A winter blast

We had our first snow of this winter on Friday, and it was a decent one by Mid South standards.  I think we got close to an inch in places, and there's a fair amount of it still around since the temperature hasn't risen above freezing since then.  This is the scene that greeted me when I got to the dock yesterday morning:

That's my boat in the purple cover on the top rack.

According to the in-dash display in my car, it was 15 degrees Fahrenheit when I arrived at the marina yesterday, and by the time I was driving home it was 19, so it's pretty safe to say it was below 20 degrees the whole time I was on the water.  I think it's been a few years since I've paddled in that kind of cold.  I'd sort of expected to find the harbor iced over, but it was entirely open.  I think there are atmospheric factors besides the air temperature that affect ice formation, because sometimes the harbor stays liquid even when we've had several days of sub-freezing temperatures.

Anyway... it actually wasn't such a bad day to paddle.  The sun was out and the wind wasn't that bad, and I was bundled up.  I paddled for 60 minutes and kept the pace above six miles per hour with a couple of long surges close to 7 mph.  By the end of the hour I'd made a bit of ice art.  Here's a nice layer on the deck of my boat:

And here's one of the better paddlecicles I've ever achieved:

According to today's forecast we were due to warm up into the mid 30s, but commitments from midday on compelled me to paddle in the morning when it was still pretty frigid.  My car told me it was 22 degrees Fahrenheit when I arrived at the marina and 29 when I was driving home afterward.

The sun was out first thing this morning, but by the time I was in the boat the clouds were moving in and I would do most of my 110-minute paddle under overcast skies.  The longer session and the lack of solar radiation combined to leave me quite chilled by the time I was walking back up to the parking lot.

Both yesterday and today I dealt with a familiar problem on sub-freezing days: my rudder was frozen up.  Once upon a time I would fuss with it on the dock until I'd gotten it free, but now that I'm older and mellower I just get in the boat and start paddling with the thing still frozen.  As long as the water I'm paddling on is liquid, its temperature is above freezing and it will thaw out the rudder eventually.  If the sun is out like it was yesterday, the rudder should free up even faster because the sun warms up the boat and the rudder cables within.

Paddling when it's this cold is fun to do once or twice a year--if nothing else, it gives me something to brag to my friends about--but I'll be perfectly happy to avoid it the rest of the winter if I can.  It's still the first half of January and we should expect another cold snap or two before winter is over, but on Tuesday, when I next plan to paddle, the forecast calls for rain and a high temperature around 60 degrees.  I might even be able to ditch the pogies.