Without even getting into winter paddling, a drysuit would be a good investment to extend the “shoulder seasons.” If you go later and later in the fall season, you may realize one late December or early January day, on the water, that you have become a winter paddler. 
sing
Love the sense of solitude conveyed in the last two piccs! That is also an essential part afforded to me by winter paddling.
sing
Yes, the solitude experience is more common in winter even here. No one at either ramp we used and saw none on the water both times we paddled the river in January. I like the feeling of being the only ones there. We would have paddled the Enoree River which is even a wilder place although the is very little in the way of human development on the Saluda River and no houses. However, there are no dams on the Enoree and with all the rain we have been having it has been near to or flooding on the sunny days and is full of sweepers
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I hope to get out sailing on Lake Murray soon, but February is a short month with Paddling plans already in the works. I hope to See Brodie at the check-in for the EC300. We plan to camp on Shell Island while there. Probably stay on a small sailboat but will rent canoes to do a bit of paddling in the days before that if all goes to plan.
Florida in the winter is a wonderland of good paddling.
Our lake still has enough ice on it to make launching tricky. Further, the lake is drawn down by 10 feet in winter. But there is a lovely time of solitude in late March through early May - a few fishermen at most, but plenty of migrating waterfowl. For now I’ll continue to ski, Nordic and alpine.
That’s how the rest of the kayaking journey has seemed to go, so I imagine you are right (says the person who now has 5 kayaks in the basement). 
It’s a slippery slope… Careful, or you’ll find yourself living in a boat livery, unable to determine quickly which boat to go out in next. Choices… Too many choices…
sing
Winter paddling is great no bugs, no boats!
Paddling upstream today I had to dodge chunks of shore ice that had broken off due to the sunshine and temps in the low 40s.
My typical style of daydreaming didn’t work out as well as usual and I bumped quite a few ice chunks on my way upstream and coming back downstream I was looking at something on the shore and rammed directly into a big ice sheet which fortunately tilted into a shallow ramp due to my bow rocker so I went right over it making a bad sound for a long time.
Gorgeous day for a paddle but the sunshine gradually dwindled and then disappeared entirely and the wind picked up and it was from the north and it was 32 and windy at the take-out at 3:30 pm. Kinda like having mother nature wink at you.
I just saw a notice about the national weather.
If it’s correct you folks in the North East are about to get some of what we have been getting. Get out your warm clothing and tire chains and make sure everything works and that the chains are in good shape and fit the tires. Have a back up system to heat your home if you can. Get your fuel and/or fire wood now.
Most of us who are remote in the Rocky Mountain regions do these things as a life style. It’s just part of every year’s plan. But I have friends in Texas Arizona and Oklahoma who had come to rely 100% on their usual systems always working, and the time those systems stopped they were in REAL trouble.
Don’t rely 100% of them, Have a back-up system and get ready BEFORE you need them.
If the weather that we just had comes to you, you will be very glad you did a dry run before you need them.
Hope this is a helpful post, even if it’s not related to paddling.
In the Marines I taught my troops the survival pattern, and it’s good even for home living.
Weapons.
First Aid
Fire
Shelter
Signal
Food and water.
Weapons : means a system for security. Friends and neighbors are key, as much or more then the actual hard tools.
First Aid : means any medical concerns you know you have, and some preparedness for unforeseen problems too.
Fire : Meaning heat. It can take many forms but have a few ready to go, AND some back-up for your primary system
Shelter : Meaning anything that is an effective barrier from the conditions that are life threatening. Clothing is part of this group.
Signal : VERY important and all the above can and at times will depend on your abilities to communicate with others.
Food and Water : Self Explanatory, but think in terms of months, not days.
My sincere hope is that it’s a winter vacation, not a survival situation for all of you. Preparing is the real and only difference between those two.
Here in southern New England it is going to be below zero tonight with wind chills around 20 below. Even colder up north. Sunday is in the 30’s, and it is back up into the 40’s next week. Just a short cold snap. What crazy weather.
Our cold “snap” started on Dec 19th and since then we have had 2 days where the temps got almost to freezing. Most day time highs have been in the single digits or well below zero.
As I write this it’s 16F. But that’s 16 ABOVE zero, so I’m not complaining.
It’s warmer then it has been compared to many of the days we’ve had since before Christmas.
Supposed to be above 32 deg here Tues, Wed and Thurs next week.
Hallelujah! Now, where did I stash those shorts?
concept2 rowing machine you can even get a canoe rig too attach
I’ve got an old model Concept 2. For me a Concept 2, while a great piece of exercise equipment, is for when I need exercise. Whereas my kayak is for having fun.
Ditto that. I exercise routinely - daily long walks, 4x HIIT (heavy bag/sparring) sessions weekly, resistance/weights (I hate these but…) – so I can go out and have a blast with surf paddling, backbacking, flyfishing all day.
There are few among us (some of the PNetters here) with the easy access and the disciplined regularity to be able to truly “exercise” through an integrated paddling routine in their lifestyle. We should envy (or HATE) them for that.
sing
Like the ones who live on the water.
Wow, you really exercise! I need to do more weight training but… boring. I do my best. 
I hate weights as well. Never really did them until I hit 60. I was losing muscle mass with my usual HIIT routines. So, I started doing weights but now I have incorporated resistance bands for some of the leg workouts. I have a blown out left knee (no ACL, partial meniscus) so I think the resistance bands are easier/safer for me than screwing up with free weights. At least that’s my thinking.
sing
Probably smart!
