We are well and truly into the winter months now; our gloves are on, our coats are zipped up and there’s always a spare layer in the car.
For those that want to keep up their paddling nevertheless, we want to make sure you’re safe, healthy and get the best out of each trip. So here are our top tips to fully enjoy SUP this winter…
Plan
We should be planning each paddle anyway, but during the winter it’s especially important.
Where possible, ‘buddy up’ with another like-minded, competent paddler and plan a familiar route. If you do decide to go on unfamiliar waters, make sure you’re with someone who knows those particular conditions, remember ‘safety first’. It’s always a good idea to allow yourself plenty of time for your paddle too; for adjustments, hot drink breaks, and so you choose time slots where the weather forecast is positive for longer periods of time.
Prepare
Make sure you have all the correct equipment in good working order - It’s best to check this prior to arriving, at home where you don’t need to rush.
This equipment includes your:
We’re fortunate in Oxfordshire to have a choice of waterways from open rivers to enclosed canals, so with favourable conditions, it’s possible to find a safe paddling route. As you know, the wind is not our friend when it comes to paddling, so being aware of wind strength and direction is critical.
As a guide, anything over 12 Knots is unsafe and would probably see you paddling on your knees for the majority of the time, especially if you’re paddling into a headwind.
Handy Hint!
A southerly/southwesterly wind gives a calm, gentle breeze whilst a northerly wind can be cold, biting and strong.
App-Tastic
There are a number of useful apps and sites relative to weather conditions, my favourite of which is:
Windy – Considered to be one of the most accurate weather apps and is FREE to download. Winner. It’s got a host of functions and features but I primarily use it to monitor wind strength & wind gusts, wind direction & temperature.
Other good Apps include: Weatherlink, BBC Weather, and Met Office.
We’ve got a number of weather monitoring stations in Oxfordshire – Oxford/Little Milton, Oxford Airport, RAF Benson & RAF Brize Norton that feed into the majority of apps & sites.
In addition to monitoring the weather conditions, we need to be mindful of river levels as these can naturally rise during the winter months thanks to seasonal rainfall, and how the Rivers Authority manage the flow.
The River Levels website is a really good ‘one-stop’ site that gives a full listing of all river level monitoring stations across the UK, as well as flood alerts and forecasts from the Flood Forecasting Centre. It operates the useful Red/Amber/Green ‘traffic light’ system – obviously, it is only safe to paddle when water levels are showing as Green.
Know your route
As paddleboarders, we always start our paddling trip going upriver with the objective that the downstream flow will easily bring us home.
TOP TIP!
It’s important to get to know your location and if paddling on a river, please be aware of the flow and eddy currents. Sometimes eddy currents can be misleading as they can appear to ‘reverse’ the flow of the river, so please be mindful and for safety, paddle through an eddy on your knees as the ‘swirl’ can disrupt the travel and direction of your board.
Before you head out paddling
Be familiar with your launch site, either visit ahead of time or join one of the many Facebook group pages for community insight. I’ve joined ‘UK Stand Up Paddle Boarding’, ‘Paddle Board UK – SUP’, ‘Perfect Paddles SUP Community’, ‘River SUP’, ‘SUP Touring & Exploring’ to name just a few, with each site containing useful contributor information.
TOP TIP!
It’s also really good to establish how you will actually launch your board into the water – is there a slipway, steps or riverbank? Think about whether you will have to wade into the water or if you can keep your feet relatively dry?!
Some useful things to remember:
- Notify your family/friends of your location, route, departure time and expected return time. And don’t forget to call them when you’re safely back on dry land!
- Ensure you have set up your ICE in your phone: Both Android phones and iPhones have a feature known as "ICE" or "In case of emergency." This feature will let you add a list of emergency contacts to your phone. You can also add medical information, such as allergies or current medications.
- Remember to use a waterproof case for your phone and carry a whistle: I use Overboard Waterproof Cases
- Warm up before you get on the water – this gets the blood pumping, prepares your muscles for activity and helps prevent injury
- Always keep an eye out for cloud formation and changes in weather conditions. Winter weather can be notoriously unpredictable and rain can soon change to snow!
- Always carry a dry bag: It’s a great place to store keys, snacks, a first aid kit, spare tow lines, and spare thermals, just in case! I use LOMO waterproof dry bags.
- Take a flask of hot drink with you and also a bottle of water: It’s surprising that even in cold winter conditions we can get dehydrated.
- Be sensible about the duration of your paddle: Just because you’ve allocated two hours of paddling time, if you start to feel cold, uncomfortable or tired, get off the water as soon as possible.
- TOP TIP! Take a changing/floor mat with you as standing on the car park hardstanding isn’t very pleasant with cold feet
- Take a dry robe with you to keep your body temperature warm when changing – I use Frostfire Moonwrap full-length dry robes – really warm at a great price. Dressing gowns are also great though!
What to wear??
There is loads of information and tonnes of blogs out there with regards to ‘What to Wear in Winter’ such as this one from SUP Inflatables: What to Wear Paddleboarding when it Gets Colder
But essentially, what you need to consider is a warm head, hands and feet, and layer up where possible. Always bring spares too! This is a really good video produced by Palm Equipment - How to dress for winter paddling | Palm Equipment (palmequipmenteurope.com)
FINALLY… AND MOST IMPORTANTLY…
“IF IN DOUBT, DON’T GO OUT”
