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Worrying about heat while many wait on ice out.

Joined
Jan 31, 2013
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Middle of the Florida paddling paradise
It seems so strange to see threads about ice out when I am feverishly trying to decided were to paddle in the next month or so before it gets to hot to enjoy a fulls day paddle. Soon I will be sneaking out in the early AM just to get a few hours in before the heat of the day steals all the fun out of a paddle. What makes this worse is all local access to the best canoe streams dose not open till 8:00 AM. Oh well it's been a good late winter spring for canoeing so far.

Do not know what is worse. Seeing all that frozen water or knowing its time to start baking in the sun.
 
Thanks for rubbing it in....minus 12 degrees Celcius here this morning, went looking everywhere for open water last night, found none.
 
We're getting like that over here in LA... summer is officially here, as I turned the AC on for the first time last night... not disgustingly hot, but humid to the point where you can't sleep. High 70s and 80s forecast all next week. temporary relief today due to a thunderstorm that's been going for about the last 9 hours...
 
It was 86F here in Maryland yesterday and I am leaving this morning for a 4 day kayak trip. The water is still drysuit temperature!! Looking forward to getting on the water and away for a few days.
 
Time to paddle at home. The lake thawed..water temp in low 30's. Gotta find loons and those rodents. Its drysuit time..aagh... Tomorrow will bring nasty weather..at least the sun is out today

Yesterday it was 43.. same old same old usual April temp.. Glad we hardly EVER get to 86! even in July.
 
It was 86F here in Maryland yesterday and I am leaving this morning for a 4 day kayak trip. The water is still drysuit temperature!! Looking forward to getting on the water and away for a few days.

I got back yesterday from an 8 day solo behind Assateague during which the temperature rose steadily from daytime highs in the 50’s and night lows in the 30’s to daytime highs in the upper 80’s and a nighttime low of 60.

The day before I departed I ran into a couple of sea kayaker friends from the Chesapeake Paddlers Association who were paddling out. One was wearing a wetsuit and one a full dry suit.

The air temp was in the 80’s and both were uncomfortable hot and sweaty. After they left I dropped a thermometer a foot deep in the bay and got a temperature of 58f.

I know there is a CPA code about wearing drysuits in “cold” water, but if you are heading to Assateague I hope you have room in the boat or on the deck to store the drysuit. They did not, and suffered for it.

I sailed out on the next day at high tide in the whopping foot deep Chincoteague Bay, barefoot, in light pants rolled above the knees and a tee shirt, and was dang glad to find some shade at the landing.
 
For those of you in need of ice cubes, here are some photo's from today's paddle in the neighborhood. I found out where the two to four inch beech gnawed by SuperRodent went. Scared lots of ducks and heard but did not see a loon.







 
Cooler and wet (no snow or ice though) here in SE Michigan. Looking to get away next weekend. Been planning a short solo trip up north for a couple of weeks now. Just waiting till the ice leaves. Either way I heading up with two plans, a river trip (Manistee River), and a lake trip (Tippy Dam Pond). Really hoping the ice will be gone and set up a base camp on a lake for the weekend.
 
Drove forty miles tonight to check out a local river, hoping for some water. Still all ice......no water at all.........argghhh!
 
I had big plans on getting a canoe out and in the water today.
But right now we're in the middle of a 6 inch snow and ice pellet storm. It looks like I'll have to wait a while.
So like Memaquay says argghhh!
 
Here in the balmy climes of S. Ontario, cold rain is teasing the tulips out. It would take a good stiff whiskey and a couple of happy pills to get me to roll up my pant legs and bare foot it just yet.
That looks like a beaver lodge Hilton there in your neighbourhood YC. Did Mr. & Mrs. Beaver have planning permission? I wouldn’t leave any valuable sticks leaning against the boat shed over night!
I’ve been organizing gear for my first ever April (cancel that) May (postpone that) paddling. Until I hear some better news from Memequay, I’d better find room for the snowshoes. I can only dream of 86 F.
 
I guess the early spring from last year was just a happy memory. Mid May is probably the historical norm, but what do I know about norm? What does that do for bug season though? Are the black flies gonna hold off till mid June?
My 2 pet peeves are 1) wind 2) bugs.
BTW I've dug out my old farm boots, nice insulated tall green ones. The ones you call Kap dress shoes Memaquay. That sounded like a good idea.
 
Blackflies breed in running water. There may be more than one species in Ontario. There are here and some breed four or five times during the summer if the first hatch fails.

http://www.ultimate.com/washington/wla/blackfly/

need a water temp of 3 to 10 to come out. If streams are running now(even if lakes are frozen) .. hatch time should be normal. Black flies are good guys..indicating healthy clean water.

Support your local breeder.

http://www.maineblackfly.org/sell.html

If you like blueberries in the wild, blackflies are your friend

http://www.maineblackfly.org/fact.html
 
This could be like 2010. Ice out in Atikaki was one weekend prior to the May long weekend. Once we actually get into the double digits in the positives the ice should start going fast, but it is much thicker this year than usual. Flooding is predicted to be major this year, like 2009 but not as bad as 2011.
 
That's still a good one though it's an oldie. I would rather canoe camp with blackflies than paint them into the deck(aka outside yardwork); bet that will happen anyway in about three or four weeks.
 
The ones you call Kap dress shoes Memaquay. That sounded like a good idea.
That's funny... down here in LA, we call 'em "Cameron dress shoes". Cameron Parish is an entirely different world, south of I-10, up against the Gulf... fishermen, mostly... good folks. but we do tease them.

That's still a good one though it's an oldie. I would rather canoe camp with blackflies than paint them into the deck(aka outside yardwork); bet that will happen anyway in about three or four weeks.

Down here, we have lovebugs... kind of a lightning bug-looking thing joined/mated to another one, in flight... a plague in April and October... I did my stitch-and-glue epoxying during that season, and have a bunch of parts embedded like a paleolithic fly in amber all over my canoe. But the lovebugs don't bite.
 
Here in E WV we went from February right into June. But last week there were at least 6" of snow on the ground above 3500', while the river valleys for a few days got surprised by temps near 90.

Colts Foot and Trout Lily broke ground. Oddly there was not a tree flower in sight, which might be safe for fruit trees, since for sure there could still be killer frosts out there somewhere.

An irony is that I paddle little in spring because chores eat me up.

So I've gotten to like bony rivers, and that means it's RX all the way.


 
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