The Solitary Winter Evening Sea Kayaker Gail E. Ferris Often the question is raised " Why does a person practice such a risky sport under such difficult conditions?" Having just gotten off the water this evening at 10:00 pm. I have found that for me the answer is that I find sea kayaking such a pleasure in so many ways that the cold dark winter nights do not keep me from being on the water. I remember those moments when I decided that the darkness was not going to hinder my paddling. This was partially due to the capability I found I had to actually be able to see and relate well enough to what the waves were doing in starlight conditions. I recognized that by concentrating on the time intervals between waves, that I could anticipate what the oncoming waves were doing especially in following seas. In another condition when I was practicing paddling broadside to the waves on a very overcast stormy evening I experienced a very confusing visual and balancing experience. The next morning I was quite amused to find that I had been paddling in waves larger than I thought the waves might have been. When I actually saw the waves in the light of day I felt much more frightened of them than when at night I was out among these waves and I couldn't see them. In the inky blackness of the night they appeared as just black shadows looming at me, but I was not completely sure what was level too because I had insufficient visual references. This is similar to going out rowing at night during a perigee low tide and just happen to turn around to check direction just moments before being about to run up on a reef which is normally submerged. These are those moments when you find that the water is never the same twice. Wishing to extend the limitation of my tolerance to cold temperatures on winter nights I spent much time researching how to stay warmer longer because I become cold easily and do not enjoy being cold. After consulting with friends who were not only interested in enjoying sea kayaking but also were very concerned with prevention of hypothermia and safety we concluded that the dry suit was a very important piece of paddling equipment. The advantage which the dry suit has, when compared to neoprene wet suits, is that the dry suit is easier to put on, less restrictive and will keep the immersed paddler warmer than a wet suit provided the integrity of the waterproof seals is maintained. For me this piece of equipment reduces the danger of hypothermia. The wet suit will buy the paddler some time before hypothermia sets in when the paddler is immersed but the dry suit will keep the paddler comfortably warm for a long time. S.C.U.B.A. divers in my area switch from neoprene wet suits to dry suits in November. When there is no sunlight I know I will quickly feel how adequate my layers of insulation are especially if I have built up a sweat which has begun to condense. For several years I wore a combination of thin layers of polypropylene and a heavy wool sweater beneath my dry suit. After I read Will Steiger's North to the Pole in which he described the constant extremes they had to dress for which were extreme cold and amounts of hard work, I switched to his recommendation of "Thermax" which I find to be excellent especially when worn next to the skin. I wear as many thin layers as I feel necessary at the time. It's just the initial moment of leaving the warm sanctuary of the house and loading the boat on the car when it is bitter cold that is the most difficult for me. I found that my feet cannot tolerate temperature below twenty degrees Fahrenheit unless I wear booties which are specifically designed with tight ankle seals to stay completely dry even when I use "Thermax" socks as liners. Nothing like trying to carry a kayak up an icy beach with numb feet. The most critical part of paddling in the cold is maintaining warm hands. My hands become not only cold but become numb easily and are difficult to rewarm. I resolved this problem by designing gauntlets which are attached to the paddle tightly enough to not let to wind penetrate but are of a fabric slippery enough to not impede paddle rotation. These gauntlets are cut and sewn to always stay open so that I can easily thrust my hand into them at any time. Because I know I will usually will dunk them in the water at sometime during paddling, I chose to fill the nylon shell with a sheet of closed cell foam packing material. These gauntlets will warm my numb hands in six paddle strokes even when wet and iced. I prefer for security to have my hands on direct contact with the paddle shaft but a hollow fiberglass paddle shaft conducts cold. I packed the paddle shaft with styrofoam which not only makes the two piece paddle shaft feel warmer but insures that the paddle will always float even if it is separated into two sections. There is a difference to paddling in the ice pans and slush when you cannot see objects directly in front of you at night which requires that you must know what your kayak will do when you suddenly run up on an ice pan. I found that it is important to have a rockered hull with a shallow "V" bottom and closed bulkheads that have air bags inside them. The kayak must be able to maintain stability when the bow is resting on an ice pan and should it fill with water will float level with the paddler sitting in it. This necessity for the shallow "V" hull eliminates many current models of sea kayaks as being suitable for paddling among ice pans. The majority of traditional Inuit kayak hulls accommodate this necessity with similar designs characteristics. Because frazzle ice is very abrasive and pan ice can puncture the hull the hull has to be designed and made of materials which will not be abraded by frazzle ice or punctured by pan ice. Over the years I have heard many stories about what ice can do to the hull of a power boat because ice is quite destructive. The paddle blades I have found the safest are wide blades made of fiberglass which is both strong and resilient enough to tolerate the sometimes necessary repeated impact of having to break through and hard pushing through the ice. Paddling has to be done in a shallow manner without submerging the entire blade because if you scoop under the ice you will capsize the kayak when you recover your paddle stroke. The wide blades provide more push and are less apt to scoop below the ice. I find that there are times when I use all the power I have to get myself through a patch of skim ice which commonly becomes thicker when approaching the shore. This winter I shall experiment with a white water vertical paddling technique used in slalom gate paddling. Because of the excessive stress I have to put on my paddles during this type of paddling, I always take a spare pair of equal paddles within easy reach on my deck. It's a long way home without a paddle. I have found, that when the shore is closed off by pan ice or frazzle ice too thick to paddle through, the way to cross these areas is very carefully with an ordinary garden hoe and good balance. The greatest power is generated by pushing and pulling the kayak backward over the ice. The leverage of the garden hoe and propelling the kayak backward not only requires using your arms but your entire torso as the only means of developing sufficient power and angle of attack to cross the ice. I chose the garden how because of handle length, but also for type of bite it grabs the ice pan with which allows for not only pushing but also pulling. The garden hoe is less apt to puncture the deck. I also find that the hoe will get you up a frozen beach otherwise you find yourself in a slapstick comedy routine helplessly trying to claw your way up the slick iced beach with nothing. I still remember the time I tried to ascend a completely iced beach with a less suitable tool only to find myself sliding back down innumerable times. I also was receiving additional assistance from my overjoyed dogs who kept pushing on me just as I nearly would get to the top of the beach and guess what down I would slide to the bottom of the beach only to have to start over again. These experiences inspire one to talk with Jack Daniels or Carlo Rossi, as these fellows always have a sympathetic smile, for the rest of the evening. Who wants to be standing on shore unable to enjoy the open water, not I. For long distance dragging over the ice and for fabric shinned kayaks I have devised a fitted sheet of highly abrasion resistant plastic similar to polyethylene to protect the hull of the kayak, but however I was unable to test it last year because at the last moment the ice went out before I was able to try it. I had thought of several other solutions to this problem but the protective sheet of plastic seemed to be the simplest. Although few people venture out on the water during the winter evenings there are many special moments which I find such rewarding experiences that I find paddling and laying back on my back deck under the stars hoping to see a brilliant shooting star. The moonlight turns the world into a scintillating silvery paradise especially ice frozen onto the seaweed on the rocks. Paddling in the winter evening is something not to be missed. August 15, 1990 Gail E. Ferris, 1 Bowhay Hill, Stony Creek, CT 06405