Pulled my 16'-40hp outboard boat out about a week ago, and am chicken to lower a small sailboat down the embankment ramp, and go sailing with this December warm-up because flipp'n a sailboat with no other boats out there to help could be a very chilly problem. One would have to be crazy to go sailing out there, alone, this time of year.
There are some locations in Connecticut, and Long Island, and Delaware where small sailboats actually go sailing in the winter, and call it frostbite sailing or something, but it's not done on Lake Winnipesaukee. A safety motorboat would be very helpful to accompany frostbite sailing.
So, when will the lake freeze over this year ..... it usually freezes on about January 7.
http://www.unionleader.com/Divers-fi...Concord-kayker .....wonder if this deceased 68-year old man was wearing a pfd because one can supposedly survive 15-minutes in 34-degree water if you have a determined attitude, and do not swallow water going down the wrong pipe in the initial plunge and drown.
Is it correctly spelled 'kayker' or kayaker?
Suggest you google "Concord resident dies while kayaking in Turkey Pond, his favorite place" to read a lengthy article about John Stapler, age 68, a retired Lieutenant Colonel, US Army. One of his children says he did not wear a pfd, "he was stubborn."
I know that I don't always use a pfd because it is bulky and overly warm, so I use a swimmer's belt moved up to just under my armpits, and the swimmer's belt is better for swimming than a pfd because it centers your buoyancy, and can easily be re-positioned for balance and buoyancy, and tightened while in the water ... just like a fat belt.
Holy crap .....what a tragedy!