>> Never measured comfort versus actual temperature, but will pass along an experience. If someone knows the average Lake Superior water temps at the times of year that mark the following episodes, we might be able to pin down approximate times when a dry suit should replace a wet suit. <snip> >> Last Memorial Day, the deep water surface temperature at the buoy in the western end of Lake Superior was less than 3 degrees C. (about 37 degrees F.). See http://seaboard.ndbc.noaa.gov/data/view_text_file?$filename=4500651999.t xt.gz&$dir=/pool/ftp/data/stdmet/May/. However, in the Apostles, the temperature was around 10 degrees C. (50 degrees F.). See http://www.geo.mtu.edu/great_lakes/lakersi/lars/avhrr_archive/avhrr_arch ive.html. In mid-August the surface temperature at the buoy was around 15 degrees C. (59 degrees F.), and maybe 18 degrees C. (64 degrees F.) around Isle Royale. Links to the above sites can be found at the Inland sea Kayakers site at http://www.isk.canoe-kayak.org/conditions.html under "Great Lakes -- Weather Buoy Data and Forecasts" and "Great Lakes Surface Temperature Maps." More stories about cold water: Several years ago, when I was a beginning sea kayaker, I capsized in the Apostles in mid-June while taking an advanced strokes class from Derek Hutchinson. Since I didn't own a wet suit at the time, I was wearing fleece under coated nylon paddle pants and splash jacket. The water, where it entered the pants at the gap over my backbone, was so cold that it literally stung! However, by the time I capsized a second time, maybe 15 minutes later, the water in the fleece had warmed up, so there was no shock. Actually, I was so warm in that get-up, that it felt refreshing to be in the water! A few years ago, I took an advanced rolling class from James Loveridge not far from the first location, but a week later in June. This time I was wearing a dry suit. I rolled twice bareheaded. By then my head felt like an ice cube, so I put on my neoprene hood and was comfortable for the rest of the class. The next day in Bayfield, I ran into some women who had just paddled across from Basswood Island. Knowing how conservatively I like to dress for kayaking, one taunted me by telling me that after seeing a couple of sweaty kayakers in wetsuits dive into the water at Basswood Island to cool off, she had decided to wear a T-shirt and shorts during the crossing. I think you have to immerse yourself in cold water to really appreciate what it can do to you. Chuck Holst *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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