>>Hal Levine wrote: >>> >>> Here in New England us Romans usually wear some type of thermal >>> protection (wet suit, farmer john, fuzzy rubber, dry suit or dry top, >>> neo booties etc.) when going out on the open ocean or large bays when >>> the water temp is less than 60 F. ><snip> > >Ralph Diaz responded: ><big snip> At the time, I dismissed the cold water approach of my friend as a >>quirky Northwest thing and I believe that in large part Northwest >>paddlers simply did not take cold-water seriously. I know that around >>the time an article on hypothermia written by an Eastern Moulton Avery >>of the Washington DC area that appeared in Sea Kayaker caused quite a >>stir and seemed revolutionary judging by letters to the editor. >> >>I am surprised however to see that some paddlers out that way have not >>changed. My friend and his family I know are dry-suited these days and >>PFDed as well. > Ralph, You should know better than to paint all Pacific Northwest kayakers with the same brush, however, I would say that there is less emphasis on this coast with respect to cold water immersion gear. This is due to the fact that, for sheltered waters (read inland sea-ways) winter temps are warmer on the coast than in the interior of the land (and cooler in the summer). Fleece and rain gear are the norm much of the year. BCU paddlers from the UK also follow this approach in recent years, preferring not to wear lots of restrictive attire, and concentrate on staying out of trouble and the water. That is even more incredulous, given the UK does not have the PNW's warm Japanese current to keep things moderate. Most of us who solo paddle, paddle at night, paddle during winter outbreaks, or do long crossings and/or rough water work, wear wet suits. Dry suits are less common out hear, but are slowly coming into use. I run across a fair number of paddlers out on the open coast not wearing wet suits (or equivalent). So I guess you are somewhat accurate Ralph. Its not like we should not have more sea savvy, after all, a lot of hypothermia research happens around hear too, and gets published. Last year one of the top BCU/CRCA coaches in our club ran a winter clinic here. One of the participants phoned in to register, said they had the proper thermal immersion gear and rough water skills. There was still ice on the water (unusual for hear). At the first sign of a chop, she went over. She was so cold that rescue was almost impossible. A dock was close buy, and the owners of a cabin rushed out to help, and got the person into a hot shower. Okay, paint with that brush, Ralph! BC'in Ya Doug Lloyd *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************Received on Thu Aug 05 1999 - 09:55:42 PDT
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