Cold Water Paddling

[Guest guest]

In addition to the Lanes Cove Event, those new to paddling in winter my enjoy reading this:

This link is to a good source of information for just about all aspects of sea kayaking.

This is from Atlantic Kayak the North American BCU Central Office.

http://www.atlantickayaktours.com/Pages/Ex...rt-Center.shtml

See the part on "How to Dress"

http://www.atlantickayaktours.com/Pages/Ex...o-Dress-1.shtml

What is killing the kayakers?

For years, most paddlers thought that the foremost danger in cold water paddling was hypothermia, and mistakenly concluded that cold water drownings were caused by hypothermia. Mistakenly because new evidence suggests otherwise. So what is it? What is happening to the kayakers found upside down, still inside their boats, apparently never making attempts to exit or self rescue themselves? What happened to the 9 physically fit and tough U. S. Marines who capsized their boat one frigid winter day on the Potomac River, not one making it to shore alive? What could have happened to these paddlers? Did they drown? Did they die of hypothermia? Did they die of shame? Well, the answer may be both yes and no to all of these questions. What we can surmise though is that some sudden disabling event happened to precipitate these casualties. Most likely the injuries were part of a series of complex events that combines aspects of cold shock, hypothermia and drowning.

read on : http://www.atlantickayaktours.com/Pages/Ex...ldwater-1.shtml

[eneumeier]

There is a lot of information about hypothermia on the web. The links Ken provided are some of the best for kayakers. Read it before you come on 11/20. There will be a quiz. :-))

Liz N.