In the Twin Cities, most winters it is possible to paddle all season-long on the Mississippi River in the current below the Ford Dam. It's an annual ritual for kayakers to gather there on New Year's Day for a (usually) short paddle and picnic. The last time I did this was before my bypass operation over four years ago, and the coldest temperature I paddled in was about 8 degrees F. At that temperature, fresh water ices up kayaks, spray skirts, and paddles pretty rapidly. My gear had about a quarter-inch of ice on it by the time I took out. You should have a good roll and cold water protection in these conditions, because you might not be able to pop your spray skirt in an emergency. I also recommend a shouldered Greenland paddle in these conditions. The shoulder and the oval section of the loom make it easier to grip the paddle even when the loom is slick with ice. Furthermore, the blades usually stay ice-free from constantly being dipped in 32-degree water, which makes it possible to get a good grip for the standard Greenland roll if that should become necessary. On a few occasions this event took place while cakes of ice were floating down the river. Then it was fun to paddle fast at one of these ice rafts and slide my kayak up on top to ride it for a while. I called it "going with the floe." November here was the second-warmest on record, with every single day having an above-normal temperature. We're just now getting back to normal and slightly below-normal temperatures, so the ponds are just starting to freeze. It'll probably be another week or two before the lakes start to freeze. Chuck Holst __________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature database 4659 (20091203) __________ The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus. http://www.eset.com *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************Received on Thu Dec 03 2009 - 18:27:56 PST
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