest they get is in the 70s somewhere. I am posting this question to PaddleWise because of its worldwide circulation. And it is not to pick any fights or start holy wars. Here is my question on cold water thresholds: For those of you in temperate climates where water temperatures range widely over the year, what is the practice among clubs and outfitters regarding temperature ranges and time of year when it is considered okay to stop wearing cold water protection? I am thinking particularly at the end of the cold season when air temperatures heat up while the water moves slowly out of hypothermic ranges. I know you can get hypothermic at even 70 F degree water if you hang around long enough in it. I am looking for practical levels, i.e. what is the practice in various places such as the Northwest US and Canadian coast, Northern California, New Zealand, Japan, Northern Europe, the US Great Lakes, etc. ralph diaz -- ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Ralph Diaz . . . Folding Kayaker newsletter PO Box 0754, New York, NY 10024 Tel: 212-724-5069; E-mail: rdiaz_at_ix.netcom.com "Where's your sea kayak?"----"It's in the bag." ----------------------------------------------------------------------- *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
rdiaz_at_ix.netcom.com wrote: > > Recently in a welcoming open note to a new paddler on its list server, > the head of the Chesapeake Paddlers Association suggested that "On cold > water (water temperature below about 65 degrees F), suitable protective > clothing is also required." > > That seems to me to be a higher threshold than I have seen locally where > I live and for what I believe is the practice elsewhere. [snip] > > For those of you in temperate climates where water temperatures range > widely over the year, what is the practice among clubs and outfitters > regarding temperature ranges and time of year when it is considered okay > to stop wearing cold water protection? [snip] Not a club member or an outfitter (thank God!). Have spent a lot of time bodysurfing in the ocean, though, so I can speak from the "fully-immersed" perspective. I agree with Ralph's 65 F threshold. We used to swim/bodysurf for two-three hours (max) in 65 - 68 F water in Southern California, *without wetsuit protection.* Admittedly, this involves less time completely covered in water than a person who is swimming in deep water would experience. And, we were *active,* fit folks. OTOH, *nobody* in that crowd could handle 60 F water sans wetsuit for more than 15 - 20 minutes without getting uncomfortably chilled -- probably on the way to hypothermia. At 65 - 60 F or less, I wear the farmer john, to give me enough time to re-enter the boat, and to extend my survival time. At 55, I probably would don the paddlejacket, with increasing insulation as the water temp drops. A thought: public, "official" pronouncements of club officials, and the like, are likely to be more conservative than their actual practice, liability litigation being as popular as it is. -- Dave Kruger Astoria, OR *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
rdiaz_at_ix.netcom.com wrote: > > Recently in a welcoming open note to a new paddler on its list server, > the head of the Chesapeake Paddlers Association suggested that "On cold > water (water temperature below about 65 degrees F), suitable protective > clothing is also required." It has to depend on the individual, the risk of dumping, how quickly you can be rescued or self-rescued and on how practical it is to dress for the water temp. Much of my canoeing has been done on water colder than 65 F. On a few trips I was filling in for dropouts on canoe trip leadership courses sanctioned by Ontario Recreational Canoe Association. One of these was in May, ice had been off the lakes for 2 weeks, heat was a problem on portages. In fact one accident scenario was heat stroke & the victim was quite believable. Cold water protection was not worn by anybody, including the instructor. I'm not recommending this but when I paddle on icy water near home, I wear polypro long john's, polyester fleece pants, and a fleece jacket & goretex jacket (or a winter parka). I usually overheat, peel a few layers & paddle in shirt sleeves. I dumped & swam in the above clothes in spring last year. The water was about 2C & I was fine. A bluejean clad member of the group was hypothermic, though he never dumped. -- Lloyd Bowles The Mad Canoeist "Keep the open side up!" http://www.fortunecity.com/greenfield/clearstreets/358/index.html *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
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/ ***************************************************************************
Ralph wrote; >Recently in a welcoming open note to a new paddler on its list server, >the head of the Chesapeake Paddlers Association suggested that "On cold >water (water temperature below about 65 degrees F), suitable protective >clothing is also required." Ole Ralph may be baiting me as we had simlar discussion on the WaveLength list some time back when I suggested the "Rule of 100" where one adds the water and air temperature and if they are less than 100 (all in Farenheit. You could use 38 centigrade) you put on your cold water stuff if you got 'em and if you don't you stay ashore. Now, the number 100 has no magic. I view it like a kind of warning zone and simple math that you can use to see if the conditions warrant the gear. So may factors impinge on ones decision. Tired people or thin people or scared people might be well advised to exercise more caution. So should people paddling across open water when the chance of a weather change could be higher (difficult to put on a wet suit in a kayak on open water). No doubt the number of extenuating circumstances could go on at great length. I cannot recall ever using a thermometer though. Once paddled on a partially frozen river with nothing but a life jacket as part of a photo shoot. The picture was cropped to take out the snow covered banks so it looked like summer. Also remember participating in a Polar Bear Club fund raiser (never did that again!) I suppose one can always find a reason to break "rules". In Labrador we wore no wet suits or dry suits even though the water was bloody cold (icebergs all around). What good would a wet suit be with help over 500 kilometres away and no way to contact them? Although I feel I exercise a great deal of caution in my paddling I never felt at risk just because I had no wet suit of dry suit even though I commonly wear my dry suit when paddling in conditions where a capsize might be a possibility. Cheers, John Winters Redwing Designs Specialists in Human Powered Watercraft http://home.ican.net/~735769/ *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.4.0 : Thu Aug 21 2025 - 16:32:54 PDT