Cold Water Apparel #1

Since we started late in the season, learning about cold weather paddling is high on our priority list - especially after receiving the Great Outdoor Provision Company's latest eNewsletter with this post. Bill Mauney has now scared the bejesus out of me. It sounds like we need to upgrade our apparel even further. My mother, who scuba dives, also let me know that she uses a 3mm neoprene wetsuit for hour+ sessions in 84 degree pool water. For 61 degree water, she rented a 7mm suit. Yikes. While paddling is a more active sport than scuba diving, somehow, I think cold water will more than equalize the two.

I'm calling this "Cold Water Apparel #1" because I expect to accumulate information in snippets and post here over the course of the winter. Over the course of running for 20 years, I developed a good sense of my clothing needs for various weather conditions. I need to do the same for both sculling and paddling. They won't be the same. Interestingly enough, the chances of a spill are much higher for single sculling but normally you get wetter while paddling.

UPDATE (Dec 5): Melanie Besson put out similar cold weather information on her site for Moss Lake. At this point, we're prepped in many aspects but not all. And, for the risk averse, probably not enough. We're working to get better!