Not recommended for everyone (and DEFINITELY NOT for beginners) but training and preparation helps. As I slip into winter, I smear my open face, outside of my hooded wetsuit, with silicone grease which provides an insulating layer. Upon getting on the water, I splash water on my face to get ready, usually followed by a couple of rolls, especially on BIG days, to make sure that I am physically, mentally and skills-wise in the right place. Then I head out through the breaking surf. That first paddle out also is an additional gut check on whether I am ready for whatâs to come.
I have had a couple of long, nasty solo swims in winter dawn patrols, when my waveski or surf kayak got taken away by breaking waves. It is a crappy situation but the first thing to do is to ACCEPT that you are in in. You need to relax, rely on the PFD, and side stroke in. Sidestroke in a measure effort (not crazy flailing) allows you to see the oncoming waves and to time accordingly a combo of swim and body surf. At some point, usually in the beginning, you are in the breaking/impact zone where the waves are breaking on top of you. Here, you donât swim or try to fight the wave, rather you grab a breath, go into tucked/fetal position, relax and let the breaking wave take you. Youâll get bowled around but the wave will let go and pass you by. The PFD will bring you back to surface. You get a breath and begin again a measure side stroke, with eyes on the oncoming waves. Stay relaxed, stay in the moment. Moment by moment will pass and you are back on land. (If not, someone else gets to tell or conjure the story for you.)
Drysuit vs wetsuit â think about it. There are more winter surfers in New England than there are paddlers. By far.
PS - On my youtube channel, I have vids from the past 15 years of paddle surfing year round â especially winter when waves are more likely. You can paddle as safely in the winter as you can in the summer â PROVIDED you have the judgement, skills, conditoning, training and equipment that are needed.
I have switched over to the semi dry already. Water getting chilly in wv. Did a roll last week without anything special on and it was a bit chilly. So the next time out I stepped up what I was wearing. Wonât be long and Iâll go to pogies and booties as well.
Our local lake (Lake Pend Oreille) is 110 miles around its periphery and slightly over 1150 feet deep. It is a natural reservoir with the Clark Fork river being its major contributor and the Pend Oreille river its exit, eventually reaching the Columbia. The lake is drawn down by ~10 feet each fall and refilled to the original level in spring.
Both the draw down and declining temperatures shut down my paddling in fall. The draw down reduces the number of feasible launch sites and makes some of the interesting creeks impassable. The declining temperatures in fall are accompanied by significantly more frequent rain (and eventually snow). The water temperature now is about 55 Fahrenheit and the draw down is currently about 4 feet and encroaching on feasible launch sites. I stop paddling about now and start prepping our alpine and Nordic skis.
IMO, the side stroke is the best for blending good efficiency with the ability to keep track of whatâs going on around you. It is under-appreciated and too infrequently taught.
Iâve posted this before, and Iâll post it again: it is possible to condition yourself (gradually!) to tolerate cold better.
Done it myself on trips. I also saw a neighbor walk by regularly, going to her shower-capped, bathing-suited, wetsuit-less swim in the very chilly winter sea near our former home in NW WA. Made me shudder when I thought of what that would feel like to me.
I always wondered why the worship of the crawl, when sidestroke allows seeing what the water is doing, takes a bit less energy, and is easier to do when wearing a PFD than the crawl is.
If sea kayaking in frigid water, doing a few rolls before paddling away from the launch provides quick awareness of what an unexpected capsize would feel like. The first roll HURTS, major ice cream headache. Second and third rolls not as bad. Stop about that time. If the water is really cold, doing much more actually brings back the ice cream headache. Weird, but this is from my own experience.
Which, BTW, I am perfectly happy to NOT experience any more.
Not sure about out west but in NH the lakes are drawn down in late October to minimize shoreline damage from ice over the winter, and to help mitigate flooding during the spring thaw. Not for irrigation in that part of the world.
We have begun swimming in cold water. This past week it was about 17 C and I jumped off rocks and stayed in as long as I could. We will combine cold
plunge with sauna over the winter and see how it goes.
Yes. We agree. Rolling practice in the beginning of the day paddle becomes more important from late fall through winter. Donât want any âsurprisesâ on a âcombat rollâ in cold water. The sensation of cold water head immersion has to be ânormalizedâ into bodily sensation/expectation.
Self-rescue is a little different in moving water rivers. In moving water the common advice is to assume the safe swimming position â on your back, feet near the surface and pointing downstream. You use your feet to bounce off rocks, and back stroke/back ferry to move yourself laterally across the river to avoid hazards. All the time you need to control your breathing as the current tries to push you under, drop you into holes and submerge you repeatedly in standing waves.
Trouble is, the longer you are in the rapid in this passive position, the more likely you are to get pinned, stuck in a hole, or just flush drowned. Especially in a long rapid, you need to be looking for a way to get out of the rapid ASAP. When the opportunity presents itself, you need to rollover and swim hard to get there. Swimming in moving water is exhausting, so the faster you get out the better.
All of this applies regardless of water temperature, but cold water adds two very significant complications â cold shock reduces your ability to control your breathing, and cold water incapacitation effects your muscles and reduces your ability to swim. In big rapids, you usually donât last long enough to get hypothermic.
Cold water protection is important â I am in the drysuit camp all the way. In cold water it is also important to paddle well within your skill level, and not get yourself into trouble in the first place.
To be clear, I think immersion protection is important - be it with a drysuit or a wetsuit (I happen to own multiples of each). What I find sometimes in these forums is this âreductionismâ of coldwater paddling safety to having a drysuit because of the overemphasis on it. As I stated above, safety in coldwater paddling (or all paddling) is related to:
I just wish we could give more options to folks like the OP since I think there must be lots of recreational paddlers that could use a little immersion protection without spending more money on a dry suit than they spent on their boat.
If someone is going to ignore advice and paddle anyway then I think they should wear multiple layers of tight-fitting synthetic clothes because that does help a little even if itâs not as good as neoprene. You can buy neoprene shorts on Amazon for under $20 and a zip-up neoprene âsauna vestâ for about $20. Iâd like to know which ones to recommend. My 0.5 mm NRS helmet liner provides some head insulation for $28 and itâs nice and warm. Thin neoprene gloves from NRS can be used for more than just paddling. Maybe some folks can find a neoprene top like an NRS Hydroskin that they like wearing in cool weather (neoprene can be cozy) and buy one during the annual 40% off sale and then theyâ'd only need cheap neoprene shorts to have a decent immersion protection system for late Spring and early Fall. If someone doesnât have a dry bag for dry clothes all they need is two garbage bags and tapeâŚjust put your clothes in one and twist the top and tape down then drop into second bag and repeat
I didnât like seeing the OP just cancel plans to paddle. My biggest concern for the OP is that they could somehow end up offshore where immersion is not short term but if they have the judgement and confidence to stay near shore then I think that adding âlightâ immersion protection is all they need.
I get it, buying the gear is expensive, but Iâm not sure we should be encouraging people to go out with inadequate gear either. Drysuits are great, but not everyone needs one. Wetsuits can be just as effective, and generally less expensive. Everyone says âIâll stay close to shoreâ, but I think most people overestimate how far they can swim in cold water (or even warm water for that matter).
Fear not, I am only thinking of canceling paddling plans because the weather is forecast to be borderline awful. Not so much in terms of temperature but opening a vacation with 4 straight days of rain isnât encouraging me.
As I explained earlier in the thread my wife and I kayak mostly to observe and photograph wildlife, and to fish. I donât mind fishing in any weather, but the wife wonât want to spend the day sitting in a kayak when itâs 50 degrees and raining. Likewise, my camera gear can survive dampness and moisture with no issues, but Iâm not about to keep it stowed in a waterproof camera bag or dry bag for most of an outing. Not having easy access to the camera makes for limited opportunities.
We go somewhere every Fall to take foliage and nature pictures. This coming week doesnât look like we chose the best week. It is what it is and we will find something else to do.
Thanks to everyone for taking the time to thoughtfully answer my question. At the very least I learned some things and more importantly other members have gotten the opportunity to learn.
