BLINDED BY THE LIGHT

Went out for a quick paddle last night after work.



For most of the trip the river was like glass, it was a peaceful excursion.



I ran into trouble on my return trip, which was facing West. The serene glasslike surface was now mother natures huge mirror! I had a hat on and sunglasses to block the sun in the sky, but nothing I did helped on the reflection. It was so bright, I had trouble seeing more that 6 feet ahead of me.



How does everyone else handle this?



Luckily I was the only one out there, and it was a slow, wide river.

comes
with the territory. paddle west in the late afternoon on a clear day…yep the sun’s gunna be in your eyes.



steve

Don’t paddle straight into it
You may have to zig-zag home, but it’s better than going blind.

Doctor, It Hurts When I Do This.
Well don’t do that!



Seriously; if you’re doing an out-and-back you’re better off paddling into the sun when it’s somewhat low then away from the sun when it’s very low. We road bikers deal with this pretty often.



(that’ll be $200)

Qulity sunglasses
and even then you will still have to deal with it some.

I carry various sunglasses and a hat
and a visor. When it is that blinding sun, i pull out my old Bolle’s they make day look like night on the water but really helps tone that bright light down. They need to be the very dark version. I have had mine since the early '80’s (in style again HA) Great for driving in similar situations.

Welders googles?! Inuit sunglasses?
No, no, the other posters were right/helpful.

Deck
When the sun is really low in the sky the reflection off the water can be really bad. What irritates me is those blinding flashes that bounce off the deck. I think a darker, flat finish is the smart thing to have.

On the other hand . . .
I find that if I have no choice but to paddle into the sun, it helps to aim directly at the sun so that the sun’s rays hit the kayak rather than reflecting off the water. They are less intense that way. Pull your hat down very low over your eyes and bend your head down.

thanks
for the inputs. I don’t usually paddle around that time of day. I’ll try the zig zag routine next time.

I use Glacier Glasses…
they block the light from all the angles. I use Julbo Colorado’s. I haven’t found anything better for those mirrored evenings when there’s not a ripple to be had.

careful on the zig zag
Side effect of the good air quality down here eh? Morning and afternoon sun can be really really bright summer winter hot dry cold or really humid alike since there is usually no particulate haze to dim it. Anyway, be careful if there is speed boat traffic it you need to zig-zag. West bound speed boats will be just as blind as you are and my experience says that a lot of them will still go really fast even though they can see. I tend to hug the shore pretty close in the evenings on the east/west stretch near my house when the sun is bad. I also have to remind myself that when I’m east bound in the evening and that blazing sun is as my back, oncoming traffic is blind.

answer is easy
paddle the Suez Canal



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