Oysters
Published February 28, 2005 | 
I wrote and re-wrote this post looking ways to not to bring you down. It’s certainly not my intent. I want to give you a good answer to your question. But in the end I have to give you the correct answer and not necessarily the answer you want. Forgive me for this, but a beginner just should NOT be on the water this time of year. There really is no flexibility. This is what I would tell my own family members. The only exception would be if you took a drive to Lake Columbia in Portage, WI. This lake is heated by a power plant and is very warm. Even here you will learn very quickly what wet skin feels like in cold air. Never paddle in water you are not willing to swim in. The point is “beginner” and cold water just don’t mix. It’s just too risky and who wants to kill themselves over a hobby anyway??
Experienced sea kayakers will go out this time of year but we wear a drysuit that will actually keep water off us. Then we wear wicking clothing under the drysuit. Then we also back up this with a bunch of emergency gear. We plan for the worse and hope we never need it. Anything less than a drysuit is too much risk. I know guys go out fishing all the time in row boats and motorboats without dry gear. But note too that most hypothermia deaths among kayakers are new or inexperienced kayakers. They just should not have been out there. I have read various accident reports already this year where inexperienced kayakers have needlessly died due to poor choices. It’s very sad but good people die every year and they just don’t understand the risks they take.
So please, for now, put your kayaks in the living room and sit in the cockpits and watch TV for the time being. (I did that with my first boat) In fact why not get a copy of “This Is The Sea” or other kayaking videos to get the feel for it. Then take a lesson either from Rutabaga, myself or other certified instructor. Give yourself an extra safety margin while you learn, then after you have more experience you can decide if you want to invest in dry gear and explore the winter wonderland by water.
All the best!
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6 Responses to Oysters
Ha! I’ve already told my husband that I want my kayak in the living room so that I can just sit in it!
I found a website (h2gokayaking)for kayak lessons very near where we live and we’ve been thinkng about taking lessons. Lake Andrea is used for the lessons. It’s a small man-made lake where no motors are allowed. When it’s too cold outside, an indoor pool is used. Besides the person being a qualified instructor, I don’t know what else to look for in an instructor. Any tips on that?
So…can we at least go out in MAY? I know it all depends on weather, but would May be a good month to plan on going out? Small non-motoring lakes will be our destination for awhile. (I’ve seen the prices of dry suits…I can wait until the water is warmer!)
About your comment on planning for the worst…I’ve seen the pictures of you in your kayak and read some posts about what you bring along. Are you sure that you don’t need a floating trailer for your accessories? Oh…wait a minute…that’s what your wife’s kayak is for. Everything that you can’t fit into yours must go in hers! (Just kidding.)
Thanks for all the info. I am not feeling “put down,” just restless! I bought one DVD on beginner to intermediate paddling, but it really was a disappointment for the $24. It’s called GO PADDLE and it’s lack of information is frustrating. It hardly had any information to share. I’m really sorry that I spent the money on it. The books: KAYAKING MADE EASY by Dennis Stuhaug was really interesting. It was more about sea kayaking but had so much information in it that I know it will help on inland flatwater. The other two books I have are PADDLING NORTHERN WISCONSIN and PADDLING SOUTHERN WISCONSIN, both by Mike Svob. I think those will be really helpful as far as choosing beginner areas to paddle on.
I will check out the THIS IS THE SEA
DVD. I saw it at Amazon but didn’t purchase it because I really don’t plan to be out on huge areas of water like Lake Michigan. (Maybe that will change in a year or two!)
You know, it’s pretty tough picking and instructor. Being Certified by the ACA or BCU is a good start. But many great instructors are not certified. And there are some really bad certified instructors. In fact many of my favorite instructors were not certified. They were just talented teachers. The downside is that you never know that until you take the class. I guess I would be asking (if they don’t tell you) about experience. Where have they have paddled, taught, guided before. Do they have first aid certifications? If not is there someone close by with first aid training? What is the instructor to student ratio? Normally we think 1 instructor to every 5 or 6 students. But personally I like one to 4 or less if possible.
At the start of a class that I instruct I always have a little round table where we all talk about our experiences and goals. So we all (including me) take time to talk about our experience and what we want out of the day. Then I can try to target bits of the class to what each student is hoping for and address it right off when someone is just aiming too high. That way we get off to a good start.
Just note that you should not come out of a class feeling stupid. If you do, it’s time to shop for a new teacher.
You should leave a class feeling like you have work to do, but also feeling that it’s possible and you are capable of achieving your goals.
Regarding gear, we have 17 foot boats so even with all of our gear Mary and I could fit a 2 week camping trip in there too. It just takes creative packing. At minimum recreational paddlers should have PFD, Pump, Paddle float, basic first aid kit, signaling device (whistle & mirror), dry clothing to change into if you swim, snacks & water. Again the pump and paddle float won’t help until you know how to use them. If you tend to get cold, then neoprene gloves are a good choice too.
The video I recommended has nothing to do with learning. It’s just fun. Learning from video when you are first starting out can be really depressing. It seems too confusing and too full of “rules”. I think you will find videos more helpful once you have actually had an intro class and been out and played around in your boat a bit. So before you actually get in your boat I would rather have you “inspired”.
(and maybe a little scared)
I have the Paddling Wisconsin books too. They are good books but the focus a bit much on rivers and not so much on lakes. You will have to come up and paddle Mirror Lake near the Dells. there are some beautiful areas there.
If you are anywhere near Milwaukee you could contact John Browning for instruction as well. He is the guy you see in my Lake Michigan february pictures. He is a very good instructor. His website is http://www.wildernessconnection.com.
I know you will probably go out in May. But I have to tell you (especially in this forum) that it’s not safe for beginners. Tell you what, before you go out, go swimming in the lake first. Stay in the water for around 15 minutes. If you still feel like paddling after you swim in it then at least you know what you could be in for. Whatever you do DON’T use your spray skirts until you have lessons in wet exits.
Again I would really think about some dry gear. A dry jacket at the very least is a good choice for anyone regardless of what they plan to do. Personally I will wear my drysuit into June. Then I will wear a wetsuit until almost the end of June. Then I have two or two and a half months where I were 1mm hydroskins (check NRS). Then it’s back to the wetsuit in September and Drysuit in October.
If you can’t tell, I am a safety-first kind of person. But once you cover your basis you can have a lot of fun.
Hello fellow fisherman,
Did you know that 16% of the U.S. population goes fishing at least 16 days a year?
Did you also know that over 75% of the nations fishermen do not fish during “prime time”; fish feeding hours?
Those precious few moments before twilight can be absolutely magical. Even up until 11pm at night, the largest predators of any species feed ravenously.
Don’t believe me? Check out Daniel Eggertsen’s story, and a picture of a couple of his catches here : “Evening Secrets plus more”
I want you to do me a favor and try it out so I can see what you think of it, and if it works for you as well as it did for me.
You will be one of the first to try it out.
Gone Fishin’,
Neil
Hello fellow fisherman,
Did you know that 16% of the U.S. population goes fishing at least 16 days a year?
Did you also know that over 75% of the nations fishermen do not fish during “prime time”; fish feeding hours?
Those precious few moments before twilight can be absolutely magical. Even up until 11pm at night, the largest predators of any species feed ravenously.
Don’t believe me? Check out Daniel Eggertsen’s story, and a picture of a couple of his catches here : “Evening Secrets plus more”
I want you to do me a favor and try it out so I can see what you think of it, and if it works for you as well as it did for me.
You will be one of the first to try it out.
Gone Fishin’,
Neil
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