RE: [Paddlewise] When in Rome do as the

Chuck,

You raised a couple good points I'd like to respond to.

(1) If I know I'm going out to work on new rolling techniques and therefore
will spend lots of time in the water, I'll wear my light wet suit (a
neoprene vest and shorts) and if its real cold water, I'll wear a neoprene
hood or even a dry top.  My comments were written with a typical day of
paddling in mind.

(2) Your second point is VERY important and has concerned me on a number of
occaisions.  Most sea kayakers can't roll.  Most sea kayakers don't think
they need to roll.  When they flip, it means a swim.  If I know I stand a
good chance of swimming (like in a day of surfing), I wear a wet suit and I
would suggest the same to anyone.  Hence, many kayakers -- even serious
northwest kayakers who don't roll -- should wear a wet suit in anything but
the calmest cold water..... but then again, I am a saftey nut.  I'm sure
many people up here would disagree with me.

--Tim



-----Original Message-----
From: CHUCK_at_multitech.com [mailto:CHUCK_at_multitech.com]
Sent: Thursday, August 05, 1999 1:48 PM
To: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net
Subject: Re: [Paddlewise] When in Rome do as the


>>
>Mattson, Timothy G wrote:

>I live and paddle in the Northwest.  "Serious Sea Kayakers I paddle   with"
>almost never wear full wet suits or dry suits.  Of course we wear them
when
>playing in the surf and in unusually rough seas, but for the most part,
its
>just poly-pro with maybe a light neoprene vest and a light paddle jacket
for
>winter conditions.
>
Here in Wales most of my paddling friends dress in the same way, the idea   
is not to come out of the boat at all... To wear a dry suit would not be
practical - we'd just get too hot!

At a recent Sea Symposium on Anglesey it was a hot day, the sun was
shining, all the locals trying out new boats dressed in shorts and
t-shirts. We were amused and puzzled by many of the visiting Americans
insisting on wearing full dry suit, perhapps they were interested in
preparing their bodies for the evening drinking sessions!

Cheers, Keith
>>

For Tim:
How many people who dress lightly for sea kayaking in the Northwest
are not "Serious Sea Kayakers" with good braces and rolls?

For Keith:
1. What was the water temperature?
2. Were the people trying out the boats rolling them or leaning them
   enough to get wet?

Derek Hutchinson once questioned Linda's and my decision to wear dry
suits on a hot, sunny day on Lake Superior when the water was icy
cold, but relented when we told him we intended to practice rolling
during our paddle. We had taken an advanced rolling class from James
Loveridge the previous day, and after two rolls without a neoprene
hood, my head felt like an ice cube! (No, not cubical.)

Chuck Holst  
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