Hi Wayne, While you are correct that our summer water temps are warmer than those of the northern reaches of the left coast, our winter water temps take a back seat only to Greenland and other such truly inhospitable places. ;-) The following Water temps are taken from 1999 data as recorded by the Boston Weather Buoy: Jan, 99 - Water Temp _at_ Boston Harbor, Min 36.5°F, Max 42.3°F Feb, 99 - Water Temp _at_ Boston Harbor, Min 36.3°F, Max 38.3°F Mar, 99 - Water Temp _at_ Boston Harbor, Min 36.9°F, Max 40.4°F http://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/data/view_text_file?$filename=44013h1999.txt.gz&$dir= /pool/ftp/data/historical/stdmet/ Based of the Hypothermia 50:50 rule, my drysuit sees action from December through April. Your posting while true for the summer months may be misleading if people are reading you to say that the 2mm neoprene substitutes are adequate for winter paddling in northern New England. I too wear similar paddle clothing in the summer (NRS HydroSkinz) but this is not summer and a swim in 40°F water in the clothing you described could be fatal for some people. In the winter in northern NE, safe seakayaking means wearing a drysuit. I paddle the same waters north of Boston on up to Maine on a weekly basis, year-round. Respectfully Jed (speed-bump) Luby In a message dated 12/1/00 11:10:13 PM, wrf_at_hypatia.unh.edu writes: << For many of us easterners the cold cold waters of the left coast are not as much of a problem- thanks I guess to the Gulf Stream? I paddle in bays and harbors in Me and NH where the shore is not so far away under the worst of circumstances (missed roll or rescue) so I have opted for a less cumbersome but quite good (I think so far) alternative to both wetsuits and dry suits. That is a FJ made of ruberized, stretchable nylon outside (waterproof) with a brushed pile inside (has various tm names). These garments are quite comfortable, rarely hot and altho not water tight allow only a small amount of water in next to the skin per unit submersion time (like a wetsuit). They are equivalent to 2-3 mm neoprene in insulation but much more comfortable. They obivously are not a substitue for drysuits in very cold waters but if you plan to kayak in relatively safe places, in water that is in the upper 50s or above and where you will probably not be in the water for great lengths of time-- these are good alternatives. They are not restrictive to movement and they give a good 5 minutes of reasonable comfort in the coolish eastern waters. They are very comfortable out of the boat as they are wind proof but not sweaty. I also do not kayak on days where capsize is real possiblity, i.e windy, wavy days. Still risk is risk and nothing would beat a drysuit for best protection. My hydrotech suit cost $88 compared to $600 for a drysuit and so is something to consider if you are willing to give up channel crossing winter adventures in the deep ocean among icebergs and subzero wind chill. >> *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.4.0 : Thu Aug 21 2025 - 16:33:19 PDT