The days are getting shorter the air is much colder and most importantly for us so is the water temperature. The holiday season is upon us which means that winter is just around the corner. This time of year which is supposed to bring joy and happiness to our families and friends alike is all too often marred by tragedy in the paddling community. Common sense should tell you to make your maiden voyage on a sheltered pond or lake come spring time but common sense is thrown out the window. Each and every year it seems more and more deaths are occurring at the body of water closest to the victims home, be it lake, river, bay or ocean. Surprisingly each year also brings reports of paddlers with some experience also meeting their end because they just wanted to see how their new paddle or other piece of equipment performs on the water. IMHO each and every paddler regardless of their experience or ability should not venture out alone at this time of year. I am also of the opinion that everyone, again regardless of ability, should dress in a manner that will protect them in the event they find themselves out of their boats and in the water. When done safely this time of year can reward you with some of the best paddling you will experience all year. The pleasure boats are off the water. The assholes on the jet skis who are so full of themselves in the summer don't have the balls to venture out because it's cold. I could not believe it until I saw with my very own eyes that there were seals in Sandy Hook Bay in New Jersey that migrate down from the northern latitudes at this time of year. Please if you are new to our wonderful sport please heed the advice of myself and others. I wouldn't dream of paddling without wearing my Gore-Tex dry suit. I have seen plenty of people, myself included who thought they were prepared for cold water because they had purchased a farmer john style wetsuit. I found that this was insufficient when I attended my very first cold water work shop and at the start of the day everyone was instructed to jump off a dock into the water of a mountain lake where the event was held. I still shiver when I remember that first shock of ice cold water entering the suit. I spent a long time that day shivering in front of a fire in a cabin thinking that I was never going to go out paddling again this time of year. Now after obtaining the proper gear and making sure I always paddle with at the very least one other paddler I look forward to our wintertime jaunts. One of the easiest things a paddler can do for themself in preventing hypothermia is eat a large breakfast. One more point I would like to make is the importance of keeping oneself hydrated. Even though you may not feel thirsty like you do in warm weather paddling it is just as important to intake the same amount, if not more, of fluids. Please go to any search engine and type in hypothermia. Follow the links and read the articles. One of them may just save your life.
It is most unfortunate that we see the same scenario played out year after year. Someone, more likely then not a person with little or no paddling experience, receives as a gift a new boat that they just have to "try out."