I almost didn't post this because I'm not sure it helps the discussion.

Some of the research I have read about cold water hypothermia indicates that leaving the boat and swimming to shore accelerates heat loss much faster than you think is possible.

There have been instances when individuals did not survive swimming 50 yards from a swamped boat to shore in calm conditions, on still water, wearing pfds. They didn't drown. Their hearts stopped from cold blood temperatures.

What I haven't found yet is how to handle these situations. There may not be a solution, which makes risk assessment and management much more essential in marginal conditions. The first survival requirement is smart decision making.

Pete

I think p_p, makes a good observation.
There probably isn't one way to handle this that fits EVERY condition.
I think we agree that getting to shore and into dry clothes or raising core temp is important, but I can see how "swimming" could deplete your core temp enough too cause heart failure.
I've read where they tell shipwreck sailors to pull there legs into their waist to try and hold their core temp up.
I guess that's were the "judgment" part comes in?
Depending on the water temp and your individual reaction to it, you have the choice of swimming for shore, staying with canoe, or you could roll into ball, and in all conditions let the wind and waves work in your favor if possible?
I'd say one constant was keeping your PFD on. I'm sure there's a scenario where being able too swim "faster" without PFD might be a benefit, but I think you could float and survive a lot longer in a PFD, than not make it to shore and exhausted try to tread water sans the PFD?
 Ideally you don't let yourself get into this scenario, especially far from shore.
 My one and only cold water dump made me a much more cautious paddler Assuming you survive , hopefully you LEARN something from it?

Like many threads like this in the past, this one is filled with "wear your PFD" advice.  Given the situation being addressed, wise advice.  What is missing is a strong sentiment for wearing something that protects against cold, such as a wet suit.

The news just reported on the person killed off Acadia in 55 degree water.  The report indicated unconsciousness occurs in such conditions in about an hour.  Early/late trips to Quetico probably encounter similar water temps.  Some kind of thermal protection is probably as important as a PFD, depending on the type of lakes crossed during the trip.

Any water cold enough to stop someones heart (I suspect you'd have to have a pretty weak heart ) would kill you just about as quickly if you stayed with the canoe and did a cannonball float - forget that idea unless you know there is someone coming to your rescue PDQ - I'd rather take my chances swimming, and at least have a chance of making it to shore.


Water temps early in september should be real close to august temps.  A large body of water loses heat  much slower than the land does (as you can tell from early winter when the lakes are still unfrozen even if there is snow on the ground).  As kids, we often went swimming in the Adirondackes in late Sept and October - the water always felt much warmer than the air did when we got out - we'd often jump back in to warm up

likewise, a large body of water will take a lot longer to warm up in the spring than the land does, so springtime is when the water is icy

an oft quoted "rule of thumb" for when to wear drysuit or wet suit is the 100 degree rule - when water temp plus air temp = 100 degrees or less.

I have never seen anyone wear a wetsuit or drysuit in Quetico, even in early May - you'd die on the portages; taking it off for portageing would take a lot of time and be really impractical.  I suppose if you were doing a trip in Voyageurs NP, a dry suit might be practical, since there are no portages.

Unless I'm doing a spring whitewater run, I don't wear a drysuit - neither does anyone else I know while canoeing (sea kayakers are the exception.  Typically, the first trip of the season is about the 3rd week in March, a multi-club group trip with up to fifty boats - I think maybe one or two people may wear a dry suit, and half? of the kayakers wear a wet suit - the rest of us just use common sense, don't tip over, and carry a change of clothes in waterproof bags in case we do flip.  Last trip of the season for me last year was in Mid-October on the Colorado R - hard frost in the morning - still didn't wear a wet suit.  I plan on not tipping over.

I've never worn a wet suit, but have seen this - a wet wetsuit is really cold once you get out of the water and into the wind -  people in wet wetsuits can't wait to get the things off.


Wally has found the best solution for a cold water swim - the sleek sea-mammal body that won't lose heat too rapidly.  Body mass has a lot to do with how fast you lose heat - a skinny little guy like me will chill out a lot sooner than a big husky guy.

I still say that people go overboard when talking about the dangers of hypothermia - if icy water is going to stop your heart, how come all the Polar Bear Club people, who go swimming thru the ice, like on new year's day, don't all die of heart attacks ?  Because they don't stay in the water very long, and dry off quickly when they get out.  So they reduce the potential risk of hypothermia.  So stay close to shore if the water is that cold, and use common sense and don't paddle in conditions that are beyond your capability.

practical reality vs potential risk - it is always possible to fall on a portage trail and hit your head pn a rock - you would be a lot safer if you wera a helmet, right?  so anyone wearing a wetsuit in Quetico because of the potential risk of hypothermia should probably also wear a helmet on the portages, just to be safe.

So of the many thousands of people who trip in BW every year, how many do you know of that have died of hypothermia there ????  

"I'm still not sure exactly what happened, but it was alarming."

I'll speculate a bit - the wind "shook" or "shoved" the canoe and you tensed up, which is a natural reaction to an unexpected shove - if so, that is absolutely the wrong thing to do.  Any canoe should be able to handle being sideways to wind and waves, even big wind and big waves, especially if you are prepared for a quick brace with your paddle.  Tensing up, when the canoe leaned downwind, your body leaned also, and being top heavy, over you went.  In cross wind/cross waves you need to be flexing at the hips, keeping your upper body/torso upright and between the rails, and letting your lower body rock with the canoe - so your hips and the boat will be rocking with the contour of the waves and wind, but your upper body stays upright, within the rails.

I do an "exersize" the first time i climb into my very tippy whitewater boat - as soon as I'm setteld in, I go and rock the boat rail to rail, or at least a lot, while maintianing an erect upper body, letting my lower body rock with the boat  (flex at the hips) - after about 15 seconds of that, my boat no longer feels tippy - I'm "tuned in" to the boat, and staying upright becomes a more natural reaction.  Sometimes, I'll do that in my other solo boats - maybe right after leaving the dock at Nym L.  Not to say that I still don't get ejected from time to time.

so next time you get into an unfamiliar boat, give that exersize a try - it'll help settle you in.

I've gone down rapids and big wave trains frontwards, backwards and sideways - the boat will get through anything just fine, unless I screw it up.  Same thing in lakes in big wind and waves - a boat won't go over unless you tip it over.  Stay loose.