Dang Steve, 10 November has been my last trip.of the season for the past three years. Although the water was reported as 64° at Thomas Point Light and Tolchester, which are the points I monitor and rely on, the water felt colder. I’m a warm weather paddler only.
The earliest first paddle of the season for me was around 20 Mar one year, but conditions are normally acceptable by about mid April. This year turned out to be higher winds than I like, and mostly out of the SE which can build waves on the right tidal phase.
On Thursday, air temp was 82 in the city, 77° on the water, but dropped into the 60° range today, with night temps near 40°. Going up to mid 60s and 70s through Tuesday/Wednesday, but it drops again, so I think the water will drop below 60°. No longer pleasant for me after that.
I was on the Satilla river paddle, 26 miles, I coastal Georgia. The water was nice and warm. We were 23 miles into the paddle and we pulled over in the marsh to wait for stragglers. I opened my skirt reached for my water bottle and raised a knee up…whoops. Hands on water bottle and noton paddle I went for a swim.
It can happen. Usually does when not expected.
We are Florida. It doesn’t get cold here. BS… We have frozen pipes, frost, and 55 degrees water in our winter. We usually loose a paddle boarder or two. Water temp can be 72 in springs but 55 in rivers. Air temp has been as high as 80-85 on New Years day. Fall in from 85 air to 55 water an that 30 degrees drop can cause that gasp/breath thing and muscle cramps. Cold is relative and gets you when unexpected.
My observations while paddling and seeing myself or others turning over. Getting in or out of their kayaks; noticeably when bow or stern touching shore also stepping out steep side…water too deep . Turning away from larger waves instead of into it with some form of a brace. Trying to roll.
Well 2 things would need to change first. #1 I would have to be fully retired so I was not making any customer wait on my play time.
#2 I would have to have a lot more money then I do now. I’d then travel round and go places to enjoy myself. I do not see that happening unless God Himself blesses me in that way, but my ‘failing’ is that I have never prioritized money. As long as I had enough to live on I was happy. I do have enough, but not any more.
But going to New York Harbor in January might be good to warm up a bit. They get as much snow as I do, but the air is seldom as cold and if it is very cold it won’t stay that cold for as long.
And most importantly, NY Harbor doesn’t freeze over 2-3 feet deep. Some ocean harbors do, but they are way farther north then NY is.
I’ve seen a few times when a poorly placed paddle stroke “trips” a kayaker. I’ve also seen people react to dropped or miscaught objects and capsizing themselves.
Good luck. Hope your next trip is the best of the year. The great news is that you’ll have fewer opportunists out there who prey on kayakers.
One advantage of harsh conditions is that most recreational boaters are only out there in fair weather. I occasionally go out with my brother on his power boat when he needed a fishing partner. More than a few times, we cut the trip short if the water became too rough to fish. I’d then turn around and take the kayak out because I was already prepared.
Even so, that looks a little too extreme for me. If Steve wins the lottery, you might have a paddling partner.
I usually read the PA Fish and Game commission’s annual report on boating deaths. The majority have always been in non-powered craft and the consistently highest percentage is men over 40 out alone on relatively shallow flat water in canoes or kayaks or small fishing boats who are found dead sans PFD. Next most common victims are small groups of males or females under 30, usually in rental or recently purchased rec style kayaks, but again – no PFD, but more often in hazardous comditions and circumstances including cold, rough and/or fast water, inebriation and dumb bravado.
While I support and recommend wearing a PFD at all times, those deaths represent boaters who were not able to recover. Clearly, the PFD would have helped them. However, there isn’t much focus on the number of experienced boaters who end up in the water without a PFD and survived.
I believe experienced boaters who have a plan and don’t panic are fully capable of successful recovery even without supplemental flotation. Possession of the PFD is a legal requirement, and wearing it surely provides a definite advantage, but that option is still discretionary. I need and want all the help I can get.
It happens to me either completely expected, or unexpected.
During my “Expected” swims, I’m out in big conditions, high winds, chasing boat wakes, downwinding, or surfing the outer sure break. These situations are generally no big deal because I expect to swim intentionally (cool off) or unintentionally (I have a rule of no bracing at the top of the wave - paddle or swim!).
Then there’s everything else -
I swam in 32* ocean water because I was watching a bird pass near me. That sucked even though I had a dry suit on. It was a 5+ minute swim to shore and without a drysuit likely would have ended up in the ER or worse.
Then there was the time my wife turned around to grab the dog in street clothes. Turning around is a bad idea in a canoe. That led to a 10 minute swim followed by paddling as hard as we could to stay warm in 68*, cloudy, and high wind.
Early in my “Dumb Years” I came within a well placed brace of swimming in icy water 2-3 times. Luckily I practiced bracing like crazy and they were clutch in saving a swim (and possibly my life in retrospect). In all these cases, something caught me off guard - an eddy, a dead head (stump), another boat, carelessness, etc.
So the risk is not what you expect, its the unexpected. If you dress for the unexpected, your margin to death is 100x larger. If you dress for the expected, hope you’re lucky, every time…
My experience is that flat water doesn’t always stay flat. S**t happens. Current, wind and waves can be underestimated or appear suddenly. Cold water can be a killer. I go a lot of different places and paddle in lots of different environments. Granted most of my swims are ww related but I’m actually more concerned with large open water environments, which can change dramatically with the weather and have you further from shore. Dress properly for immersion, practice swimming, doing rescues, and self rescue and always wear a pfd. It doesn’t make you bullet proof or mean you can’t drown but increases greatly your chances of coming home.
If I’m in a new boat in a safe protected space then I want to find the limits of primary and secondary stability. So tipping over and cleaning up my own mess is part of it. If someone tells me they have never flipped then they are missing an important aspect of paddling, managing the swim. In ww we have a saying, “we are all between swims” I apply that to every place I go. Some of my unintentional swims have occured getting out of kayak, hitting submerged trees and trying out new craft. My last “flatwater” swim occured 10 months ago rushing to get out of kayak during a severe storm and trying to climb up onto a platform in Okefenokee. I had to jump in to keep the boat from getting blown away and pinned it against the platform. In my world "s**t happens because I don’t stay home. I just go. Is that dumb bravado? Maybe so, but I got bit by the adventure bug a long time ago and I’m still afflicted. Dressing for immersion and wearing a pfd is just common sense to me. I’m not banking on having a dry hair day to keep me safe.
I may never see the leaves appear again. Go for it!
