OK, I still don't have a wetsuit, and the water has now reached 52 degrees at Jordan Lake. I found some hypothermia tables:

http://canoeman.com/SWPaddler/hypothermia.html

If I fell in , it looks like I have an hour before I get totally exhausted, and if I think the rangers would get to me within a half hour, I'm reasonably safe? I just want to get some verification of my thinking before finding out I was wrong the hard way...

Jonathan

Jonathan :
I think the premise should be: the rangers never will find me. ...then go from there.

Unless the boat sinks, which is unlikely, you'll be out of the water. if it does, if your in decent shape, swim to the shore, go slow, physical action will help body temp. also- water temp is goning up every day. i was in the harbor sunday @ 65 degrees, it felt refreshing, well, up to my waist it did.

Jonathan,

Jordan is populated with enough powerboaters that someone would take notice if you were turtled or otherwise not right side up. 52 is chilly, but not unbearable.

Besides, with the weather getting better, there will be an exponential rise in the number of boaters on the lake this weekend. I'd be out there, but I'll be up in Maryland sanding away primer coat on my hulls

NOT TRUE

Okay, you learned that in elemantary school.
98.6 - 52= 46.6 degrees difference. You think you want feel that?
The normal body reacts to cold by shunting blood to the vital organs and away from the limbs and extremeties. Your extremeties become hypoxic(lack of o2) and lose strength. You wont be able to swim distances that in normal conditions would be a cinch for you. It makes righting your body a feat of greatness, and getting back on it any tougher. Keep in mind the fact that once your core temp stops dropping, unconciousness follows quickly. People live being submersed because respiratory and cardiac function are depressed, the body shuts down, and sometimes can be brought back without any deficits. Not any fun though.

Do what you can to Prepare.

Sail safe and warm,
David Mosley
www.seacats.org

52 degrees is very cold without a wetsuit. Although you might "survive" an hour, survival and being able to function are two different things. Wanna check and see? Go swimming from shore and see how long you can stand it - I bet it won't take long! From my experience, after a couple of minutes with just my legs exposed in this kind of temperature they hurt pretty bad.

Don't ever count on any kind of rescue. That, and dependency on electronics, will eventually put you in trouble.

I used to go surfing on the jersey shore in 52 degree water in June.

Jaime and Jake make good points. Don't ever count on a rescue. Always approach the situation as if you're on your own. The tables can be misleading. How long you can survive is a much different thing than how long you can function. You may lose the ability to help yourself well before the hypothermia tables suggest.

52 degree water is still cold. Wear the wetsuit.

The "Rule of 50":
An average adult person has a 50/50 chance of surviving a 50-yard swim in 50-degree F water.

I don't know how accurate this is but I've seen it repeated by several sources over the years. I think the only prudent thing to do is to invest in a wetsuit (at a minimum). It's just not worth the risk. Live to sail another day!

Sail safe,
Todd

Good posts here. Always be prepared to save yourself.

I would say you have about 5 minutes tops to get back on your boat before you are unable to save yourself. The amount of time varies greatly according to body mass. After 10 minutes you would have to be pulled from the water which a typical powerboater probably won't be able to do without help.

I was on a lake in a race course one time when I went turtle. Nobody saw me for about an hour in good weather. If you go completely turtle nobody will see you.

Mike Hill
H20 #791

OK, I'll accept that as true. And if it is, I need a wetsuit.

And my problem with wetsuits is this: I'm a Luddite, and I have no idea what I need, there's so many kinds of wetsuits, I'd rather not pay more than makes sense, and I have no idea what I need to do to make sure it fits. Can I buy something like that mail order and know that I will get the right size?

Jonathan

Go to the NRS Website! They have farmer johns (that zip both ways) for $129.00 or less! Cold water will tire you VERY fast. I think the address is www.nrsweb.com. Good luck!

NRS has a great staff of people that use their products. They were able to fit me over the phone. I'm 5'8", and only weigh 135. It has been hard for me to find a suit in the past, but they were great. Plus they have major deals right now! Much less than I thought! I suggest a Farmer John and a jacket. I wear the farmer almost all season in Buzzards Bay Mass. and the jacket too, May thru June, and September thru October. Sail safely. Brian

Jon,

Go to Overton's on Wake Forest Blvd here in Raleigh. They have some store brand spring suits for like $59.00 that will work.

John

You might also try a Play IT Again used sports equipment store. I was in the one here in Wilmington, NC and they had a lot of used wet suits cheep. I bought a pair of pants for 10 dollars to cut up and use for knee pads.

So I take it I don't really need a top-of-the-line wetsuit, any garden variety wetsuit will work, as long as it is 3 mm?

Jonathan

I guess you have to weigh the considerations and decide which has priority.

$200.00 +/- for protection, or........possible death.

Minutes count.

As long as the wetsuit fits properly, you should be fine. I've found that the more expensive ones DO fit better, so you might want to try a variety of different suits out just to make sure. It should really fit like a second layer of skin.

I just mentioned the cheaper variety so you know where to get the deals.

There was a great thread that Mary started about wetsuits. A couple of things to consider (that I learned from that post).

- a shiny outer surface will not be as cold when you are wet but out of the water. The shiny surface will not let the water evaporate from within the wetsuit as quickly as a wetsuit with a rough outer layer. This is important because you will quickly be exposed to a lot of wind again if you do go in or get wet from splashing.

- Wearing a spray suit (or $20 Wal-Mart variety rain suit) will help keep you warm out of the water by keeping the wind from evapo-cooling the suit.

- I recommend trying on wetsuits at local stores but remembering brand and sizing - then look for deals on the net if you need to. It's tough to get the fit right especially the first time. You can even buy suits on THIS site or look for discontinued / discounted stuff at places like www.sierratradingpost.com.

- A 3mil shorty (5mil wouldn't be a bad idea) and a decent rain suit will get you through early spring in the Carolinas. A farmer John is a great choice too (and it gives you knee protection).