Ever paddled through thin ice

A year ago…
…I went out to try my hand, er hull, at ice-breaking. I was sure that it would be very thin and make a melodious tinkling sound as it gave way to the bow of my Coho. Two other paddlers were on hand with the same idea. One in Grumman canoe and the other in a roto kayak of some ilk.

I charged the edge the ice and was shocked at the sound it made and how quickly it stopped me in my tracks. The noise seemed horrendous and I was sure that my beautiful hull was damaged beyond repair. Backing out was interesting as I was hesitant to break the ice with my Ikelos to get a purchase for reversing course. I just sort of sat there looking stupid, making strange body contortions in the attempt to convince the boat to slide backwards. Finally free again I watched as the guy in the roto kayak make his attempt.



He said that he had been out the day before in his fiberglass boat but didn’t want to damage it so came prepared today. He made a more aggressive charge and actually got the forward part of his hull up onto the ice. At that point he tucked his paddle in it’s park and pulled a pair of ice hammers from between his legs. His plan was now obvious. He was going to get his boat on top of the ice and “climb” his way across the frozen lagoon. Leaning forward onto the deck he started driving the picks into the ice but his boat didn’t move as he had hoped and I had assumed it would. He continued to flail away at the ice and pull and tug but was making little if any headway.

I decided that he looked sillier than I had and that I should allow him some dignity in his moment of failure. I left him and his friend to their devices and slunk away.



From all the noise that my hull made the only damage was some very shallow scratches in the varnish that were no worse that one would get on a typical day of paddling.

All things considered
boating through thin ice is much easier, and more satisfying than treading on thin ice with my ex.



Jim

pintail as mentioned
Highy rockered helps, my pintail easliy slips

up on top of ice when it dosen’t plow through.

But when ice a bit to thick for plowing through

& you’ve lanched your self up on ice & it

dosen’t break through that can be interesting.

Farmer John Wetsuit with a neo
jacket, booties, neo gloves and a hood. Keeps me warm for over an hour. Less if the wind is blowing.

Ex
But maybe not as satisfying as ex on thin ice,

if you can talk her into that.

When I got caught in pack ice…
…a few years ago, I though It was tearing the boat apart, based on the horrible sounds it made. When I checked the boat afterward, there wasn’t a single mark on the hull that looked new. Apparently ice is not hard enough to abrade gelcoat. Cedar paddles are another matter entirely…

Be Careful
Several years ago one person flipped over and doing a rescue in the ice was not that easy. Make sure you are dressed for cold water.

Ice paddling
We have paddled our kayaks in Lake Erie and the Niagara River (relatively near the shoreline) in late winter, after the ice pack has broken up. The noise was very “slushy”, much like crushed ice swirled around in a glass.



That said, we saw some freakin’ BIG chunks of ice. Just like you’ve read about icebergs, they are mostly submerged. So we gave those a wide berth.



We also had the experience of ice hunks MOVING into our launch, even though it was clear of ice when we launched. That can make it hard to get out. Sometimes you can’t push the ice chunks out of the way with your boat or paddle. Luckily we had another way to get out that day. We know of two Canadian paddlers who got caught behind moving pack ice, and had to somehow shimmy their boats over the “iceberg-ettes” to get to shore. Very exhausting, and very dangerous.



We’ve also paddled swamps and creeks with thin ice that we have broken, but anything thick really can’t be broken by most kayaks. I tried it once, approached the ice at ramming speed, and ended up ON TOP of the ice.



Even though a kayak can crunch through very thin sheets of ice – beware. If you don’t slice your paddle right through the thin sheet ice at a relative 90 degree angle (straight into the ice), it can go skittering across the ice and throw you off balance. You could end up swimming in near-freezing water.



And there’s always a chance if you do dump, you could end up UNDER a sheet of ice that can’t be broken through. And, well, you wouldn’t be paddling ever again after that.