Forgot to mention
We are newbies to kayaking.
island lake is great
You can travel upstream all the way to Milford. The northernmost lake/pond in kensington is a gem. Colors should be great about now.
Remember that they lower the level about 1’ in fall.
depends work great
The kayak bottom is not a concern
You can wear street clothes and not be bothered with the temp of the kayak floor.
However, dress for the water. Minimum farmer john - 1/4". Best is a drysuit. If you fall in water cold enough to freeze the surface, you may not be able to breathe. You can go into cold shock which causes involuntary gasp reflex. Imagine that underwater?
People who are cavaliar about cold water paddling are fools. In Branford CT, where I live, we had a cold water death a few years back. Pfd on the back deck and street clothes.
Also, bicycle clothing does nothing for you. You might as well wear your pajamas. If ever in doubt, jump in the water and see how it feels. Hypothermia/cold shock are the biggest dangers in paddling.
Second Jay’s statement.
Read up on immersion gear and consequences, then decide on the risk level you’re willing to accept.
As for your original question, like Sing said, a thin layer of foam goes a long way on a seat or under your feet. Also, you’d be surprised at how much heat can be retained by a spray skirt, even nylon. Be sure to pack dry clothes in a real drybag (not a garbage bag) and have a way to warm yourself up quick even with stiff frozen fingers.
Someone here once suggested always immersing yourself in whatever you plan to paddle in regardless of the time of year, at the put-in. That way, you’ll know if you’re good to go while still within sight of cars and help. Sound advice if you ask me.
Jim
At least immerse your head
With a drysuit you have the luxury of wading into water chest deep without having to be wet for the entire paddle, but this is admittedly less easy to manage in a wetsuit. If you end up with a wetsuit first, at least wade in deep enough to bend over and dunk your head under water before paddling. This is not a trivial step as water and air get colder - and if you don’t have warm enough head coverings to recover from the dunk you should reconsider paddling that day.
This’ll require decent ear plugs as well if you like being able to hear.
you left out too much
how cold is the water?
He said SE Michigan…
He appears to be posting once a day, so I thought I’d save you the suspense. 
Here in SW Michigan, big water temp is 50, inland water temps are probably mid forties and air in the mid forties as well. SE Michigan, you can probably add about 5 degrees to each.
SHE said…
– Last Updated: Oct-19-06 12:58 PM EST –
I am new to kayaking, not sure about water temps. Thanks Longshadow.
Whoops! Sorry.
– Last Updated: Oct-19-06 1:55 PM EST –
No public profile, I made a bad assumption. Sorry. Public profile's up now though. :-)
Jim
be careful
Kensington still gets cold and if you’re in the middle of the big lake, deep. An affordable wetsuit or stay close to shore would be my recommendation.
if it’s plastic
your butt will warm it up eventually. You might try the various peel and stick dense foam pads around 1/8"-3/16" thick. A Thermarest SportSeat partially deflated is great.
If there’s ANY chance of capsizing and you’re not dressed for it, have rescue skills, or someone to rescue you you’ll be incapacitated pretty quickly, and dead with no rescue.
Huron River paddling
The section of river in Island State Park below the Kensington dam is a nice, and relatively safe, winter paddle. If I remember correctly, the river is slow, less the 50’ wide and wadeable. For these conditions, just make sure you have a change of clothes in a dry bag packed in your boat.
You may want to consider joining the Great Lakes Paddlers club (www.greatlakespaddlers.org). They do anuual day-after-Thanksgiving and a New Years Day paddles on sections of the Huron River in your area. They have good people and it would provide a good introduction to winter paddling.
or buy it somewhere other than Walmart
when I was new (even newer) to kayaking
I got my hands on a copy of the book Sea Kayakers Deep Trouble. A compilation of accident reports & post mortems (sorry! no pun intended) from Sea Kayaker magazine. Worth its weight in gold for the kind of insight it can give you about actual incidents. The number one killer: the cold (not dressing for immersion, no PFD). You might try to find a copy. Maybe in the library. Or it’s fairly cheap on-line. Be safe! Live to paddle another day.
Thanks TimF
I think that will be a great place to start!