Cold Water Safety

[bcelect]

I was just reading this report from NYS DEC Forest Ranger Calls. Just to remind everyone that the water is still COLD, so be prepared.
Oneida County
Town of Waterville
Rescue: On April 10 at 1:30 p.m., Forest Rangers responded to local emergency radio traffic about several people who had overturned their canoe on Chittning Pond in Tassell Hill State Forest. A fourth person in the party who had remained on shore, swam out and rescued one man. Ranger Robert Piersma was soon on scene, suited up in cold water rescue gear, and swam to the other two men. He then moved to the other men, who had been in the frigid water for nearly 30 minutes, clinging to one another for flotation and warmth. All four men were cold and unresponsive. They were transported by local emergency services to nearby hospitals for further care. The three canoers in the water were wearing personal flotation devices, which aided their survival in such harsh conditions.

 

[Iskweo]

Yepp. PFD's or they would all be dead. It was a near thing anyway. I am staying off the water even though the rivers are open as I dont have cold water gear.

Christy

 

[colab]

Here in Lake Tahoe, the water stays cold all year. Even in the summer it's cold enough that people that are suddenly immersed can have shock and drown if they're not wearing PFD's. During the boating season, there's stories in the news several times a month with people that succumb to the waters, and the one thing that's consistent is they weren't wearing life-jackets. Last year it was a college football star that fell off a paddleboard, and another guy if I recall correctly was a (off-duty) Sheriff's deputy that exited his kayak to help someone else and succumbed himself.

I wasn't there, but I imagine more often than not these people can swim, and that in itself doesn't prevent their death. You need to give yourself a chance to live even if you're unconscious.

 

[forest runes]

Once while shore fishing for walleyes on the icy Delaware, I was wading across a tributary , my dog swam across upstream & was swept into me knocking me off my feet plunging us both into ice flows on the main river. By luck We were caught in a submerged tree & were able to claw our way back but with incredible effort. I had lost muscular coordination of my limbs & lay there for half an hour hyperventilating in below freezing weather ( by the way my dog seemed none the worse for wear ). To add insult to injury at the time my ride was a volkswagen in which the heater vent would freeze closed for the one hour ride home in which I felt like the tin man in Oz. Close call I'd say, lesson learned " Let your dog swim across first ! "

 

[JoeO]

I remember when I was learning white water I fell in in early April the burning sensation on my face was unbelievable. I also sort of frozen then swam to the surface I was in a wetsuit and paddle jacket one I got out I was fine. But after that I was not afraid of falling in anymore because it was not that bad. I have fallen in many times 2 weeks ago I swam 3 times. You get very tired then walking to the boat does not help, You should wear ear plugs also because the cold water can cause your eardrums to calcify and loose hearing. Rule of thumb if the water temp + the air temp does not =100 you need a wet suit or dry suit and always wear life jacket

 

[riverstrider]

I'll be with a group to the St. John in Maine this May. Ice-out was around April 10th, but there is still plenty of snow still to melt in the watershed, so we'll be canoeing on liquid ice, essentially. It can sometimes hit the 70's or 80's in Maine in May, but we'll all be wearing either wetsuits or dry suits while we're on the water for this one. Gonna be one smelly crew by the end of this trip, lol!

-rs

 

[yellowcanoe]

Interesting RS. In southern ME our ice went out two days ago. The Saco has been open a couple of weeks
Ice not out on Chesuncook. I wonder about early May. Got me thinking Baker Lake ice out hasn't happened yet
From the Dickey Gauge things moved starting April 16. And the water discharge so high you wouldn't want to be there. Things calming down now. It's still snowing
We lived in our drysuits. We had 14 inches of snow one day which made them good camping gear as well

 

[Canotrouge]

Up here it is drysuit weather all summer if you do ww... on the flat that is an other story, water sometime get warm enough that is some what confortable to swim in!!

 

[JoeO]

I doing a trip on the Pemi in N Woodstock for the AMC Sunday right now the gage is at 1590 I did the ledges at 3000 CFS that was fun
I will be in a Drysuit but no gloves
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BCH5rE72MAM

 

[riverstrider]

Interesting RS. In southern ME our ice went out two days ago. The Saco has been open a couple of weeks
Ice not out on Chesuncook. I wonder about early May. Got me thinking Baker Lake ice out hasn't happened yet
From the Dickey Gauge things moved starting April 16. And the water discharge so high you wouldn't want to be there. Things calming down now. It's still snowing
We lived in our drysuits. We had 14 inches of snow one day which made them good camping gear as well

Yeah, I'd be willing to bet Baker is still iced in. There is a youtube video of this year's ice-out...really good aerial views from a drone of moving ice. So not really "ice-out", I suppose, but at least it is moving and the ice jams are clearing up. And they claimed in the written description that the video was from "April 10th", but I wonder if that was a typo and they meant "April 20th".

It's really just an academic exercise to watch gauges and snow depth maps...one just needs to be prepared for whatever actually comes one's way when we actually get up there. I won't be preparing for 80 degrees and sunny every day, for sure.

-rs

 

[flyingbison]

Two kayakers died this past weekend in WI. Paddling in Lake Michigan, off the shore of Door County, without PFDs:
http://www.jsonline.com/story/news/...8/two-men-pulled-cave-point-waters/101033374/

 

[snapper]

Glad to read in the original post that the three people in the water were wearing their PFDs. Don't know if it was their common sense kicking in or what but here in NYS wearing PFDs is required regardless of a person's age from November 1 to May 1. Glad they were following the rules in place as it probably saved them in the end.

That's all for now. Take care and until next time...be well.

snapper

 

[yellowcanoe]

And a solo kayaker did not die in Maine.. Honestly you can poo poo kayakers but I was so glad to have started serious paddling by being one of them.. I learned so much about safety and weather and what can go wrong. We had a kayak club that stressed the danger and respect you have to give the ocean and mentors that showed us newbies the way.

There are no guarantees it won't happen to you

http://www.pressherald.com/2017/05/...uipment-helped-kayaker-survive-after-capsize/

 

[flyingbison]

Tragic story, and only one survivor: https://www.wpr.org/4-dead-kayaking-accident-lake-superior

All apparently had PFDs, but Lake Superior is serious business.

 

[yellowcanoe]

Five in a kayak? Five in a canoe is not much better
i have paddled those waters once and marvel at how unprepared some are

 

[flyingbison]

Five in a kayak? Five in a canoe is not much better
i have paddled those waters once and marvel at how unprepared some are

I wondered about that, too, and hoped it was a typo ... but the context of the story does indeed make it sound like there was only one.

 

[snapper]

All the TV news reports that I've seen also indicate there were five people aboard so I guess there are no typos in the story.

Until next time....be well.

snapper

 

[Holmes375]

I read an article that said it was a 13.5' tandem. If that's the case, the boat would be either a sit-on-top (unlikely) or one of those recreational tandems with the large elongated cockpit. The latter cannot take a proper spray skirt which would certainly be required equipment on the likes of Superior. They were apparently making the 4 mile crossing from Madeline Island to Michigan Island. I really don't know what to say about this, hard to get my head around their thought process. I train hard to make 2 mile big water solo crossings and I hold back if the forecast is anything less than favorable. It seems this sad event is the result of vastly underestimating and understanding the nature of big water. Taking such young children along seems beyond belief to me.

 

[DanOver]

DId a trip last year up around Jelicoe ON in Spring of 2017. It was a few weeks after ice out and I had my OT Pack. I went alone to a few bacl bush lakes and ponds where I didn't see another soul all day. I knew if I went in the drink I would need to reheat myself right away, so I packed my PFD with a space blanket, "NO FAIL" fire kit, and mylar pullover. In addition, I had a WP ditch bag with dry clothes, rain gear and another heavy space blanket. Got to respect the cold water.

 

[ppine]

Cold water is deadly serious. Dress for immersion and wear a PFD. Find some people that know rescues.