> Even though the water is still very cold in the Spring here I'm hoping to > extend the season a bit this year because I just bought a dry suit. Even > with the dry suit, I don't plan on going out unless I'm going with someone > that I trust to perform an assisted rescue if I did capsize and come out > of > my boat. I don't own a dry suit, and I'm further South (southeastern Virginia). One thing I do in the winter is to use that time to explore a lot of the "rabbit trail" type of creeks that run through the salt marshes around here. By doing that, I spend the vast majority of the paddle in water that is generally less than waist deep, and typically narrow (to the point where it can get hard to impossible to turn the boat around). Capsizing would still be unpleasant, though... not so much for the water temperature, but for the face plant into stinky marsh mud. When the water warms, that's when I do longer, open water paddles. Not open as in miles off shore, but a helluva lot further than I can swim, nonetheless. Just $.02 Rick *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
At 12:09 PM 3/14/03 -0500, Rick.Sylvia_at_ferguson.com wrote: > > Even though the water is still very cold in the Spring here I'm hoping >to > > extend the season a bit this year because I just bought a dry suit. >Even > > with the dry suit, I don't plan on going out unless I'm going with >someone > > that I trust to perform an assisted rescue if I did capsize and come >out > > of > > my boat. > >I don't own a dry suit, and I'm further South (southeastern Virginia). >One thing I do in the winter is to use that time to explore a lot of the >"rabbit trail" type of creeks that run through the salt marshes around >here. Unfortunately, the quieter protected waters here are also the places that are last to thaw out. There's actually quite a bit of open water on the local lake that only on a couple of occasions has ever frozen over. However, the shoreline may be covered in ice for several hundred feet out to that open water. The air temperature is supposed to get into the 50's this weekend for the first time since November. I just hope that doesn't prompt a few people that just don't understand the risks because the water temperature is still likely going to be in the 30's. >By doing that, I spend the vast majority of the paddle in water >that is generally less than waist deep, and typically narrow (to the >point where it can get hard to impossible to turn the boat around). Sounds like a good place to practice your reverse paddling skills. >Capsizing would still be unpleasant, though... not so much for the water >temperature, but for the face plant into stinky marsh mud. > >When the water warms, that's when I do longer, open water paddles. Not >open as in miles off shore, but a helluva lot further than I can swim, >nonetheless. Essentially, you're reducing the risk by reducing the distance that you could survive a swim although it's still worth noting that if you've paddled a couple of miles up a narrow creek and somehow did managed to capsize and safely swim to shore, you'd still be wet and possibly a couple of miles from somewhere where you can dry off and warm up. Do you pack an extra set of dry clothes in a dry bag in your bulkheads? *************************************************************************** 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 - 16:33:33 PDT