Background
I love to go kayaking in the winter. The black and white world of water, trees, snow and ice is just so pretty. The ice gives interesting obstacles to play with and maneuver around. It is a great time to practice your various turning techniques.
Kayaking in the winter is not like kayaking in the summer. At least not where I live. In the summer the water can be warm(er) and soft and way less life threatening. The risks I am willing to take in the summer are greater than what I am willing to attack in the winter.
For the most part I only go out when the wind is pretty calm, <10kts; not because I want to avoid the waves, but because I want to avoid the wind chill. I find that paddling into a headwind overheats me, then the breathable drysuit cools me off too much when I am paddling with the wind. Hypothermia (getting too cold to function) is the biggest risk in winter paddling.Many people are going to say that I am stupid for paddling in these conditions, or that I take way too much risk, but I believe that I am very safe. I arrange it that way. I stay well within my skills and watch the weather and conditions. Risk assessment is very personal. What I consider safe for me would be considered dangerous for most other people. I am not trying to brag or say that I am better than you; I know my skills well and don't come anywhere close to my limits in the winter. So don't do it just because I said I would. 
Often times I start out with two big risks against me. 1) I am paddling in the winter (i.e., it's cold and the weather may/will change) and 2) I am paddling alone (i.e., my safety net only consists of what I bring with me in terms of equipment, supplies, skills and communication equipment). I bring standard communication equipment: VHF radio, satellite locator, cell phone and flares; but in winter, how long will it take for someone to respond to any of these? There are no boats on the water. Also, my time to wait for a response is very limited, if I am a swimmer needing help; so I better not be!January 2, 2015
Everyone wants to get out for a New Year's paddle on the 1st and I am no exception. I live on the shore of Lake Superior, so that is a questionable option, depending on the year. This year, the weather forecast said that the 1st was not a good day to paddle (for me) due to strong winds. I might have gone out in the summer in those conditions, but winter surfing is not for me. The forecast said that the 2nd would be ok and then it would get bad again.On January 2nd, I put my kayak on the car and went to scout some locations. I wanted to get out to one of the islands in the area and see the ice hanging down from the cliffs and possibly ice built up by the wind, waves and cold the past couple days.
I can probably launch from my "beach", but it isn't ideal. It is composed of rocks from 1-3 ft. in diameter so even without ice the footing is difficult, especially underwater and with a small ice foot at the edge of the lake (1 ft. high). So I was saving that option in case other options didn't pan out.I drove to Munising, at the Western end of the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, to look at paddling to Grand Island. Along the way I looked at the local bay which has a nice beach. Unfortunately the beach is under a 4 ft. ice cliff, which makes it too difficult to launch and land alone. Also the lake was completely full of floating ice and slush in that area and the temperature was 16F. I didn't like the idea of paddling through slush and ice only to come back and find one solid mass that I couldn't paddle through or walk upon. That was a no go.
I got to Sand Point in Munising and was looking over towards Grand Island. Again there was lots of slush and ice in the water. This was all moving out to sea. It was probably pushed into the bay by the weather of the previous days. Somehow being swept out into Lake Superior by a slight wind and tons and tons of ice wasn't appealing. I was looking for a couple hour paddle and not one that lasted the whole winter.
I wound up going back home with the plan of launching from my ice covered boulders. Worst case is I get cold and wet trying to launch and I am only 50 ft. from my own house. The lake was quite calm with a bit of slush and ice, but no where near choked with the stuff. There was a slight breeze, but nothing to worry about.
I loaded the kayak with my gear, snacks, hot chocolate, hot water, communications stuff, flares, dry clothes, spare gloves, pogies, spare hats, camera, spare batteries, spare paddle, etc. My bilge pump and paddle float were where I always keep them, tucked next to the seat inside the cockpit.
I slid the kayak off the ice into the lake and across the few rocks that were too close to the surface and got it floating as I waded beside it. Then the lake decided to provide me with a challenge, some 1 - 1.5 ft waves to swamp the kayak while I held it standing knee deep balancing on the underwater rocks. The waves weren't that big, but the shallow water pushed them up for me. I'm not sure where they came from, but they kept coming; some smaller and some not. I got into the kayak and was sitting in 8 inches of ice cold water with ice and slush floating in it. I paddled out a bit, maybe 75 ft. off shore, and got out my bilge pump.
It's funny how sitting in a kayak full of ice water and having waves slosh the kayak around threatening to throw you into 33F water makes one nervous. One thing I try very hard to do is keep my head dry when paddling in the winter. It is the least protected thing and out there in whatever wind there is. Evaporation is a good way to cool off, even in the winter when you don't want it.
I started to pump out the water in my kayak while it sloshed around. I was dressed well and hadn't yet built up any sweat in the layers under the drysuit and couldn't even feel that it might be cold. Sometime in the last couple months of paddling in winter conditions water in the cockpit had gotten into my pump and, since it was stored outside in my kayak, now there was a block of ice and the pump didn't work at all.
I had a few choices. I could continue my paddle with all the water in my kayak. That didn't seem appealing. Even though I wasn't cold, I didn't think that sitting in ice water for a couple hours was going to warm me any. Also, if I got more conditions further from home, I would really appreciate a kayak which wasn't sloshing. I could jump into the water, swim to the bow of the kayak and drain it by using my flotation and lifting the bow. This is something I would do in the summer without worrying about it. This is how I empty my kayak after it gets too swamped from practicing rolling because using a bilge pump is way too slow. In the summer I don't worry about getting pushed under and getting my head wet. I was in my heaviest kayak and I didn't know if lifting the bow would sink me that far, so I decided against that. I could get closer to shore and try to balance on the rocks and dump the kayak in the waves that were still in the shallows, or I could paddle to shore and realize that today wasn't a paddling day.
Because I was without a working bilge pump, I decided that the best choice was to paddle to shore. I got out of the kayak in knee deep water (at least knee deep on a big rock) and started wading my kayak to the shore. I got to the bow of the kayak to pull it up over the edge of the ice. Then the waves decided to turn the kayak while I was trying to find my footing on the underwater rocks and I wound up between the kayak and shore sitting on a rock in 6 inches of water. I pushed the kayak away so that it wouldn't keep trying to kill me and then it drifted out to 15 ft from shore. I gathered my flotsom (paddle, spare paddle and bilge pump) and tossed them on shore. I swam out to my kayak which was just hanging out there waiting for me and did what I should have done earlier and attached my tow line to it (you wear a tow when paddling alone in the winter, right?) then waded back to shore. Some times the water was 6 inches deep sometimes 2 feet. I towed in the kayak and wondered if I would be able to get out kayaking before the lake freezes over.Recap
What would I change next time? Keep my bilge pump with my clothing in the house where it is warm between uses. Remember to use the tow line for landing on ice even when I don't think it is necessary. Otherwise, nothing.I don't think I was ever in any danger, and if my bilge pump would have worked, I would have had a nice paddle out to the island to see the new icicles and spray ice. The only damage was some stubbed toes and a bruised knee from wading through the rocks. I knew all along that launching and landing from my "beach" wasn't ideal. It isn't ideal even in the summer. That was the biggest risk I was willing to take aside from the two initial risks (paddling in the winter and paddling solo).
The forecast was about right. The 3rd was windy and now instead of 1 ft. of ice on our "beach" there is a 6 ft. cliff to climb down to get to the water. The water is shallow at the bottom of the cliff so launching seems doable. I don't think it is something I can do alone and probably I need ice axes or a ladder to get into and back out of the lake. Almost certainly the ice will have to wait until spring, or until I can snowshoe out to the local island. Maybe the ice in Munising has moved making a clear path to Grand Island though?
