Tnadt55

no.55

Irish Sea Kayaking Association

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! ! Winter Sea Kayaking

Hi Folks, Welcome to the latest edition of TnadT. This issue is focused on winter pad-dling. The yachts are up in dry docks, the lob-ster boats are tied up and the beaches are empty. The sea is a greater wilderness. Prepa-ration is key and with regard to winter pad-dling, being suitably attired and prepared can allow you enjoy the sea as much as the other seasons, perhaps more. That said, the risks associated with sea kayaking do increase with winter paddling and cannot be offset by the latest drysuit. Colder water means shortened survival times, worse weather means higher risk of swimming, fewer people using the water to come to your aid, more hours of darkness and so on. Every aspect of your sea kayaking ‘game’ needs to be upped and your margins for safety need to be even greater. Cold water immersion is not well studied, given its signifi-cant risks for experiment participants. Thus advice you receive here must be considered as opinion, based perhaps, on experience, but largely not on proven fact. So judge the infor-mation for yourself. Thanks to Brian, Alan, Ali, Sue, Des and myself for contributing. Ali’s pics are the ones with the large ice cubes. Happy reading. Happy paddling. Tadhg

Sea Kayaking in the Winter Months

by Brian McMahon

The summer has come and gone and what a summer is was. Warm sunshine and even warmer waters made it one of the most enjoy-able summers for sea kayaking in many years.

Those long and hazy days are now a distant and happy memory. Winter has landed on our doorsteps. For some that is the time to put their trusty kayak into storage until spring. For others it is business as usual. Speaking for

myself I would get a serious case of the DT’s if I stopped kayaking cold turkey.

Besides I have often found kayaking during the winter to be the most enjoyable time of the year. The crisp clean air and the various sea conditions on offer can be most exhilarating. We are blessed in this country to have bound-less kayaking locations, lakes and rivers and of course the sea.

Fig. 1 Cliffs of Moher Co. Clare

I am twice blessed by being lucky enough to live in the west, County Clare to be exact. That gives me loads of kayaking options which are normally dictated by the weather and prevail-ing conditions. I have Lough Derg on my door-step as well as the Shannon Estuary, which is a gem of a place to kayak and last but not

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least the Atlantic. Even on the worst of days, there is always somewhere to go for a paddle. Common sense dictates where to go.

There are hard and fast rules to follow espe-cially if you are kayaking solo. No open cross-ings; hand railing is the name of the game here. Also the shore that you are following must be safe to get out if things turn nasty. Also no off shore winds or tidal streams, you can paddle safely as long as the prevailing conditions blow you to safety and not to Bos-ton.

I am also very lucky to have a number of sea kayakers in my area that are of the same mind and who try to get out at least once a week regardless of the weather. Paddling with trusted companions who will come to your as-sistance (once they have taken photographic evidence and have finished laughing) is of course preferable.

Fig 2. Icy conditions in the west of Ireland.

So what do you need to keep you safe and comfortable during the colder months? Your first priority is to wear the right clothing. A dry-suit is the preferred option. Your survival time in the water is trebled if you are wearing a dry-suit with suitable layers underneath. The coast guard will freely admit that response

time from you broadcasting a “mayday” and the arrival of the rescue services can as much as an hour if not more. You cannot rely on the coastguard helicopter being available to come to your assistance. Rescue 115 in Shannon has had record “shouts” this year. The possibil-ity that they have been “tasked” when you call is a strong one. So you need to allow for be-ing in the water for more than an hour. So wear layers, have proper head cover, have gloves or pogies on. When your body tempera-ture drops your hands and feet will start to lose feeling. Your ability to grip your boat, paddle will be severely diminished.

Carry spare clothing and a storm shelter in your boat. If you get stranded, wind chill will drop your body temperature nearly as fast as if you were immersed in water. Carry hot drinks with you in a flask, or if you expect to stop carry the means to boil water for soup or tea. In the past ten years most of the fatalities that have befallen kayakers have resulted because of the cold and not drowning.

Allow for the possibility that you may run out of daylight on your paddle. Carry a head torch with “red light” function, the red light prevents loss of night vision. If there is a possibility that you may lose the light on your paddle it is strongly advised that you paddle in an area that is familiar to you. This greatly reduces the risks.

Also, carry some light sticks, a map and com-pass. Also if possible carry a backup GPS. Make sure that you have the various safe get out points saved onto your GPS as waypoints. Check OSI maps and Google earth before you paddle mark safe landings on your map and programme the GPS with the coordinates as well. When winter paddling if you are not with a strong group it is much safer to paddle in

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familiar areas where you know the get out points.

Fig. 3 Allow for the fact that you may run out of daylight on your paddle

Another point to consider is if you are paddling on a lake or a river the water temperature can be as much as 5 to 7 degrees colder than the sea. You also have less buoyancy due to lack of salt in the water. You must always allow for the fact that you may end up swimming. Even the best roll can fail in cold water. The colder the water the more likely you will suffer cold water shock when you capsize. The initial gasp reflex will kick in and all those roll set ups will go out the window.

If you end up swimming tuck into a foetal posi-tion and preserve your core. If possible get your core out of the water as soon as possible, climb up on back deck and wait for rescue.

Above all use your common sense, check the weather before you launch and allow yourself plenty of light to get home. If you are properly prepared and you are properly equipped, there is no reason why you can’t keep paddling all year round.

Brian McMahon (call sign Blue Nun) Novem-ber 2013.

Kayak-y Christmas.

by Sue Honan

We wouldn’t be sea kayakers if we weren’t a little (well, quite a bit) obsessed with the kit we use and wear. Christmas is just around the headland and here are some ideas for your Christmas stocking. Just leave this page open on your device of choice and leave it where Mr or Mrs Santa can see it and if they miss it, you can always treat yourself instead.

1. Vouchers: I just like these. Available from suppliers listed.

DeepBlue:The Old FirestationGeorge’s PlaceDun LaoghaireCo.Dublinwww.DeepBlueSeaKayaking.com086 8205627

I-canoe: 30 Canal WalkParkwestDublin 12IrelandPhone+353-(0)16205666Email: [email protected]

The Great Outdoors water-sports store3 Clarendon Street,Dublin 2,Ireland.01 679 4293

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River Deep Mountain HighRiver Deep Mountain High11 Patrick StLimerickCo. [email protected]. (061) 400 944

Unit 10 The CornstoreMiddle StGalwayCo. [email protected]. (091) 563 938

Kokatat surfskin balaclava Warm and toasty, soft and flexible

Wetsocks

NRS Thick Skin thermal base layer

Pogies, Gloves and Mitts

Figure Tropos Kayak Mitts

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Figure Neo kayak Mitt Short

Figure NRS Pogies

Marine Pollution

by Alan Horner

I can proudly say that within Irish sea kayaking today there is generally a positive and respect-ful attitude to the ocean and sea shore envi-ronment with wide spread use of environmen-tally friendly practices such as the well- known “Leave No Trace” principles.

As Sea Kayakers in Ireland we are both visi-tors and guardians to the ocean/sea shore en-vironment but we have to realise that the Ma-rine environment is under pressure from hu-man activities both at sea and on land. In this first issue of “Tidelines” I focus on plastic ma-rine pollution.

As you read these words, I want you to stop, close your eyes and try to visualise the room you are in. Then try to visualise the same room without plastic. Yes it’s everywhere your clothes, your computer, window frames, phone, cups, bottles even your paddle and kayak. We live in a world of plastic there is no getting away from it.Plastics have been around only since 1933 when Polyethylene was invented. In the 1940s and 50s new forms of plastics were invented such as Polystyrene, Polyvinylchloride (PVC) , Polypropylene ND Polyethylene terephthalate (PET). Today global production of plastics is estimated at 220 million tonnes/year and, as plastics are mainly made from petrochemicals this uses up about 4% of annual global oil pro-duction, quite some staggering numbers. So plastics have numerous and beneficial uses in the modern world and are used in in-dustry and manufacturing from high-tech to low tech from medical devices to food packag-ing. However, there is a downside to this global use of plastics – as many plastic prod-ucts have a short useful life especially so for plastic packaging that is single use only.

Fig. 1 Unfortunately relatively little plastic is recycled with an estimated recycling rate of 7% worldwide and 21 % within the EU.

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So much of our used plastic packaging goes to landfill where it will take thousands of years to degrade, however as you can see from the picture below a good proportion of our dis-carded plastic is entering the Marine environ-ment.

In 2009, researchers from Nihon University in Chiba, Japan, found that plastic in warm ocean water can degrade in as little as a year. This doesn't sound so bad until you realize those small bits of plastic are toxic chemicals such as bisphenol A (BPA) and PS oligomer (BPA and PS oligomer disrupt the function of hor-mones in animals and affect reproduction). These end up in the guts of animals or wash up on shorelines, where humans are most likely to come into direct contact with the tox-ins.

Fig. 2 Plastics & Polystyrene washed up after Storm, Hook Head Co. Wexford

Take a closer look next time you go digging in the sand on a beach near you, you may also find hundreds of tiny plastic beads washed onto the shoreline.

Here are some facts and figures on Ma-rine Pollution from UNESCO;

Land-based sources (such as agricul-tural run-off, discharge of nutrients and pesti-cides and untreated sewage including plastics) account for approximately 80% of marine pol-lution, globally.

Agricultural practices, coastal tourism, port and harbour developments, damming of rivers, urban development and construction, mining, fisheries, aquaculture, and manufac-turing, among others, are all sources of marine pollution threatening coastal and marine habi-tats.

Plastics help to reduce our carbon foot-print. They provide improved insulation, lighter packaging, are found in phones, computers, medical devices, etc. but appropriate disposal is often not addressed.

Seven of the EU Member States plus Norway and Switzerland recover more than 80% of their used plastics. These countries adopt an integrated waste and resource man-agement strategy to address each waste stream with the best options. However, waste and disposal remain an issue in most of the world.

The United Nations Environment Pro-gramme estimated in 2006 that every square mile of ocean contains 46,000 pieces of float-ing plastic.

Once discarded, plastics are weathered and eroded into very small fragments known as micro-plastics. These together with plastic pellets are already found in most beaches around the world.

Oceanic currents concentrate plastic ma-terials and other litter in certain areas of the

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ocean. The largest garbage patch is in the North Pacific Gyre.

The North Pacific Gyre contains the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. This occupies a relatively stationary area that is twice the size of Texas. Waste material from across the North Pacific Ocean, including coastal waters off North America and Japan, collects here.

The Five Ocean Gyres.

Plastic debris gathers at the centre of ocean gyres. Gyres are huge, slow moving whirlpools of current that rotate in a clockwise direction in the northern hemisphere and counter-clockwise in the southern hemisphere. The water at the centre of the gyre moves more slowly than the water at the edge causing ma-rine debris to collect in the centre. The North Pacific Gyre is the largest, and there are smaller Gyres in the North Atlantic, South At-lantic, South Pacific and Indian Ocean.

Fig. 3 Map of the five ocean Gyres.

For additional information please visit the web-site of the not for profit organisation called http://5gyres.org/ which gives some excellent background information on the plastic marine pollution.

This website http://www.gyrecleanup.org/ is also helpful.

Micro Plastics

Did you know that in the past decade, more and more personal care products sold around the world contain micro-plastic particle abrasives employed as an exfoliator? This plastic is actually de-signed to be washed down the drain!

Fig.4 Some cosmetic products contain micro plastics.

Micro-plastics from washing machine waste-water are polluting our beaches.

Plastic fragments less than 1mm in size, known as ‘micro- plastics’ are polluting marine habitats. The tiny plastic particles from laundry wastewater are being washed into the marine environment, according to recent research. Microfibres from polyester clothing (Fleece, Synthetic Thermals etc.) are entering the waste water system. They are so small they pass through water filtration systems and are piped into the ocean.The plastic, from syn-thetic clothes cleaned in domestic washing machines, is a significant source of contamina-tion and, unless measures are taken to ad-

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dress the problem, growing coastal popula-tions will only exacerbate the situation. The accumulation of micro plastics in marine environments has raised health and safety concerns. They can contain potentially harmful ingredients that go into the bodies of marine creatures and may be transferred to people through consumption of fish.

The effects of plastic marine pollution

Plastic debris in the oceans causes the deaths of more than a million seabirds every year, as well as more than 100,000 marine mammals but photos are more powerful than words.

Fig. 5 Plastic Bags – To a Turtle floating plastic bags look like a tasty jellyfish

Source: www.cereplast.com

Fig. 6 Seal Caught in Marine debris

Source: http://coastalcare.org

Fig. 7 An Albatross Chick from the Midway Is-lands, Pacific Ocean, dead from eating plastics

To learn more please visit : http://www.chrisjordan.com/gallery/midway/#about and www.midwayjourney.com

Despair or Action?

Of course, we can despair at the colossal scale of plastic pollution and its effects; can we help at all?

Plastics are so ingrained in our modern society that we would be hard pressed to do without them anymore. It is our failure to dispose of plastics properly at their end of life that is causing most problems in the marine environ-ment. Therefore, using less and disposing of plastic safely is the most effective way we can lessen their impact on the environment.

A few steps we can take at a local level to re-duce plastic consumption and dispose of it re-sponsibly.

Cut down or cut out single use plastics (Disposables)

1 Choose products that use packaging from sustainable sources like cardboard in-stead

2 Choose Fast Food & Takeaway outlets that don’t using Plastic Packaging

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3 Avoid food products that come only in disposable plastic

4 Choose a re-fillable - re-usable metal water bottle

5 Increase your recycling

6 Use the local recycling facility and sepa-rate out the recyclables into their segregation codes

7 Buy products in recyclable or minimised packaging

8 Don’t forget that recyclable plastic even-tually reaches end of useful life and will end up in landfill

9 Prevent Micro-Plastics getting into our waste water

10 Ladies avoid using exfoliators that con-tain micro plastic beads

11 Switch to natural fibre clothing and re-duce the use/wear of Polyester clothing

Positive action by kayakers.

1 Bring a bag of plastic waste home from the shoreline each time you paddle and recy-cle it or dispose of it in landfill

2 Take part in shoreline clean ups in your local area

3 Make sure your kayaking kit is secure and doesn’t fall overboard

4 Secure Hats, Gloves, water bottles and other On-Deck stuff

5 Don’t use polystyrene as buoyancy for your Canoe or kayak

On a wider scale, it will take political action on a national and EU level to introduce restric-tions on packaging waste, encourage more recycling and encourage the use of bio-degradable “plastic packaging” made from Cel-lulose.

For information on what is happening at Na-tional and EU Level please click on the follow-ing link http://www.irishenvironment.com/reports/marine-litterwaste-what-the-eu-northern-ireland-and-republic-of-ireland-are-doing-and-not-doing-about-it/

Winter Paddling

by Sue Honan

In the USA, a rapid's class goes up one point if the water temperature is below 10oC and for sea kayakers cold makes the trip more chal-lenging even when the sea is calm. Obviously one of the main reasons people don’t paddle over winter is how cold it can be. No one likes being cold and wet, even in summer.

So, with this in mind, in this issue we take a look at how to be safe when winter paddling. Ali Donald provides hints and tips on dealing with cold (and the heat), Brian McMahon writes on paddling throughout the winter months in the west of Ireland, and we offer some ideas on equipment and safety for pad-dling in the cold.

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Benefits of winter paddling

For many sea kayakers the shorter days in autumn herald the end of their paddling year, kit packed away when the hour goes back and not seen again until spring. Yet sea kayaking in winter has much to offer. It sharpens our skills, it maintains and improves paddling fitness for next season, and allows us to get the most out of our longer, summertime paddles without the ‘where is all my stuff?, my muscles ache, ooh this sea is a bit chilly’ phase. In winter, we see wildlife in a different mood – survival mode- feeding intently trying to gain condition for the long journey to their summer breeding grounds. The abandoned nests dotted along the cliffs emphasises the fragility of life on the edge.

How cold is ‘cold’?

The waters around our coasts are remarkably warm, about 7° to 8°C warmer than the aver-age global sea temperature at these latitudes thanks to the warm North Atlantic Drift, the main ocean current affecting Ireland. Even so, the sea temperature can be cold enough to kill. Cold- water paddling conditions exist when the sea temperature is below 15oC, which in Irish waters can be throughout the year. This year had another exceptionally cold winter, in Janu-ary 2013, sea ice occurred in Kinvara Co. Galway; sea ice begins to form when the water temperature is -1.9oC.How do we know how cold the sea is? The Marine Institute has data buoys around the Irish coast which show sea temperatures. Fig. 1 shows the location of marine data buoys in Irish waters, Table 1 shows mean sea tem-peratures at buoy M2 Irish Sea. You can check the water temperatures in your patch of sea by looking at the buoy reports at

http://www.met.ie/latest/buoy.asp and http://www.sea-temperature.com/country_water/ireland/26 many surf websites also provide sea temperature information.

Mean sea temperatures for buoy M2 Irish Sea 2001 – 2011 (oC)

Jan 9.9

Feb 8.9

Mar 8.3

Apr 8.8

May 10.1

Jun 12

Jul 13.6

Aug 14.7

Sept 14.4

Oct 14

Nov 13.1

Dec 11.5

Source: http://www.marine.ie/home/publicationsdata/data/buoys/

Coping with cold conditions - Dress for immer-sion

In cold water, your body loses heat due to the movement of water across your skin. This rap-idly draws heat away from your body, cooling you down. When you dress for immersion, your clothing decreases or removes water cir-culation over the skin, keeping you warmer for longer and delaying hypothermia. Keeping warm is vital as you may be in the water for an

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hour or more once the emergency services are contacted.What does this mean for our clothing? It means wear a dry suit, or wet suit with dry cag (or a dry cag with dry pants), thermal base layers with a ‘onesie/wooly bear’ (or other thermal layers), thermal socks inside dry suit feet. If using a wetsuit wear neoprene booties over Goretex socks, have a neoprene spray deck, gloves and hat. Many kayakers will al-ready have the main components of this list so it’s a matter a adding one or two key pieces. Now this might seem like too much and before last season, I would have agreed with you, un-til I went paddling in Anglesey in March. It snowed and blew and I wore every layer of clothing I owned under my dry suit plus ther-

mal balaclava and hat. I fell in once and al-though I got back into my boat quickly, I felt deeply cold for a good while afterwards and was glad of the quality and the amount of clothing I wore.

Looking at this advice, I’d say a fair number of Irish sea kayakers are probably under dressed for the conditions more often than they think.

Keep Dry

Keeping dry is key to keeping warm and while you might see a dry suit only for ‘serious’ pad-dling, they are worth considering. Dry suits are now much cheaper and if you intend to paddle throughout the winter are worth the investment because at the end of the day a dry suit will keep you dry and therefore warmer. As an al-ternative look for cags and trousers with latex seals as they let less water in. Soft neoprene necks get wet and wick water into your base

layers cooling the body down. Some paddlers even in winter do not wear wetsuits or dry suits and in heavy rain or big seas get soaked through, exposing themselves (and their friends) to hypothermia situations before they even have the chance to fall in. Lunch stops are another place where the cold bites, if you find yourself shivering, you need more layers,

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Water Temp Risk of Hypothermia Appropriate clothing

15oC and overLow Clothing for the weather

12 - 15°C Moderate Wetsuit or dry suit

7 -12°C High Dry suit recommended

below 7°C Extreme Dry suit strongly recommendedSource: American Canoe As-sociation

so always bring spare clothes and a shelter, even if nine times out of ten they don’t leave the hatch.

Be able to regulate your temperature – Use your head.

So there you are, ‘suited up’ to cope with the cold, ready to go and after ten minutes, boy it’s hot and you want to take it all off. The thing is dressing for immersion is fine if you are in the water. When paddling, how to cool down is likely to be the issue and the only way to do this is with your head and neck. Use a combi-nation of beanie and neck gaiter; keep a ther-mal balaclava handy and a hood on your cag or dry suit. With all this flexibility of headwear, keeping cool or warm should not be a problem. Half of your body heat is lost through your head and once in the water, a wet head con-tributes to rapid onset of hypothermia. A hat is essential not only regulate body temperature to also to avoid the body’s reflex of ‘shock in-halation’ of cold water, which can be fatal if you fall in.

Cold shock inhalation

Cold-water shock is a major factor in boating fatalities. It happens when someone is sud-denly immersed in cold water. The water does not have to be freezing; cold-water shock often occurs in water temperatures above 10°C.

The body’s first response to cold-water shock is usually an involuntary gasp (torso reflex). Hyperventilation (rapid breathing) and breath-lessness follow. The person may feel claustro-phobic, panicked and confused. Cold water greatly reduces the victim’s ability to hold his breath, control breathing and impairs the ability to swim.

At the same time as the gasp reflex occurs, the blood vessels in the skin constrict and in-crease the blood flow back to the heart. This, together with an increased heart rate and hy-drostatic squeeze from the water, raises the blood pressure dramatically. This dangerous combination can lead to death from cardiac arrest or stroke in susceptible individuals.

Pogies and Gloves

While most sea kayakers are aware of hypo-thermia, what is more important is the rapid stiffening of hands and arms if you fall in. In water below 10oC, a capsized kayaker may completely lose the use of their hands after less than 10 minutes in the water. Therefore, wear clothing that will help extend the time be-fore your hands and arms go numb. Pogies allow a direct grip on the paddle shaft and your hands will dry faster if they get wet. If you cap-size, you will need to take your hands out of the pogies and risk losing the ability to grip the boat, deck lines or paddle. Some pogies have tight or floppy openings - don’t be tempted- look for pogies that you can slide your hands easily in and out of, without using the other hand or your teeth. Gloves will protect you better in colder weather, especially if you are in the water but you may find that gloves cause cramp in your wrists and forearms. Palm-less mitts are a compromise of sorts.

Toastie Toes

To prevent water entering at the ankles and cooling your feet, buy booties that zip over your ankle. Use Goretex socks inside neo-prene booties to keep warmer and if suing a dry suit wear thermal socks within your dry suit

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feet. Make sure you can fit your feet under your deck when buying footwear.

Skills for cold paddling.

If you are new to winter paddling, you have to start somewhere. Dress for immersion and paddle with more experienced people until you are confident in your skills. Winter seas are often rougher so having solid brace strokes will also help keep you safe. Always paddle in places appropriate to the conditions and know the location of escape points if you need to get off the water in a hurry.People immersed in cold water lose body heat four to five times faster than when in air of the same temperature. In winter, therefore, you don’t want to be out of your kayak hanging around waiting to be rescued so use winter pool sessions to perfect your roll and practise assisted re- entries and self -rescues. Time yourself when practising rescues in the sea and aim to be back in your kayak as quickly as possible. If you find yourself waiting around in the water, adopt the HELP position (Heat Es-cape Lessening Position).

Fig. 2 Heat Escape Lessening Position.

Source: http://www.amsea.org/faq.html

Ice

Mick Carroll (East Coast Sea kayaking Club) has paddled in Sweden several times and has several tips for paddling in ice conditions, he tells me “Falling into freezing water is not an option so you paddle very carefully. I wore the same paddling gear as we wear in Ireland as very often the air temperature is not too cold (not lower than -5oC) with a lot of sunshine and no wind. While the water temperature is below freezing with your spray deck on you can feel very comfortable. This type of weather is very beautiful to paddle in with super calm water, bright warm sunshine and snow covered is-lands everywhere and the only sound the dip of your paddle.Clip your tow line on PFD to keep from freez-ing to deck. Put a flexible piece of tubing over the release handle of spray deck to ensure it does not stick to itself or the deck or tape it into a straight line. If you are walking on the ice to reach the water’s edge you need a pair of ice picks if you fall through in order to haul yourself out as hands alone won't work but the cheap little ice picks that all Swedish ice lane skaters carry work well.”

Ali Donald on keeping warm (and cool) in Greenland;

Ali was on the North of Disko- Galway to Greenland team that kayaked 250km along the east coast of Greenland in 2013. He has pad-dled in extreme environments across the world such as New Zealand, Chile and Norway. I asked him for his thoughts on paddling in cold conditions, he says

“The wind chill makes paddling in Ireland as challenging as anywhere in the world and my approach is to keep my body’s core warm. On the water, my cockpit was insulated with sleep-ing mat foam but my clothing was no different

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to what I’d wear in Ireland in winter – head-wear, quality thermal base layers with wicking ability and a dry suit. I found a fleece gillet jacket useful over my thermals as it kept my arms free while adding warmth to my body.

Apart from the water temperature (which was 2oC), paddling in Greenland was warmer than in Ireland in winter because we had no wind chill to deal with. Our biggest problem was what to do when out of the boats when we stopped to cook hot meals for lunch –then we got really cold. We needed to be well prepared for getting out and had a full change of wind-proof clothing.

I prefer to stay dry at all costs and didn’t wear neoprene mukluks on my feet. I wore two pairs of ski socks inside my dry suit with my usual boots.

I don’t usually like to wear anything on my hands but used pogies for the first 10-15 min-utes while I warmed up and then left them off.

What did make a huge difference to my com-fort was having a small square of thermarest on my glass seat. A square of camping mat foam would probably do a similar job.

My Peak UK dry suit had an adjustable neck seal which I opened if I needed to cool down Together with my hat I always had a fleece lined balaclava within reach and used that and dry suit hood to control my temperature.”

You can check out Ali’s unique adventure at http://www.northofdisko.com/index.html

http://www.ski-paddle.com/advice/advice.php http://www.paddleboston.com/resources/coldwater.php

http://www.maritimenz.govt.nz/Recreational-Boating/Lifejackets/Survive-in-cold-water.asp

http://fishandboat.com/boatcrs/03boathandbook/chap5_09_hypo.htm

http://www.rya.org.uk/SiteCollectionDocuments/training/Web%20Documents/RYA%20Training/Instructors/Shorebased/Cold%20shock%20and%20hypothermia.pdf

http://www.boaterexam.com/blog/2010/05/cold-water-immersion.aspx

Risks of Cold Water paddling. by Tadhg de Barra

The risks of immersion are the same no matter what the water temperature. We’re land based mammals and there’s no getting around that. That said, colder temperatures certainly ex-pose our incompatibility with water in a more prompt manner. Hypothermia is the one we know all about, but its a long way off. Golden and Hervey in 1981 described four stages of immersion risk;1 Initial Response 0-3 mins2 Short Term Response 3-30mins3 Long Term Response >30 mins4 Post Immersion ResponseThese stages basically track the progression of cooling caused by water. Initial is rapid cool-ing of the skin and its associated physiological changes. Short Term is cooling of the periph-eral musculature and its consequences. Long term is core cooling.

The wheel has turned a full circle; in the 19th Century, drowning was thought to be the hazard, in the 20th, people believed hypother-mia was, now drowning is again considered the main hazard. It is physically impossible for

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an adult to loose heat so fast as to cool the core, ie to cause hypothermia within thirty minutes. Thus the newspaper headline “Death from Hypothermia in minutes” is wrong.

Initial Response (aka Cold Shock)These physiological responses are worse in colder water up to at 10 degrees but don't get much worse at lower temperatures. The sud-den lowering of skin temperature on immersion into cold water is one of the most profound and overwhelming physical stimuli one can en-counter. The body's responses are two, in breathing and in circulation, collectively known as “cold shock.” And the colder the water, the greater the sense of shock. It probably causes most deaths in water less that 15 degrees. The face is particularly sensitive. Regarding breath-ing, there is an initial close-to-capacity gasp which fills the lungs (hopefully with air but pos-sibly with water) which is the followed by fast and shallow breaths. This rapid ventilation on top of a fully inflated lung creates sensations of suffocation and panic. The hyperventilation can result in dizziness, confusion and dimin-ished coordination. Your breath holding time should be around one minute normally but will fall to ten seconds upon immersion. It is diffi-cult too coordinate these fast short breaths with waves slapping in your face. A person has a significant chance of aspirating water and drowning during those first few seconds until breathing is brought under control. Regarding circulation, there occurs a sudden increase in blood flow in the core, raising blood pressure and stress hormones dramatically. These changes can produce irregular heart rhythms in susceptible individuals- be they older and unfit or young and fit, in some causing cardiac arrest.

Prevention;Obviously reducing your chances of immersion is the first safety measure. Minimizing skin ex-posure, particularly the face which has many cold receptors, so hoods, dry suits, gloves and as much skin protection as is practicable is in order. Consider your options regarding pfd, inflated lifejacket and inflatable jacket. Cold shock may interfere your ones physical ability promptly inflate a lifejacket upon entry into the water. One should try bring breathing under control, and allow time for the body to become acclimated. Being overweight offers no protec-tion against cold shock whatsoever. Over-weight individuals are more likely to have car-diovascular disease and thus more susceptible to cardiac arrhythmias. Being physically fit does help one cope with the breathing and cir-culatory challenges of cold shock. Failing to cope with cold shock results in death by drowning.

By far the best way to manage cold shock is by acclimation. Yes, practice in controlled con-ditions getting wet skin in cold water. Experi-ments have shown that as few as five two minute immersions in cold water can reduce can reduce cold shock by as much as 50%, and this habituation can remain for up to a year. Such habituation explains why many people can swim in light togs all year round in cold water. With regard to kayakers, it is obvi-ously important that should you plan winter paddling, you also need to practice winter roll-ing and rescues. Consider becoming a winter swimmer. Also pertinent it that asthmatics for whom the respiratory consequences of cold shock can be severe might consider using a preventative inhaler prior to paddling.

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Short Term Responses. (3-30 mins)Primarily affected here are your limbs. They become cold. Vasoconstriction reduces blood flow. Muscles loose power and nerve conduc-tion is impaired affecting coordination, proprio-ception and sensation. Most pertinent for kay-akers is that one quickly looses the ability to swim effectively, to roll and to self rescue, to light flares, to press VHF buttons and to acti-vate EPIRBs. With regard to swimming your way to safety, one experiment was revelatory. Ten fit competent fully clothed swimmers were able to complete a ten minute swim in 25 de-grees. Only three out of the ten succeeded to complete the same swim in water of 5 degrees with failures between two and seven minutes. It appears that swim failure during the first few minutes of immersion is caused by increased respiratory rate- a good swimmer inhales once every one or one and a half swim cycles. When respiratory rate increases, it becomes difficult to coordinate swim stroke with breath-ing and chances of aspirating water increases. The person assumes a more head up position in the water which increases drag necessitat-ing even greater effort. As blood flow to the joints diminishes, energy supply shifts to an-aerobic metabolism causing aching pain in the joints. At the end of this process of worsening lactic acidosis, reduced respiration and re-duced muscle control, one can be unable to lift one arms clear of the surface nor control breathing and so cannot shout for help. The swimmer then drowns.

PreparationRegarding kayakers, the most important les-son here is that just because you are a good swimmer, don't over estimate your abilities in cold water.

Some kayakers prefer to use an inflatable life jacket rather than pfd. Assuming, you have correctly inflated it, the buoyancy is distributed over the front of the torso while the dependent legs act as a sea anchor. Wind and waves will apply a turning effect causing the face to turn toward the oncoming waves increasing the chances of aspiration. Make sure your safety equipment if easily ac-cessible and it’s activation can be performed with cold numb fingers. Appreciate that you will quickly loose your ability to use your hands, therefore should perform any essential survival actions that require manual dexterity soon af-ter immersion. Pogies will obviously not keep your hands warm when in the water. Gloves will. While VHFs have large buttons, mobile phones do not. Don't hide these pieces of equipment inside multiple dry bags inside tightly sealed hatches. You may not even have the strength or coordination to open them.

Thus the major risk in Initial and Short term response failure if drowning. The lethal dose of seawater in humans is about 22mls per kg. Thus a 70kg person needs only about one and half liters into their typical six liter lungs to die. Even quarter of a liter can lead to lung prob-lems which if not managed acutely can later result in death (near drowning). A person may aspirate such volumes through wave splashing against the face, thus total submersion is not necessary to produce drowning. Salt water is more destructive to lung tissue than fresh wa-ter and kills with a slightly different mecha-nism, but ultimately both kill by asphyxia. Con-tinued aspiration of water after submersion usually results in death in under two minutes. Those suspected of aspirating some water even if alert and fully rational should always be medically examined, they may be at risk of near drowning and need medical intervention

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to protect their lungs in the following hours. There are two circumstances which may re-duce ones chances of drowning; one is a primitive physiological reflex called the “Diving response” and the second is an observed rapid cooling in very cold water which reduces brain metabolism and thus may improve sur-vivability. I wouldn't hang my hat on either of those responses getting you out of trouble.

Long Term Responses.Here we finally discuss hypothermia. Hope-fully, the winter kayaker will have been suitably attired- dry/ wet suited, head cover, pfd, hand and feet cover. In spite of the great capacity of cold water to extract heat from the warm body, hypothermia is unlikely to kill within thirty min-utes of immersion for a fit clothed head-out-of-water adult even in water as cold as 5 de-grees. It is appropriate to acknowledge here that some of our knowledge of hypothermia derives from the notorious experiments carried out on Concentration Camp prisoners in Da-chau by the Nazis. Overtly, the hypothermia victim is shivering and if conscious, speech is slurred. They tend to be uncoordinated, un-communicative and introverted and show a general slowing of physical and mental activity. It can increase errors of judgement, reduced perception, poor leadership and dropping vital equipment. In profound hypothermia, the pa-tient will be unconscious and unresponsive to painful stimuli. Shivering is an unreliable sign. It can occur immediately on immersion due to various physiological responses and in that instance, does not indicate a lowered core temperature. It will usually resolve as skin temperature falls to match that of the water. With continued immersion lasting around fif-teen minutes, shivering resumes from intermit-tent initially to continuous, sometimes quite

violently, this time indicating that core body temperature is under threat. Shivering, ie rapid contractions of antagonistic muscles burns en-ergy to create internal heat. (About 80% of all energy we consume goes toward heat genera-tion rather than movement.) The intensity of shivering is diminished in people with a low blood sugar- such as those who have had a long day of paddling already completed. It may not even occur at all in such circumstances. A similar situation arises after alcohol consump-tion where the liver struggles to maintain sugar levels. Shivering may fail to occur and such persons may perceive less discomfort from the cold. When temperature of the body falls be-low 30 degrees, shivering will cease as mus-cles become spastic. The body withdraws into a foetal like position. Skin colour is not a reli-able indicator of hypothermia. While initially pale, blood vessel muscles may paralyse then relax allowing highly oxygenated blood into the skin, causing a red-brick colour. As hypother-mia progresses cerebral activity diminishes. Consciousness is lost around core tempera-ture of 30 degrees. Keeping the unconscious victim's airway clear of water is obviously paramount. Below 28 degrees, the heart may spontaneously arrest. Arrest during thus stage can result from rough handling so handle the victim with care. With respect to kayaking, the presence or absence of shivering or discolou-ration of the skin should not be regarded as a reliable indicator of hypothermia.

Body cooling during water immersion can oc-cur five times more quickly than it does in air of the same temperatures. In no circumstances are you better off in water than out of it so re-maining in or at least on the kayak even if up-turned and draped across is better than re-maining in the water.

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On balance, current thinking is that exercising in cold water will cause the victim to loose heat faster. Certainly, heat will be generated by burning energy to provide movement. How-ever, exercise causes increased blood flow in the limbs which transfers heat to the water. The movement of water across the skin also compresses the clothing and causes loss through convection. Arm movement is more detrimental than leg in this regard. Thus cur-rent advice for water under 25 degrees is to minimise movement in the water, particularly of the arms, if possible when maintaining the water-to-mouth distance. In 1975, Hayward et all proposed the classical HELP (Heat Escape Lessening Position) position in the water, basi-cally a foetal position. Hayward based this po-sition on the supposition that the groin and ax-illae are areas of high heat loss. They have since shown to be of lesser importance. Stabil-ity issues make the HELP position impractical in open water, though it may have some appli-cation in lake or dead calm water. Again, Hay-ward's Huddle position for groups, though ad-vantageous in terms of morale and rescue, forces some in the huddle into a downwind position, greatly exposing their airway to wave splash, which again limits its usefulness in open water. Criticisms aside, there as yet are no better suggestions as to what postures ought to be maintained in open water.

Regarding, the wetsuit, the neoprene traps a boundary layer of air and water near the skin which prevents heat loss through convection and conduction. Sizing is therefore important as a loose suit will allow water to circulate. Regarding the kayaker's much loved drysuit, it is would be fair to describe it as quite deficient in all but the most limited circumstances in open water. It is useful for short periods of im-mersion where self or assisted rescue is

quickly available. It does not provide much protection beyond an initial three or four hours of immersion, which is tight if one is waiting for rescue from an outside source. The neoprene drysuit appears to be where sea kayaking clothing needs to go, however the many issues regarding sweat and body temperature man-agement un-immersed need to be addressed.

The standard sea kayaking drysuits keep body warm by keeping the clothing over the body dry. A layer of dry warm air is preserved beside the skin.

But that insulation reduces if the clothing be-neath becomes wet. Water ingress includes sweating due to effort of paddling (somewhat offset by a regularly rinsed Gore-tex fabric), leakage past zips, past wrist and neck seals. After any time in the water, urination within the suit is an inevitable occurrence due to de-creased peripheral volume and central return. Performance in open sea with greater move-ment, the possibility of tearing and shearing and stretching of seals is likely to be far worse. The bellows effect associated with limb movement enhances air loss. Even simple lab based experiments have frequently generated average water leakages of half to one liter into drysuits. Wetting by this volume reduced insu-lation by 30 to 40%. Water ingress also de-creases buoyancy which reduces the mouth to water distance. With immersion, the water pressure surrounding the body increases, which compresses the clothing beneath, dis-placing air and further reducing insulation- which explains why clothes have a lower clo value in water (an immersion clo). Lying on the back in the sea- as many inflated lifejackets force us to do- pushes our back down into the water, which exposes our back and neck to conductive heat loss.

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Researchers have guesstimated survival times in controlled lab conditions for a thin adult male in various clothing assemblies in calm water at 12 degrees; Ordinary clothes; 65 mins, Uninsulated drysuit over ordinary clothes; 4 hours, Full 5mm wetsuit, 10 hours and Insulated 5mm neoprene drysuit; 15 hours.

Because of water leakage and conduction loss in a real sea environment, heat loss can be as much as 33 to 100% greater than laboratory measurements. This in part explains the “sur-prisingly poor performance of immersion suits and drysuits” reported in some fatal accident enquiries.

One should not be given a false sense of se-curity by a drysuit. It is probably good enough for group paddling but not for much else. It should offer at least, a couple of hours of sur-vival and is certainly far better than a cag/paddling pants combination which is compara-ble to ordinary clothes. The cag/ paddling pants combo implies an absolute dependence on either a bombproof roll or on your peers to rescue you in a very short space of time, fol-lowed by a certain ability to paddle hard enough for long enough such as to generate enough heat to evaporate sea water from clothing or get to dry clothes. Solo paddling in a remote location in Winter greater than a couple of hours from rescue even if wearing a drysuit is taking a chance.

My own choice is to use a Farmer John style neoprene wetsuit and neoprene socks over standard thermals beneath under a Goretex dry suit. Over the arms and upper torso, I wear a thicker non-compressible thermals. This set-up acknowledges two facts; that water, be it

urine or sea water leakage is going to get into my drysuit despite my best efforts if I end up in the water for any period of time. Hopefully the neoprene will reduce the subsequent conduc-tive and convective heat loss. It also acknowl-edges the compression effect of hydrostatic pressure on the lower torso; the neoprene is less compressible around my feet, legs and back, thus should reduce the resultant conduc-tive heat loss in these areas. I tend to thermo-regulate using my head, donning and doffing a neoprene 5mm hoody which remains around my neck, according to how hot I feel inside the above set up. I wear a standard pfd, perhaps better for the initial and short term immersion responses though I am well aware of its long term deficits. It does not provide enough buoy-ancy to maintain a good surface-to-mouth dis-tance nor enough to keep my head high and out of the water. I prefer gloves to pogies rea-sons outlined above. There is no specific data to support my particular set up.

This article was not intended to disparage some of the excellent gear mentioned in other articles. It is intended for you to critically ap-praise your gear and help you paddle safely within its limitations.

What to wear in winter – more ideas from Des Keaney by Sue Honan

When you want to know what kit is wearable and durable, I always think that the profes-sional guys and gals sea kayaking in all weathers are the ones to watch. Therefore, I asked Des Keaney of Deep Blue Sea Kayak-ing about his clothing preferences. Here is what he has to say…

“The one piece of kit I wouldn’t be without in winter time is my Kokatat Expedition dry suit. It

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completely transformed my winter paddling. I could do rescue practice and then go to the pub in the same clothes as I’d been wearing on the water.

I’d previously had a Kogg suit which, while it kept the water out, it also kept the condensa-tion in with that the result that I was wet and warm instead of wet and cold as previously. The Gore-Tex in the Kokatat Expedition dry suit completely changed all that. It’s wildly ex-pensive at €1100 but as someone who pad-dles a lot in autumn, winter and spring, it’s well worth it for me.

If you have a body that doesn’t generate a lot of heat/sweat/condensation, you don’t need Goretex. Kokatat also do their own breathable material (Hydrus) and it’s a good bit cheaper. For example, the Meridian dry suit in Gore-Tex is €1000 but the Hydrus is €700. The Swift En-try dry suit in Hydrus is €475.

These are probably the most expensive suits on the market but the quality and customer service is amazing. I sent two suits back for

repair recently, expecting to be told that they weren’t worth fixing. Instead, I got two brand new suits in the post. The Gore-Tex, which has a lifetime guarantee, was delaminating. The only cost to me was the postage to California.

You have to dress for immersion in winter. However, the question is ‘for how long?’ There are some great YouTube clips on how well dif-ferent gear works, have a look. I think you need to be still operational after 20 minutes and able to warm up without too much trouble when you get out of the water.

After the body, I like a warm head. For this, I use either a Kokatat Surfskin balaclava (€30) or one from Reed Chillcheater (€22). The Ko-katat is heavier. The nice thing about these is that you can pull them down around your neck when not in use.

The best piece of safety gear I have is a storm cag. These are ‘cover all’ cags, which can be popped onto a cold kayaker covering every-thing. They have a hood, sealable cuffs, pock-ets that allow access to your buoyancy aid while the bottom edge has bungee cord to go around the cockpit rim. They’re also great for winter lunch times. Kokatat do two: one in Tropos for €195 and a Gore-Tex version for around €300. The Gore-Tex is super as a shore jacket if you want to be really comfort-able on expedition but otherwise the less ex-pensive one does fine.

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My last concession to winter is pogies – mitts that go around both your hand and the paddles shaft. I don’t suffer much from cold hands but I’m really glad to have the protection when paddling into wind and sea. Wet hands lose heat much more quickly and anything that keeps the water off is good. I like the short Ko-katat Mitts (€30) as I can get my hand in and out of the sleeve easily. Yak offers similar mitts (€27) and Kokatat do one in material (Tropos) with a fleece lining (€35). The latter two have elasticated cuffs for more protection.

Finally, if you’re looking for something cool for Christmas, why not try an Aeropress coffee-maker? At €28.95 it’s the ultimate present for any outdoor coffee lover.”

www.Kokatat.com

http://www.crewsaver.co.uk/YAK

www.aeropress.co.uk

www.deepblueseakayaking.com

“Mr. Thoreau and I walked up the bank of the river; and, at a certain point, he shouted for his boat. Forthwith, a young man paddled it across the river, and Mr. Thoreau and I voyaged fur-ther up the stream, which soon became more beautiful than any picture, with its dark and quiet sheet of water, half shaded, half sunny between high and wooded banks... Mr. Tho-reau managed the boat so perfectly, either with two paddles or with one, that it seemed instinct with his own will, and to require no physical effort to guide it. He said that, when some Indians had visited Concord a few years since, he found that he had acquired, without a teacher, their precise method of propelling and steering a canoe.”

Nathanial Hawthorne on Henry David Thoreau’s prowess in a canoe.

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