Things in the boat shop weren't going so well this weekend so I decided the only antidote was to bolt some temporary thwarts in the new canoe and take it for a test paddle. No seat installed yet so I brought along assorted pieces of foam in various thicknesses to figure out a preferred height. I waited until a little after lunch when the temperature for the day peaked at about 31 degrees.
Been a long and mild fall but it's gotten chilly the last few days. I was surprised how quickly the protected bays had iced over:
20161120_010 by Alan, on Flickr
20161120_011 by Alan, on Flickr
20161120_012 by Alan, on Flickr
Despite a little wind and having to bust through a little ice it was a nice day on the lake until my leaning tower of foam (temporary seat) fell over mid-stroke. Next thing I knew Sadie and I were both in the water. Needless to say it was a little chilly. I was extremely lucky the water was just deep enough for me to stand. It was shoulder deep with thick gooey muck on the bottom of the lake but it made it easier than if I'd been swimming. I thought about trying to flip the canoe upright, empty it of water at the same time, and then attempt to climb back in but knew from previous experience in warm water testing that without flotation reaching nearly to the sheer that I wouldn't be able to fully empty it and that I'd likely just end up wasting time and energy. So I got the canoe a little over 1/2 empty, grabbed my bag of dry clothes that was starting to float away, threw Sadie into the canoe, and started walking it about 175 yards to the little island. Between us and the island was solid ice. Only about 1/4-3/8" thick but enough that I couldn't just walk through it. So I got behind the canoe and pushed it ahead of me to break the ice and I walked through the pathway it created. Despite the serious situation I couldn't help but find a little humor when I recalled this quote from my build thread:
From the time we went in the water it probably took close to 5 minutes to reach shore. My body was still functioning normally but I was feeling very cold and I could feel that things weren't quite right. My legs and arms both felt numbish. I walked about 50 yards to get to the other side of the island where I'd be out of the wind and stripped down to put on dry clothes. Even while I was still in the water I was already thinking, "I wish I had more dry clothes in that bag." I had a pair of pants and a long sleeved shirt. Before I went in the water I was comfortably warm wearing a t-shirt, 2 long sleeve thermals, fleece, and a jacket.
I wrung out my long underwear bottoms and put them back on under my dry pants. Despite having on much less clothing it felt a good deal warmer than being in soaking wet clothes. I thought about wringing out some of my top layers but I didn't know if it would be worthwhile; plus my hands were getting hard to work and handling freezing wet clothing wasn't helping matters.
I suppose it had now been around 10 minutes or so since we went in the drink and my hands were pretty well numb. I had just enough dexterity to zip up my PFD and then it was back into the canoe for a 10-15 minute paddle back to the landing. The first 500 yards were into the wind and that wasn't much fun. After that we were out of the wind and much more comfortable. Made it back to the car without problem and sat in there with the heater on for 20 minutes while my hands very painfully came back to life.
I never would have imagined I'd end up in the water today. I almost didn't even bring a dry bag with extra clothes. As I was leaving the house the thought occurred to me and first I thought, "naw, I'll never need them" but then changed my mind and grabbed a couple things. I should have grabbed much more. Definitely should have had more top layers as well as an extra stocking cap and gloves.
While I did feel the situation was serious for a little bit it could have been a lot worse. I got lucky in many ways:
I was just able to touch bottom where I dumped
I was only 175 yards from shore
I was only a 10-15 minute paddle back to the car
My head (and stocking cap) stayed dry
Be careful out there and expect the unexpected. I'll be more prepared from here on out. What doesn't kill you makes you smarter.
Alan
Been a long and mild fall but it's gotten chilly the last few days. I was surprised how quickly the protected bays had iced over:
20161120_010 by Alan, on Flickr20161120_011 by Alan, on Flickr20161120_012 by Alan, on FlickrDespite a little wind and having to bust through a little ice it was a nice day on the lake until my leaning tower of foam (temporary seat) fell over mid-stroke. Next thing I knew Sadie and I were both in the water. Needless to say it was a little chilly. I was extremely lucky the water was just deep enough for me to stand. It was shoulder deep with thick gooey muck on the bottom of the lake but it made it easier than if I'd been swimming. I thought about trying to flip the canoe upright, empty it of water at the same time, and then attempt to climb back in but knew from previous experience in warm water testing that without flotation reaching nearly to the sheer that I wouldn't be able to fully empty it and that I'd likely just end up wasting time and energy. So I got the canoe a little over 1/2 empty, grabbed my bag of dry clothes that was starting to float away, threw Sadie into the canoe, and started walking it about 175 yards to the little island. Between us and the island was solid ice. Only about 1/4-3/8" thick but enough that I couldn't just walk through it. So I got behind the canoe and pushed it ahead of me to break the ice and I walked through the pathway it created. Despite the serious situation I couldn't help but find a little humor when I recalled this quote from my build thread:
From the time we went in the water it probably took close to 5 minutes to reach shore. My body was still functioning normally but I was feeling very cold and I could feel that things weren't quite right. My legs and arms both felt numbish. I walked about 50 yards to get to the other side of the island where I'd be out of the wind and stripped down to put on dry clothes. Even while I was still in the water I was already thinking, "I wish I had more dry clothes in that bag." I had a pair of pants and a long sleeved shirt. Before I went in the water I was comfortably warm wearing a t-shirt, 2 long sleeve thermals, fleece, and a jacket.
I wrung out my long underwear bottoms and put them back on under my dry pants. Despite having on much less clothing it felt a good deal warmer than being in soaking wet clothes. I thought about wringing out some of my top layers but I didn't know if it would be worthwhile; plus my hands were getting hard to work and handling freezing wet clothing wasn't helping matters.
I suppose it had now been around 10 minutes or so since we went in the drink and my hands were pretty well numb. I had just enough dexterity to zip up my PFD and then it was back into the canoe for a 10-15 minute paddle back to the landing. The first 500 yards were into the wind and that wasn't much fun. After that we were out of the wind and much more comfortable. Made it back to the car without problem and sat in there with the heater on for 20 minutes while my hands very painfully came back to life.
I never would have imagined I'd end up in the water today. I almost didn't even bring a dry bag with extra clothes. As I was leaving the house the thought occurred to me and first I thought, "naw, I'll never need them" but then changed my mind and grabbed a couple things. I should have grabbed much more. Definitely should have had more top layers as well as an extra stocking cap and gloves.
While I did feel the situation was serious for a little bit it could have been a lot worse. I got lucky in many ways:
I was just able to touch bottom where I dumped
I was only 175 yards from shore
I was only a 10-15 minute paddle back to the car
My head (and stocking cap) stayed dry
Be careful out there and expect the unexpected. I'll be more prepared from here on out. What doesn't kill you makes you smarter.
Alan
