made it out,
sorta
didn’t go far
and that water and wind combination is colder than my Ex-Wifes frozen methane heart,,,, I can feel my boogerhooks again. Tried something different this time out and won’t be doin’ it again. I always use pogies when the water is cold; these are like mittens that velcro around you paddle loom and let you slide your hands in to grip the paddle. The ones I have are ‘reactor’ neoprene that reflects your heat back at you, and usually are enough to keep the digits warm, or at least not so cold they go numb. Well, today, I had the pogies, worked good, hands cold but not bad, and then, I screwed up. I added a pair of neoprene gloves. 10 minutes later, the needles of cold were digging DEEP,,,, once they go cold like that, there is only one solution: get off the water ASAP.
and that was the only part of me (‘side me noze) that was cold. Toesies said they could use a warm up, but not bad, wet waist area from paddle splash felt that cold but wasn’t cold itself. and what was under the drytop felt toasty warm.
NOT ze handz,,, oh no,,, PAIN cold,,, nearing frostbite level cold (not exactly, they never started ‘feeling warm’, which is sure sign you are losing nerve endings.)
but now, I can’t be mad with myself,,, I went out, paddled a bit, even tried to do a ‘paddle nap’, that ended up being a half roll/recovery. I’ll figure that shit out yet,,,
When that drysuit gets here,,,, House looks like a surfers den again (minus all the pizza boxes and beer can pyramids). The only odd ball in that is the drytop,,, I like it, but really, its meant for early fall weather when staying mostly dry is in order,,, it sure won’t stay dry if I have to escape a capsized boat, seeing how it only covers from my belly up. It does seal up pretty well there, but water will seep in over time if immersed.
Water temp today: 40F
Air temp: 36F, with 3-5mph winds
Bbbbbrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
