The Scary Truth About Surviving Capsizing In Cold Water

"According to the United States Coast Guard, in 2019 cold water was a factor in at least 87 paddling fatalities. Cold water is also a factor in roughly 200 drownings each year in Canada. Boaters, including canoeists, make up 40 percent of those deaths, according to the Canadian Red Cross."

"Cold shock response is caused by the sudden lowering of skin temperature upon immersion in cold water. The rapid cooling of skin causes gasping and hyperventilation, a spike in heart rate and blood pressure and panic for many. Cold shock can kill in just seconds—someone who gasps underwater without a life jacket won’t resurface."

I've twice had minor cases of what I guess is the cold shock response. Immediately after going into cold water I was unable to control my breathing. It was a very odd sensation. I wasn't panicked but rather I remember consciously trying to control my breathing and being annoyed that I couldn't.

Breaths were jerky, shallow, and felt out of synch; like I was trying to take a breath before I had completely exhaled the last one. After maybe 5 seconds it was ok again.

Cold water is nothing to play around with. I once capsized in a partially frozen lake with air temps just below freezing and no one else was around. Thankfully the water was only up to my shoulders so I was able to slowly wade to shore. I had to use the partially filled canoe as an ice breaker to break through a skim of ice along the way. It was probably 150 yards and by the time I reached shore my legs were partially numb.

Thankfully, as an afterthought, I'd grabbed a set of spare clothes and tossed them in a dry bag on the way out the door. It was a bit hard to convince myself to strip naked in order to change because it seemed like the process would be really cold. But it wasn't any colder than wearing wet clothes and the dry clothes immediately felt warmer.

Alan

Everyone should be aware of a whole series of videos by Dr. Gordon Giesbrecht, a Canadian cold water expert and safety instructor. If you can avoid panicking, you have more time than you may think for rescue.




and more if you google for them

I think this is one of the greatest hazards for canoe trippers. After my last swim I started carrying the crash bag every time I paddle. It includes dry clothes for each paddler and fire starting kit.

I'm always encouraging practice so I guess it is about time. I'm not looking forward to it.

MrPoling said:

I started carrying the crash bag every time I paddle. It includes dry clothes for each paddler and fire starting kit.

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I do the same. Importantly, the kit should also include a big towel, microfiber ones being low in bulk.

First thing you need to figure out is what is "cold" water, and when do you have it. If you go with ACA guidance, cold water is 60 degrees. Around here (southern New England), water temperatures don't hit 60 degrees until around May, and drop below 60 degrees again around October, so anyone paddling November to April is in cold water conditions. The ocean warms and cools a little slower than rivers, and I assume big lakes do as well, but it is not going to change the timeline significantly. Here is the annual temperature chart for one of my local rivers.


If I am paddling whitewater (good chance of a swim) I have my drysuit on in cold water conditions, and usually a wetsuit and splash top in the shoulder seasons. The only time I am not wearing some cold water protection in whitewater is June - August. I've had 4 swims in whitewater so far this year including one in 35 degree water last January that was really COLD, and a long swim in a rolling rapid in September that was exhausting to swim out of - I'm getting old.

I have to admit, I am not as diligent about wearing cold water gear when paddling flatwater or when tripping - especially in those shoulder seasons. Up in ME there are definitely rivers with rapids that folks are running the first couple of weeks in May - Machias, St. John, etc. I haven't done them, but would need to think about cold water gear if/when I do.

The thought of capsizing a loaded tripping canoe in a big open lake in cold water is scariest to me. How do you get the gear out of the boat, the boat upright and empty, and the swimmer(s) back in the boat in difficult conditions before cold water incapacitation kicks in? I have never practiced rescuing a loaded tripping canoe, but we may try it this year.

Agree with the logic of having a dry bag with cloths and other safety gear, but that is not helpful until you are actually out of the water, which might be difficult in a lake. In a long rapid, you could also get to shore in a different location than your boat, so you wouldn't have access to the bag.

I do think trippers approach this with the right attitude - planning in lay-over days, portaging rapids, etc. Hopefully we are less likely to get into trouble, but the likelihood is not zero.

Most people (especially young people) never believe they can(will) lose control of their body.

I learned this lesson the hard way. As a kid we were playing down at the river in spring just after ice out. Buddies took off in the canoe and left me on the opposite shore. Not prob, I’ll just swim back across.

Jumped in and immediately went stiff from the shock of the icy cold water. Current’s pulling me and I’m fighting desperately to swim. Tried yelling out for help but all I could do was gasp, couldn’t get a sound out.

Luckily river wasn't too wide and didn’t take long to get in shallower water. It was an eye opening experience that I’m not invincible and to never underestimate how dangerous water can be.

We used to raft the Truckee River every spring during snow melt. Sometimes while it was snowing. Everyone wore wet suits with a few dry suits. I refused to paddle or row with anyone that did not wear one. The typical water temperatures were in the 42-44 degree range. We had plenty of swimmers over the years with no ill effects. Others were not so lucky.

I did a lot of water skiing and wake boarding when we were younger. The mountain lakes are cold, so we used a thermometer to figure out what to wear before entering the water. We did a lot of experimenting. Below 65 requires some kind of extra clothing like a shorty wet suit. Down near 50 feels really cold. Down near 40 you need gloves and a head covering and the fun starts to go out of it.

My dad told me about an experience he had with this when he was young. He and a friend were fishing on a small boat late in the season. A guy in a speedboat was driving like a jerk and hit them with a wake big enough to make my dad fall out of the boat.

He told me that he couldn't move or think once he was in the cold water, even though his friend had him by the collar and was yelling at him to get back in the boat. Eventually he came to and was able to climb back in the boat just fine. Imagine being alone like that though, that's scary.

This subject is serious and under estimated by way too many people. Spring is the killing season.

I see paddle boarders often in street clothes, with no PFD even in the cold months. They just don't get it. I met a nice lady in cardio therapy that was a medical professional. She described paddle boarding at Lake Tahoe "all year." Street clothes and no PFD. I tried to explain the dangers of cold water. She said "I just stay near shore."

ppine said:

This subject is serious and under estimated by way too many people. Spring is the killing season.

I see paddle boarders often in street clothes, with no PFD even in the cold months. They just don't get it. I met a nice lady in cardio therapy that was a medical professional. She described paddle boarding at Lake Tahoe "all year." Street clothes and no PFD. I tried to explain the dangers of cold water. She said "I just stay near shore."

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part of the problem is that, with years of experience of never having to swim we become cavalier, and with inexperience we have nothing to relate to about cold shock- in my younger years I used to fish almost weekly (benefit of a 4 day work week) either from a canoe or from shore, and "never" swam, I'd got wet feet a few times and even up to the waist occasionally.
then one day in February, fishing a river I'd fished maybe 200 times, it happened- at a crossing I frequented in the shallows between 2 deep holes I took a single misstep, jammed my wading staff in a crack, and away I went, between my street clothes, fishing vest and chest waders there was no way of getting out of the current and I was flushed downstream into a 10-12' hole. By that point I was barely coherent and almost completely immobile. fortunately a couple of dog walkers saw me go under and rushed to grab me and drag me out, unfortunately the weight of water in my waders was too much to get me completely out of the water until I mumbled "cut them", which the young man did (that's how I lost my Gerber Shorty knife, he dropped it into the hole). I was in that water for less than 10 minutes...
although I was eventually ok, it took about an hour in my truck, in my undershorts, with the heat cranked to incinerate, and a full thermos of hot chocolate provided by my rescuer's girlfriend before I felt warm enough to change into my spare clothes and drive home.
That one little moment of inattention cost me a $300 pair of waders, a $500 custom fishing rod and reel, my favourite tripping knife and also almost my life.
Now I wear a fishing vest with an inflatable built in, and never assume that I won't swim.

Very useful to hear first hand accounts of cold shock and the like. You can read up on the academic descriptions but it's still hard to imagine. I keep meaning to go jump in the lake during cold water season (near shore with PFD and a buddy standing by to aid rescue if needed), but haven't actually done it yet.

Anyone know anything about dogs and cold water shock? I do have the dog in the canoe well into shoulder seasons. (We both always have a pfd on, except him in hot weather where I'm worried about him getting hypERthermic from the pfd, and in those cases we also stick close to shore where I know he can swim the distance, or more likely just stand up and touch bottom.)

Tsuga8 said:

Very useful to hear first hand accounts of cold shock and the like. You can read up on the academic descriptions but it's still hard to imagine. I keep meaning to go jump in the lake during cold water season (near shore with PFD and a buddy standing by to aid rescue if needed), but haven't actually done it yet.

Anyone know anything about dogs and cold water shock? I do have the dog in the canoe well into shoulder seasons. (We both always have a pfd on, except him in hot weather where I'm worried about him getting hypERthermic from the pfd, and in those cases we also stick close to shore where I know he can swim the distance, or more likely just stand up and touch bottom.)

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I think it depends on the dog. I have duck hunted with labs that have no issue jumping in and out of the water during winter time.

However, I have a frenchy/basenji mix that act like she's freezing if she gets wet even in decent weather.

Tsuga8 said:

Anyone know anything about dogs and cold water shock?

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Sadie was with me when I capsized in a partially frozen lake. Other than being generally unhappy about the situation she didn't seem to be affected.

She swam to me when I called and I put her into the partially filled canoe. She wasn't a fan of the idea and pushed off the gunwales and thwart to resist it but once in the canoe she just stood there and shivered while I pushed the boat to shore.

Once on shore she ran around like normal trying to dry off and jumped back into the canoe without complaint for the return paddle.

She's under 30 pounds without much fat so the cold definitely affects her (unlike a lab for instance).

Alan

I saw a lab get hypothermic once in the winter. She was playing in cold water but was to neurotic to quit. She was shivering and had clearly impaired motor skills.

It happened faster than I expected. From then on I assumed she was like a person in a thin wetsuit or good synthetics. I didn't encourage her to swim until it was almost time to go back inside. I also discouraged her from swimming if getting warm would be difficult..

Again, always Interesting to hear first hand accounts. Water hunting dogs _should_ be fine in cold water. Retrievers get out to retrieve ducks in very cold weather. But a lot of people tend to assume all dogs are good at self-regulation. I don't assume that after seeing dogs do really dumb things. They have lapses in judgement just like us, as evidenced by MrPoling.

Tsuga8 said:

Again, always Interesting to hear first hand accounts. Water hunting dogs _should_ be fine in cold water. Retrievers get out to retrieve ducks in very cold weather. But a lot of people tend to assume all dogs are good at self-regulation. I don't assume that after seeing dogs do really dumb things. They have lapses in judgement just like us, as evidenced by MrPoling.

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That's very true about the lack of self regulation, especially when it comes to hunting/working breeds that have such a strong drive, like most water dogs are.

I keep meaning to go jump in the lake during cold water season

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Around here, "polar plunges" are big on New Year's day. I've always marveled at how many line up to jump in the river (firemen standing by, rescue boats on the water and a large pile of burning pallets are pretty standard safety equipment)

It seems that most polar plunges are charity fundraisers but, by all means, try it sometime (personally, once was more than enough)

It's happened to me once on a hot day in July. We were running the South Fork of the Boise just below Anderson Ranch reservoir. We were sweating in the heat, but the flow coming out of the bottom of the deep reservoir is always very cold. IIRC, none of us had on drysuits - but we should have. I was the only one who swam, and fortunately it was a short swim. But I experienced pretty much everything Alan described in his first two paragraphs. I'm sure that without my PFD I would have drowned in that rapid. And it took a while out of the water to warm up enough to have good control of my body, even in that summer heat.

The oft stated rule of 120 is a joke. At least as applied to powerful rivers.

Another good first hand account, thanks Steve.

When I was working in the Everglades we had cases of hypo- and hyperthermia on the same day. It was a typical south FL summer day, very high heat index with the humidity. An intern, not used to the heat/humidity got hyperthermic, though not seriously as I recall. Meanwhile a coworker of mine, who must have weighed 90lbs soaking wet (and that day it turned out she was soaking wet) was out doing fieldwork and caught caught in one of those subtropical downpours that happen near daily down there in summer. During standard extraction of her and her teammates by helicopter with the doors off (much of the park is only accessible by helicopter so we often flew in and out of worksites) the windchill combined with her soaked clothes dropped her body temp enough to start showing early hypothermia signs. Obviously different circumstances than a cold water immersion, but per Steve's comments about hypothermia in summer, yep.